RFID hardware for stocktaking.
Which device counts 4,000 garments in an hour — and which one needs half a day for the same job? Nine current RFID devices for fashion retail, from the entry class to the premium end, with checked technical figures, prices that carry a source, and a straight answer on what each device is not good for. We do not sell these devices individually. We sort them out for you.
- The nine devices at a glance
- Which device for which case
- Why range decides how long a stocktake takes
- All nine devices side by side
- Sled, integrated handheld or till scanner
- What RFID hardware costs
- Radio approval in Europe: what to watch for
- What belongs around the reader
- Frequently asked questions
The nine devices at a glance
Nine devices, three form factors, two price classes and one difference that decides everything: read range. It determines whether a stocktake takes an hour or half a day. Everything else — read rate, processor, display — comes second in daily shop use.
Every figure here is a manufacturer or distributor statement, checked on 26.08.2026, the Chainway figures on 31.08.2026. Each device page says which figure is documented and which is not. Prices are net prices, excluding VAT, each with a source and a date; USD amounts are deliberately not converted into euro.
Which device for which case
For a stocktake in one fashion shop the Zebra TC22R is the most obvious answer: one device instead of two, 1,300 tags per second, around 1,295 euro net. If you already own a suitable Zebra handheld, an RFD40 sled from 839 euro comes cheaper. At the till the DS9908R is the right device — and expressly not a stocktaking device. If you are looking for the way in, it is the Chainway C72 at around 942 euro net, with the same Impinj chip and the same read rate as the premium end.
One shop, nothing there yet
Zebra TC22R. One device, one battery, one cradle, and no adapter that has to match a host computer.
A Zebra handheld already in the building
RFD40 sled from 839 euro net. Have your supplier confirm first which eConnex adapter fits your device.
Speeding up the till
DS9908R. Reads barcode and RFID, and deactivates the tag and the security label in the same movement.
Only looking up and checking single items
EM45 RFID. A work phone with UHF. At 20 tags per second it was never built for a full count.
Budget decides
Chainway C72 at 942 euro net, or the C5 at 992 euro with a bigger display and the update promise. Both carry the Impinj E710 and 1,300 tags per second.
Trying it out first
Chainway R6 at 659 euro net, clamped onto an Android or iOS handset you already own. Only IP54 — and the phone is the weak point, not the reader.
What if you are buying in 2027 rather than now?
Then two devices are worth watching that are no basis for a quotation today. The Zebra TC201 replaces the TC22 and the TC27 as a platform and is technically well ahead, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 — but the RFID variant is announced for Europe only at the end of 2026, and its RFID figures so far appear at distributors rather than in an official Zebra spec sheet. The MEFERI ME87 takes a different route entirely and puts the RFID reader inside the processor. That is the most interesting technical idea in this section, but the device sits in an early access programme, has no recognisable European sales channel, and its specification sheet names no radio test standard for UHF RFID.
What to steer clear of
The Zebra TC21 and TC26 still turn up in quotations and in remaining stock. Both went end of sale on 28 February 2025, with support running to 31 March 2028. Neither ever had integrated UHF RFID; they could only do UHF through a clip-on sled. If you are looking today for an entry-level device with RFID built in, the answer is the TC22R — not a “TC21 RFID”, which never existed.
The same caution applies to marketplace listings that show a low price and a datasheet that does not match the part number. On the Chainway devices in particular, two generations are in circulation: an older one with the Impinj Indy R2000 module and a current one with the module CM710-1 based on the Impinj E710. The two are far apart on range and read rate. Have the module designation written into the order confirmation, whichever supplier you buy from.
Why range decides how long a stocktake takes
Read rate is never the bottleneck in a shop. At 200 tags per second 4,000 garments are read in 20 seconds on paper, at 1,300 tags per second in around three. The time goes somewhere else: with two metres of range you have to walk up to every single item, including the top shelves and the deep stacks. With six metres you sweep a whole rail from the aisle.
That is the difference datasheets do not show. Both devices read the same labels, both are fast enough — and the same stocktake still takes one hour with the one and three hours with the other. This is why range comes first in our tables and read rate only after it.
Nominal range is a laboratory figure
When a manufacturer quotes six, twelve or twenty-four metres, that is a measurement in the open field against a favourably aligned reference label. On a shop floor the world looks different: textiles attenuate the signal, metal rails reflect it, stacked goods shadow one another, and your own body stands between the antenna and the label. On the larger devices, two to five metres is what we would plan with. That is not a shortcoming of the devices, it is physics — and a good reason not to argue with the catalogue figure in a sales conversation.
The honest way to read a range figure is as a ranking, not as a promise. A device quoted at 30 metres will reach further than one quoted at 1.2 metres, and that ordering does hold up on the shop floor. What does not hold up is the absolute number. If a supplier tells you their handheld reads a rail at 12 metres in your shop, ask them to show you, with your goods and your labels, in your building.
Put simply: do not ask a supplier how many tags per second their device reads. Ask from what distance it reliably picks up a full clothing rail. The first number is printed in every brochure. The second one decides how you spend your Saturday morning.
What that means for a shop of 120 square metres
Take a shop with around 4,000 pieces on the floor. With a long-range handheld you walk the aisles at a normal pace, sweep each rail once from a couple of metres and finish the sales area in something like 45 minutes, with the stockroom and the fitting rooms adding the rest. With a short-range device of 1.2 metres you are effectively touching every garment: the same 4,000 pieces then take the best part of a day, and the count is more likely to miss items in stacks. Nothing about the read rate changes that. Only the distance does.
All nine devices side by side
| Device | Form factor | Range | Tags/s | Protection | Price, net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zebra RFD40 | Sled, needs a host | 6+ m | 1,300+ | IP54 | from 839 € |
| Zebra TC22R | Integrated handheld | 12.2 m* | 1,300 | IP65 | 1,295 € |
| Zebra TC201 | Mobile computer, RFID optional | 1.2 m** | 200+** | IP65/IP68 | 649–881 € |
| Zebra EM45 RFID | Smartphone form factor | 1.2 m | 20 | IP68/IP65 | 1,138 USD*** |
| Zebra DS9908R | Till scanner, corded | 45.7 cm | not stated | IP42 | from 1,080 USD*** |
| Chainway C72 | Handheld with a pistol grip | 26–30 m**** | 1,300+ | IP65 | 942 € |
| Chainway C5 | Handheld, 6-inch display | 30–33 m**** | 1,300+ | IP65 | 992 € |
| Chainway R6 | Sled for your own phone | 30 m**** | 1,000+ | IP54 | 659 € |
| MEFERI ME87 | Handheld, RFID in the processor | 2 m | 200 | IP68 | not public |
* Zebra’s European spec sheet gives 80 ft / 24.4 m for the TC22R, while the US spec sheet for the same device gives 40 ft / 12.2 m. We work with the conservative figure and explain the contradiction on the device page. ** The RFID figures for the TC201 come from distributors, not from an official Zebra spec sheet; the EU build is announced only for the end of 2026. *** No public list price exists for the EM45 RFID or the DS9908R in euro. The US dealer prices are given for orientation and are deliberately not converted, because a conversion would put a number on the page that no seller has ever quoted. Price sources: ico.de, MicroNordic, AutoID Warehouse, Atlas RFID and Barcodes Inc., all as at 08/2026. **** The Chainway ranges are open-field figures from the manufacturer, measured with large anti-metal labels. Chainway states that measuring condition itself. In a shop, with garment labels between metal rails, we work with a third to a quarter of that figure — that is our own estimate, not a manufacturer figure. Chainway prices: kaufid.de and shopid.eu, net, as at 31.08.2026.
All prices are net and exclude VAT. Business buyers elsewhere in the EU with a valid VAT ID are invoiced under the reverse-charge procedure, so the VAT is accounted for in the buyer’s own country rather than added by the seller.
Sled, integrated handheld or till scanner
A sled clips onto a handheld you already own and is the cheapest route if that handheld exists — at the cost of two batteries, two cradles and a matching adapter. An integrated handheld is a single device and easier to live with, but dearer to buy. The till scanner is not an alternative to either: it belongs at a different workplace.
The sled
The RFD40 is a pure RFID reader with its own 7,000 mAh battery. It docks onto a Zebra handheld through an eConnex adapter, or works over Bluetooth. That arrangement gives the longest range in this section. The price for it is the two-component logic: two devices to charge, manage and keep together, around 780 grams in total, and an adapter that has to match the particular host. For a business with a handful of devices that is an administrative load worth taking seriously before you buy.
The RFD40 comes in three grades. The Standard has RFID only. The Premium adds Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6, which is what makes over-the-air management possible. The Premium Plus adds an SE4100 2D imager, so the sled can read barcodes on its own. Protection is IP54, a step below the handhelds, and the working temperature range starts at minus 10 degrees.
The Chainway R6 is the same idea at the other end of the price scale: a clamp that holds a phone you already own, on Android or iOS, for 659 euro net. It is the cheapest way to put a UHF reader in someone’s hand. It is also only IP54, and a consumer handset in a busy stockroom is the part that breaks first.
The integrated handheld
The TC22R puts RFID, barcode, NFC, a camera and a touchscreen into one housing with a pistol grip: 569 grams, against around 777 grams for the combination of a TC22 and an RFD40 sled. One battery, one cradle, no adapter. The drawback is that you pay more if you would have had the handheld anyway, and that a pistol grip is awkward at the till.
The Chainway C72 and C5 sit in the same form factor at roughly two thirds of the price, with the same Impinj E710 module and the same quoted read rate. What you give up is the warranty term and the published list of standards, and both device pages say so plainly.
The till scanner
The DS9908R sits in its cradle at the till and reads barcode and RFID at around 45 centimetres. That short range is deliberate: at the till you must not pick up the item on the next rail or in the next customer’s bag. What would be a fault in a stocktaking device is the actual feature here. It also writes tags and, in the right variant, deactivates a Checkpoint security label in the same movement.
What RFID hardware costs
An RFID sled starts at around 839 euro net, an integrated handheld sits at around 1,295 euro net, an entry-class handheld at around 659 to 992 euro net, and an RFID till scanner at a little over a thousand US dollars. On top come charging, spare batteries, the host computer and adapter if you buy a sled — and in every case the labels, which are the largest running item.
The market splits into two camps on this subject: shops that quote a price and explain nothing else, and system houses that advise at length and answer the price question with “book a demo”. We think both are avoidable. So every device page here carries a price table with the dealer and the date — and next to it, what the price does not include.
What comes on top of the reader
- Labels. The largest running item. Passive UHF labels cost around 12 to 15 cents apiece in small quantities. For 4,000 pieces of legacy stock that is roughly 480 to 600 euro once, plus everything that arrives afterwards.
- Charging and a spare battery. On a sled, twice over, because the sled and the host each have their own battery.
- The host computer, if you buy a sled. An RFD40 on its own counts nothing; it needs a handheld or a phone and the matching adapter.
- Software. Without stock control an RFID reader is a device that displays numbers. Linking a number to an article, and handing the result to the till system, is the software’s job.
- Set-up and handover. A one-off. With HANGCOUNT it is around half an hour, because the devices arrive configured.
The one figure that surprises people is the label cost, because it is the only item that never stops. A shop that puts 6,000 new pieces through in a year spends something like 720 to 900 euro on labels in that year at 12 to 15 cents apiece. That is the number to hold against the saving, not the price of the handheld, which is paid once.
All prices given here are net list or dealer prices, each with a source and a date, mostly 08/2026 and 31.08.2026 for the Chainway devices. List prices are a snapshot and project prices are frequently below them. Business buyers elsewhere in the EU with a valid VAT ID are invoiced under the reverse-charge procedure. Please confirm availability and the exact configuration with the dealer before you order.
Radio approval in Europe: what to watch for
UHF RFID in Europe runs in the 865 to 868 MHz band, harmonised across the EU and the EEA through CEPT recommendation ERC/REC 70-03 and the harmonised standard ETSI EN 302 208, which permits up to 2 W ERP. No individual licence, no registration and no spectrum fee is required. Devices built for other regions, such as 902 to 928 MHz for North America, are hardware variants and may not be operated here.
One band, one frame, many regulators
UHF RFID readers in Europe operate between 865 and 868 MHz. That band is harmonised across the European Union and the European Economic Area through CEPT recommendation ERC/REC 70-03 on short range devices, and the technical basis for it is the harmonised standard ETSI EN 302 208, which permits interrogators up to 2 watt ERP in this band.
Because the band is harmonised, the same device is lawful in every EU and EEA country. What differs is the national regulator that administers the general authorisation: the Bundesnetzagentur in Germany, ARCEP in France, UKE in Poland, RDI in the Netherlands, and so on for the remaining member states. There is no point reproducing the full list here. The point is that the frame is common across the single market and only the administering authority changes with the border.
For normal operation inside that general authorisation you need no individual licence and no registration, and no spectrum fee is payable. You buy the device, you switch it on, and you keep the conformity papers. For a shop with one handheld, that is the whole of it.
The United Kingdom sits outside this. Since leaving the EU it applies its own rules, with Ofcom Interface Requirement IR 2030 for licence-exempt short range devices and UKCA marking in place of CE; if you are buying for a site in the UK, check the current position with your supplier rather than relying on the European frame described here.
The most common mistake: the wrong regional build
The frequency is a hardware property on these devices, not a menu setting. A device built for 902 to 928 MHz cannot be switched over to Europe, and that band is allocated to other services here. Such a device will work technically, which is exactly the problem, but operating it would be an unlawful use of spectrum, and it cannot lawfully be placed on the EU market in the first place.
Zebra distinguishes the builds through the SKU suffix — on the TC22R, for example,
-E8 is the European version, while -US and -FT are
North America. A device from the wrong region looks identical. On the Chainway devices the
European build is recognisable at dealers from designations such as
C72-V4/CM710 UHF ETSI. Order the EU variant explicitly, have it confirmed in
writing, and be particularly careful with marketplace listings and grey imports.
CE marking, and what to ask your supplier for
CE marking is a declaration by the manufacturer, or by the responsible economic operator, that the device meets the applicable EU rules — for radio devices above all the Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU. It is not an official test and not a quality seal. It is nonetheless the decisive basis for you as the operator, because without it the device may not be placed on the EU market at all. Ask your supplier for the EU declaration of conformity before you buy, and file it with the device papers.
That question is worth asking twice with manufacturers who publish no list of standards. On the Chainway devices, no explicit statement of ETSI EN 302 208 could be found on the product page, in the datasheet or in the manual, and the Certifications row on the Chainway product pages is empty. We say so openly on each of the three Chainway device pages. An FCC ID, which Chainway does hold, is a United States authorisation and has no bearing on European conformity; anyone offering one as proof for Europe is confusing two legal systems.
The same applies to devices from outside the established manufacturers. A specification sheet that gives the UHF band only as “860 to 960 MHz, region dependent” and names no radio test standard for RFID is no evidence of non-conformity — but it is no evidence of conformity either. That is currently the position with the MEFERI ME87, and the device page names the two documents to ask for before any purchase.
This section summarises the position as at 31.08.2026 and is no substitute for legal advice. The governing texts are the version of ETSI EN 302 208 in force and the general authorisation issued by the regulator in the country of operation. Fixed installations, such as doorway antennas at high transmit power, carry additional requirements.
What belongs around the reader
An RFID handheld on its own counts nothing. It needs labels on the goods, software that brings the number and the article together, and a way of handing the result to the till system. Among small fashion retailers only around ten per cent of deliveries currently arrive already tagged — the rest has to be labelled in the shop.
Frequently asked questions about RFID hardware
Which RFID device do I need for a stocktake in a fashion shop?
Read range decides it, not read rate. A device with six metres or more sweeps a whole rail from the aisle; with one or two metres you have to walk up to every single garment. For a single shop the Zebra TC22R is the most obvious answer, because one device, one battery and one cradle are all you have to look after. If you already own a suitable Zebra handheld, an RFD40 sled comes cheaper.
What does an RFID handheld cost?
A Zebra RFD40 Standard starts at around 839 euro net, the Premium build with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth sits at around 1,069 euro and the version with a scan engine at around 1,199 euro (ico.de, as at 08/2026). The integrated Zebra TC22R costs around 1,295 euro net at the EU distributor MicroNordic, the Chainway C72 around 942 euro net. All figures are net, excluding VAT; business buyers elsewhere in the EU with a valid VAT ID are invoiced under the reverse-charge procedure.
How many items can an RFID handheld read per second?
Zebra quotes up to 1,300 tags per second for both the RFD40 and the TC22R. On paper that puts 4,000 garments inside four seconds. In a shop the read rate is never the bottleneck: the time goes on walking the floor, on stacked goods and on the top shelves. That is why range is the figure that matters.
Can I operate a device bought in the United States here?
No. Devices built for North America work in the 902 to 928 MHz band. Europe uses 865 to 868 MHz under ETSI EN 302 208, with up to 2 W ERP. A North American device transmits outside the European allocation, and on most handhelds the band is a hardware property that cannot be switched over in a menu. Order the EU variant explicitly; on the Zebra TC22R it is the SKU suffix -E8.
Do I need a licence or a registration to run one?
No. UHF RFID in the 865 to 868 MHz band runs under a general authorisation across the EU and the EEA. You do not register the device, you do not apply for a frequency and you pay no spectrum fee, as long as the device meets the harmonised standard and carries CE marking and an EU declaration of conformity. Ask your supplier for that declaration and file it with the device papers. The United Kingdom sits outside this frame and applies its own rules.
Will the hardware work with my till system?
The devices do not talk to your till; the software in between does. HANGCOUNT hands the counted stock over to the existing till system as CSV or Excel, and the till system itself stays as it is. No programming interface is needed for that.
Can I hire RFID devices for the annual stocktake instead of buying them?
Hire offers exist mainly for barcode data capture terminals. For RFID handhelds the market is thin. Bear in mind as well that the stock has to be tagged before the first count: an RFID handheld on its own is no help if there is no label on the garment. For one count a year RFID rarely pays; for stock figures that stay right all year it does.
Do I need an RFID printer as well?
If your goods do not already arrive tagged from the supplier, yes. Among small fashion retailers only around ten per cent of deliveries currently arrive with an RFID label on them. The printer produces the label and writes the chip in the same pass. Our page on RFID printers goes through the models and the running costs.
Want to tag your own stock?
HANGCOUNT provides RFID stock control for fashion shops, boutiques and sports retailers: software from 99 euro per month per location, plus 2,900 euro once for the hardware, an RFID printer and a handheld, delivered configured and with a handover. Labels are charged as used, at around 12 cents apiece. All prices net.
Where the figures come from
Every technical figure on this page is a manufacturer or distributor statement. Where we have calculated, estimated or judged, the text says so. Where a figure is missing, it says so rather than carrying an estimate.
- Zebra Technologies, spec sheets for the RFD40, the TC2xR series, the TC201, the EM45 and the DS9908/DS9908R, European edition, retrieved 26.08.2026.
- MEFERI Technologies, ME87 Product Specification Sheet (EN), manufacturer document held by us, as at 08/2026.
- Chainway, product pages and specification tables for the C72, the C5 and the R6, chainway.net, retrieved 31.08.2026.
- Price sources, net, as at 08/2026: ico.de and swaags.de (RFD40), MicroNordic (TC22R), AutoID Warehouse (TC201), Atlas RFID (EM45 RFID), Barcodes Inc. (DS9908R).
- Price sources for the Chainway devices: kaufid.de and shopid.eu, net, as at 31.08.2026.
- ETSI EN 302 208 V3.4.1 (2023-12), radio equipment for the identification of objects in the 865–868 MHz band, up to 2 W ERP.
- CEPT recommendation ERC/REC 70-03 on short range devices, the instrument through which the 865–868 MHz band is harmonised across the EU and the EEA, retrieved 31.08.2026.
- National general authorisations are administered by the member states, for example by the Bundesnetzagentur in Germany, ARCEP in France, UKE in Poland and RDI in the Netherlands, retrieved 31.08.2026.
- Ofcom, Interface Requirement IR 2030, the United Kingdom regime for licence-exempt short range devices outside the European framework, retrieved 31.08.2026.
- GS1, Overview of UHF frequency allocations for RAIN RFID, retrieved 26.08.2026.
- Stock accuracy and the effect on sales: Beck (2018), ECR Shrinkage & On-Shelf Availability Group / GS1 UK.