Near Field Communication (NFC) can be quite useful when moving data between two android devices. Whether you intend to transfer photos, video, files or just make a payment, NFC makes it super easy for you. But just how does it work? This article takes you through the nooks and crannies of NFC and educates you on how to best use it.

How does NFC work?

The name of this technology says a lot about how it works. When you have two NFC-enabled devices, they can communicate with each other, as well as other devices close by. The communication bit occurs via radio frequencies. In mobile devices, NFC works as a data-sharing or file-sharing tool. It was introduced after Google released its Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, which also brought about Android Beam. Both NFC and Android Beam allow devices to swap files to each other very quickly. NFC-capable android handsets can also read and write to programmable NFC tags.

Does your phone have NFC?

Obviously, not all Android smartphones and tablets are NFC-capable. To check whether your device has this capacity, open the back plate and look for any small prints or other clues indicating so. For some devices, the label ‘Near Field Communication’ is printed on the battery pack. Other devices (Sony Xperia handsets) have an N-Mark to show that the device has this capacity.Alternatively, you can forget all the hardware fiddling and just navigate to your settings menu, then tap ‘More’ and scroll down. If available, you should see the NFC and Android Beam options.

Share data through NFC

To start sharing data through NFC, you first have to activate this feature on both the involved handsets. Navigate to Settings>More and then tap on NFC toggle to activate. This done, the Android Beam function also activates automatically. If this doesn’t happen, just manually turn it on and select Yes. Your phone’s NFC works hand in hand with Android Beam. So if Android Beam is off, this impacts the sharing capacity.Follow the following steps to move data between the devices:
  • Make sure both devices are neither locked nor asleep.
  • Open the content or files to be shared.
  • Place both devices back-to-back against each other.
  • You get both haptic and audio feedback once the two devices detect each other.
  • The sender’s screen will shrink into a thumbnail and provide a ‘Touch to beam’ prompt at the top.
  • Touch to begin beaming. You’ll get an audio notification when beaming starts.
  • Don’t separate the phones till beaming has completed. You get audio feedback when the content or file has been successfully beamed.
NFC allows you to share multiple types of data, including but not limited to apps, web content and information, YouTube videos, contact information, and photos. In addition to files, you might also be able to use NFC tags to easily configure your device’s settings, as well as make mobile payments.
Image Source: Digital Trends

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What's my model number?

There are several ways to locate your model number:

Option 1
On your device, go to Settings, then "About device" and scroll down to "Model number"
Option 2
Often times you can view the model number inside the device, by removing the battery
Option 3
Using Samsung's model/serial number location tool

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