A definitive list of NFC phones

Available today...

Phones available to purchase today:

Others...

• Chinese phone manufacturer Hedy is supplying SWP-compliant NFC handsets for China Unicom's NFC roll out, using an NFC controller manufactured by Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics.
• Shanghai Simcom is also manufacturing NFC handsets using Shanghai Fudan components. The EVDO phones are marketed under the East Com brand name.

Coming soon...

Phones that have been announced but are not yet shipping or widely available:

Others...

• Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system will offer NFC in 2012, the company's Andy Lees has said. An earlier report, citing unidentified sources, said Microsoft plans to include mobile payment technology in its phone OS as part of an effort to narrow Google's lead in handset software. The OS giant has also announced there will be support for NFC in Windows 8 and a leaked corporate video hints at NFC being a major feature of Windows Phone 8.
• HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have announced that they will all be implementing Isis' NFC and technology standards.
• Chinese handset manufacturer ZTE, now the world's fourth largest mobile phone maker, has announced it is to include NFC functionality in its Android-based QSC6270 platform devices as well as a number of more entry-level feature phones from the second quarter of 2011. The company has deals with chip suppliers NXP and Inside Secure.
• Multiple additional Android 2.3 'Gingerbread' and Android 4 'Ice Cream Sandwich'-based NFC phones are expected to become available now the latest versions of the operating system incorporate NFC support. However, it is important to understand that simply running Android 2.3+ does not mean a handset comes with NFC; special hardware is required as well.
• Nokia has confirmed that all its future Symbian smartphones will support NFC from 2011.

Rumoured...

Phones NFC World has heard about, but are not yet announced or confirmed:

Others...

• Chinese handset maker Tianyu has built a controller from MStar into an Android phone carrying its K-Touch brand name. The phone supports China UnionPay's NFC specification, which is based on the use of a microSD card as the secure element on a phone that includes a built-in NFC antenna and controller chip.
• Fly, a leading player in the Russian and eastern European handset markets, is preparing an NFC featurephone for a UK customer which plans to offer the device to business customers for time and attendance and other B2B applications from February 2012. The handset will use an NFC controller from Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer Mstar.
• Apple's iPhone — persistent rumours and patent applications strongly indicate an NFC-enabled iPhone is on the way, though there has been no official announcement either way.
• Chinese manufacturer Yulong is believed to have NFC phones in the works.
• NXP's NFC hardware has been designed into more than 90 different devices at a number of major handset manufacturers, according to the company's CEO.

Limited availability...

Phones which are being used by developers or in trials, but are not generally available:

Museum pieces

NFC phones that are no longer available, or that were announced but never saw the light of day:

Others

• Kyocera demonstrated prototype NFC handsets built with technology from Inside Contactless at the CTIA Wireless tradeshow in 2007 and 2008.

Phones that don't have NFC

The media covering mobile handsets is very competitive so rumours, speculation and unverified assumptions fly around the world's gadget blogs and forums all day long. Here we address the more persistent NFC misunderstandings...

• Windows Phone 7.5 Mango does not have NFC support.
• Many Japanese phones boast Osaifu Ketai ("mobile wallet") support, but this based on Sony's Felica technology which is not the same as NFC. Japan's mobile network operators are, however, moving to NFC and phones are expected to appear on the Japanese market in 2012 that support both NFC and Osaifu Ketai. We'll include these phones in this list as they arrive.
• The Kyocera Echo doesn't have NFC hardware, the company has confirmed to NFC World, despite the technology getting a mention for a while on an official spec page.
• Apple's iPhone. The iPhone does not yet have NFC, and Apple has so far made no official statement either way about the technology's inclusion in future products.
• The Samsung Galaxy S II only comes with NFC in some variants and territories. Most S IIs are not equipped with NFC hardware and availability varies by carrier and country, so buyers are advised to double check with their supplier before purchasing.
• Android 2.3+ phones. NFC requires special hardware in the handset, so although Android supports NFC from version 2.3 onwards, it does not follow that all phones running this and later versions of the Google operating system have NFC capabilities. Indeed, most don't.