New MC9190-Z RFID Reader – Motorola

Recently Motorola Solutions released a new version of their old faithful RFID handheld device, the MC9190-Z.

For someone needing RFID reader support as well as all the mobile computer goodness from the regular MC9190, this looks to be a very good option.

As with previous versions, the large RFID antenna is permanently attached to the device. Motorola claims that the new device has a longer read range than previous generations – up to 30 ft. for passive Gen2 tags.

Personally, I always think it would be nice to be able to remove the bulky antenna when not needing to read RFID, but I must confess that RFID in the Moto devices does work better than other companies’ products where the RFID is more of a separate entity.

The MC9190-Z comes with a nice choice of barcode scanner options as well – 1D laser and extended range scanners as well as the usual 2D imager. There is also a special scanner for direct part marked barcodes.

All of the usual MC9091 goodness is included and the RFID version happily uses all the existing accessories – cradles, batteries, etc.

We use an older generation version of the Motorola RFID reader for checking the labels that we print for our customers. Ours is an MC9060 version that (thanks to firmware updates over the years) is still going strong.

I have no doubt that the MC9190-Z is a very solid device for RFID scan intensive applications. If you are looking for something simpler and lower in cost, you might want to check out my review of the Tharo reader. We’ve sold a bunch of these to customers who need to verify the RFID in their labels before shipping.

Do you use RFID for your labeling? What readers do you use? How can we help make your labeling/RFID better?