iBeacon was announced by Apple in June 2013. Since then, a number of companies developed iBeacon compatible emitter devices. We've collated the most-comprehensive overview of commercially available iBeacon hardware. Our analysis includes:
-
StickNFind: www.sticknfind.com
-
Estimote: http://estimote.com
-
RedBearLabs: http://redbearlab.com/ibeacon
-
Qualcomm Gimbal: www.gimbal.com
There are also BLE4.0 beacon devices which only support proprietary protocols. They report to work with iOS devices but they do not utilse Apple’s iBeacon stack. This currently includes:
-
GeLo: www.gelosite.com
There's also devices like Tile (www.thetileapp.com) but the feature set is designed for consumer object tracking and devices are not available until summer 2014.
For this post, we’re skipping BLE companion device options. If interested, here are some of our favorite companion devices:
-
BLEdunio - a small, Arduino compatable BLE device: http://bleduino.cc
-
Radius Networks - iBeacon dev kits & MacBeacon: www.radiusnetworks.com
-
Raspberry Pi BLE - a custom hack for iBeacon on Raspberry Pi: www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/29/feature_diy_apple_ibeacons/
Side by side comparison
Note this comparison is as at 15 January 2014. Specifications can and will change.
|
StickNFind |
Estimote |
RedBearLabs |
KST |
Qualcomm |
GeLo |
|
|
Device |
3 year beacon |
Estimote beacon |
Beacon B1 |
Particle |
Gimbal beacon |
Beacon |
|
Availability |
now |
Developer edition now, production unknown |
now |
now |
Developer edition now, production unknown |
Developer edition now, production unknown |
|
Retail cost each |
$25.00 US (1) |
$33.00 US (2) |
$30.00 US (3) |
$60.00 US |
unknown |
$35.00 US (4) |
|
Hardware |
||||||
|
iBeacon protocol supported |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
no |
|
Other beacon protocol supported |
S-beacon |
n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
Gimbal |
GeLo |
|
Form factor |
24mm x 24mm x 7mm |
55mm x 39mm x 18mm |
25mm x 70mm x 18.3mm |
65mm x 35mm x 35 mm |
unknown |
76mm x 45mm x 19mm |
|
Housing type |
Plastic, waterproof |
Silicon, waterproof casing |
Plastic, unknown if weather resistant |
Plastic, unknown if weather resistant |
Plastic, weather resistant |
Plastic, weather resistant |
|
Adhesive backing |
yes |
yes |
no |
no |
unknown |
no |
|
Operating temp range |
unknown |
unknown |
unknown |
-10c to 65c |
unknown |
unknown |
|
Power type |
battery |
battery |
battery |
battery |
battery |
battery |
|
Reported operating life |
3 years |
2 years |
1 year |
6 months |
unknown |
2 years |
|
Radio range |
50 meters |
70 meters |
50 meters |
50 meters |
50 meters |
10 meters |
|
Certifications |
FCC, CE, AS4268 |
FCC pending |
none reported |
FCC, IC |
none reported |
none reported |
|
Chipset |
nRF51822 |
nRF51822 |
CC2540 |
nRF51822 |
unknown |
unknown |
|
Battery type |
CR 2032 |
CR 2450 |
2 x AAA |
CR 2032 |
CR 2032 |
2 x AAA |
|
Battery capacity |
240 mAh |
640 mAh |
~1000 mAh |
240 mAh |
240 mAh |
~1000 mAh |
|
Software |
||||||
|
Cloud management platform |
yes |
no |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
|
Firmware updatable |
yes, over the air |
yes, over the air |
yes, over the air |
yes, over the air |
yes, over the air |
unknown |
|
Firmware update secured |
yes, encryption challenge |
unknown |
no, button activated |
unknown |
yes |
unknown |
|
Support encrypted payloads |
yes, via s-beacon |
no |
no |
no |
yes |
unknown |
|
Configurable radio output power |
yes |
no |
yes |
no |
no |
unknown |
|
Configurable measured power (RSSI) |
yes |
yes |
yes |
no |
yes |
unknown |
|
Reportable battery life |
yes |
yes |
yes |
unknown |
yes |
unknown |
|
Default beacon broadcast rate |
1000 ms |
200 ms |
250 ms |
unknown |
unknown |
unknown |
|
Configurable iBeacon advertising interval |
yes |
no |
yes |
no |
unknown |
No |
|
Configurable UUID |
yes |
yes (5) |
yes |
yes |
unknown |
No |
|
Configurable MajorID, MinorID |
yes |
yes (5) |
yes |
yes |
unknown |
No |
|
Sample app |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes |
no |
yes |
|
iOS SDK |
yes |
yes |
no |
no |
yes |
yes |
|
Android SDK |
yes |
yes |
no |
no |
yes |
no |
|
Developer SDK documentation |
basic |
mature |
none |
none |
mature |
basic |
Notes:
- (1) in packs of two
- (2) in packs of three
- (3) in packs of three
- (4) in packs of two
- (5) only available for devices running Estimote firmware version 1.9+
What to know more?
Signup for our newsletter or contact us
Posted by Callum Murphy
