UWB BEACONS

Spatial awareness for your mobile apps

Add inch-precise location context to your mobile applications. Deliver magical experiences at the right place and the right time.

Buy UWB Development Kit for $99

iPhone 11 and newer

Google Pixel Pro with UWB

How does it work?

Ultra Wideband (UWB) Beacons are small, battery powered radio transmitters that are attached to walls or things.

Nearby devices that are UWB-enabled and have compatible apps connect to these beacons and compute precise distance and angle. Apps use spatial awareness data to deliver breakthrough experiences, such as location-based services, way-finding, contactless payments and more.

How does it work technically?

In addition to Bluetooth, modern smartphones and wearables transmit Ultra Wideband radio signals (often called UWB). They connect to compatible UWB beacons and tags and compute time-of-flight and inch-precise distance and direction.

Intelligent tiny computers

Each UWB beacon is a tiny, battery-powered computer. It has several radio modules such as BLE or UWB. It runs intelligent firmware that periodically transmits low-power BLE signals. It can run on small batteries for years.

Inch-precise ranging with UWB

Nearby devices with a compatible chip, e.g. the latest iPhone with the U1 or second-gen UWB chip, Android phones with UWB, pick up these BLE signals. Compatible apps on the phone start UWB ranging and estimate precise distance between the devices. Multiple antennas in the phone help to compute the angle of signals.

Building Apps with the SDK

The Estimote SDK for iOS and Android allows you to create applications that react to the proximity of many UWB beacons and tags at once. Our API lets you access both distance and angle of the nearby beacons. Telemetry data including battery status or motion is also available. On iOS ranging with UWB beacons is also possible in the background when app is closed.

What are the applications?

UWB beacons provide spatial awareness to the nearby phones. Mobile apps integrated with our SDK detect and range with beacons to provide indoor way-finding or automatically trigger actions when people enter  geofenced areas defined by installed beacons.

Passenger experience

Easily navigate through airports, receive time and location based notifications, get special offers.

Read more
Example mobile apps:

Magical museum moments

Let the paintings and sculptures tell their own stories with contextual audio and video. Navigate through museum and find hidden artwork.

Read more
Example mobile apps:

Smart Home

Give your very own home awareness of your location and behavior patterns. Simply take out your phone and it will suggest actions to do around you.

Example mobile apps:

How are these apps created?

Build spatially aware apps simply by integrating our SDK to your mobile app project. The whole process is effortless and we provide both an iOS demo app as well as a blank project with the iOS/Android SDK integrated to get started immediately.

This is so awesome! How can I get started?

Start with our UWB Dev Kit. The kit comes with three beacons in the box, a companion iOS demo app in the App Store, evaluation license and an access to our iOS and Android SDK on GitHub. We will also answer your technical questions on our developer forum.

UWB Development Kit

3 iconic UWB Beacons

iOS Demo app

Access to iOS/Android SDK and evaluation license

Access to API documentation

Support via Community Forum

Buy UWB Development Kit for $99

We ship daily anywhere in the world

Just keep scrolling and enjoy!

What's inside the box?

Oh - you will love these new toys! We prepared everything you need to be successful building the next-gen spatially aware apps.

Iconic Estimote Beacons - now with UWB

Designed for rapid and convenient prototyping of next-gen mobile applications, it is spatially aware in its environment.

4 Anchor Beacons

Buy an evaluation access to SpaceTimeOS for 6 months and we will send you a set of sensors to create a digital twin of your location.

UWB radio

The latest generation of Ultra Wideband chip compatible with Fira and U1 chip from Apple.

NFC radio

You can simply tap the beacon to get its identifier or open a corresponding app.

Real time clock (RTC)

Used for advanced security or time-based power management and battery optimization.

Inertial sensor (IMU)

Often used just for testing and development, or to optimize battery for moveable objects.

Bluetooth

For low-power BLE beaconing as well as secure hand-shake to turn on UWB radio.

Ambient light sensor

Often used to simplify deployment or to optimize battery life outside of opening hours.

2 x AA batteries

With enough juice for 2 years of sleep or 4,000 minutes of active UWB ranging.

LED light

Will blink to indicate ranging short distance to help testing and development.

Silicon enclosure

Highly durable for indoor and outdoor deployments and 100% recyclable.

Vibrant colors

Mango or caramel for those who seek attention or coconut to blend into a white wall.

Smart adhesive

Stick it to the wall and after 45 min, it will create a permanent offline-online bridge.

Mounting screw hole

For permanent deployment aesthetics, screw the beacon through a hidden channel.

Silicone enclosure

Made from mahogany, oak, maple and walnut wood will match any style of your interior.

Vibrant colors

Gentle coating to preserve the natural wood strengthens not only durability, but provides a unique aroma experience.

Weight

Each unit is on average. 120g (4,2 ounces) in a normal humidity conditions.

Dimensions

80 mm (3,2 in) height, 100 mm (3,9 in) width and 60 mm (2,4 in) deep; will match perfectly all your corners.

Inch-level precise UWB ranging example

Mobile apps can range with nearby UWB beacons. For example, you can instantly change content when the phone is entering different zones defined by beacons. It's an awesome experience that is reliable and precise.

Ready to innovate and test the new tech?

The Estimote UWB Beacons Dev Kit provides everything you need to learn about this new IoT technology. Quickly prototype your ideas and innovate with new applications.

Buy the UWB Development Kit now!

Be the first to innovate and build the next-generation apps for the physical world!
You've always wanted to change the world with software - now is your time.

Buy UWB Development Kit for $99

We ship daily anywhere in the world

Do you need advanced indoor positioning?

Try our SpaceTimeOS which will provide XY position for hundreds of your assets. Fully programmable in JavaScript.

Learn more about SpaceTimeOS Evaluation Kit

Do you have more questions?

It's a new technology and it's OK to learn more before trying it out. We are here to help, and below are answers to the most popular questions from our community of innovators.

UWB SDK

Ordering and shipping

UWB Beacons

Are Estimote UWB beacons compatible with the U1 and second-gen UWB chip and the Apple Nearby Interaction API?

Yes, our UWB beacons are equipped with the latest Ultra Wideband (UWB) chipset created by an Apple-certified manufacturer and compatible with UWB-enabled products (iPhones 11, 12, 13, 14, 15), as well as the publicly available Nearby Interaction API.

When will the Estimote UWB Beacons Dev Kit be shipped?

Dev Kits are ready to ship today. They typically arrive 1-3 days after they are ordered, depending on the region. We will charge your credit card once they have shipped and you will receive an email confirmation.

What is the battery life of a UWB beacon?

It really depends on how often phones connect to the beacons and “range” to compute the distance. Two AA batteries in the beacon can support 4,000 ranging sessions. Ranging twice a day gives the beacon one year of battery life.

Is it compatible with the Android?

Yes, our UWB beacons are following FiRa UWB communication standard which is also implemented on Android 12 with UWB-enabled devices (Google Pixel 6 Pro, 7 Pro; Samsung Galaxy Note S20, S21+, S22+, Z Fold 2, 3, 4). Android Core UWB API is currently available via Jetpack Library.

Do you ship internationally?

We ship anywhere in the world directly from our European facility. It might take a bit longer to deliver to regions where customs procedures are more complex (up to 10 days). Note that additional taxes or custom fees might apply as well.

What is the range of a UWB beacon?

The effective range depends both on the beacons and their orientation as well as device receiving the signals, eg. a smartphone. The average range for reliable ranging between our UWB beacon and iPhone is approx. 10 meters. But the signal can be also picked up from up to 30m as well.

What is the positioning precision?

For UWB tags which are in motion the accuracy will be approx. 10cm (4 inches). For BLE tags it can be 1 to 3 meters positioning precision depending on the room size.

Do you ship internationally?

Devices are manufactures in Europe where we ship from world-wide. Please note customs fees might and delays might apply in some regions.

How long does a battery last?

Inside each Beacon and Sticker is a non-rechargeable lithium battery. A beacon’s lifetime depends on its configuration. At default factory settings, Estimote Beacons last for about 2.5 - 3 years.

What is the coverage area of 4 anchors?

The line-of-sight range of UWB Anchors is approx. 20m, so the maximum coverage are 4 anchors can map is approx. 400m2. For largers space another set of achors should be installed.

How long does a battery last?

Inside each Beacon and Sticker is a non-rechargeable lithium battery. A beacon’s lifetime depends on its configuration. At default factory settings, Estimote Beacons last for about 2.5 - 3 years.

How long does a battery last?

Inside each Beacon and Sticker is a non-rechargeable lithium battery. A beacon’s lifetime depends on its configuration. At default factory settings, Estimote Beacons last for about 2.5 - 3 years.

Contact us if you have other questions

Contact our sales team

At Estimote we have 10 years of experience powering the largest commercial IoT deployments with millions of sensors shipped and installed.

Our team is always more than happy to engage in new PoC's, pilots and at-scale projects. Feel free to shoot us a note letting us know what you're working on and how we can help!

Contact us via e-mail

We typically respond to every email within 24 hours.