Which Android scanners work with SAP Business One? Zebra, Newland, keyboard wedge and the phone camera

Three ways a scanner delivers a barcode.

As a keyboard (keyboard wedge). The scanner types the code into whatever field has the cursor and presses Enter. Every scanner can do this, and it works in every app, including the B1 client on a laptop. The drawbacks: the right field has to have focus, the on-screen keyboard tends to pop up, and the app doesn't know which kind of barcode it got.

As a message to the app (intent or broadcast). Android scanners from Zebra, Newland, Honeywell and others can hand the code straight to the app, together with the barcode type. The field doesn't need focus, the keyboard stays closed, and a GS1 code arrives with its separators intact. This is what a scanner app should use when it can.

Through the vendor's SDK. A software library from the scanner maker, compiled into the app. It gives the most control over the scan engine and ties the app to that one brand. Fine for a company that standardises on one supplier; a dead end for everyone else.

Zebra: DataWedge.

Every Zebra Android handheld (the TC and MC series) ships with DataWedge, a service that decides what happens with a scan. You make a profile per app and choose the output: keystrokes or an intent. A well-built scanner app creates its own DataWedge profile through DataWedge's API the first time it starts, so there is nothing to configure on the device. Older DataWedge versions work too; the profile just has to be set up slightly differently.

Newland.

Newland's Android handhelds broadcast every scan to the apps on the device, as long as the scanner settings are set to output through the API rather than as a keyboard. That is one setting on the device, once, and it is the only thing you have to do by hand: Newland doesn't document a way for an app to switch it itself. Left on keyboard output, a Newland works like any keyboard-wedge scanner.

Honeywell, Datalogic, Unitech, Point Mobile and the rest.

Every Android scanner works as a keyboard, out of the box. Most of these brands also have an intent mode somewhere in their scanner settings; whether an app supports that brand's specific message is a question for the app maker. The practical test is simple: open the app, scan a label, see whether the code lands on the right line with the keyboard closed. If it does, the brand is fine.

No scanner? The phone camera.

A modern Android phone decodes EAN-13, Code 128, GS1-128, DataMatrix and QR codes with its camera, in the browser or in an app. It needs a secure connection (HTTPS) to be allowed to use the camera, and it is slower than a real scan engine: a second or two to focus instead of an instant beep. For stock lookup, an occasional count or a receipt of ten lines that is fine. For three hundred picks a day it is not.

The cheap middle way is a Bluetooth scanner or a ring scanner paired with the phone as a keyboard. The phone runs the app, the scanner does the scanning, and the whole set costs less than one rugged handheld.

What to look for when you buy.

• A 2D imager, not a 1D laser. A laser reads only the striped codes. An imager reads those plus GS1-128 on pallets, DataMatrix on small parts and QR codes, and it reads them crooked and from a screen.
• Android 8 or newer, and a maker that promises security updates for a few years. Zebra, Honeywell and Newland publish how long each model is supported.
• A physical scan trigger that works with gloves, and a screen you can read in daylight at the dock.
• A replaceable battery if the device is used all day, and a drop rating if it will be dropped. It will be dropped.
• Good wifi roaming. A steel warehouse with three access points is where cheap phones lose the connection between racks. Rugged handhelds are built for it.
• Price. A rugged Android handheld costs from several hundred euros to well over a thousand; a consumer phone in a case under a few hundred. Buy the handheld for the people who scan all day and the phone for the people who scan sometimes.

How KScan handles scanners.

KScan connects Zebra (through DataWedge, with a profile it creates itself) and Newland directly. Any other Android scanner works as a keyboard, and KScan catches those scans even when no field has focus, with the on-screen keyboard kept closed. On a phone without a scan engine it scans with the camera, including GS1 codes. The licence is per device, so a cheap phone counts the same as a rugged scanner. All about KScan.