Does the chip itself change the read distance?
Barely, and never enough to guide a purchase. Read distance follows the antenna, which is part of the tag rather than the chip. Two tags with the same antenna and different chips read at very similar distances, which is why range claims attached to a chip reference are misleading.
Distance belongs to the antenna
Coupling depends on how much of the reader field passes through the tag coil, which depends on the area that coil encloses. A larger antenna intercepts more field and reads from further away.
The chip sits at the ends of that coil. It consumes the energy the antenna collects, and it does not collect any itself.
The practical consequence is stark: a card sized tag with a basic chip reads considerably further than a small sticker with an advanced one.
The small effect the chip does have
Chips differ slightly in how little energy they need to operate, and a chip that boots on less energy will work marginally further out.
They also carry an internal capacitance that participates in tuning the antenna, so a tag is designed around a specific chip rather than being indifferent to it.
Both effects are real and both are small next to a change in antenna dimensions. If you double the linear size of a tag you will notice. If you change the chip and keep the antenna, you probably will not.
Why listings say otherwise
Because a chip reference is a concrete thing to advertise and an antenna dimension is not usually published.
A listing claiming a read distance is describing a complete tag, antenna included, tested under conditions it does not state. Attributing that figure to the chip is a category error that has become a convention.
The figures themselves also assume a generous reader. Distances quoted for tags are rarely measured with a phone, and a phone is what your visitors will use.
Specifying for distance
Ask for the antenna dimensions, or at minimum the overall tag size, and treat that as the number that matters.
Size the tag to the largest the object allows, since range gained this way is free once the object is chosen.
And test with a phone rather than trusting a specification, because the reader is half the equation and the specification only describes one half.
If the required distance is beyond what a large tag achieves with a phone, the answer is a different technology rather than a different chip.
Frequently asked questions
So a cheaper chip reads just as far?
In the same tag, essentially yes. The difference between chips is small enough to be lost in the variation between phones and surfaces.
Why do some tags claim ten centimetres?
Because that figure describes the technology's design envelope with a generous reader, not what a phone achieves. Treat quoted distances as upper bounds under conditions you will not meet.
Does more memory reduce read distance?
No. Memory size and coupling are unrelated, and a higher capacity chip in the same antenna reads the same.
Can I improve range without changing the tag?
Remove the phone case, find the antenna precisely, and move the tag off any conductive surface. Those three cost nothing and account for most complaints.