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OBD2 Scanner Bluetooth – Best I have found (Android)

OBD2 Scanner Blutooth - The Vgate iCar2

There are many OBD2 scanners with Bluetooth on the market from super cheap to super expensive.

But this is the best OBD2 scanner Bluetooth I have found, for the money.


Buy on ebay

Buy the Vgate iCar2 on eBay UK here http://ebay.to/2yMs6UF

Buy the Vgate iCar2 on eBay USA here http://ebay.to/2jafIZm


How The OBD2 Scanner Works

This scanner works by connecting to the OBD (OBD2) port on your car and communicates with your Android smartphone via Bluetooth using a OBD2 app.

The Product

The Vgate iCar2 diagnostic tool is the best I have found so far. It is has been superseded by the iCar3 but the iCar2 is still available and neither has failed to read an ECU for me so far.

In short, in my experience, both have been great.

OBD2 Scanner – What Else Do You Need?

For the diagnostic tool to work you need to install an OBD2 scanner app on your phone. I highly recommend Car Scanner, it has a free version which does almost everything you can imagine and more.


The diagnostic tool plugs into your car’s OBD. This video shows how to connect the tool to your Android smart phone with Bluetooth

Once you have paired the diagnostic tool to your phone you can use an Android OBD scanner app. This video demonstrates Car Scanner. There are other free OBD scanner apps available but this is the best I have found.

While expensive ($500+) diagnostic tools for cars are usually excellent and support most if not all OBD2 vehicles, their problem, for lack of a better word, is that they are very expensive. If you just want a diagnostic tool that can read fault codes, clear fault codes and even show you live data, the iCar2, coupled with Car Scanner, will probably be enough and probably cost less than a single diagnostic test at a main dealer.


OBD2 Scanner Bluetooth – The Ones To AVOID

At the time of writing the iCar2 is around $25 dollars, which seems cheap compared to the pro level diagnostic tools but there are even cheaper OBD Bluetooth adapters available. However, my experience of these is that they do not cover as many cars as the iCar2 ie you plug them in and they can’t connect to some vehicles. They have more limited protocol support and the build quality can be very flaky.

I’d say the build quality of the iCar2 is first rate.

In my experience the Vgate iCar2 and iCar3 are the best compromise between cost and capability.

The Vgate may not have all the bells and whistles of the expensive readers, but it does all the jobs I think most people will ever need. And if the generic apps (like Car Scanner) don’t have what you need, you can get some professional features by downloading a car manufacturer specific app from the Google Play Store.

One thing to note with the Vgate Bluetooth code reader. It supports Android only.


Buy iCar2 OBD2 Scanner on ebay

UK http://ebay.to/2yMs6UF

USA http://ebay.to/2jafIZm

iCar3 can be found here.

Don’t Like Car Scanner? Need Something Vehicle Specific?

Find OBD scanner apps to work with the Vgate here https://play.google.com/store/search?q=obd&c=apps

Find performance parts on ebay




This page was last modified Jul 15, 2023 @ 8:50 pm

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