OBDLink MX Bluetooth OBD-II Automotive Scan Tool for Android and Windows

I bought this scan tool based solely off of a response of the owner of the company to an individual that wrote what I perceived to be a bogus review. After reading the owners response, I could feel his passion for his product and his dedication to providing the highest quality product he could make. That being said I bought this from Amazon and it arrived two days later. I wanted to use this scan tool with my Acer A500 Android Tablet. In the meantime before it arrived I went to the google store and bought Torque Pro, Dash Command, and OBD Link, the factory software. I loaded all of the software onto the tablet and before I had received the OBD Link MX. I noticed right off a problem with an intermittent wifi connection but couldn't quite figure out what was wrong with the wifi. In the meantime the scan tool arrived and I set about pairing it via bluetooth with my tablet. I also noticed that Amazon had shipped the package in an envelope that crushed the package. it was also missing the CD from the package. I plugged the OBD Link MX into my 1998 K2500 Suburban and immediately the data was not coming through to the Acer A500. It was late at night, I was tired, so I quit fooling around with it. I did though, shoot off a very short, terse, email to the OBD Link customer service, thinking I would get a response a week later if that. I was prepared to send it back to Amazon, but, by the time I was ready to crawl into bed, lo and behold there was an email reply from the OBD Link Customer Service and I thought to myself, WOW, I have never had an email response so quick. I read it and it took me a couple of days before I could try out the suggestions. It took three more email exchanges over a week to finally resolve the issue. The slowness of figuring out the problem was on my end. It took me a bit of time to finally get out to my Suburban and try something new that Customer service had suggested. I honestly think that if I had been on top of things, all of these email exchanges could have been done in less than a couple of hours. The OBD Link Customer Service was just that fast. They also sent me a replacement CD that I received just a couple of days later. The solution was that the Torque Pro software was ruining the bluetooth and wifi connections. Dash Command didn't work either. But you can bet your bottom dollar that after I uninstalled the Torque Pro software the OBD Link software worked perfectly. Bottom Line is that a measure of a company is not how they perform when things go well, it is inevitably judged how they perform when there is a problem. I give the OBD Link MX an A+ rating, but more importantly I give the OBD Link MX Customer Service an A+++++ rating. They were just that good. I really like companies like this. Unfortunately there aren't many like them that are so customer oriented.

This thing worked the first time. It paired with my Android and gave useful information. I was impressed by the quality of the data stream and the application that reads it. I also used another app, Torque, that provides more options. I bought a wireless charging mount for my Android and was looking forward to watching the internals of the car as I made my boring commute. The next day, it paired and then it seemed to drop. It tried to pair again by giving a different pairing code. While it was doing this, my dashboard was going all Apollo 13 on me. I hadn't even left the garage, but the computer thought the anti-slip was slipping, that the tires were low on air, and that there was something wrong with the engine. All the while, my Android (in its new cradle) was notifying me every 10 seconds that something wants to pair by bluetooth. It was quite an exciting time. I unplugged the thing, which quieted the apocalypse that had become my peaceful cabin. Left only were the traction control (DSC) light and check-engine light. After a few days, these timed out. A couple weeks later, I got brave and tried it again. Same assault on my peaceful place, except that when I unplugged it the only thing left was the tire inflation indicator. I checked the tires and they were fine, but the light took a couple days to turn off. So now it's past the Amazon return time. I have suggested to the manufacturer that they should send me a new one. I'll update this review if they are responsive. Update: They were pretty responsive and say they are sending me a new unit. I'll keep this post updated. Update: Got a new unit and it worked fine. For a while. Turns out that the Nexus 7 head unit that I was using couldn't figure out how to turn off bluetooth when it was sleeping so I'd wake up with a dead battery every morning. I swapped it out with a wired, USB OBD device. Update: Got rid of the Nexus 7 and put in a Joying Android head unit. It turns all the way off instead of just going to sleep, so the bluetooth turns off with it. I put the Scantool MX back in and everything works really well.

Ironically my 2002 Lotus Esprit has TWO OBDII ports, one in the front passenger foot well, and the other in the boot by the battery. Unfortunately, Lotus is very finicky and NOTHING that I have found thus far, such as the ScanGuage II or other generic OBDII readers works with it. I plugged this into the rear port (since the one under the seat is hanging on by a couple wires (they're kind of jenky built). Pushed the button and connected it to my Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Then I fired up the OBDLink software that you get from Google's Play store (for free) and was REALLY impressed by the polish of it. After configuring it to use ISO9141, I was getting readings and seeing error codes and all kinds of data!!!! I'm elated! Realizing that the tablet is way too big to mount to the windshield, I decided I'd try the same process with my HTC Evo 4G phone. Same thing, worked like a champ (meaning I can pair the OBDLink MX to at least TWO devices or more). AWESOME! Two things to note are that this has an auto-off mode so that it will not drain your battery, yet you can basically leave it connected and forget about it. The other is that it is way faster at sending data than the generic ones or any other one that I'm aware of for that matter. So your readings on the virtual guages should be much more real-time. I fired up Dash Commander and Torque from the market and both worked excellent as well. DC seems way more powerful than I need, but it also has the nicest default interface for the guages. The other two require a bit more pre-customizing work. I haven't tried the included CD for PC yet, but the program looks great from the screen shots I've seen.

ScanTool OBDLink MX Bluetooth (henceforth OBDL/BT) is a pretty good OBDII reader, but falls far short of being a "pro" caliber device. First, hardware DOES NOT FULLY POWER DOWN when ignition is all off. POWER & BT LEDS continue to flash even days after pulling the key from the ignition. Many other customers also report this. The OBDL/BT can't be connected to in this state, but it sure as heck isn't 100% off. If your car battery is already marginal, this continual power drain could tip the scales against a cold start. Far better to pull the OBDL/BT after killing the engine. BT connectivity has been decent. I can't say that BT security is any better than any other one-time-numeric code authentication, but it works. Haven't tested it for man-in-the-middle BT hijack/intercept. On occasion, my OBDL/BT has auto-magically RESET its BT Authentication (no, I didn't fat-finger the black Reset button; these RESETs have spuriously occurred mid-BT-session), requiring a manual BT re-authentication, which has worked everytime, on the first try. Should a spurious BT Disconnect occur, if I wait a bit, the OBDL/BT automatically attempts to reconnect. Nice. (TIP FOR ANDROID SMARTPHONE USERS: Don't let your BT stack get gummed up with too many remembered BT authentications. There are Android BT design flaws that might force you to manually delete ALL BT data (in Settings | Apps | System Apps) or, depending on Android version, Factory Reset your smartphone, to clear the BT stack so that you will reliably connect to your OBDL/BT device. Manually/pre-emptively cleanup all old BT synchs before the BT stack becomes overflowed.) Software wise, there are several ongoing issues, as yet to be satisfactorily resolved. Custom dashboards are eye pleasing and relatively useful, BUT... Dashboards only record and remember Min/Max values when the Dashboard is displayed. Don't display the Dash and no Min-s/Max-es are ever recorded for a session. Switch away from Dash display, say to an OBDL Monitor display OR a DashCam app, and OBDL/BT Min-s/Max-es are zeroed out. This is a serious design flaw. Min/Max should ALWAYS be recorded/remembered, per BT session, once a Dashboard using Min/Max has been setup. Zero them out only when I say so, not just because the Dashboard isn't displayed. App fails to display an user reset-able Trip/FullGasTank Average Mileage, only instaneous and Vehicle Lifetime Average Mileage are displayable, even when the Toyota on-board computer holds and displays an user reset-able Trip/FGT Average Mileage value. App doesn't allow dashboarding of Engine Misfires. Other OBDL owners want this feature, not just me. OBDL/BT & app can't see ANY O2 sensors on 2010 Toyota Corolla and can't execute a Freeze Frame snapshot (these features are always RED-X-ed out). App also fails to fully decode too many Toyota specific real-time codes on 2010 Corolla, so I have no useful idea what those cryptically labled values displayed in Monitor $06 are supposed to represent. Toyota's are not niche market-share vehicles. Certainly not Corolla's. So, these rough edges are as surprising as they are unwelcomed. It would also be very nice if the app could display graphs of several user selected saved Monitor $06 Reports, rather than having to port those reports to a computer. These issues are annoyances, hindering an otherwise impressive OBDII device. If/when ScanTool fixes ALL of these problems, the OBDL/BT will become a 5-* product, in my opinion. But not until then.

I had difficulty deciding between the Bluedriver, and the OBDLink. After testing both, I hope the review below may help you. The ability to use iOS is nice, however, the OBDLink coupled with a $63 Android phablet worked better in my situation, as described below. The layout of the included OBDLink software is excellent. I can easily see many live parameters on one screen, without jumping through hoops and dozens of clicks to display them. With the Bluedriver, I was disappointed with the layout of the real time live data screen. It is nice to have the option to show the graphs on the main page along with the data, however, it was laid out in a semi-confusing manner, hard to tell at a glance which line the data referred to, with no obvious visual breaks between lines. As a mechanic, I prefer the capability to show many items at once on the page, with the field description at the left, and the data on the right. When the graphs always included, it really limits how many fields can be displayed at once. Some of the parameter descriptions were vague, and hard to identify when on the data viewing screen, although they were clearly labeled on the parameter selection screen. It was especially hard to identify which O2 data I was looking at, and which sensor it was for. Being limited to the Bluedriver software was a large reason I selected the OBDLink device. I like the functionality and layout of the ODBLink software, and open compatibility nature of their setup. There are some custom written programs that work with ELM 327 that really do much more than either OBDLink or Bluedriver by themselves, and the ability to utilize those programs, like Forscan, was huge for me. I can get access to seemingly every parameter on my 2012 F350 with the OBDLink and Forscan. Really a dizzying array of data. Since I am not set on using iOS, this OBDLink was a great solution. One thing that would make these devices even better would be bi-directional control.

I've used cheapo bluetooth adapters before, but this one blows them out of the water. Yes, the generic bluetooth devices work, they provide data, but this one from Scan Tool provides information at (according to my Torque) at around 40-50 PIDs/second, at least five times that of the old adapter. This means the sheer amount of data collected has increased fivefold. For me, it isn't really that big of a deal; I only use it to measure and watch my MPGs. From what I've seen, I've only just begun to scratch the surface of the device. What is, however, is the self-power off after five minutes of inactivity. Other readers will continue to drain power until they are removed. Also, you'll need to have a phone or laptop with OBD reading software. For android I've been using Torque to monitor everything, but there is included software to connect to the device on your laptop. ScanTool also has software of its own for Android. I don't have an apple product, so I don't know or have answers for you there. Update Jan 11, 2014: After using it for a month, I have to note that the reader MUST be plugged in tightly, otherwise odd errors will appear on your car. I had my tach stop working (on ignition) due to a slightly loose adapter. After I pushed it in to make sure it was in good contact, that problem went away. Update Apr 14, 2014: It still works just as well as day one. Since then, I've installed a tablet in my car and used Torque's "desktop" mode to monitor my mileage, fuel consumption, and other datapoints. Update Jan 14, 2015: A little over a year later, this guy works without fault. Depending on the location of the OBD port and the drivers of the car, this guy might get kicked and disconnected. Its been pretty durable and has been run over once by a car without breaking. I'd rather not replace it.... but its nice to know. Also, even after getting run over, its been fine and works well.

Yes, you can get a similar product for about a tenth of the price and it may work just fine. I did just that a few years back and was happily parroting my advice to anyone who would listen - "buy one of those $10 units and $5 for Torque, that's all you need". I had one in each one of my three cars, gave one to each of my kids and had one with an old android phone I'd loan out to my neighbors who always seem to know I'm the guy to ask about their check engine light. Since then, most of them have stopped working, are difficult to connect and just a general pain. When I recently found a brand new $10 generic one I had lost track of and it was dead out of the package - I had had ENOUGH. Ordered this thing and Amazon brought it the same day. The darn thing WORKS. Connects right up, goes to sleep when the ignition is off so it wont drain your battery if you leave it plugged in. Works fine with Torque (OBDLinks app is pretty decent too) and one of the nice things for me is it can access the CAN network for Ford and GMs that the cheapies can't. Immediately recognized my 2002 Ford, and was able to pull the VIN. Currently $80 here - that's 30 minutes worth of labor at most dealers these days. Sure, you might be able to save $70 and get a generic one but there is no comparison in my book. Should have bought this years ago.

I've had a few different OBD-II scanners over the last few years. First I tried a wired Actron CP9125 PocketScan Code Reader I picked up from an auto parts store. While it worked, it was a little too basic for my needs and it was difficult to navigate with only two buttons. I bought a PLX Devices Kiwi Bluetooth Wireless Trip Computer and OBDII Scanner , which is much nicer, but I stopped using it both because they seem to have abandoned support after IOS 7, and because it developed serious problems maintaining a wifi link (a common problem in their forums). Considering the price, I was very very disappointed with it. But since I work on cars for fun (both my own and friends), I wanted a reliable scanner. So, here we are. I purchased the ScanTool 426101 OBDLink MX Bluetooth OBD-II scanner a few months ago, and have been very happy. I feel like it's lived up to my expectations, so it was worth the money to me. If you haven't spent much time looking at OBD-II scanners, please keep in mind this model (426101) only works with Android. Apple devices won't work with this scanner because Apple limits access to bluetooth (probably licensing?) so it won't connect. You'll need an android phone or tablet to use this device. It works with Windows too. From what I've read, the iPhone/IOS compatible ScanTool Wifi device is NOT reliable (as of this writing) and I wouldn't recommend it. But this model (426101) gets consistently good reviews for reliability, and my experience matches that. This scanner isn't cheap, but it's complete. It offers basic OBD-II functionality, plus access to SW-CAN and MS-CAN bus information. This means it can give you a lot more state information about various systems on your car, if your car supports it. If you google "SW-CAN MS-CAN ELM327 FORSCAN" you can build a device with similar functionality for probably half the cost of this item. So why would you buy this item instead of doing it yourself? a. Time. It will take at least an hour to disassemble the knockoff product, solder on a switch/wires, and reassemble. If there's a mistake, do it all over again. b. Reliability. If the cheaper product blows up or wears out, they're not going to send me a new one. c. You'll have to flip a toggle switch on each read to get all the data. Not a big deal, but it's still an issue. d. Support/Software. This comes with free software that's actually pretty good. But their software verifies you're using their hardware, so you can't use it with a knockoff product. The last reason, which is less important, but still worth mentioning, is that this particular device is faster than everything else I've used. I connects quickly, and it updates data quickly. This scanner also works with Torque and Dash Command without issues. According to their forums, it also works with FORSCAN (some amazing looking and free diagnostic software for Ford vehicles) but I haven't tried it yet. I presume it works with other software without problems, but those are the two I own, they're popular, and they work well. The only question for me at this point is, will it be reliable? I thought the PLX was a pretty awesome device for $100 and I hoped to use it for 10+ years, but it died pretty quickly so it was wasted money. If this ScanTool device lasts for a while, I'll be really really happy with it. If I see any issues I'll come back and update this review.

今まで2000円くらいの安い商品を使っていましたが、こちらの商品に変更して表示速度が早くなりました。（Torque Pro使用） 私のは他の方が言っているような開けられた形跡はありませんでした。 中に入っているOBDLink MXを固定する紙が少し破けてましたが、海を越えてきたので破けたのかなと思います。 ソフトが日本語にならないのでよくわかりませんでした。 もちろん説明書も英語なので注意してください。 OBDLink MX本体のランプが最初はPowerとBluetoothのランプしか点灯しないから不安になりました。 左下のスイッチを結構長く押しているとBluetoothの点滅速度が変わり、スマホで検出できました。 Bluetooth登録後、Torque ProでBluetoothデバイスを選択すると数値が表示されました。 ちなみに車両はKE系CX-5です。

Excelente producto cumple mis espectativas lo he probado con vehículos asiáticos y americanos y conecta muy bien y los diagnósticos son correctos y estables Con aplicaciones de terceros

Le produit fait bien lit bien les codes. Est ce qu'il lit tous les codes ? Évidemment ça je ne sais pas. En attendant il est bien compatible avec un chevrolet Captiva, une Chevrolet Kalos, une fiât 500 et une clio 4 donc c'est niquel. Je partage également mon expérience, cette chose avait besoin d'une mise à jour... Hélas cette dernière a planté en cours de route... Dans ces cas là ne supprimez pas l'app. Dans l'app allez dans réglage et ensuite Firmware Upgrade. Et a partir de la vous recommencez la mise à jour. Bonne journée 👍

I brought this model because it is advertised as the fastest OBD2 adaptor and I wanted to mainly use it as another set of instruments (boost gauge, inlet air temp etc) on my turbo diesel. I am very happy with it, it hooks up quickly to my phone or pad and works well with Torque Pro. I know that I would have been very frustrated if I had brought one of the cheaper but slower ones. I am currently ordering another for my nephew as he is fascinated with it and has just got himself a turbo diesel for his 21st.

Have been using for years. Works good for ForScan.