Best OBD 2 Code Scanner? Are All The Same? Let's Find Out!

if you own a vehicle sooner or later

that check engine light is going to come

on so the question is is a $15 code

scanner just as good as the one that

cost $50 well let's find out if you're

driving along when suddenly the check

engine light illuminates there are some

very affordable scan tools that can

provide you with some very helpful

diagnostic information at a price of

only $15 is this leulu brand it claims

to be a plug-and-play easy to setup

scanner it's a code reader and it's

supposed to be able to clear the codes

it can also retrieve the vehicle

identification number and that's a

pretty large OBD connector the Lulu is

made in China in order to use a scan

tool the ignition switch needs to be in

the on position without the engine

running the scan tool plugs into the

onboard diagnostics Port that's

typically located under the kick panel

or near the center console let's check

out the trouble codes on this 2003

Chevrolet Suburban and it takes a leulu

4 seconds to boot up and reach the main

screen before the scan can be initiated

and the liulu is pretty quick at

retrieving the codes in very close to

1.4 seconds you'll have to press the

button three times to display the first

of three codes at a price of $20 is this

creater brand it works with vehicles

from your 1996 a newer it claims to be

able to read live data turns off the

malfunction indicator light includes

oxygen sensor and a VAP system test and

this OBD connector just doesn't offer

much for gaining a good grip the Creator

is made in China and it takes the launch

Creator just over 4 seconds to fully

power up after 42 seconds of trying the

launch creater failed to launch and was

not able to retrieve the codes and I

made five attempts without any success

also the price at $20 the same price as

the launch creater as this autel brand

it claims to be extremely easy to use

easily determined is the cause of the

check engine light it retrieves generic

p 0 P2 P3 and new zero codes and the

autel's connector is easy to grip made

in China after I plug the AEL into the

port the artel is pretty slow to get

ready to work at 6.3 seconds after

initiating the scan the information on

the trouble codes is available in 1.8

seconds had to engage buttons three

times to retrieve the codes the same as

the Lulu scan tool at a price of $23 is

this Moto power brand it claims to have

an LCD 128x 64 pixels it has a white

backlight and a contrast adjustment it

claims to support nine protocols capable

with most vehicles from 1996 and newer

made in China and the motor power came

to life in about 2.5 seconds after it

was plugged into the OBD port and the

motor power has a DTC or diagnostic

trouble code hotkey and the codes are

displayed in 1.3 seconds with engaging a

button just one time the best yet also

the price of $23 is this anel 310 it's

an extremely popular OBD2 Scanner with

about 20,000 in sales every 30 days it

claims to be accurate fast and easy to

use we're going to test that allows you

to quickly read and clear diagnostic

trouble codes read live data and hard

memory data the anel is made in China

and the anel 310 is almost as slow as

the AEL to fully power up in very close

to 5.3 seconds once the scan was

initiated the anel 310 took the most

amount of time yet to retrieve the codes

at very close to 20 seconds I had to

engage buttons four times for the

display to show the trouble code at a

price of $36 is this Foxwell nt201 it

claims to be the easiest in the industry

complete OBD2 support with can

capability displays complete live data

stream features onscreen code

definitions made in China and the fox

wheel 2011 takes 4.4 seconds to power up

the fox will takes another 7 and 1/2

seconds to retrieve the trouble codes I

had to engage buttons on the display a

total of five times to finally have the

trouble codes displayed on the screen

however part of this is due to the

increased capability of the Foxwell to

store existing trouble codes for future

reference at a price of $40 is this

autofix om 126p retrieves generic P0 P2

P3 and u codes live data capable it can

retrieve the vehicle identification

number made in China and the autofix is

very quick and ready for action in only

2 seconds and the autofix does have a

hotkey for trouble codes and the codes

are on display in only 1 second after

engaging just one button the best yet

the second code scanner will be testing

that's made by anel is a $40 code

scanner the ad410 reads and clears

stored emissions codes pending codes and

displays code definitions O2 sensor test

is used to Monitor and adjust the air

fuel mixture it has a qvga display and a

new user interface face they claim that

it's so easy to use that you won't need

to read the manual made in China just

like the autofix the anel 410 is ready

for action in 2 seconds since there's no

hotkey for trouble codes I had to engage

the buttons three times to retrieve the

codes however the Anil processes

information very quickly and just over a

half second to retrieve the codes the

second code scanner will be testing

that's made by Fox will cost $63 and

it's the model

nt301 includes hot keys for reading and

erasing DTC and I am Readiness red

yellow and green LEDs and built-in

speaker indicate emissions monitor

status that can also catch intermittent

problems and confirm repairs during

drive cycle made in China and the

Foxwell 301 needs 4.3 seconds to fully

boot up and reach the main menu the fox

whe takes an additional 7.3 seconds to

retrieve the codes once the trouble

codes are retrieved it takes an

additional four button engagements for a

total of five for the trouble codes to

display as Ben Franklin used to say time

is money and the code scanner that boots

up and then retrieves trouble codes the

fastest is the anel 410 at 2.7 seconds

the autofix is almost as fast at 3

seconds and Moto power 3.8 seconds if

it's all about Simplicity the Moto power

and autofix both have hot keys and they

retrieve trouble codes with one push of

a button several of the other brands

require pushing a button three times

once you know the trouble codes that are

present in some instances it's very

helpful to select the freeze frame

function this will provide some great

information as to what was going on when

the trouble code was triggered I engaged

buttons four times and it took 4 seconds

to retrieve the information each screen

displays four data points so the

emissions code was triggered when the

engine was at2 5° F there's some

additional information on short-term and

long-term fuel Trim in the map sensor

the engine was at 1,630 RPM and the

vehicle was traveling at 55 mph this

probably won't help us with the

evaporative emissions code but it might

be rather useful for other codes just

like the Lulu the autel takes five

button engagements to reach the freee

Frame data the autel is a little faster

at 3.75 seconds there are four data

points per screen and there's no

buffering or lagging after engaging the

buttons and the buttons have to be

engaged seven times to reach the freeze

Frame data with the motor power 3.75

seconds to retrieve the Freeze Frame

data is the same as the AEL there are

four data points per screen and the

large font is very easy to read and five

button engagements in the Anil takes 3.4

seconds to retrieve the Freeze Frame

data the fastest yet instead of four

data points per screen the an shows six

data points however the answer requires

scrolling through each data point before

you can advance to the next screen

unfortunately the an is lagging very bad

at over 1 second reaction time with each

press of the button so about 9 seconds

to get from one screen to the next and

it takes six button Strokes to initiate

Freeze Frame data retrieval and the fox

whe is the slowest yet at 6.4 seconds to

get the codes and seven data points per

screen is the most yet to navigate to

the next screen you'll have to engage

the button seven times however the foxw

has a very fast processor and there's no

noticeable lag and the autofix pull the

trouble codes quickly at only 1.4

seconds however it takes eight button

engagements to initiate the Freeze Frame

data retrieval process what I really

like about the autofix is that it spells

everything out the downside is that

there are only three data points per

screen and you'll have to scroll through

each data point to advance to the next

screen and the answer looks a lot like

the autofix it did take a full second

longer to retrieve the Freeze Frame data

but the screens look identical the

spelled out information is really

helpful if you're not already familiar

with the acronyms and the fox wheell 301

looks a lot like the 2011 but it does

have a larger display it takes six

button strikes to initiate the Freeze

Frame data pull and the Foxwell 301 is

the slowest yet at 6.65 seconds there

are seven data points per screen and

they're all abbreviated one very nice

feature is that you can select the help

key for for additional information all

of the code scanners have an IM IM

readiness feature this will basically

let us know if this vehicle is ready for

an emissions inspection and a leulu

requires five button strikes to retrieve

the inspection Readiness information and

the information is displayed on three

screens and the information is accurate

with the AEL it takes four button

strikes to reach the inspection

Readiness screen and the information is

displayed on three different screens and

the buttons have to be engaged five

times on the Moto power for the I IM

readiness just like the liulu and the

autel the information is displayed on

three screens and the algorithm for the

anel is very similar to the motor power

and it takes five button strikes to

retrieve the IM readiness since there's

only three data points on each screen it

takes four screens to retrieve all the

data and the fox wheel has a hotkey for

I IM readiness but it does take quite a

bit longer than the previous brands at

10 seconds to retrieve the data however

everything is displayed on just one

screen it indicates that the mill or

malfunction indicator light is

illuminated two trouble codes and one

pending treble code and the autofix also

has a hot key for I am Readiness it's

about 10 times faster than a fox well at

retrieving the information that just

over 1 second just like the fox whe

everything fits on one screen while it

is subjective the screen does seem

easier on the eyes and easier to read

than the Foxwell and the anel 410 also

has a hotkey and everything looks

identical to the autofix very nice

looking display and the Foxwell 301 also

has a hotkey for I am Readiness however

it does take longer than the autofix and

the anel 410 at just over 10 seconds and

the display just doesn't seem as easy on

the eyes compared to the autofix and the

anel 410 while it is highly subjective

the autofix and the Ansel 410 re see the

best possible rating of one for ease of

quickly accessing the IM readiness

information and ease of reading the

information on the display the fox wheel

scanners also perform well with a rating

of two this 2008 Honda Civic has one

trouble code for the engine and one for

the transmission let's see if the Lulu

can find both trouble codes

unfortunately the Lulu only found the

trouble code for the engine and not the

transmission and the launch Creator is

back in Action scanning the codes on the

Honda Civic and the launch Creator

wasn't able to find default code for the

transmission and the autel is the first

scanner so far in the lineup to at the

fault code for the transmission however

it does take quite a bit of navigating

to locate both codes unfortunately the

motop power wasn't able to locate the

fault code for the transmission and only

found the engine code just like the AEL

the anel 310 successfully located both

the engine and the transmission trouble

codes for the Honda Civic however it

takes quite a bit of navigating through

the menus to retrieve the codes and the

fox whe also identified both trouble

codes however it takes quite a bit of

navigating to work your way through the

menus and the hot button on the autofix

is a very nice feature and it identified

both trouble codes quickly without a

hotkey it took quite a few more button

strikes to navigate the engine and then

the transmission codes and the algorithm

for the fox wheel 301 looks the same as

a Foxwell 2011 and it requires quite a

few keystrokes to navigate to both

trouble codes only six of the nine code

scanners were able to identify the fault

code for the transmission while it is

highly subjective the autofix requires

the least amount of navigating to locate

both trouble codes and the Lulu and

autel are not able to look up trouble

code information but the rest of the

scanners offer this capability and the

launch Creator is isn't able to launch

so we'll check out the motor power if

you type in the wrong fault code you can

use the up or down arrows to scroll

through a list of fault codes in

numerical order and the anel 310 isn't

as user friendly for inputting the

trouble code you'll have to hold down

the enter button while also selecting

the up or down arrow to move the digit

left or right compared to the motor

power the anel 310 does provide a little

more information regarding the fault

code inputting the trouble code

information into the fox wheell 2011

requires one hand or one button at a

time it provides just as much

information on each trouble code as the

anel 310 inputting the trouble code

information with the autofix is a

two-hand process however the information

is just as informative as the Foxwell

2011 the answer 410 is pretty much the

same as the autofix regarding the

process for inputting the trouble code

and the information that's provided by

the scan tool you'll only need one hand

to input the code information into the

fox wheel 301 instead of just providing

the trouble code identification

information it also provides possible

reasons for the code definitely very

useful information let's check out the

live data on a 2022 Toyota 4Runner being

able to see the live data can really be

helpful for diagnosing certain engine

problems and the anel 310 takes about 5

and 1/2 seconds to launch the live data

stream the scan tool lags pretty badly

to the up and down arrows and takes

about a second to scroll launching the

live stream data on the fox whe 2011 is

very slow at just over 32 seconds

however once the live stream is up and

going it provides seven data points per

screen and there's no noticeable lag

when scrolling up or down the screen

instead of taking 32 seconds to pull up

the live data the autofix is up and

going in only 5.8 seconds instead of

using an acronym or abbreviation the

information is spelled out only three

data points are displayed on each screen

but there's no noticeable lag with the

autofix and the answer 410 looks the

same as the autofix and it performs like

it to at 5.8 seconds to pull up the live

data stream the information displayed

for the live data stream looks identical

to the autofix just like the Foxwell

2011 the 301 is very slow at 32.7

seconds to begin providing live data the

live data screens look the same as the

Foxwell 2011 the anel 310 is the fastest

at retrieving live data however the scan

tool lags badly when trying to scroll up

or down the screen on the other hand the

autofix and ano 410 display live data

just about as quickly and her software

is much more responsive to user input

being able to see graphical

representation regarding performance of

certain sensors can be very helpful and

the anel 310 anel 410 and autofix areer

this capability both Fox wheel scan

tools the autofix and the Ana 410 offer

the ability to test oxygen sensor

performance not bad for Budget scan

tools if it's a bright and sunny day

being able to see the information on the

screen of the scanner might be a

challenge however the leulu is very easy

to see in direct sunlight and the font

size on the autel is a little smaller

but it's still pretty easy to see on a

bright and sunny day and trying to read

the information on the display of the

creater is nearly impossible as the

launch creater just doesn't offer enough

screen contrast or enough backlight and

the Moto power has a pretty large screen

and is very easy to read in direct

sunlight and the anel is pretty easy to

see but the font size is quite a bit

smaller than the Moto power and the

Foxwell 2011 is just as difficult to see

as a creater and the autofix is even

more difficult to see than the creater

and the fox as the backlight just isn't

nearly bright enough and the anel 410 is

just a little easier to see than the

autofix but more difficult to see than

the creater in the fox wheel 2011 and

the Foxwell 301 is just a little bit

better than the autofix and the anel 410

while it is highly subjective the liulu

and the Mota power are the easiest

displays to see in direct sunlight and

the Cod scanners with dark or colored

screens are by far the most difficult to

see in a bright environment I measured

the size of the screens for the code

readers and a fox whe nt301 has a larger

screen at almost 4 Square in Moto power

screen is at 3 .29 in and autofix 2.98

four of the nine scan tools are designed

to be updated unfortunately I wasn't

able to update the launch creater it

blew right past the option to change to

English the screen on the launch Creator

wasn't able to power up during the

attempted update downloading the

software for the autofix was just as

quick as a Foxwell it already has the

latest software update you will need a

Windows computer and it takes about 5

minutes to download the software to

update the Foxwell code scanners both

the Foxwell 2011 and 301 already had the

latest software installed when it comes

to installing software on computers I

highly recommend using caution but

that's a topic for another day I was not

able to update the ano and there's no

software to be downloaded for updating

it at a future date in case you're

wondering all the code scanners were

able to clear the trouble codes maybe

you've watched this entire video and

you're still not sure which code scanner

to select the code readers are organized

from least expensive to most expensive

as you might expect more expensive code

scanners are typically more capable a

good starting point is to figure out how

much capability you're looking for in a

scanner if you need a code scanner for

mostly reading trouble codes and then

turning off the check engine light the

motor power and the anel 310 seem like a

great choice for around $23 if you want

to begin the troubleshooting process the

four most expensive Brands offer the

most capability while the launch Creator

claims to offer a lot of capability it

failed to read codes on two out of three

vehicles Beyond capability how

efficiently the scan tool performs is

another factor to consider the motor

power retrieves trouble codes quickly

with minimal button engagements the anel

310 offers a little more capability than

the motor power however it processes

information a lot slower and requires

more button engagements to navigate

throughout the various menus the answer

410 seems very similar to the autofix

however the autofix has a hotkey that

comes in handy and it can be updated

online while I wasn't able to update the

anel 410 finally the fox wheel 301 is a

little bit slow to retrieve codes

however it is the only code scanner that

is capable of providing possible causes

for trouble codes I'd like to know if

you found this review helpful on code

scanners and if you'd like to see a

follow-up review on more expensive

scanners or the type that connect to

your phone through a Bluetooth

connection all the videos in this

channel including this one are viewers

suggested so if you have a video idea I

hope you'll take time to leave a comment

thanks so much for watching please take

care and I'll look forward to next time