Side by Side Comparison of: Aardvark vs DBPOWER

This is an amazing product. I like it a lot easy to use. It does freeze up but I'm thinking it was internet issues on my end we were having problems the day I used this. Time will tell.

The inspection camera is well made and works flawlessly. After a year of use I misplaced the battery cover. Without it my camera was useless. Circuit Specialists responded quickly with a replacement cover free of charge and I am back in operation. I will look for the opportunity to give them further business.

Works nicely with my Motorola android. Clear color picture. LED's provided plenty light inspecting inside 4" black water drain line on RV waste system. The 40 gal waste tank required some extra light. I lowered several feet of weather proof rope lights into the black interior of the tank, successful inspection. Very satisfied with image quality and moisture resistance. In normal lighting conditions, clear images at surprising distances, read a wall clock at 8'

Could not beat this for the price. Bring up the views on my smart phone and it is amazing. Wish it had a way to re-orient the picture. Can do that with the phone easily but on the laptop it is rather harder.
Buy, you won't regret it. Oh, take the batteries out when storing it, it may be months before you use it again. But you go "Ahhhh" when you do reuse it.

Got this today and got it working on my iPhone 5 in under 10 minutes. WiFi connection very simple!!
The resolution is great and I like the extra long cable. Cable flexes and stays in position.
Camera head is very small and the six LEDS are adjustable.
The handheld unit also has a very bright LED flashlight.
Looks well made and has a decent carrying case, so let's see how long it functions...

Edit-> after an hour of reliable use yesterday I found that operating the leds at only the necessary brightness for the application helps with the heat produced but even at full brightness for an hour it suffered no issues and did not melt plastic duct work so no worries, I did receive an email from the seller which shows a seller that stands behind their product which means a lot to me.

Mine was basically dead on arrival but showed some intermittent life, I would've flat out returned it but I'm a troubleshooter by nature so I cracked open the plastic around the Usb plug and found a bad solder joint on the red wire. (it was not soldered to the board) so after a seven minute repair, about six of that waiting for my soldering iron to get to temp and a small amount of solder it is now working as it should. As far as quality (wire aside its fixed so no worries) the picture is ok nothing to write the president about, the camera itself gets pretty hot when the leds are on so I'm concerned about potential thermal damage if used for prolonged periods we shall see on that. Would I buy this again? Doubtful, I'd probably buy a better quality one but since I'm only using this to look inside of a piece of equipment and retrieve a bolt from inside a cooling fan it should do ok.

What an amazing gadget! I had been needing one of these boroscopes for quite a while.
I needed one at work and ran around for about an hour trying to find one, then called the public works department and had a work order set up for having one "that day". Those guys didn't show up until monday after I resolved my problem blind.
I got lucky that day going in blind to fix a problem that was 3 meters in a 25mm hole.
The boroscope came with 3 attachments. A magnet, and a hook for retrieving objects, and 3rd, a 45 degree rear view mirror.
The close up detail of the camera was very good, as what it's meant for.
Within a minute after opening the product I plugged it into my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and then went to the app store and got the app to view with the camera. There were a varitey of functions that controlled brightness, contrast and hue.
It's waterproof, so I'm sure I'll end up with the camera submerged at some point in the future.
I'm very happy to have this tool that will be extremely handy the next time I use it.

The major issue you'll have with this is the software - I would recommend you search up the "Open Camera" app on Android if your phone doesn't have native USB/OTG Camera support as many other "free" apps have tons obnoxious ads. If you have iOS I can't recommend an app.

Also depending on your phone, it may auto detect the camera when plugged in and recommend to open your installed camera apps, but then once the Camera is unplugged it won't auto detect again till you restart your phone. YMMV but it's your phone's issue, not the Camera. I had to push a few updates to my phone till the issue was fixed.

PC has the same issue - the native drivers are fine, but you'll need a piece of software with capture capability. Many digital camera manufacturer software packages that come with camera (think Sony, Canon, etc) have capability to USB capture straight to the PC, and those tools should work.

This thing works as well (or better) than my $600 snap-on BK6000 digital borescope. The "Camera Snake" isn't as rigid as the Snap-On's, but that can be rectified by taping a coat hanger, fish tape, or other semi-rigid metal or plastic line onto it and fishing it in. For $20, this thing is basically a consumable and provides a TON of value when doing almost anything where you need to get your eyeball into a tiny space or behind somewhere.

I use this guy for looking into old house walls and cavities to find hidden plumbing, trace wires/cables, and find out what troubles I'm going to have before I start demolition. I also use it when working on engines to see what the status is of pistons, valves, etc.

For $20 if you do housework, at some point you'll use this and be glad you had it. Just get it and chuck it in the toolbox.

I picked this up to help me work on my car. It's a must have. It is easy to use and plugs right into the usb port. It has an adjustable LED light in the front. I put my car back together with a ripped oil pan gasket and had I had this item I would have been able to inspect this before putting some parts back together. It has so many uses. I used it to inspect the inside of an engine cylinder to see if the valves made contact with the piston. Fold the cable like a "V" and it can point straight up to see the valves. I used it to find true top dead center on my cylinder too.

We put this camera through some tough tests just trying to see inside a wall behind the bathtub. First, the camera is USB. You plug it into your computer, turn on the camera (on your computer) and that's it. You can see everything now.
Sharpness: 1-3"
Brightness: Adjustable and goes from no light to super brite.
Cable: I got the 5M and it was long enough to poke through the wall and move around. It is flimsy cable as in not stiff. It will follow any contour it finds. Also it is hard to keep upright if you have to see the top of something, it might be on its side due to the cable twisting around. I attached a piece of coat hanger just to the end of the camera and used it to maneuver through the insulation in the wall and then under the tub. Looking for the drain connection. My guiding skills were not perfect and I will have to try again.
The camera showed me everything under the tub in a blurred range and when I came up close to anything it was clear and sharp picture. Didn't find the drain. I was too far over to the left.
I used this down the drain, into the water. This is where it being a flimsy, not stiff, cable works to your advantage. The camera went into the drain and the water and followed it for a couple of inches until it hit something we couldn't identify due to the water making everything blurry. You won't get a sharp picture if you stick this in water. The camera is fine and no interior water damage to it by doing so.
I am glad it works so well for so little money. I can think of a million more uses for it working on our old car. Sometimes you just cant see where the leaks are and need a third eye. I plan on leaving the coat wire attached to the camera base and wrapping it around the cable about four feet to make it a little bit more stiff.
Definitely as advertised.
EDIT: Used this again twice. Once inside the Transmission of a Toyota T-100. It was clear as a bell! We found nothing out of the ordinary inside and thus that helped us diagnose the issue. Used it again in a hole in the ceiling to see why water was coming through. Found the drip quickly and now we know how to fix it. I need to always carry a metal coat hanger with me to make the cord stiffer for when looking in places that I need it to extend straight for more than a few inches.

A little lag because of the wifi connection but overall great. Control of light brightness very useful. Camera cable is stiff but bendable. It help identify the cause of a house breaker that constantly trip. The cause was a collapse 1/2" NPT tube under the house that crimp the hot and neutral wire. Camera wire was introduce in a 1/2" hole with 2 cables in it no problem.

This is a super fun little tool. The image comes through great, the snake itself stays fairly rigid and overall it seems to be decently made. I use this for my pest control business. I've been using it maybe every other day since I relieved it a couple months ago. A few things to mention- the connection via wifi is finicky at best. Once connected it's fine but I have to mess around with the right order of operations for my phone to pickup the signal. #patience. Next time I might opt for one with a built in lcd instead. Also, the focal point of the camera is very close. Maybe 6-8 inches. It makes searching larger interior cavities slightly difficult because everything is very out of focus until you're right on top of it. The lighted camera tip is super slick though! For the price it's a great tool especially considering the cost of the garbage they're selling at depot. Comes with a nice little case and a cd rom, that I've never used, as well as some little grabber hooks and such, also never used.

Tried it, seems to work. I have not had time to use it in a real job yet.

Works well on iphone. Clear picture, easy photo transfer. May benefit from optional shorter inspection cable.

Mine works really well. Gets decent imaging that is focused and links right up with my iPhone and iPad no problems. I really like the stiffness and flexibility of the shaft as it makes steering the camera easier. The lights on the tip are plenty bright and also adjustable (although I've always had it turned all the way up).

The camera comes with a mini CD containing the viewer software and a PDF with instructions. The adjustable LED illumination dial is a nice touch. The LEDs provide cool white light, and the endoscope pretty flawlessly delivers good quality video. I could easily see myself toting it around in my toolbox to have a look at otherwise unreachable spots, and even though it's not intended for examining the body, if I ever feel a cavity in the back of my mouth this camera lets me take a close look to investigate. The software allows recording of videos or taking snapshots in case you want to share your explorations with others.

As with many technology products I've used, this one provides NO website link where you might go for updated drivers or software. For the software this is particularly unfortunate because if you try running the camera viewing software directly from the read-only disc, you'll get an error about its inability to write a configuration file; even trying to close it normally will cause this error to pop up and prevent you from closing the program other than by End Process in Task Manager. Not a big deal (you can just run it off a USB stick or your hard drive) but might be frustrating for some who don't know how to kill a process by force.

Other than this minor issue, a great deal on a versatile borescope camera!

LED's get pretty hot pretty quickly with this thing. It works, it has a relatively short range of vision, other reviewers have gone into much more detail than I will, so I don't need to bother repeating what they said. Read their long reviews about what software to use (VLC) & what to expect from this & what NOT to expect and you will be happy.
I don't use it for dunking in sewer pipes or water etc., that will make it fail. I used it for inspecting inside walls, by taping it to a coat hanger or a electricians cable fishing rod. Holding that & a computer is a bit of a juggling act, but it works out OK.

I have never been given anything for free from Amazon as apparently I am neither a prodigious enough reviewer, purchaser or just not funny enough to be worth anyone wanting to give me anything, so my reviews are as honest as you get....

The image quality is good on close up items. I could see a disturbing amount of detail on my skin when looking at my hand from about 2 inches away. The image quality isn't great on anything further than 3 inches away. That appears to be due to the fixed focus which means the picture is only clear for objects at a set distance from the camera. This distance appears to be between 1 and 3 inches. Anything further than that appears out of focus. The shape and color of objects 10 ft away can still be identified, just don't expect to be able to make out finer details.

The light on the end is reasonably bright and can see in complete darkness for a distance of about 5 feet, although that can be less or greater depending on how large of a space is being illuminated.

Steering the cable to look at what you want is a bit more difficult than expected when it's inside a wall. I straightened a coat hanger and taped the camera to the end of that to enable the camera to be steered somewhat. Keeping track of how the camera is oriented is challenging as well, meaning it can be difficult to tell which way the camera is pointing and which way on the image is up/down/left/right.

As mentioned by other reviewers, the end of the camera gets hot after operating for some time, although not dangerously so.

I didn't verify how waterproof the camera was. I also didn't use the attachments.

The camera worked fine with a MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.10. I used Photo Booth to stream the video.

For the price, the quality is about what I expected, and it's doing what I need it to do.

Image is 1,920 K pixels, illumination intensity is controlled by a thumbwheel on the USB connector, and it works with Linux out of the box. lsusb reports the device as a Silicon Motion, Inc. - Taiwan (formerly Feiya Technology Corp.) Endoscope camera. v4l2-ctl reports 1600 x 1200 pixels, YUYV format, SRGB colorspace, and for video capture capability it reports 3 frames per second. The image is noticeably jumpy when you move it. The other drawback is the fixed focus. Keeping in mind the price, it seems okay. I am sorry we don't make things like this in the USA.

Meets my expectations. Like other reviews said, the "mirror" and other attachments are a bit wonky to attach. The unit gets hot over time if the LEDs are cranked up, and needs a rest to cool down. Definitely worth the money, though.

“it is what it is”

I am giving the endoscope a three star due to the fact I could not keep it linked to my android phone. Very well could be a phone issue. I was able to return it with no issues. Fast shipping, well made product.

I do crawlspace work. I have not had enough field work with this as I would like to in order to give a full honest review, but so far in the few times I have tried to use the product, it has not met my expectations. The quality of the photos are grainy and not clear. The lens does not seem to have a decent focus zone and the cord is stiff enough to be a burden and not sturdy enough to perform certain tasks. The wifi feature is buggy and doesn't​ seem to be the best idea. So far, it has not helped be a bit. Not asking for a refund in hopes that I find actual use out of this thing.

Not bad in a pinch, but not really a professional tool. Of course it is very inexpensive, so easy to try and see if you like it.

For the money, this is certainly ok for some kinds of occasional inspections. The main drawback for work in larger cavities is the illumination, which is not sufficient for any distance beyond a few centimeters. Ok for smaller cavities or where there is some ambient light.

Okay, this device isn't going to win any awards. If you know anything about camera technology, you know that ultra-cheap CMOS sensors are basically garbage. As long as you are aware that the quality is terrible and are willing to give it a go anyway, be sure you have several devices on hand (i.e. laptops, tablets, and smartphones) because there are no device drivers included on the CD. At all. This endoscope will either work or it won't on any given device. The lights are powered by USB, so those will come on even if the device isn't recognized by the OS. My Windows 7 laptop saw the device as an unrecognized "USB 2.0 Camera" but since there are no downloadable drivers anywhere for this device, that eliminated my laptop as an option. Looks like I'm not alone though - lots of people seem to have better luck with smartphones/tablets according to the reviews. Fortunately, there is a USB to microUSB converter included and I successfully connected it to my Android smartphone. I found a well rated USB camera app without annoying ads on the Google Play store and voila! The camera started working. The cheap CMOS sensor is about as good as I'd expect it to be: Very yellow, dark, blurry as hell, shaky, and upside-down. That last part is a problem with endoscopes in general - you get used to confusing orientations after a while but it would be nice if someone would make a 360-ish endoscope with a digital gyroscope embedded and a few controls.

Minus one star because the manufacturer (DBPOWER) didn't supply PC drivers either on the CD or their mostly dysfunctional website. I would rather use my laptop than have to hold my fishtape, this endoscope, and my smartphone at the same time. The last time I checked, I hadn't grown a third arm. Yet.

Minus 1/2 star for not offering multiple camera sensor options. As stated earlier, the CMOS sensor chips used in this device are garbage. The CMOS sensor works but the image is not crisp. It'll probably get the job done though. Quite a few people who bought this probably would have been willing to spend a few more bucks to get a slightly better sensor package.

Minus another 1/2 star for lying to consumers. The instructions clearly state that this device is water resistant, NOT waterproof as the title here on Amazon states. There is a huge difference between water resistant and waterproof when it comes to electronic equipment. Endoscopes tend to find themselves in drains, where water is a thing.

Pro tip: Use electrical tape to secure the endoscope to fishtape. That will give it the rigidity and control you will need to get it through and around difficult areas.

I have revised my rating based upon a replacement unit sent to me by the seller.
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Updated review:

The new USB borescope that I received works, and is a very handy device especially when you consider the relatively low cost. Image quality is impressive, and the LEDs put out a perfect amount of light.

I tried the new scope out with two different apps (Scopecam and UsbWebCamera) with my 2nd gen Nexus 7. Both apps were able to recognize the device immediately when I plugged it in to the tablet. However, both apps threw "new device connected" modals whenever I changed the device settings like the image resolution. I don't know if this is a limitation of the applications or the scope. I could have selected the "always use this app with this device" option, but I chose not to since I'm not satisfied with either of those apps.

I dislike all of the circuitry being housed along with the USB connector. It feels like the connector wants to pull itself out, so you have to leave the tablet on a surface that can support the tablet + circuitry.

I'm upgrading my review from 1 star to 3 stars. I would have bumped it to 4 stars except for the concerns about the connector. Be forewarned that you may need to request a replacement device from the seller. That said, they were prompt and proactive about providing the replacement.

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My original review:

This one is heading back...

Try and try as I might, I couldn't get the camera on the scope to work correctly. I tried using:
* two different OTG adapters (theirs and one I knew that worked)
* three different applications (CameraFi, Scopecam, and UsbWebCamera)
* two different tablets (Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 and a 2nd gen Nexus 7 - I have used this with other OTG devices)

But none of those combinations would work. The LED lights would come on, but the apps wouldn't recognize the camera.

When I plugged the camera into a Windows 10 system, I got a pop-up notification that said there was a problem with the device and that Windows couldn't recognize it. Other reviews have indicated that Windows automatically recognized their cameras when plugged in.

On the flip-side, I thought the LEDs were bright and I really liked the ability to adjust the brightness through the built-in wheel.

I need a scope camera that can work with a tablet, and the one I received is incapable of doing that. So this will get sent back for a refund.

I've wanted one of these for quite some time. I can't tell you how many times I've needed a snake and a camera in the wall or somewhere I can't see. I also have a koi pond with a cave and I've always been curious as to whats going on in there.

Pros:
It's a snake
Comes with attachments to grab, remove, and pick up stuff
Easy to use on computer or table (Android)
Light can be bright
Waterproof

Cons:
Biggest Downer is the camera isn't clear - hard to tell what your looking at!
Attachments get in way of camera
Light is bright! Can blur out what you're looking at

Bottom line:
I wanted this and I wanted this to be what I needed, I really did. The camera needs to be clearer so you can see what you are looking at. The attachments are a great idea, but they block the camera (I have no idea how you'd fix that). Its a pretty neat product, just wish I could see with it.

While the camera does work, it is not as advertised. First of all, it's actual diameter (measured with a machinist's digital caliper) is 8.81 mm (0.347"), a bit bigger than the claimed 8 mm (5/16"); this is critical to many people. Second, the delivered camera is nowhere near to 2 Mpix or HD. In fact, the photos are 640 by 426, with three colors, so the number of pixels is 649*426*3= 817,920 pixels. The photos are 35-Kbyte JPEGs, so there is much compression. The best-focus distance is about 1.5", and beyond that the camera is a pinhole camera with a 1mm pinhole. (The one-page User Manual that came with the camera says that focal range is 3 to 8 cm.) This is blurry, but workable for many things. The images are left-right reversed, which is confusing, and should have been fixed in the electronics. Being on a Mac, I did not use the included software; instead I used Photo Booth, which comes with the Mac. Waterproofing not tested.

Plugged it in, worked with the included software.
DEFINITELY NOT a 2mp sensor. regular 0.3mp VGA sensor that lets you stretch the image to a larger HD size. 16:9 mode crops the image even smaller.
Focus range is from 1" to 5".
Capsule is 9.9mm not 8.5mm
Image is clear enough to read small print, LEDs are bright and the auto exposure doesn't blow out the image.
For simple projects this will get the job done.

not too enthusiatic, but then not expensive....

Camera does work... sort of...

First off, it is incredibly flimsy. Like a shoelace. For snaking down a drain, inside a cylinder head it will work fine. For anything in walls, ceilings, any vertical or horizontal work, forget it.

Second, it comes with a micro USB adapter that is 100% useless. Doesn't register camera being plugged in to android phone. I purchased an adapter that allowed the camera to work. Did not try on a laptop/ desktop computer.

Third, instructions are terrible. Had to figure out there is a thumb wheel for light intensity on the side of the plug. Nowhere does it tell you what app to download to use this on your phone.

Lastly, had to download 6 different apps before I could find a working one. Scopecam was the only one that would work, and that was literally 50% of the time.

Does it work? Well partially, there were no instructions, I plugged it into my phone and it did not work. I tried it on my laptop and it worked, it is not as clear as the description would have you to believe. I finally found an APP for usb camera to download on my phone and got it to work but am not impressed. The adapter for the USB to Mini USB is a very loose fit and you have to hold it and move it around to get it to work. Also the USB end on the camera cable is heavy for it's size which makes it unstable when plugged into a phone. I guess if i can find a short USB to Mini USB cable to use in place of the crappy little adapter that came with it if will be usable. My recommendation at this time would be if you are going to use it with a laptop without the adapter it is ok for the money, but is very awkward to use with a phone as is. Oh and i have tried it with three different Galaxy phones so it is not the plug on the phone that is the issue.

Resolution is pretty bad and I expected that from a 2MP camera. It reminds me of a digital camera I owned 15+ years ago. However that's not what I'm concerned about. The camera gets quite HOT. Not sure if it's safe to keep plugged in for extended period of time. It went up to 137+ degrees F in less than 3 minutes..

At $20 you certainly aren't overpaying. The LEDS are marginal at best, and the computer had difficulty recognizing it and staying connected. It is difficult to get it to point where you want it to look.

After a few more attempts to use it it went in the trash. Lots of problems keeping it plugged into the computer and getting the computer to recognize it. Light output and camera clarity are poor.

I just purchased this product and after receive it and try it I feel very dissapointed, the main problem is the USB connector seem too short, I'm not sure if all products are like this or I just got a defective one, I'll be returning this item and get a replacement, once I receive the replacement I will update my review.I'm surprised no one has complained about this, this makes me think I just got a defective one. If that's the case I will review the product properly when I have a functional device, tried it on 2 Laptops and none read it, another computer read it but I have to wiggle it for it to be recognized, I have attached the pictures when I compare it to a standard USB thumb drive so you can see how short this is and how it affect it when you plug it on your USB port. DBPOWER 2Million Pixels 5M USB Waterproof HD 6LED Borescope Endoscope Inspection Tube Camera

Looks like a fairly well made product, but connecting to wifi was unreliable and not user-friendly. Worked two times out of ten tries. I like it when things work the first time. Circuit Specialists made the return easy. I'd like to find one that hard wires to the iphone.

Unfortunately this item had to be returned. It would not sync with my wifi to my iPhone. It kept giving me error messages, even connecting it manually. It may have been a defective unit, either way, I was left disappointed.

the syncing with wifi sucks on this thing. when i open the app it will not find the camera so i have to manually go into wifi settings and find it then click on it then wait for a pop up that says "no internet connection do you want to continue", so i click yes and then i have to launch the app again and then click on the camera picture. then if you loose the connection you have to do it all over again. i definitely regret buying this POS!

Keeps freezing saying can't connect no customer support

Does not work on Galaxy S3,S4. Constantly disconnects. Aggravating, impossible to use. Even tried 2 different versions of software. Same thing.
Great concept but totally unuseable. I'm returning it.
Tried to call them, not available on any extension. BTW, their policy is "no returns" due to special shipping requirements.

Garbage. Did not work at all out of the box. Did not work on the Samsung Android which is why I bought it. Turns out it does not work on PC either. I looked online and found a large number of negative reviews saying the same thing I am saying here. Did not see any of these reviews on Amazon when I purchased it. This is very disappointing. Only reason I gave a 1 is because it won't let me leave anything worse than 1.

Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. It worked for a second and doesn't work anymore. I tried two computers with Windows 10. It worked for a second and I can't seem to duplicate the magic again. I use "magic"loosely as the picture was blurry at best. The software it comes with is glitchy too. I can't close it down after I open it. In fact, there are three programs opened right now from yesterday on my computer.

Picture quality is less than expected. The bigger problem is that the USB dongle falls out of the USB port on every computer that I have and looses the connection with the application. The little black box is too heave for the USB port and is what falls out. It should really have a 2" to 3" pigtail coming out of the black box with the USB male connector after that. Using tape to tape the device to your USB port might help as a crutch. Eventually just stopped working. RETURNED.

False advertising. This is not 2 million pixels. I returned the item. It was a 640x480 image. 640*480 = 307,200 pixels. So 0.3 megapixels. If it were advertised as a VGA camera, I would have given it a much higher rating. But deliberate false advertising of the product deserves receiving the lowest rating, regardless of the price of the item.

The seller in somehow trying to include the Red-Green-Blue sub-pixels into the pixel count. You don't count sub-pixels in the pixel count. The combination of a RGB sub-pixel is what make a pixel. But even if you were to count sub-pixels, it would be 6408480*3 = 921,600 sub-pixels So it's only 0.9 sub-pixels, which is still lower than the advertised 2million pixels.

Bad quality control right out of the box the camera lens was blocked by some type of round rubber ring that was also blocking two of the led lights all these components are sealed up inside the camera and are not accessible to fix also the mirror was scratched. Garbage.