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A borescope can make all kinds of car and home repairs easier by allowing you to see into places that might otherwise be inaccessible. Consisting of a small camera and a light mounted on a semi-rigid stalk or cable, these versatile tools are helpful in various situations. Around the house they make it possible to locate lost items, or inspect and make repairs in hard-to-reach areas like ductwork. Endoscope Camera System For Animals
In automotive applications, borescopes allow inspection of tight places like exhaust manifolds, or other locations inside your car’s engine or body structure. Places that in past eras would have required a whole lot of labor to access.
Once an expensive tool only used by professional mechanics, borescopes have become a lot more affordable in recent years. Some examples cost less than $50. Most types have sufficient length and water resistance to be used in pipes and drains, and include handy hook and magnet attachments for retrieving hard-to-reach items. We’ve studied a wide assortment of borescopes currently available to bring you five of the best. Looking For Car Accessories? Match your car to your style with varied car accessories like seat covers, floor mats and more. Get competitive pricing from top brands here. Advertisement THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT AND NOT EDITORIAL CONTENT. Please note that we do receive compensation for any products you buy or sign up to via this advertisement, and that compensation impacts the ranking and placement of any offers listed herein. We do not present information about every offer available. The information and savings numbers depicted above are for demonstration purposes only, and your results may vary. Explore Options On Amazon
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Front and side camera, waterproof cable, hook and magnet attachments
"IP67 waterproof camera, 6 adjustable LED lights, Wi-Fi connectivity, "
IP67 waterproof, 3 adjustable brightness levels, 170-degree viewing angle, 4-hr operating life
The Teslong NTS300 is a full-featured borescope that has a large screen and is reasonably priced. With a dual lens inspection camera (70 degrees each lens), it offers a wider field of view and allows on-the-fly switching between lenses. The scope is semi-rigid, 16.4 feet long, and made with reliable copper wiring. It also includes seven LED lights which are adjustable for brightness. The cable itself is waterproof, and can be operated up to 1 meter (3.28 feet) underwater.
Results from the cameras are displayed on a 5-inch screen that’s larger than older models. Additionally resolution is better than older variants of Teslong’s borescopes. The screen is protected by glass, and its body is resistant to damage from drops, as well as rainproof.
DXZtoz Industrial Two-Way Articulating Borescope
The DXZtoz articulating borescope is a mid-priced model with a feature many borescopes lack: articulation. Its 5.5-foot probe can be remotely articulated up to 180 degrees, right from the handheld control unit. With a view forward, side to side, or even backward, this borescope means more visibility in close quarters where there might be limited maneuverability of the cable itself.
The camera has a 2-megapixel resolution, and 8-times zoom, as well as 4 integrated LEDs. Extra accessories are included with this borescope, and include a hook, magnet tip, and a side mirror. The color handheld screen measures 4.3 inches, and a 3000mAH battery means a 4-hour working time.
With a 4.3-inch screen, a waterproof 8.0-mm probe and dimmable LED lighting, the Skybasic is a capable borescope (and basic, hence the name). Where it suffers is the lack of a secondary lens. Instead, it uses a detachable mirror for side-view capability. The standard 16.5-foot cable means there’s not many places that are out-of-reach for this model. A clear picture and intuitive operation were high points of end user experience, though some mentioned that side-view images using the mirror attachment were fuzzy.
Best Borescope For Phones and Tablets
Best Borescope For Phones and Tablets
NIDAGE WiFi 5.5mm Wireless Borescope
For the borescope buyer who doesn’t need a professional, dedicated device with a screen, there’s the NIDAGE WiFi-ready 5.5mm borescope. With an impressive 33-foot cord length, the 2-megapixel 1080P resolution camera works with Android phones above version 5.0, and iPhones above IOS 9.0. The camera can provide HD video and photos with a 1920×1080 resolution. It’s also IP67 waterproof, and lights the area around it with 6 total adjustable LEDs that have 65000K brightness. Simply download the NIDAGE app from your respective app store, connect the borescope to your home Wi-Fi, and you’re ready to go.
Compatible with either an Android or IOS device, the Depstech WF028-SJ Dual-Lens Wireless Endoscope includes all the features of a standalone borescope without the need to carry and store another device. Using a 1080p dual lens camera with both front and side views, zoom capability, seven LED lights for clear visibility and a 16.5-foot semi-rigid and waterproof cable for an extra-long reach, this compact device leverages the display on your smartphone or other device through a wireless connection.
Display options allow either front, side or split-screen views, while removable accessories include a hook and magnet for retrieving lost items. Users were generally pleased with performance and image quality, but some reported connectivity issues.
A borescope might be the next best thing to having X-ray vision. It allows close-up inspection of impossible-to-see places, such as the inside of an engine’s combustion chambers or intake manifold, without having to resort to disassembly. Besides automotive applications, these versatile tools are handy for tackling myriad repair and maintenance projects such as plumbing problems, inspecting ventilation ducts or even finding lost items in hard-to-access nooks and crannies.
We evaluate all borescopes based on the following weighted metrics:
A borescope is a device designed to view narrow, often inaccessible spaces. It’s essentially a tiny camera mounted on the end of a very long and narrow-diameter cable. Advances in miniature camera technology, as seen on your smartphone, have made borescopes much cheaper and more accessible in recent years.
Endoscopes and borescopes perform essentially the same function; viewing inaccessible places. However, the term endoscope applies to a medical device used on people or animals whereas a borescope is used to inspect machinery, household pipes or ducts, and other hard-to-reach places. Oftentimes sellers of borescopes will use both terms, or interchange borescope and endoscope.
Borescopes have a vast range of prices. Anywhere from $15 or $20 for basic examples, to almost $8,000 for professional units.
There are a selection of less expensive articulated borescopes on the market, but most cheaper examples will view only one direction, and rely on a mirror attachment for side-to-side viewpoints. Search for “articulated borescope” if you need one with directional flexibility.
Focal range refers to the distance between a camera lens and the object in focus. As borescopes are designed to be used in confined spaces, most have a focal range between 30 and 120 millimeters.
No. None of the borescopes we reviewed are for medical use and you should never attempt to use them that way. They are strictly for automotive and household repair purposes.
Cars are almost part of my physiology. I grew up playing amongst the dusty shelves of my family’s auto parts store. In my reckless youth pushing our delivery trucks to the point of mechanical failure was the best way I could find to learn about cars and how they worked. As a responsible adult I channel that interest into connecting with fellow enthusiasts through events, writing and social media.
Endoscopy Camera Corey Lewis a journalist based in Cincinnati, with a lifelong interest in cars and all things automotive. His formative car experience was arranging Matchbox cars on the carpet in the 1980s, but more recently he's branched out into automotive journalism. He enjoys the historical aspects of cars and little details lost to time. You can find his historical content at "The Truth About Cars," and follow him on Twitter at @CoreyLewis86.