Review on 🔍 2022 FOXWELL Scanner Bluetooth NT809BT: All System BiDirectional Scan Tool with 30+ Resets & CAN-FD Protocol by Jared Barit

There are many automotive consumer code readers out there and most of them are pretty much the same. Foxwell NT809BT is on another level. I would rate it as a more professional code reader as it can easily be used in a workshop. With a 7" touchscreen and Bluetooth wireless connectivity, you can move freely in, out or around your vehicle without having to be near the OBD2 port. And man, this thing gives you a choice! You can run a variety of bidirectional control and active tests. Foxwell isn't just a code reader, it's actually an Android tablet with software that allows it to interact with the car's computer. It can log active tests in reports, and when connected to Wi-Fi, it can send those files to the printer. This is a type of skill used in the repair business to prepare documentation for your customers. Like I said, it's more of a professional device and that kind of performance comes at a price, but if you're working on modern cars for commercial purposes you'll probably need it. Bars. This is a thoughtful touch as many code readers come loose. Out of the box, this thing is impressive. It is large and much heavier compared to regular code readers. The ends where you hold it with your hands are covered in thick rubber, and there's a stand at the bottom that can be rotated if you want to place the scanner on a flat surface to keep your hands free. Pressing the power button at the top brings this thing to life and takes you to the home screen. A disclaimer will appear and after you decline it, you'll be greeted with an invitation to register and create an account. Registration was quick and painless. The device will automatically display its serial number, which can be sent to activate the device. Once activated, you will return to the main screen where you can now customize the device to your liking. Most settings will probably be fine as is, but you should check that the units are set correctly for your use. My default was metric and I changed it to imperial. You can use metric. The battery in my case was about 70% charged from the factory, so it didn't require an immediate charge. Interestingly, the built-in storage is 32 GB, while 20 GB is used when the device is purchased. It is possible to free some memory. I left mine alone I checked for updates and found 52 of them. Some cars needed updating while some have already been updated. I decided to update everything and sat down to wait. For some reason, only three updates were successful the first time, so I decided to update again. The second time they were all updated. I connected my Note 9 charging cable to the USB-C port during the update, but the battery didn't charge; So I replaced it with the cable that came with the scanner and the battery charged. There are 30 different things to choose from on the main screen in the maintenance group; I think most of them are in the professional services industry. When you select an item, the display immediately shows which vehicles the item belongs to. Don't waste time if the vehicle you're testing doesn't support that particular item. Other options on the home screen are Diagnostics, Update, Data Manager, My Account, and Settings. Diagnostics is where you'll be observing data from your car's computer, so this is where you'll be spending most of your time. In the data manager you manage the data acquisition and the subsequent graphical/textual display. Settings and My Account speak for themselves. Update is where you update individual vehicle files to include the latest information. You can update all vehicle files or just those that you will actually use. Sliding the screen will take you to the second page where you will find a few more items. With remote control you can allow someone to connect to the scanner with TeamViewer from a remote device. With the firmware updater you can update the firmware of your device. In the auxiliary tools you will find a file manager to view the files stored on the tablet. The VCI Manager allows you to link/disable the VCI (an interface that plugs into your car's OBD2 port). I haven't found any documentation dealing with the Coverage List folder yet, so I won't comment on that. The time display is one area I'm not very happy with, as it doesn't allow for the standard 12-hour format with AM. /PM, but ties you to 24-hour time. I won't give stars for the time display because it works; just not in the way I prefer. The device is best charged when it is switched off. When the device is switched on, the charging process can take a long time. I think the device can be used with a charger plugged in so it doesn't run out of power when used continuously for 8 hours, but I haven't tested that theory. Can I recommend this to others? I can tell you this: pull this thing out in front of your friends and plug it into your car and you'll get more than a "Wow!" as they watch in fascination as you operate your headlights, throttle, radiator fans, etc; But ego-boosting aside, what matters is how you're going to use it. If all you want is a code reader to tell you which sensor/device is causing the check engine light to come on and then have you reset the light and stay on budget, then no, I don't recommend this. It will do this, but you can have this type of functionality in a much cheaper reader. On the other hand, if you want or need the advanced features of this tablet and are willing to pay a price for it, then yes, I would definitely recommend it. I gave it five stars because it works and what it offers for the price it asks.