Bluetooth Adapters

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Revision as of 11:54, 5 February 2022 by Ihawkins (talk | contribs) (Adapters that are not currently supported or are faulty/broken)
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This is a list of adapters that Torque has been tested with which work with OBD2 compliant vehicles:

(Note: All the adapters offer the same access to all the available OBD2 sensors in the vehicle. The adapters do not determine what sensors are or are not available, they are all the same in this respect)


Note: 'BLE' bluetooth adapters are not fast - these are different than the normal bluetooth OBD2 adapter. Do not expect fast updates from any BLE adapter on things like CANBUS vehicles as they are not suited for OBD and you will be disappointed.  
The fastest Bluetooth adapter(Non-BLE) is the OBDLink series of adapters and for the fastest update rate any USB adapter is best (with the OBDLink USB again being the fastest).


Working Bluetooth Adapters

Adapter Form factor Other features Cost(at time of writing) Comments
Scantool.net OBDLink MX
Scantoolmx.jpg
Small unit Power, Host, Bluetooth and OBD status lights, High speed PID reading

Device Security

$199.95 Flash upgradable firmware, Powersave/sleep function, Support forums

Reports of good customer support. This is the best adapter if you want the fastest PID read speed. Read speeds can be as fast as 100PIDs/sec over Bluetooth (Tested on a Galaxy S4, CANBUS protocol) This device also offers security to prevent unauthorized use

Scantool.net OBDLink LX
Scantoollx.jpg
Small unit Power, Host, Bluetooth and OBD status lights, High speed PID reading

Device Security

$69.94 (special offer), $99.95 normally Flash upgradable firmware, Powersave/sleep function, Support forums

Reports of good customer support. This is the best adapter if you want the fastest PID read speed. Read speeds can be as fast as 100PIDs/sec over Bluetooth (Tested on a Galaxy S4, CANBUS protocol) This device also offers security to prevent unauthorized use

Scantool.net OBDLink
Scantool.jpg
Adapter and cable (adapter can be separated from cable) Rx/Tx Host<->ECU status lights $149.90(Special offer), $179.90 Normal Flash upgradable firmware, Powersave/sleep function, Support forums

Reports of good customer support. Fast PID read speeds, in excess of 160PIDs/second using a Motorola Xoom and USB

obd2world ELM329 Adapter website
Obdp2world.jpg
Moulded adapter (single unit) Power, OBD, and PC(Host) status lights € 99.50 Fully checked and tested before dispatch - This is the official version of this adapter (others that look like it are lesser quality clones)

Main Site

OBDPros website
Obdpro.jpg
Adapter and cable (adapter can be separated from cable) Rx/Tx Host<->ECU status lights $84.95 + BT option at $74.95 = $159.90 Upgradable firmware

Support Forums

Diamex DX70 & DXM website
Diamex.jpg
Adapter in single unit RX/TX status light, Power Light 149EUR Not the fastest adapter, but good construction, reliable.
PLX Devices Kiwi Bluetooth
Plx.jpg
Adapter and cable (adapter cannot be separated from cable) On/off switch, link light $99.99 New versions of this adapter appear to require a manual 'link' button to be pressed to wake it up before Torque will be able to connect. If you use automatic logging you may wish to avoid this adapter

There have been user reports of some of these adapters being faulty like some of the clone adapters. If Torque reports there is an issue with the adapter, check with PLX devices support for more help or getting a replacement Support forums

Adapter from China/via ebay/amazon
Clone2.jpg
Clone5b.jpg
Clone6.jpg
Single moulded unit (though there are several different coloured 'stickers' used) Rx/Tx Host<->ECU status lights $20.00 to $60.00 Some units seem to suffer poor build quality and reliability issues. Other units are perfectly fine. Make sure you purchase with a buyer who has a decent returns policy should the unit turn out to be defective. If you have connection issues, or displays randomly 'pausing' in the app then it is most likely an adapter issue.

If you are using the USB version of this adapter then be aware that you will need to make sure the adapter uses an FTDI or Prolific usb to serial converter chip and have an android device running Android 3.1 or 4.0(or above) and supports USB host mode - you will also need the Pro version of Torque for USB support (though this will be ported to the lite app eventually)


If you are using adapters with a bluetooth MAC address of 11:22:33:DD:EE:FF then be aware that these adapters will not work with other adapters nearby with the same address (and should be avoided if you plan to use multiple adapters) Some of these units also appear to have pairing issues - some of the super mini adapters have this flaw


Working WiFi Adapters (non ad-hoc mode)

Adapter Form factor Other features Cost(at time of writing) Comments
Vgate WiFi (found on ebay/amazon)


Vgatewifi.jpg
Small moulded adapter WiFi connection using infrastructure mode, not ad-hoc About 34ukp (from ebay) Suitable for use with Blackberry Q10 & Z10 devices - adapter can get warm, but has an inbuilt powersaving mode

Working USB Adapters

Adapter Form factor Other features Cost(at time of writing) Comments
Scantool.net OBDLink
Obdlinksx.jpg
USB Adapter Activity/status light $49.95(Special offer), $74.95 Normal User upgradeable via free downloads, Support forums

Reports of good customer support. Fast PID read speeds, in excess of 165 PIDs/sec with USB to a Samsung Note 3

Supported Non-OBD2 adapters

Adapter Form factor Other features Cost(at time of writing) Comments
Track Electronics ConsultBT
Consultbt.jpg
Moulded plug Works with Nissan Consult systems (using special non-OBD2 socket, in Torque Pro)
WBH-BT4 Website
Cwbhbt4.jpg
Moulded plug Works with WV/Seat/Audi using VW's native protocols in Torque Pro

Adapters that are not currently supported or are faulty/broken

Adapter Form factor Other features Comments
Exza.png
EXZA 'new' HHOBD Mini (Bluetooth 2020)
Small almost-inline plug Broken firmware on this adapter causes prompts '>' not to be correctly displayed when ATH1 headers are turned on. It also cannot be used in non-line-buffered modes due to very badly written byte handling code which does not wait for a CR. Avoid this adapter as it does not function correctly.

Torque will try to work with this adpater, but you may run into issue. I would recommend asking for a firmware update to the adapter once the vendor has fixed these issues.

Garmin EcoRoute Moulded plug attached to cable, not detatchable Works with EcoRoute HD navigation, "offline" data storage Non ELM327 compatible. The protocol was discovered, however the adapter proved to be too slow to be of any use.
GoPoint BT1 Moulded plug Non ELM327 compatible. Uses their own closed protocol.
Uscan.jpg
Actron U-Scan
Large moulded plug Not ELM327 compatible, uses their own closed protocol. Not interoperable with other industry standard ELM327 OBD software