LAUNCH X431 PRO Star Bidirectional OBD2 Scanner with ECU Coding

Easy to use

I finally got a chance to use it! Never thought I'd be excited to get a check engine light. My 2010 Ford F150 spit out a code out recently. I used my new Launch scan tool to find out why. It was a breeze. I did a smart diagnostic and immediately found the problem (it was an o2 sensor getting lazy). While connected, I explored only some of its other features. This is a bidirectional scan tool which is lightyears better than a standard scan tool. I was able to test individual systems on the truck. I turned the cooling fans on and off. I turned the fuel pump on and off. I explored some of the interior systems. It worked beautifully! I know I only scratched the surface of what this tool can do. I will make it a point to come back and update the review as I utilize some more of its features. Love it so far!!!

Great product it has done everything I need to do and more. I’m able to program key transponders to new vehicles. It comes with two years of subscription service. The only downfall is you have to buy attachments or accessories even to pair new tire pressure monitoring sensors to a 2007 Honda CRV. Did diagnostic accuracy is really great it’s not gave me no boss trouble codes. The live data stream is very responsive it does not lag like a lot of the Bluetooth and cheaper devices do. It has a large screen so you can easily read it. And the battery life will last for days and days

I've used this unit on a couple of early 2000s cars so far, but they aren't complex enough to allow this scan tool to really stretch its legs. Yet I owe a review...so here are my thoughts so far: I guess the first thing to say is this unit is a lot more complex than what 95% of people want or need. Most people just need to pull codes. This unit does that fine but requires you to go thru menus and make lots of selections where as many less expensive units basically allow you to plug in, tap one button - and voila. However, this unit offers lots of additional features. Frankly, the two advertised features I was after were the ABS bleeding function and the key immobilizer programming. The brakes on my early 2000s Lexus IS300 are difficult to bleed because of the ABS. Unfortunately, the bleeding function of this scanner is "not available" for my old IS300. I've not dug poured over the manual yet - but it appears the key immobilizer function requires an additional module. So for me, so far - this unit is just a really expensive code scanner. I will absolutely come back and update this review if/when I make good use of the increased functionality of this tool.

The LAUNCH Bidirectional Scan Tool X431 Pro Star, All System 37+ Resets Diagnostic Tool with CANFD/DOIP OBD2 Scanner All in One Automotive OBD Diagnosis Scanner for Car with ECU Coding FCA Autoauth 2024 is a nice OBDII scan tool for any garage. These bidirectional OBDII scanners can do things that usually only a dealer usually has access to. Although this scanner uses a wired OBDII connector, I think the price and function is comparable to two other brand scanners I already have that cost a few hundred more each but are expandable, come with a wireless OBDII connector, and have a few adapters for models that don't use the standard connector type. If you don't mind using a wired connector this unit will work fine for most vehicles.

The LAUNCH Bidirectional Scan Tool X431 Pro Star, gives you the power of a dealership in your hands.

Easy to use and easy to set up, now you have to be a little tech savvy but over easy stem to use and keep updated when connected to the wifi. Very clean unit and great setup.

As I generally do, I'm going to start off with what I see as the weak point of this scanner: At this price point, I wish it could be used with a Bluetooth CSM the way some Snap On and Autel scan tools can. At this price, it would be fine if it came as is, but you could buy an optional Bluetooth dongle that pairs to the scan tool so you don't need a cable going to the OBD2 port, and can carry on dignoses with the scan tool without having the cable limiting your movement. If Launch would make this an option in their next line of scanners, I think that would be a hit with end users. I rent a shop along with a couple of friends, for working on our race cars and personal cars, and one of them is a Journeyman Technician. He uses high end scan tools at work every day, and his only two complaints about this Launch X431 Pro are: - no Bluetooth OBD2 module (so the cable wouldn't be in the way) - that he'd like if it were faster I've used a fair number of relatively inexpensive scan tools like this, and I had to contradict him on the speed point, because with the 4GB of RAM that it has, I find the operating system is actually really snappy and quick by comparison with others I've used in the past. He clarified it's more about when it's performing a function, it takes longer to load the process than he is used to, and I think that's more of a processor limitation, and difficult to get around when you're using Android as the operating system. In my opinion, this scan tool is plenty quick, and he's just being impatient and comparing to professional tools that cost 5 times as much, which isn't a fair comparison. So far, I've used this scan tool to perform ABS bleeding on several cars, program ignition key codes after swapping PCMs in a Ford, program the automatic transmission module on a Mazda 6, and it's all worked flawlessly. I've also used the bidirectional functionality to do KOER and KOEO self tests on several cars, activate functions like wipers, etc. to test for electrical problems, and other than the normal things you see on this type of tool, like things being worded a little oddly, this X431 Pro has been rock solid. Unlike another brand's similar offerings (namely Mucar), when they say free updates for 2 years, they mean it. As far as I can see, every function is available and works, and all updates are available and work. Some of the other scan tools I've reviewed in the past SAID that everything was unlocked and got free updates, but wouldn't let you actually use the function. This happened with ABS bleeding and rear caliper electric piston retraction using other tools, which are not even high level functions. With this Launch tool, all of these things work, and it hasn't asked me for money yet. The regristration gives a date of 2 years from now before it runs out, so it's already better than the similar tools I've tried in the past. From what I can see, a 2 year unlimited license to continue the full functionality of the tool once it registration runs out is about $500, which doesn't seem crazy to me. I feel like $1000 is a good price for what you're getting with this scan tool, considering it can do pretty much everything. All it needs to be the perfect entry level "professional quality" scan tool is the ability to use it with a wireless OBD2 dongle/module, whatever you wanna call it.

This X-431 Pro Star is a high-priced entry-level scan tool and is the only the main unit. I already have a Mucar V06 that is half the price and cannot really see much more I can do with this one. Launch does carry upgraded versions of this unit that can go over the $2K price tag that can do more and are better packages, but this model is still very premium priced compared to other choices out there. You can add-on modules to this unit, but it will cost a lot doing so. For such a high price, I am surprised it needs to be hard wired into the car compared to my current unit. This is great for the home user at a cost and will leave professionals wanting the higher models. It has good coverage of vehicles and can do what the listing states. There is a 2-year update included, and then annual costs will be around the $100.00 mark for future updates. It does include a good hard protective case. It is android based and not too hard to navigate and like other makes in that respect. The screen is bright and clear and the 8” display is a nice size. Make sure that the functions you need can be done with this unit without additional add-ons or that the total cost with the optional module is what you are expecting as the total cost can more than double and there are different combinations available that might be more economical. I find this unit works well but has not really enabled me to do any additional diagnostics that I could not do with my Mucor.

This product goes far beyond the needs of a home mechanic, and is suitable for commercial use. The product arrived very well packed, and the unit is stored in a durable carry case. In the case you will find a compartment for the manual, power/charge cord (with adapters for different world markets), the D-shell to ODB connector cable and USB-C data cable. In the other side of the case you will find the main unit securely packed. To follow utilize the entire advanced functionality, including updates, email report facilities, and other on line features you must create an account - register the device - and accept the updates. I used to the device to run diagnostics on one car that was having several issues (miss fires, supercharger coolant pump not activating, and parking break jammed off). The device once hooked up is able to either have you enter the details of the vehicle, or as I did you are able to have it automatically query the car to determine its VIN number, along with the details of the car; once this automated procedure is run it asks you to confirm, and upon confirmation you are able to proceed. The overall unit feels rugged, perhaps not to military spec as some very high units are, but definitely able to take the bumps and drops such tools will be subject to in day to day use - within reason. On the upper edge you find two USB ports; one for charging, one for date. Next to this you find a connection for the cable that connects to your ODB port on your car. Finally to the right of that you will find a power button. Pressing and holding the power button for about one second the unit starts up. Start up is not instantaneous, but only takes a few seconds. The unit runs Android 10, and has a very intuitive interface. Obviously there are aspects of the interface that are specific to the nature of the device, rather than being general Android features; these may take longer to master, particularly if you are unfamiliar with OBD, and particularly with the more advanced (or make specific) details. Connecting to the vehicle was quick, and communications were 100% reliable. I did find that simple tasks that a basic code reader perform sometimes took longer to locate and execute on this device, but that is simply down to learning curve. Once I was able to run codes, and display the results this tool was able to go significantly further than my usual code reader. For context, my main reader was priced at just under a third the price of this unit, however it only supports one brand of vehicle (unless I purchased updates), where this unit has a tremendous range of vehicles included right out of the box. The big advantage of this unit over my old unit is once it found a code it was able to give much more background on that code via its web interface. The other feature set that was not important to me as an avid home mechanic, but would be ability to generate reports, and even email these. For a mechanic this can be a great feature, both to internally report and read the output on their work computer, as well as potentially sending reports to clients. The code reader was able to read all standard codes, but also could read the brand specific codes generated with the current problems my car was facing. I was also easily able to run through the procedures for bleeding my brakes, as well as releasing the parking brake to allow pad servicing. All these non standard procedures were straight forward, as the code reader prompts you along the way. Overall Verdict? Significant overkill for the home mechanic, although it will allow you to service virtually any car you own - and will allow you to help friends and family along the way. Where this unit really shines is as a professional tool; I see this being perfect for a small shop that doesn't want to invest multiple thousands of dollars in the most advanced units on the market, but still have virtually all the full functionality. This could also be a great tool to have in a large shop to all each technician to have their own full feature reader at hand. If this fits your budget I highly recommend this product.

Wow, what an insane kit. First impressions of this is very good, top shelf. It has a very nice protective peli-case style case. Very nice. Two sided for accessories and the tablet component. The case is very nice, and if that says anything about what comes in it, then it’s high hopes. *Spoiler, it kicks the crap out of the little Bluetooth modules (also requiring a free useless/paid functional app to clear codes) Hopes imagined! It’s a great little ruggedized tablet! It was easy and ready to go. Quickly looking at the books I knew I needed to register and active the device, so with a few click I was up and running. Enabled WiFi, activated and downloaded all the updates. Somewhere within about 20-30 minutes I was ready for the first scan. I noticed that the OS on the tablet seemed to be a google pixel release.. but it seems to be running fine and smooth enough. The camera works fine, but isn’t high def per se. I was able to plug in a cheap probe camera and it worked perfectly right away. First scan on my Ford Escape (non-EV) went … well. I mean that I found the things I expected, but also a few other repetitive codes that I didn’t know about. Very well done. First plug in detected, downloaded a quick updated and decoded VIN and was reading the ECU perfectly. Click to diagnose and a few seconds later I was able to see all the codes with detailed descriptions. I was able to create and share a report (to email) with all the relevant information as a pre-repair report. I will use this to go to an actual shop to talk about what needs to be done. Then run another report later. There are too many options to talk about but this is the real deal for mechanics and technicians in the troubleshooting business. So far this is a 5 star product. I still want to know where the data gets stored, but the data is all at finger tips. Great shop tool! Highly recommended.

The LAUNCH X431 Pro Star 8" Bidirectional Scan Tool is a very neat product. First, it came in a very well protected package. Then, you open it to find a very high quality protective case. On one side there is the monitor. On the other there is the necessary cables, serial number and code of access, and the charger. Second, this tool really spells quality and advanced functions. Just the way it turns on and the visuals are great. I have not used a scanner like this one so I was learning at the same time. The instructions are clear and to the point. You cannot go wrong to start and log a diagnosis. I own a VW and from what I read before purchase is that the brand VW is supported very well. It was an adventure for me to use this tool. So, I charged it some more until full and I went to the car and as they instructed me, the port on the car is exactly where they said it would be. Every car is different. At first, I was afraid to do anything but the system is very helpful and friendly. There are menus and menu categories. I noticed that it is not only smart but also fast. The display is also loading fast and is quickly to respond to my clicks. I liked the feature all system diagnostics because it gave me an idea to open up the categories after I have the report. So, while checking I saw an alert that said to would you like to add or delete a key. I was surprised that it can do that. I am goi g to be surprised even more when I learn how to use it properly. One thing is necessary to have is internet and must be registered. There are things I have not touched yet because I am afraid to cause issues to my car. Luckily I am reassured later after reading all the material that it is safe. I am now ready to explore things with my car's health. I like it and I recommend it although the price is a bit high I'd you only use it scarcely.