The UK's bestInspection Cameras2022 Review

Inspection camera favourites Depstech have an enormous range of useful endoscopes, otoscopes and even webcams. They know about making the best inspection camera, and the WF028-SJ Wi-Fi enabled endoscope is a brilliant bit of kit.

First off, you’ll notice the brilliant quality snake probe itself. The cable is 7.9 mm wide, so it’s not the narrowest, but it has unbeatable rigidity for getting round tight corners. You can bend it anywhere along its length and it will stay there, which is incredibly handy.

Depstech are leading the way when it comes to the best snake camera thanks to the clever dual lens technology. You don’t need to fiddle about with tiny mirrors as there’s a second camera at 90° to the main one. They’re both well lit with an array of six LED lights for when things get dark.

What makes this endoscope different from the rest of the ones on my list, is that it’s Wi-Fi enabled. This means it creates its own little wireless network for connecting to your phone, laptop or even some TVs. This results in getting the best possible image quality. Your phone or laptop screen is probably miles better than the little one on a standalone inspection camera after all.

Inspection camera experts Ddendocam make an impressive range of digital borescopes. Their industrial endoscope is ideal for getting into the tightest spaces thanks to its tiny probe width. This minute camera is small enough to look inside just about anything you like.

The handheld screen section feels rugged, with rubberised orange grips on either side. You can quite easily control the device with one hand, thanks to the well laid out rubberised buttons along the bottom. Cycling through the options is straightforward and easy to work out too.

Snaking out the thin lead is easy, and it has a decent balance of stiffness and flexibility to get into hard-to-reach places. The camera really is tiny at just 3.9 mm across, but you only get 2 m of cable to play with.

With a 4.3” TFT screen, it shows up images clearly at a maximum 1080p and even takes 3 Mp still images. It’s good to be able to save high-resolution images when investigating faults.

Ddendocam have included a handy little accessory pack with a hook, magnet, and side mirror for seeing round corners. They even throw in a 32 Gb SD card for when you record video or take still images.

Inspection camera specialists Skybasic have made an incredibly useful borescope that’s ideal for when you need to get deep into the heart of the problem. Their industrial endoscope features a large screen, a simple menu layout, and an amazing amount of cable.

To start with, you get a whopping ten metres of inspection cable. That’s more than double compared with the other cameras on my list and means this tool can get you just about anywhere you need to go. The cable is IP67 rated against water and dust incursion, so you can feed it underwater without issue. There are six bright LEDs on the end to illuminate the target area as well.

The 8 mm diameter camera supports 1080P recording and has a fixed focus. The focal range is between 3 – 10 cm.  The viewing unit contains a large 4.3” TFT monitor, and all the functions including video or image playback are controlled with just five buttons. Powered by an internal battery, you charge the camera via USB, and all the images and video are saved to an included 32 GB memory card.

You don’t need to be a DIY expert to recognise the Bosch brand name. This German engineering firm has more than a century of experience making tools of excellence, and for a range of budgets. The Bosch UniversalInspect must be one of the best inspection cameras on the market right now. It’s compact, made from quality components, and has a useful zoom function.

Supplied in a rugged carry case, it has a side pocket to hold the tools that come with the camera. What I like about this borescope the most is how simple it is. Where some inspection cameras have tons of buttons and features you probably wouldn’t use, the Bosch is simple. Zooming in and out, flipping the image, taking pictures, and viewing them is all done with just a few well laid out buttons.

The 8 mm diameter flexible camera head contains 4 bright LEDs that do a good job of lighting up the darkest spots and have three different levels of brightness. You get 95 cm of cable to inspect pipes or behind wall cavities, which isn’t loads, but it wraps neatly around the unit and doesn’t take up much room.

The screen is 2.31” wide and supports high contrast colour images, and you can make use of the 3 x zoom function as well. The whole thing is powered by four AA type batteries that can be swapped out in seconds, so you don’t need to wait for an internal battery to charge up.

The WF010 is a quality inspection camera from specialist endoscope manufacturer Depstech. It’s a wireless borescope that does away with the screen altogether and uses Wi-Fi connectivity to shoot the images straight to your phone.

Boasting 3.5 m of armoured cable that literally gets to the bottom of your problems, there’s a 2 MP camera on the end that supports 1200P resolution images and video. The camera has a fixed zoom and 7 – 40 cm focal range and six LEDs to light up the way. The camera is IP67 protected and measures 8.7 mm across.

Unlike the inspection cameras that feature a screen section, the WF010 can connect to Android and iOS phones via Wi-Fi. Using Depstech’s app, you can record video or take pictures, set a Wi-Fi password, and rotate the image on the screen by 90° both clockwise and anti-clockwise.

Making all kinds of clever electronic kit, Beva have a good reputation for making some of the best budget borescopes on the market right now. This inexpensive wireless inspection camera is ideal for getting right into those nooks and crannies to find a blockage or avoid hitting a water pipe when drilling behind a wall.

Supplied without a screen, this is a Wi-Fi enabled endoscope that hooks up to your mobile phone or even a tablet. Simply download the app, connect to the network, and you’ve got a decent image on a size of screen you can really see. There’s a really useful 5 m of flexible cable, and a 2 MP camera on the end of it. The camera has a fixed zoom and a 3 – 6 cm focal range. It’s surrounded by six LEDs and is supplied with a handful of useful tools as well.

It’s a simple device that supports iOS and Android devices for taking pictures and recording HD video up to 1280 x 720 resolution. The cable is IP67 rated against water or dust incursion, but the Wi-Fi receiver end is not. Like the Depstech WF010, you can even cast the camera image to multiple devices at once.

With an incredible range of webcams, endoscopes and even otoscopes for looking in your ear, Depstech are surveillance experts. Their DS300-SJ dual-lens endoscope is one of the best inspection cameras available right now. The screen is crystal clear, and you don’t need to fiddle around with mirrors to get a better viewing angle.

First off, and what makes this the best inspection camera on my list is the dual-camera setup. Not only do you get the main front-facing camera, but another one pointing at 90° for an unbeatable field of view.

The camera lens itself has an excellent 70° field of view, and you can switch between three viewing modes with a single button. If the image on the screen is upside down, you can flip it through 180°. It’s a useful little feature you’ll use more often than you think.

The main front-facing camera is surrounded by six bright LED lights. It does a great job at lighting up the workspace and doesn’t leave any shadows in the field of view. You can vary the light intensity as well, so you’re not stuck with a blinding light in front of the camera.

Overall, this is a well designed and comfortable to use inspection camera. It makes any sort of inspection work easy with the big screen and bright LEDs. I’m a fan.