Android Bar Code Scanner Apps: Comparison Shopping With Your Smart Phone - Page 3

Android Red Laser Barcode Scanner

Developed by a company called eBay Mobile, the Android barcode scanner app Red Laser Barcode Scanner opens to a list of previously scanned items, with a scan button at the bottom of the screen. Tap the button to scan and instructions on the screen ask you to align the barcode inside the box. Once you find a bar code, you are advised to hold the phone still for the scan. The app also tells you that the barcode should be upright and you want to avoid glare and shadows.

Like some of the other apps, you can type in the code manually. Red Laser accepts UPC or EAN codes with 6-8, 12 or 13 digits. And there's a multi-scan button at the bottom of the screen. You can scan bar codes for multiple products without going back and forth between the scanning screen and the results page. As each barcode is scanned, you'll hear a short sound, and you can see the number of codes at the bottom of the screen. Tap the "Done" button and you'll be taken to your list of scanned products. Click on the product and you'll see the best prices. Most of the top listings seem to come from eBay.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.ebay.redlaser&feature=related_apps

Android i-nigma Barcode Scanner

This Android bar code scanner app took a little longer to scan and limited search results to Amazon.com. Although Amazon is great, it would be nice to have a few more options. On the scanning screen, there's a small icon in the lower right hand corner that looks like several gears. Once you tap the icon, you'll see the different options for this app.

Each product scan is saved on a history page, which shows the barcode number next to a red shopping bag. Once you have several product listings, there's no way to tell one from another, unless you have the bar code memorized. Tap your choice to go to the next screen where you are offered the option to "Go Online." The search results page just lists prices from Amazon. And when I tried to scan a grocery item, this Android barcode scanner app returned no results.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.threegvision.products.inigma.Android&feature=related_apps

Android Mobiletag QR Code Scanner

The Android barcode scanner app Mobiletag has a fairly simple interface. Once you scan a bar code, the search results page gives you a clickable best offer price at the top of the screen. For one of the products I scanned, the link for the best offer wasn't working. You also see a button showing the number of web offers, a listing linking to local stores, and a place to see comments from other people. For the products I scanned, the local results and comments were empty. And even though some of the web results showed less well-known shopping sites, Amazon is sure to be listed.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mtag.mobiletag&feature=search_result

Android BeeTagg QR Reader

Another Android barcode scanner app that decodes both 1D and 2D bar codes, BeeTagg gives you a couple of options after the scan. You can find product information and also save the item to a favorites list. The price comparison page shows quite a few results, all of which seem to be online stores. Barcode formats include EAN-13 and UPC-A.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.connvision.mobileaccessor.android&feature=search_result