Nowadays, it’s hard to find an objectively ‘bad’ OBDII diagnostics scanner for your car, as most of them generally do what they say on the tin… They pick up error codes, give you their definitions, reset some of your car’s systems, or perform more extensive testing, such as providing live data streams. With that being said, there are some OBD diagnostics tools that go above and beyond compared to what the rest of the market is offering, and the all-new XTOOL D5S might just be worth checking out. So, does it really rise above other OBD scanners for the money?
An upgraded version of the old XTOOL D5, the new and improved D5S is marketed as a “4-System” OBD scanner. In other words, you could use it to diagnose and troubleshoot your car’s engine, transmission, ABS (aka the ‘anti-lock braking system’), and SRS (aka the ‘supplemental restraint system’, or the airbags and seat belts). If you have a car with an electronic parking brake (EPB), the XTOOL D5S could also scan these and perform checks, too. Granted, there are many other OBD scanners that could do the same thing, so what makes the D5S so special?
One of the most appealing things about the XTOOL D5S that I like is the price. For $199, given all that it could do, it’s actually really good value for money. More so once you consider that it’s not been compromised to match the relatively budget-friendly price point, making this that much more impressive. As such, you can expect the XTOOL D5S to have the full range of functionality as other OBDII diagnostics scanners at the same price, if not more. Specifically, the XTOOL D5S has over 15 different special functions for maintenance, repairs, and troubleshooting.
A Great Value For Money & A Capable Scanner
The latter includes (but isn’t limited to):
- Clearing and resetting your car’s oil service light after getting an oil change.
- Being able to reset your electronic parking brake (EPB) system, usually after servicing the braking system.
- Calibrating your car’s steering angle sensor (SAS), which is useful after getting a wheel alignment.
- Initiating the regeneration of your car’s DPF (diesel particulate filter), done to remove soot accumulation.
- Allowing you to register a new battery with your car’s battery management system (BMS).
- Re-learning the position of your car’s throttle after it’s been cleaned or replaced.
- Resetting your car’s TPMS (tyre pressure monitoring system), normally after rotating or replacing your tyres.
- Enabling your car to bleed air out of the ABS (anti-lock braking system) to ensure optimal braking performance.
- Reprogramming or recalibrating your engine’s fuel injectors, for proper performance and fuel efficiency.
- Adjusting and re-learning your car’s gearbox matching for smooth gear shifts.
- Resetting your car’s adaptive suspension system after making any adjustments or part replacements.
- Re-learning your car’s power window control settings, which is again typically done after making repairs.
- Re-calibrating or adjusting the position and angle of your car’s headlights (if applicable, of course).
- Re-learning and resetting your car’s EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve to help reduce emissions.
- Re-learning the position of your engine’s crankshaft sensor, which is normally done after replacing it.
All The OBDII Functionality That You’ll Ever Need
As I mentioned earlier, while the XTOOL D5S does come with a hugely appealing price tag, you’re not getting the middling, compromised experience that some diagnostics tools come paired with. In short, you’re getting the full range of OBD functionality, which includes some of the more basic things you might want to do with it. This may include practising regular maintenance tasks like reading diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) and clearing the codes once you’re done to turn off the check engine light, as well as even showcasing some live data, to boot!
On that note, with the XTOOL D5S and the 4-in-1 live data visualisation and graphing feature pulling information from your car in real time, you have a better understanding of what it’s doing. For diagnosing or troubleshooting problems, having a continuous data stream, be it either as a flow chart or a waveform graphic, is pretty useful if you’re trying to figure out what’s wrong with your car. Additionally, the XTOOL D5S naturally has a freeze frame feature too, enabling you to read diagnostics data from your car’s onboard computer. But wait, there’s more!
Plugging straight into your car’s ECU, the D5S could display important information like your VIN number, as well as the CID (Calibration ID), not to mention the CVN (Calibration Verification Number), among others. Aside from that, you can test specific components with your car to check for faults, in addition to retrieving and displaying those test results. The latter could be handy for emissions data and monitoring the O2 sensor, and checking the abundance of emissions-related systems in your car, such as its I/M Readiness or testing the EVAP system.
Compatibility And Versatility With Your Car To The Max
Like most other OBDII diagnostics tools, the XTOOL D5S is compatible with ‘only’ a select number of vehicles. You don’t have to worry though, as that list extends to more than 10,000 vehicles, according to XTOOL. Whether you want to scan an SUV, minivan, light-duty truck, regular passenger vehicle, or hybrid car, as long as your vehicle is OBDII compliant, it’ll likely be plug-and-play with the D5S. It’s also compatible with the latest GM and FCA cars, with the latter including Jeep, Chrysler, RAM, Dodge, and Fiat in the mix, further broadening its versatility.
I also like that XTOOL includes support for the CAN FD protocol, aka ‘Controller Area Network with Flexible Data-Rate’. In layman’s terms, this ought to ensure that you can enjoy diagnostics with a faster data transmission rate, with higher data throughput, and more efficient data transfer speeds. This should help with making good use of that 5.45-inch touchscreen when you’re trying to view up to 4 live data streams and graphs at a time. Oh, and I’d be remiss to not mention that you could easily generate diagnostic reports and save or share them as a CSV file.
A Capable Pocket Rocket To Diagnose & Troubleshoot Your Car
Still, if you need to export and store tonnes of data locally, with 32GB of storage – expandable up to 128GB with an SD card – you’d have more than enough space. Furthermore, thanks to its 3,150mAh battery, you can keep on scanning for quite a while. I’m a fan of XTOOL’s decision to include a lifetime free update to the D5S’s OBD codes database, too. This doesn’t just mean that you’ll always be kept up-to-date, but it’s one click to update. And, you can do it on the D5S itself, without needing to plug into a PC, over Wi-Fi, which is a nice quality-of-life touch.
On top of the 2-year warranty and multi-lingual support, as well as just how well-built the device itself is, this new and enhanced XTOOL D5S is certainly among the more feature-packed OBDII diagnostics tools for the price. Sure, the market for OBDII scanners is awash with great options, and you might be able to find some alternatives that can closely match what XTOOL offers with the D5S. Granted, for the price tag, I’d say the XTOOL D5S is definitely one OBDII diagnostics tool that’s more than worthy enough for your shortlist, particularly as a budget choice.
