I have tested 6 different barcode readers for mobile phones. And I will publish a review of each barcode reader here. First out is the test winner Kaywa. The Kaywa barcode reader makes all the other barcode readers seem like beta software. This barcode reader is so much better than any of the others tested. This software is a good example of how it should be done.

PS! After Kaywa I tested a different barcodereader that now would have won the test. If you are looking for a good barcode reader, I now recommend Quickmark. Read my test of Quickmark.

All of the other barcode readers tested (except shotcode) require a lot from the user. You have to get the barcode correctly focused, correctly placed on the screen and hold the phone still long enough for the barcode reader to do it's action. This however is not the case with Kaywa barcode reader. All you have to do is point the phone towards the barcode and it scans. It’s totally amazing how Kaywa manages to read barcodes from great distances, weird angles and even in bad lighting. This test showed that most barcode readers used anywhere from 5 to 60 seconds to scan a barcode. Kaywa however normally scans a code in less than 1 second. I repeat, less than one second.

So let's take a look at the features of Kaywa reader. Kaywa reader is a full featured 2D barcode reader for mobile phones. Let's take a look at the settings first:

Language: This setting seems not to be enabled yet.
Audio: Turn on and off the beep when a code is scanned
Keep history: The reader can keep a history of your last 10 scans
Resolution: Best or basic
Scan mode: Normal or close up
 

The software also features an invite a friend feature that sends a SMS to somebody inviting them to download the software. (Never used it though) It also features a nice check for latest version feature that opens your browser on the phone to check if there is a newer version of the software.

These barcode readers use different codes for different things, like an URL, a phone number etc. Unfortunately they mostly use different standards for this. So let's take a look at what Kaywa can do:

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