Description – RedLaser ―― Impossibly accurate barcode scanning.

✓ Shop smarter. RedLaser searches for low online and local (NEW) prices from hundreds of thousands of retailers. Now features TheFind product search in US, UK!

✓ Scan faster. Even without autofocus! RedLaser uses state-of-the-art barcode recognition that can read virtually any product barcode. Works great on the first-gen, 3G, and 3GS!

Developer – Occipital

RedLaser – £1.19 ($1.99) – iTunes

Sometimes I find I will go into town shopping for a particular item and I will have a bit of a hunt around and then buy it; only to find that it’s being sold for a lower price elsewhere. This app is aimed to prevent this from happening. I have been waiting for an app like this to come to the iPhone ever since I heard about a similar application for the Android platform that a friend of mine was all too keen to show off.

Since I got the app I have been going around shops and testing this app on anything with a barcode. The app is very fast paced; simply pick up the item you want to price check and scan the barcode. Once the app rapidly deciphers the barcode [Ed note – with a cool sound I might add], the app will bring up a list of price ranges and where you can shop for said item.

Now that you have this information on your phone there is a great choice of options open to you. By browsing through the list you can choose who you want to purchase the item from and the app will take you to their website. The app will keep a list of all the items you have scanned and from there you can mark your favourites or email yourself a copy of the list. The app even includes manual entry of the UPC, EAN, UPC-E and EAN-8 barcodes in case the barcode is intact or for whatever reason you are unable to scan the barcode (which seems unlikely to be due to the app).

Something I noticed when browsing thorugh the items I had scanned is that some of the sellers are selling the items new and some are selling them second hand. The app doesn’t seem to have a method for differentiating between the two, which depending on the item you may not want to buy it second hand. Apart from this I really find it hard to find fault with this app. This is a modest app that functions effectively and can be used with ease.

Pros

  • Hair-trigger response to interpretting barcodes
  • Great variety of online merchants
  • Easily email lists to yourself or to friends

Cons

  • Doesn’t differentiate between new and second hand items
  • No discrepency between single item and bulk purchases

Verdict

This is a modest app that functions effectively and can be used with ease. This cheap app will certainly save you more than you spent buying it in the first place.