Review: IRIScan Anywhere 5 Wifi Portable Scanner

Have you ever found it tempting to gather up all of that paperwork you have lying around the house, and simply scan it into your computer so that you can throw it all away? Maybe a collection of business cards that has grown so big, that you wish there was a better way of organizing it all–allowing you to instantly find the right one each time?

Scanning all of these documents allows you to organize everything into files that can be named and organized however you choose. This makes it easy to do a search for the exact document you need vs thumbing through an entire collection one by one. Of course, a physical collection can be organized all the same, if you put the time and effort into everything. However, that requires physical space that is being consumed, instead of what could be just a small non-tangible directory of files on the computer.

Now, you could go out and buy a bulky printer with built-in scanner, but then it is stationary to wherever you place it. That may work just fine for some. However, what if you find yourself needing something a little more versatile?  In such a case, you could go with a mobile solution that is wireless instead. Then you could carry it around with you, as you whack away at all of that paper, while also having the ability to take it anywhere so that you can continue the job at work or anywhere else that needs a digital makeover.

For this, one option is the IRIScan Anywhere 5 portable Wi-Fi scanner, which we have been playing with for some time now, trying to get an idea of what scenarios make it better than an average bulky scanner solution.

The main idea is that you don’t have to be home standing next to a stationary location to use it. You could take it to work with you, or on a business trip, or on vacation–to name a few. No matter where you go, your scanner can come with you. You can then access the files instantly where you are, or bring everything back home to unload it all onto your computer later.

It is a small wand-like solution that looks a lot like a 3-hole punch, small enough to throw in a backpack or case and carry around with you, and is completely wireless. It offers a number of ways to scan images to your PC or phone with, and operates at a decent speed while giving you the option of scanning everything into either a JPEG (image) or a PDF file (document).

It features an internal rechargeable battery to keep it going with. The battery is charged using the USB cable provided, and it seems to be able to scan quite a few documents on a single charge. We scanned dozens of full page items before having to give it some more juice. Then, once it had a charge again, we scanned over 250 business cards and still had plenty of juice to go further than that. The official specs lean upward towards 100 (A4/Letter) pages of scanning per charge.

There is an adjustable slider so that you can set it to the size of the paper, as well as help guide it through at the right angle. You can scan anything through it as small as a business card (or slightly smaller) to as large as a legal size document. This means it is easy to grab just about anything and slide it in. This would lead to all sorts of free space around the house.

It would also be great for sneaking around the workplace trying to get those secrets out. Not that you’d want to do that. However, if anyone at Apple or similar would like to sneak us some intel on what’s next…*nudge* *nudge* (just kidding Apple).

General Performance

All of this is great, however the big question is, how well does it work?

You won’t find it outdoing a middle to high-end canon or similar all-in-one printer. Some of these all-in-ones can scan a mean image. So if you need to scan images (like personal photos) to near accurate detail of the original image, you still need an fancy stationary solution. However, if all you’re scanning is text documents mostly, business cards or anything else where super awesome detail isn’t required (and meet the previously mentioned criteria), this might just be the answer for you.

It’s a lot like taking your document to a copy machine–it does the job just fine, but any graphics are typically going to have distortions, let it be lines or different shades of color in various areas. You can see this in the image taken above. Of everything we scanned, it came out the best. It isn’t terrible, you just wouldn’t frame it, that’s all. So if copy machine quality works just fine for you, then once again, this might be the answer for you.

Setup

First plug it in to make sure the battery is fully charged. It comes with a 4GB microSD card to get you started with. That may be you will ever need, if you are only using it on a single charge and then dumping the data to a PC after. If you find yourself dumping data less frequently than you charge/use it, you can upgrade the card to anything up to 32GB (although all those random files might get a little chaotic after awhile. The card slides into a slot on the back side of the unit (right next to the reset hole).

Once it is charged, you simply hold the middle button on the direction pad down for a few seconds. This will trigger turning it on (as well as off). In the beginning, it will run through a few basic settings: setting the date, time and language. After that, it’s ready to go.

At first, it is in SD storage mode. You can start scanning things immediatly and it will save it to the card in JPEG (image) format. Form there, you could use the buttons on the face to change the settings around to fit your needs the most. The top button will toggle between JPEG (image) and PDF (document) formats. Using the bottom button will adjust the quality mode, allowing you to choose from low, medium or high quality. The right button allows you to take a look at the images saved on the card, and the left button brings you to the menu.

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Once in the menu, the up and down buttons become arrows to scroll around, and the right button brings you back a menu. The center button acts as an ok button (for single clicks). From there you can dig further into your options.

If you press and hold the menu button down for 3 seconds, you will send the scanner into Wi-Fi mode, and now you will be able to connect a phone, tablet or PC wirelessly to it (note: in Wi-Fi mode to a mobile device, it can only scan in low quality mode).

If using Wi-Fi mode to a “mobile device”, it will scan directly to their app once it has been opened and you have connected your mobile device to the scanner’s Wi-Fi. The app itself seems to function just fine, albeit so very basic in design (and as mentioned, you will be limited to the low quality setting).

When connecting via “computer” via Wi-Fi, you can access the scanner’s the settings via its internal 192.168.1.2 address (via any web browser, just as you would a router). This is also where you can browse images already taken, stored on the card. In order to scan directly to the computer, you have to download their software. Their website claims the software is provided on the microSD card. We did not find this to be true, however we did immediatly begin using it with the card inserted before inserting the card into a computer (thus, it might have auto formatted the card, causing us to lose the pre-loaded data). In any case, they do provide a link to where you can download the software on their website via one of the included instructionals, as well as a valid license for each program (there is generous list of their software to pick from for both Windows and Mac systems).

If you choose to use the USB cable to a computer, it will (should) simply show up as a USB scanner, and you can begin scanning with their provided software open and ready.

So it can scan to a computer or a mobile device, it can do wired or wireless to a computer, and it can scan to itself via microSD card. This also means they have an app available for download (for both iOS and Android mobile devices), as well as software for both Windows and Mac computers. All of which are free and are included.

Detailed Results/Conclusion

You can get a lot of use out of this. It isn’t perfect, but it does work, and has the ability to work for you in so many situations. Great for record keeping if you are OCD about keeping record of everything you come across. This is, as long as you don’t expect perfect copies of anything. This is nothing more than a basic copy machine in scanner format.

In the images above, you can see the three quality formats and what they result in. The image is of the back of one of my business cards. Low quality looks as it does, with medium quality looking much better. High quality looks a lot like medium for the most part, only slightly sharpened (as if it was ran though Photoshop or similar with a simple “sharpen” setting). This helps with cleaning up text more than anything–as you can see in the following images.

If the colors are quite noticeable off, you can use the calibration card that it comes with to calibrate the scanner with–but, for the most part, the above images are what to expect.

Personally, we found it’s easier to just carry it around in SD mode, scan to card, then offload them manually to a PC via the card and edit in your favorite software (if needed) later.

Unless of course you need to share the scanned image/document post haste via social media, text, email or simply to something on your PC right then and there (like if you need to do that for business for quickly scanning people’s IDs to your system with. Then switching to software or app makes perfect sense.

We did find a few caveats you have to follow to get the best image. The paper has to begin rolling through as soon as the scanner starts, else you may get an extended image, with streaks in the extended portion. It almost always shows as distorted on the screen in such a case, however it doesn’t always make it into the actual file like it does on the screen. Sometimes it seems to clean it up like a normal scanner would do the white areas around the document being scanned. You also have to make sure to adjust the slider to the size of the paper or it might not get the entire document in the scan. For an example of this, we ran an image through that was smaller than the setting of the slider. It still ran its course through the scanner and made it through straight–however only 2/3’s of the image made it into the file (left to right).

Also, the menu system on the screen looks nice when it comes to main screen, settings and so forth. However, no matter what you scan, the preview image is distorted and stretched out on the screen as if the resolution can’t support displaying the actual file. In the images above, you can see the main screen perfectly clear. Then, you see what a preview of a scanned document looks like (sample taken: a random business card we had lying around). Because of this, you can’t really depend fully on what you see on the screen vs viewing the file later. However, as long as you can (for the most part) make out shapes and sections, you get used to what a successful scan looks like vs one with lines or missed areas, like the samples previously shown above.

It is a little pricey at $129.99, although the sheer amount of abuse you could find yourself committing with one of these, really does begin to justify the price a little (assuming it can take the abuse without falling apart at anypoint). We haven’t been able to get it to fail yet, but we have only scanned a few hundred or so items through it so far. We might have to come back and update the story if we feel it fails to live up to our expectations.

Again, if you need detailed/high quality scans, it might be best to buy a full size scanner that carries a better resolution (and use your favorite software of choice). We have multiple all-in-ones on site that scan straight to your desktop, no software needed. A few of them are large commercial options, as well as a number of consumer models (ex, Canon PIXMA MX922 printer). There are so many options to choose from, each specializing in their own ways.

However, if you need something simple to just get the job done with, agree with the quality above and find that a mobile solution sounds quite handy, then this could be the portable printer for you.

*Average price is based on the time this article was published

Unboxing Video:

Additional Images:

Specifications:

• 1200mAH Li-polymer battery
• 1.44” Color Screen for instant scan preview
• MicroSD Card slot (4GB card provided)
• USB slot (to recharge your device or upload files to a computer)
• WiFi button for a fast wireless transfer of your scans (to any computer or mobile device)
• Resolution: 300/600/1200 DPI
• Formats: JPG/PDF-A/PDF-L, Color or B&W mode
• Scanner size (H x L x D): 3,5 x 27,5 x 4,4 cm (1.73 x 10.62 x 2.12 in)
• Scanner weight: 330g (0.73 lbs.)
• Document feeding: Automatic document feeding (single page feed type)
• Image sensor: contact image sensor (CIS)
• Maximum paper size: Up to A4
• Menu languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Si. & Tr. Chinese, Japanese
• Battery: Built-in 1200mAH Li-polymer battery (Scanning capacity when fully charged: up to 100 A4 pages)
• Charging method: USB cable

What’s in the box:

• IRIScan™ Anywhere 5 scanner
• Readiris™ Pro 15 software for PC and Mac® on MicroSD™ card
• IRISCompressor Pro software for PC Mac®
• Cardiris Corporate 5.7 for Windows
• Cardiris Pro 4 for Macintosh
• One SD card (4GB)
• USB cable
• Travel pouch
• Calibration sheet
• Cleaning cloth

Are you a manufacturer or distributor that would like us to test something out for review? Contact us and we can let you know where to send the product and we will try it out.