SWISSDIAG PRO · Adapters

Which adapter for my car?

An adapter to get started and the one we recommend, their prices and where to buy them in Switzerland. Further down, the expected OBD protocol for your car. The SWISSDIAG PRO app runs on Android and supports both classic Bluetooth and BLE.

Which adapter should I buy?

A branded adapter costs from about CHF 35, plus shipping.

A Bluetooth OBD‑II adapter plugs into the diagnostic socket, usually under the dashboard; you buy it separately.

Electric car, built before 1996, or sold in Europe before 2001 (petrol) or 2004 (diesel)? Check your vehicle further down first: on these cars, reading is not assured, whatever the adapter.

Vgate iCar Pro BLE

To get started · from about CHF 35

Who it is for: tight budgets. A branded ELM327-compatible adapter using Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE), a mode the app supports; its manufacturer lists the five OBD‑II protocols.

Used in our first tests.

About CHF 35 to 65

Manufacturer page (Vgate)

OBDLink MX+

Recommended · tested by us

Who it is for: anyone who wants the adapter we use as our test reference. It covers the five OBD‑II protocols. Classic Bluetooth.

When to choose it: American vehicles from 1996 to 2007 using J1850, especially GM (J1850 VPW, tested with it); exploring other control units, which we test with it (read-only, partial coverage).

About CHF 160 to 185

Manufacturer page (OBDLink)

Indicative prices noted on 27 October 2026, VAT included, shipping extra depending on the shop; prices and stock change often: check the shop’s page before buying. No affiliate links: we earn nothing from these purchases.

I already have an adapter: is it compatible?
  • Branded Bluetooth adapter (ELM327 or STN)For example OBDLink or Vgate (including vLinker): normally recognised by the app, over classic Bluetooth or BLE; only connecting confirms it.
  • Unbranded “ELM327 v1.5” cloneIt may connect, but it often fails on J1850 and handles short timings poorly: control-unit exploration often remains incomplete. Avoid it on J1850 vehicles; not recommended elsewhere.
  • Wi‑Fi adapterThe Wi‑Fi connection is experimental in the app.
  • USB adapterNot supported: the app connects over Bluetooth (and, experimentally, over Wi‑Fi).
  • ENET cable or DoIP-only adapterIt does not replace an OBD‑II adapter: the app does not support DoIP.
  • To be surePlug it in, ignition on, and connect it from the app, which is free to install: it shows whether the adapter responds, then a first diagnosis shows what the car returns.

Your vehicle

What you should know

  • Recommended adapter: OBDLink MX+It supports the five OBD-II protocols and is our reference adapter for testing. For less money, a branded ELM327-compatible adapter such as the Vgate iCar Pro BLE also covers the five protocols.
  • Classic Bluetooth or BLEThe app supports both: classic Bluetooth (SPP) and Bluetooth Low Energy. Check the Bluetooth version of the adapter you choose on the manufacturer’s page. Wi‑Fi ELM/STN is experimental in the app.
  • MS-CAN and SW-CAN: not used by the appThe MS-CAN bus (Ford) and the SW-CAN bus (GM) are not part of standard OBD. They give access to certain manufacturer control units, but the app does not use them: they are not the reason we recommend the OBDLink MX+.
  • DoIP: not supported by the appRecent vehicles with an Ethernet gateway (DoIP) answer standard OBD requests at the socket; behind the gateway, the app’s coverage of the other control units is limited, whatever the OBD-II adapter. The app does not support DoIP: an ENET cable or a DoIP-only adapter is of no use with it.
  • ELM327 clones“ELM327 v1.5” clones claim the five protocols, but they often fail on J1850, may be slower and handle short timings poorly: control-unit exploration often remains incomplete. Avoid them on J1850 vehicles; not recommended elsewhere.

How we know

The anonymous reports sent by the app to the server contain: vehicle make, model and model year (only values from a closed list), OBD protocol, scan profile, addresses of the control units queried with a generic name and their reply, present and supported fault codes with their status byte, application version, and a random number drawn for each report, used only to avoid duplicates. No VIN, no location, no device, installation or account identifier, no date or time of the scan: see section 9 “Anonymous discovery report” of the privacy policy.

A platform only appears as “observed” from 5 reports coming from at least 3 different weeks, so that no line can point to a specific vehicle. Reports are counted as they are: the same vehicle reported several times counts several times. Below these thresholds the page only shows the protocol expected from the rules by make and year.

Model years offered for each model: based on NHTSA vPIC (public domain), new passenger car registration data published by the European Environment Agency (EEA, Monitoring of CO2 emissions from passenger cars, licence CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0); data adapted by us.

Indication based on the protocol; neither a licence nor a guarantee of coverage. We bought the recommended adapter ourselves. Adapter and vehicle names belong to their owners; no affiliate links: the links lead to manufacturers’ and shops’ pages, with no payment to us.