7 Best Spy Camera Detectors For 2023

7 Best Spy Camera Detectors – Find Out Who Is Spying On You!

Did you know that even with tens of thousands of guest complaints about the policy, Airbnb still allows people to install hidden cameras in their rental properties? Pretty shocking right?! There is nothing creepier than an Airbnb host secretly watching you and your family but for some reason, the company does not seem to care about hosts using electronic devices to spy on you and your family. The good news is that checking for hidden cameras is a whole lot easier thanks to counter-surveillance tools designed to locate listening devices and spy cams. In this article, we will go over the 7 best GPS and spy camera detector devices to locate surveillance equipment in your homes, business, Airbnb, or rental property. Let’s dive in!

Spy Camera Detector Disclaimer: Please note that the products mentioned in this article are not available for purchase at Tracking System Direct. We have compiled this list with the intention of aiding those who are looking to enhance their personal or professional security. Our primary goal is to empower individuals and organizations in situations where they suspect they are under surveillance, helping them to reclaim their privacy and peace of mind. Remember, this is not a ranked list, but rather a curated collection of options, and we strongly encourage you to conduct thorough research before investing in any detection equipment.

Wattne Anti Spy Detector: Best Handheld Bug Detector Under $50

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Key Features Of This Hidden Camera Detector:

Signal detector for wireless audio bugs, spy cameras, and GPS trackers
Magnetic sensor
GPS detector
Great price

Specifications:

Detection Range: 1.2G – 5.8G
Battery: 3.7V 1200mAh Li-polymer
Dimensions: 6.46 x 3.7 x 2.28 inches
Weight: 4 oz

Are you concerned about your privacy? Do you feel you’re being watched? Are people somehow privy to your private conversations?

In this modern world of tiny cameras and Bluetooth speakers, spy gear is getting smaller and smaller. Placing spy devices like hidden spy cameras in hotel rooms, offices, break rooms, and homes has become very easy and quite common.

Checking for hidden recording devices and cameras is easier than ever with the Wattne Anti Spy Detector RF finder! A quick button push flashes lights that reflect against a pinhole camera’s lens to identify where they’re hiding. You can also use this device as a detector for wireless audio bugs! An easy-to-read 4-way indicator lets you know if you’re in a safe environment or if RF signals have been detected in the area. Those eavesdroppers and voyeurs never stood a chance against you!

Watch a YouTube review of this spy camera detector here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgxqniTvSuY

JMDHKK m8000 Camera Finder: Best Tech Support

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Key Features Of This Bug Detector:

Separate spy camera finder
10-level signal strength indicator
Manual sensitivity adjustment
Locates audio bugs
Finds GPS tracking devices

Specifications:

Detection range: 1MHz – 12GHz
Battery: 3.7V 1500mAh Li-polymer
Dimensions: 4.9 x 2.1 x 0.8 inches
Weight: 6.2oz

Hidden cams have an advantage over you: they’re already in place! You might have been filmed for days before the hair on the back of your neck started to feel that you were being watched. Once you do get that feeling, you might want to pretend everything is normal before alerting those watching that you’re on to them. Carrying around large RF detectors with long antennas will definitely alert anyone watching that you’re trying to detect wireless cameras in the area. And also, what if they’re hardwired and not using a wireless signal?

The JMDHKK M8000 package comes with a bulky hidden device detector with one of the broadest detection ranges of devices on this list, but it also includes a tiny piece for specifically spotting hidden cameras! A red-eye filter washes out all other colors while you look for reflections against the flashing light it emits, typical of all lenses cameras use to focus light.

Handy for locating standard spy cams, it’s also capable of identifying infrared lights that help a hidden camera see at night! Infrared light bulbs can be attached to the video camera or separated from them to offer a larger night vision field of view, so the M8000 bug detector is an excellent tool for protection, day and night.

JEPWCO GR Pro Anti Spy: Best Portable Camera Detector

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Key Features Of The G4 Pro:

Hidden spy camera finder
Slim pen shape
Lightweight
Low cost
4 stars with over 1k ratings on Amazon

Specifications:

Detection range: 1MHz – 6.5GHz
Battery: 300mAh
Dimensions: 6.06 x 3.86 x 1.93 inches
Weight: 1.05oz

Getting rid of the bulky body and stringy antennas for a moment, take a look at this series of devices. Wouldn’t it be nice to ditch the padded carrying case and slip a detector into a pocket so you can quickly whip it out and scan any room for nefarious listening devices?

The JEPWCO G4 Pro Anti Spy Detector and the JEPWCO G8 Elite take the form of a much slimmer and more versatile pen shape, so you can use it quickly in areas ranging from a hotel bathroom to a department store changing room. Combining the RF detection of a typical radio frequency detector and a bank of red LED lights with the slim frame, they’re truly multifunctional bug and cam finders.

Scout: Highly Rated Hidden Camera Detector

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Key Features Of The Scout Hidden Camera Detector?

Simplicity: one-button design
Infrared camera detector
Replaceable batteries
Sample hidden camera

Specifications:

Batteries: 2x AAA

For many years, SpyGuy has been a trusted brand in protection, providing many styles of nanny cameras, body-worn cameras, and wireless GPS trackers. They’re actually on both sides of the fence, providing hidden spy cameras in devices you’d never expect! There’s not much but a circuit board and some wires in smoke detectors or an alarm clock, leaving plenty of room to insert something like infrared cameras that see in the dark!

That’s why the Scout Hidden Camera Detector just had to be part of this list of the 7 best hidden spy camera finders. You operate the small unit with just one button, and the bank of LED lights will begin flashing. Stand five to fifteen feet back from whatever you think may be concealing hidden devices like a camera, point the Scout at it, and weave back and forth; you’ll see a tiny pinpoint reflection from the lens if there is a camera, but going too far to either side of it will get you out of the field of view and you’ll lose the reflection.

Standard devices like LED bulbs fitted into TVs will also produce this reflection, but a bulb will reflect from almost any angle while the concave lens of a camera focuses the light down into the camera for recording, creating a narrower cone of detection.

Whether you’re just looking for some extra piece of mind or think you’re the subject of an investigation, the Scout is a perfect tool for spotting hidden spies in your area!

SpyFinder Pro: Smallest Covert Camera Detector

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Key Features of the Spy Finder Pro Hidden Camera Detector

Red light reflects against camera lenses
One-button operation
Pocket-sized camera detector

Specifications:

Detection range: 2 – 45ft
Battery: 2x AAA
Dimensions: 4.5 x 1.5 x 0.63 inches
Weight: 3oz

The original leader in camera detection! You’ll find this device online from trusted leaders like Brickhouse Security, KJB Security, and Spy Associates. The Spy Finder Pro hidden spy camera detector has been around for a long time because it’s easy to use and it bends the laws of physics to your will!

That last part went a little far. Let me rephrase: as light hits the lens of a camera, any type of camera, the light is focused down to photoreceptors and then digitally recorded into memory. This bending of the light causes a reflection to bounce from the camera, which is just what you need to sneakily force a hidden camera to reveal its position.

Even low-light cameras can’t hide! The SpyFinder Pro hidden camera detector is also an infrared detector that finds LED bulbs from just about any angle within 180°.

KAXYUYA – Best RF & GPS Bug Sweeper

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Key Features of This RF Detectors:

Magnet sensor
Detector for GPS devices
Detect hidden camera

Specifications:

Detection range: 1.2G – 5.8G, WiFi, GSM
Battery: Li-ion
Dimensions: 13.78 x 2.36 x 1.57 inches
Weight: 14.1oz

This thing looks like one of those wands personnel at security checkpoints wave around you before you get into a stadium. Actually, the KAXYUYA GPS Bug Detector kept the magnetic field sensor in there and included a powerful spy detector for wireless electronic devices!

One key feature of these KAXYUYA counter-surveillance hidden spy camera detectors is the magnetic field sensor! Without switching modes, this device is able to detect GSM signals emitted from GPS trackers and detect magnetic fields at the same time. With two verification modes, you can be sure to find any slap-n-stick tracking devices that may be detailing your every move.

BTFDREEM: Best Bug Sweeper For Home & AirBnb

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Key Features:

Small and lightweight
GSM frequency detection
Wide frequency detection range

Specifications:

Detection range: 1MHz – 6.5GHz
Battery: 3.7V 400mA Li-polymer
Dimensions: 5.31 x 2.75 x 1.37 inches
Weight: 2.08oz

This wireless bug, audio, camera, and GSM detector has 4.8 stars on Amazon with over six thousand ratings! The BTFDREEM bug sweeper is a seriously trusted model that brings together multiple functions and a 3-button simplicity not found in other devices.

Our homes and our cars are our most private places, where we should feel entitled to be our true selves, to cut loose and sing! But what if you get that feeling that someone is watching you or listening in on your conversations? The BTFDREEM can help you regain that peace of mind by searching for covert spy equipment in the home or attached to your personal vehicle.

Related Article: Best GPS Car Trackers For Cheating Partners

Product Evaluation: A Closer Look at How We Determine Quality

The 10-Point Testing Process & Methodology.

We believe our readers have the same basic needs when researching bug detection equipment: functionality, simplicity, and quality. We do extensive research on each item we talk about and read tons of reviews from others in similar situations to yourself. Some of these electronic devices are obviously more complicated than others, but it doesn’t mean that a device with two or three buttons has to have a lower quality than a detector with ten buttons!

There is always a trade-off; some items on this list can detect devices emitting radio frequencies used by maritime and satellite communications, while others may only find signals within the most common frequency ranges. Others may focus solely on detecting hidden video recorders or be multifunctional and look for cellular GSM frequencies, magnetic fields, and cameras using a built-in lens finder! Only you can determine which type of device would be helpful in your situation, at that point.

What Are The Different Types Of Hidden Cameras?

Hidden spy cameras typically fall into three categories: wired, stand-alone, and wireless.

Wired Cameras: These kinds involve a bit more preparation, as a wire will need to be strung from the camera to a central recording device. Think of standard security systems you see in public CCTV.

Stand-Alone Camera: Do you know that tiny memory chip inside your phone that expands your storage capacity? Nanny cameras and body-worn cameras have been using them for years! Battery-powered hidden spy cameras can be set and left for long periods without any further interaction until the user decides to go back and check the footage.

Wireless Cameras: These units can also operate on battery power or plug into a wall outlet for long-term surveillance. However, while they may still use SD card storage, they also transmit a wireless signal through WiFi or cellular service to get a video feed to someone outside the area. Do you have a Ring camera? Same thing, just nefarious and creepy.

FAQs:

How Does A Spy Camera Detector Work?

Hidden camera finders like the Scout or SpyFinder Pro utilize the physics of light against itself. The lens of a camera is concave, focusing the light down into receivers where it gets digitally recorded. Therefore, a reflection will bounce back to the user of a hidden camera detector from within a cone of detection that will also reveal the camera’s field of view. This is true of all cameras, from CCTV cameras to your dash cam and phone camera, so no one can fully conceal their prying eyes!

Can Hidden Cameras See In The Dark?

With infrared, yes. Infrared is a low-frequency light that human eyes cannot see, but cameras built with an IR filter can see it and reveal what goes on in the dark. You’ve likely seen them built into security cameras if you’ve ever noticed that bright red ring around the lens, but a hidden video camera will try to conceal them behind dark plastic to dull the glow.

Do Spy Cameras Make Noise?

Very little noise, most of the time. You may hear a slight whirring if you get your ear close enough. Or, if you think there’s a night vision camera in the area, you can flick the light switch on and off and listen for the distinctive click of an IR filter sliding into or out of place.

How Far Can A Hidden Camera Work?

At night, infrared doesn’t help beyond maybe twenty feet since they’re trying to stay hidden. During the day, it depends on the resolution. Low-quality resolution cameras may still see you at a distance, but viewers won’t be able to identify you until you get close. Hi-definition cameras are readily available, however, so figure maybe up to thirty feet or so.

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Ryan Horban

Sales VP & GPS Tracking Expert at Tracking System Direct

Ryan Horban is the Senior Editor at Tracking System Direct, with over 15 years of experience in the GPS tracking industry. Besides being an award-winning photographer based in Southern California, Ryan is also a devoted family man and writer, featured in numerous photography publications. He is passionate about discussing GPS technology and sharing photography tips.