How to use the Pocket Detector

Your Pocket Camera & Tracker Detector is one device with two ways to check a room. The front scans for the wireless signals that many hidden cameras, trackers and listening devices send out. The back has a red lens finder that helps you spot camera lenses, including some cameras that don't transmit at all. This guide covers both, plus the extras.

One detector shown from both sides: the back with the red lens finder slid up, and the front with signal lights and buttons

What's in the box

1 detector (the lens finder is built into the back)
1 USB-C charging cable
1 lanyard
1 instruction leaflet

Get to know the buttons

The three buttons are on the front, below the lights.

Power (bottom button): hold for 3 to 5 seconds to turn it on or off. Once it's on, a quick press switches alerts between beeping and silent vibration.
Mode (top button): a quick press moves to the next mode. The lights show which mode you're in.
Sensitivity (middle button): a quick press changes the sensitivity, from 1 to 5 blue lights. In lens-finder mode it changes how fast the red lights blink.

Before your first trip

Charge it with the USB-C cable. The charging light glows red and turns off when it's full, after about 1 to 2 hours. A full charge lasts up to 25 hours of use.
Peel off any protective film from the front.
Turn it on and try each mode at home, so you know what normal looks and sounds like around your own phone and Wi-Fi.

The modes

The detector always starts in signal mode. Each quick press of Mode moves to the next one, in this order:

Signal scan (blue lights): finds devices that are sending a wireless signal.
Lens finder (three red lights on the back): helps you spot camera lenses.
Magnet check (green light): finds strong magnets, such as the ones that hold GPS trackers under a car.
Flashlight (white light): for looking into vents, behind furniture and other dark corners.
Door alarm (top blue light): sounds an alarm if the detector is moved.

If you lose track, just watch the lights, or turn it off and on again to go back to signal mode.

How to check a hotel room or rental

A full check takes three steps and about 5 to 10 minutes. Do it before you unpack.

1. Quiet your own devices

Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on your phone, or switch it to airplane mode, and close your laptop. Your own devices give off signals too and can set the detector off.

2. Scan for signals

Pull the antenna all the way out. It works much less well when it's closed.
Turn the detector on. It starts in signal mode.
Set the sensitivity high (4 or 5 blue lights) and walk the room slowly, holding the detector a few inches from surfaces.
Pay extra attention to the usual hiding spots: smoke detectors, USB chargers and power strips, alarm clocks, TVs and speakers, lamps, air fresheners, vents, picture frames, plants and anything pointed at the bed, shower or toilet.
When the lights climb and it beeps, you're getting closer to a signal. Lower the sensitivity one step and keep moving toward the strongest reading. Repeat until you've narrowed it to one object.
Check that object by hand and by eye. Is it something that should be giving off a signal, like the Wi-Fi router or the TV? Or is it a charger, clock or smoke detector that shouldn't be?

3. Look for lenses

Turn off the room lights and close the curtains. The darker the room, the easier lenses are to see.
Slide the red filter up out of the top of the detector, on the back.
Press Mode once to switch on the three red lights on the back.
Hold the red filter up to one eye, like a viewfinder, and slowly sweep the room: up, down, left and right. Work from about 10 cm to 6 m away.
A camera lens shows up as a small, very bright, flashing red dot that stays in the same spot as you move. Ordinary glass, mirrors and shiny screens can also reflect, so walk up and check anything that catches your eye.

The lens finder works whether a camera is on or off, because it looks for the lens itself rather than a signal. It only finds lenses that are in your line of sight, so check from a few different spots in the room.

Set the door alarm for the night

Optional, once you've checked the room.

Hang the detector on the inside door handle with the lanyard.
Press Mode until the top blue light comes on.
Step away. The alarm arms after 10 seconds.
If the handle moves or the detector is lifted or tilted, it sounds for 10 seconds, and again if the movement continues.
To turn the alarm off, press Mode to switch to another mode.

Using it in your car

GPS trackers are often held on with magnets. Switch to magnet check (green light) and move the detector slowly under the seats, inside the wheel arches and along the underside of the bumpers. The blue lights and a beep mean it has found a strong magnet. Then try a signal scan. Trackers that report their location in real time usually send a signal about every 10 seconds, so hold the detector still in one spot for a few minutes before moving on.

What the alerts mean

An alert means a signal or magnet is nearby, not that you've found a hidden camera. Routers, smart TVs, phones and other electronics set it off too. Use the alert to narrow down where to look, then check by eye.
It beeps everywhere. Something nearby is giving off a strong signal. Turn off what you can and lower the sensitivity one step.
It's loud near the window. Metal window frames can pick up and carry outside signals. That's normal.
Nothing shows up, but you're still unsure. Some cameras are wired or record to a memory card, and some trackers only switch on once a day for a few minutes. That's what the lens finder is for, along with a careful look at the usual spots.

What it can't do

This is a quick screening tool for travelers, not professional security equipment. It can't find devices that aren't transmitting and whose lenses you can't see, trackers that are switched off or asleep, or recorders that only record sound. It also can't tell you which device a signal is coming from.

If you believe you're being recorded, don't touch the device. Take photos from where you are, leave the room and contact the front desk or the booking platform, and the local police.