Phiz 3D Scanner | Hands-On Review | Worth it or Not?

Martin
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The Phiz 3D Scanner from Kiri Innovation* brings 3D scanning technology into your home. Using a new patented technology and powerful artificial intelligence, it is possible to split the 3D scanner into a laser, a turntable and a smartphone. The result is an affordable 3D scanner for the hobbyist. 

Due to the low cost compared to industrial 3D scanners and the amazingly good results, you get a very good price-performance ratio.

In this review I will show you how the Phiz 3D Scanner works, how to use it and what results you can get with it. I scanned some objects to test the performance.  

  • Object Height = 70 mm
  • Scan Result

Key Takeaways

  • Smartphone assisted 3D scanner
  • 3D printer compatible
  • up to 0.2 mm accuracy
  • Scan volumes from 50 x 50 x 50 mm to 400 x 400 x 400 mm
  • Scan time approx. 4-30 minutes (depending on settings and smartphone)
  • easy to use: after 2-3 experiments you get the hang of it

Who Should Buy the Phiz 3D Scanner?

The Phiz 3D scanner is suitable for those who want to 3D scan at a low cost. The accuracy is suitable for objects between 50 and 400 mm height and normal to little details. For reflective, transparent or small objects with a lot of details, the device reaches its limits. 

Advantages & Disadvantages
Phiz 3D Scanner

PRO:

  • high accuracy
  • fast scanning
  • very affordable
  • easy operation
  • smart AI
  • mobile
  • compatible with 3D printers

CON:

  • scan quality partly dependent on smartphone
  • not suitable for small objects (< 50 mm) with many details 
Phiz 3D Scanner*

Check Price at:

Official KIRI Innovations Store*

Scope of Delivery
Phiz 3D Scanner

The Phiz 3D Scanner* comes in a nice box. It is about the size of a shoebox and contains the following things:

  • Phiz Beacon
    (here the smartphone is mounted and the laser beam is emitted)
  • Phiz Turntable
    (the object to be scanned will be placed on this turntable later)
  • USB Type C cable for charging
  • Instruction manual

Function
Phiz 3D Scanner

Normal 3D scanners need a light source, a turntable, a camera and a powerful processor with suitable software. The Phiz 3D Scanner uses the camera and CPU of your smartphone and thus saves a lot of costs. Modern smartphones now have very good cameras and powerful CPUs to enable 3D scanning without their own processing unit and camera. 

So the components of the Phiz 3D scanner are as follows:

  • Light source = laser on the Phiz Beacon
  • Turntable = Phiz Turntable
  • Camera = camera of your smartphone
  • CPU = processor(s) of your smartphone
  • Software = 3DScanLink app on your smartphone (iOS & Android)

Besides outsourcing the camera and CPU to your smartphone, what makes the Phiz 3D scanner special is the software. With normal 3D scanners, it is important that the distance between the light source, camera and turntable is always the same, so that you can determine the shape of the scanned object by triangulation. 

With the new patented technology of Kiri Innovation, it is no longer necessary that the distances are constant. Therefore, it is possible that you use your own smartphone and that the Phiz Beacon and the Phiz Turntable are separate from each other. 

The sophisticated artificial intelligence (machine learning algorithm) then intelligently merges the scanned image. 

Even though it’s all very complicated, in practice it’s quite simple! The app is very intuitive and the user guide tells you exactly how to position everything to achieve perfect results. 

Phiz 3D Scanner*

Check Price at:

Official KIRI Innovations Store*

Features
Phiz 3D Scanner

Powerful AI

The powerful AI of the Phiz 3D scanner can process millions of data points. It also calculates the exact position of the object, laser and camera, resulting in high spatial accuracy.

Compatible with many Smartphones

All newer smartphones (from iOS 12 and Android 7.0) are supported by the Phiz 3D Scanner. Older smartphones are not compatible with the software, their camera and CPU performance are not sufficient for 3D scanning. Conversely, the quality of the scan is also somewhat dependent on the quality of the camera and the performance of the processor of your smartphone.

Colored Scans

After the 3D scanner has scanned the shape of the object, it moves around the object a second time to detect the color. The result is a scanned, colored object. 

Editable Files

Since the exported file can be used with a CAD program, you can still edit the scanned object. Artifacts can be removed and details can be improved. 

Operation
Phiz 3D Scanner

The combination of easy-to-understand instructions and an intuitive app is ideal. After you’ve scanned once or twice, you don’t need instructions anymore!

If you do need a little more help, there are plenty of video tutorials like this one:

Hardware

Operating the hardware is pretty simple with a total of three buttons and a rotary wheel.

  • Phiz Beacon: 
    • On/Off switch
    • Button to clamp and release the smartphone
    • Rotary wheel to adjust the focus of the laser
  • Phiz Turntable:
    • On/Off switch

The mechanism for clamping the smartphone is operated via a single button. When you hold it down, the head moves up. If you then release it and press and hold it again, it moves down again. 

The mechanism automatically detects when it has clamped the smartphone and stops. After that, your smartphone sits firmly in the Phiz Beacon.

Software

As already mentioned, the associated app is very intuitive to use. It is available for Android and iOS. 

Once you have registered, you can also directly start and connect your Phiz 3D scanner. The app notices that you have never connected to the device before and gives you a video tutorial for each step. 

These tutorials are really easy to understand and repeatable. Even in the later course of operation, short descriptions are always displayed and small videos are played so that you always know what you have to do. 

Practical Test
Phiz 3D Scanner

In the hands-on test, the Phiz 3D scanner made a very good impression. The very simple operation just described made it extremely easy to get started. Only a few minutes passed between unpacking and starting the first scan. 

I tested the device in the highest quality settings. The results are impressive, as you can see in the following gallery. 

Only with very small and detailed objects did Kiri Innovation’s 3D scanner reach its limits. There you could see that the details were not well noticeable. But here I am probably a bit too picky because a resolution of 0.2 mm is already really very good. 

The artifacts that can still be seen in the point cloud are removed or compensated for by the software during export. The result is a smooth surface. The export options are designed so that you can set the level of detail yourself. 

Phiz 3D Scanner*

Check Price at:

Official KIRI Innovations Store*

Fields of Application
Phiz 3D Scanner

3D printing

All scanned objects can be exported as .STL and .OBJ. These file formats are used by all popular slicers. The combination of a 3D scanner and a 3D printer allows you to literally copy objects! 

Education

The affordable price and ease of use make the Phiz 3D scanner ideal for schools and universities. The ability to create a 3D model with just a few clicks inspires young people and promotes their technical understanding and use of new technology. 

3D Design

As in many other creative fields, inspiration is very important in 3D design. With a 3D scanner, you can bring your inspiration directly into your 3D program and build on it. This makes the process of creating new 3D worlds much easier. 

Technical Specifications
Phiz 3D Scanner

SCANNING

  • Scan time: 4-30 minutes
    (depending on selected resolution and smartphone used)
  • Accuracy: up to 0.2 mm
  • Max. Scan volume: 400 x 400 x 400 mm
  • Min. scan volume: 50 x 50 x 50 mm
  • Max. Weight on turntable: 2 kg
  • Point cloud resolution: Up to 1 million vertices
  • Export format: STL, OBJ, PLY

DEVICE

  • Weight: 1,65 kg
  • Size Phiz Beacon: 85.5 x 85.5 x 165 mm
  • Size Phiz Turntable: 150 x 150 x 69.55 mm
  • Battery life: 6-8 hours
  • Laser: 5 mW, 520 nm
  • Volume: 20 dB

APP

  • Compatibility: from iOS 12 and Android 7.0
  • Language: English and Simplified Chinese
Phiz 3D Scanner*

Check Price at:

Official KIRI Innovations Store*

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