I bought
one of these just to show patients and parents what their ears look like. It turns out that it won't work with an iPhone, only Android, but it works fine with a mac laptop.
Pros:
1) Fairly hight quality images, with good illumination
2) Cheap! ($32) Much less than a Welch Allyn scope, especially one of the good ones.
3) Ability to record images and send them to others (telemedicine)
Cons:
1) Need a laptop or compatible phone
2) Uncomfortable. Since it's not a tapered otoscope speculum, there is a sharp edge. It's fine if you have a very large ear canal with a very stable and cooperative patient, but can be difficult to get close to the TM.
3) If there is any cerumen in the way, it's much easier to get past it to check the TM with a tapered otoscope speculum.
Maybe there is some way of attaching a speculum to this thing, but that might degrade the image. Haven't tried that.
Here, check out my surfer's ear...
View attachment 501296