Industrial sourcing · China to Europe

Buyer-firstOpen route · visible proof

Buyer guide · Electronics & assembly

AOI inspection machine from China

An AOI machine is only worth its false-call rate and its escape rate on your own boards, and neither figure appears in any listing, so the demonstration is the whole purchase.

Ask about this machine ↗Where the numbers come from

Written and listings checked 30 September 2026. Every figure on this page names its source.

What you are actually comparing.

Two quotes, one machine name

What hides inside the price

Board AOI or general vision

Four of the fifteen listings we checked were vision sorting systems for rubber parts, plastic parts or screws. They share the name, not the software. Make sure the quote is for printed circuit board inspection.

2D or 3D measurement

2D cameras judge colour and shape from above. 3D adds height, which finds lifted leads and coplanarity faults that 2D misses. Ask how height is measured and, if a laser is used, its class under EN 60825-1.

False calls and escapes

A machine tuned to catch everything stops the line with false alarms; one tuned for calm lets defects through. The trade-off is set per board, so the supplier must show both numbers on your board.

Programming time

Ask whether a new board is programmed from your CAD file and a component library, and how long a trained operator needs for one of your boards.

Resold brand or own build

Three listings were resold machines carrying a foreign brand. Ask for the serial, software licence status and whether updates still come.

Before you ask for a price.

Send these with the enquiry. Without them, any number a factory gives you is a guess dressed as a quotation.

Where it sits: after print, after placement, or after reflow.
Board size, smallest components and whether you inspect through-hole joints too.
Line cycle time the AOI must keep up with.
Defect types you most need to catch, from your own repair records.
Data you need out: repair station, statistics, link to your production system.

Turn the claim into a demonstration.

Require this	A pass looks like
Program one of your boards from your CAD file on video, timed.	Program complete and running within the time the supplier stated, with the steps recorded.
Run a counted set of good boards through the machine.	False calls counted per board and written into the test record.
Run boards with known seeded defects: missing, shifted, reversed, bridged, lifted.	Every seeded defect flagged, and any escape listed by type.

The documents that must arrive with it.

EU Declaration of Conformity citing 2006/42/EC, or Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 for delivery from 20 January 2027, plus Low Voltage 2014/35/EU and EMC 2014/30/EU.
Manual and programming guide in a language your operators read.
Software licence certificate with version and update terms.

The one people forget. The software licence. An inspection machine without a valid licence cannot be reprogrammed for your next board, and a resold unit may carry a licence tied to its first owner.

When this is the wrong machine.

Buy something else if

Named, not hedged

Your defects start at the paste print.

A solder paste inspection machine after the printer, or a better stencil printer.

You need to see hidden joints under BGA or bottom-terminated parts.

An X-ray inspection system; no camera sees under the package.

Where the numbers come from.

We name the kind of source, how many and when, and never the factory. Listed prices are asking prices, not landed cost. Where we do not hold a fact we say so: that is a GAP, not an estimate.

Listings · 15Fifteen marketplace listings for AOI inspection machines, checked September 2026: four were vision sorting systems for rubber, plastic or screws, three were resold foreign-brand machines, and one showed a price of US$1.
Listings · 8Eight circuit board AOI listings with a usable price asked from US$4,000 to US$125,700. Asking prices, not landed cost.
GAPGAP - no supplier quotations logged for this machine yet. Three to five quotations for one configuration would give a real price spread.

Related machines.

Solder paste stencil printer. Choose a better stencil printer when your AOI keeps finding the same paste faults.
Reflow oven. Look at the reflow oven when defects found after reflow trace back to the temperature profile.

Every machine we source in this area is on the Electronics & assembly page. How a project runs, stage by stage, is on how it works, and what it costs is on pricing.

Straight answers

Questions buyers ask about this machine.

Chinese vs European AOI inspection machine: which is better?+

Camera hardware is close. The difference is in the component library, how fast your boards are programmed, and how false calls are tuned. Judge on the demonstration numbers.

What goes on an AOI factory audit checklist?+

Whether they write their own inspection software, how they keep the component library current, and whether they can show false-call data from a customer line.

What CE documents does an AOI machine need?+

A Declaration of Conformity, technical file and manual in your language. If the 3D head uses a laser, the laser class must be stated.

Who is the EU importer of an AOI machine I buy direct?+

Your business, if it brings the machine into the EU. You put your name and address on it and keep the declaration.

Contact

Tell us what you need.

Send a machine, a quotation you want checked, or a question. We reply with what we would look at first.