Walmart.com Now Selling “Spy Pens” & Hidden Cameras
Walmart Offering 3 Different “Spy Pens” For Under $100
So the other day I searching online for a nice spy pen, one that exudes a professional appearance as well as being highly reliability. There are many spy pens, pen dvr’s, or what have you. Many are just junk, and a lot of the pen cameras of the past have had serious reliability issues.
There is a pen I’ve been researching for a while, and it’s definitely captured my attention (no pun intended). The hidden pen camera is called the DOD-PH720HD, like the name states, it has the ability to capture video at 720p in HD quality. This pen also advertises it can snap still photos at 12 mega pixel resolution (if you can actually believe that). I have it on my wishlist on Amazon.com, and I was going to purchase it this week until I randomly stumbled upon these three “spy pens” on Walmart.com.
Yes, you heard right. Walmart.com (of all places). Spy equipment is one of this last items one would picture Walmart stocking. It looks like the pens are available only online, and not in the brick & mortar stores. So why would Walmart stock a spy pen anyway?
Here’s my take on it. 1: Spy pens can be used for seminars, recording notes in a car while traveling. 2: It can come in handy for a cheating hubby / wifey’s significant other to place this sucker right on a desk or public common area without suspicion. 3: Flat out…the device is just plain cool to have!
I’m interested in hearing from anyone who currently has one of these devices or has used one in the past. I’d be interested in how the video / audio quality differs from unit to unit.
Walmart Spy Pen Camera #1:
SVAT PI101 Covert Pen DVR with Built-in Color Camera and 8GB Flash Drive

The SVAT PI101 Covert Pen DVR with Built-in Color Camera and 8GB Flash Drive allows you to record your surroundings discreetly and transfer them to a PC or Mac via an 8GB USB flash drive. Includes covert pen DVR, three ink refills, USB cable, user’s manual, USB power adapter and informational booklet.
Technical Specs:
- Video camera and DVR in a discreet, functioning ballpoint pen
- Looks and writes with a normal pen
- Pen unscrews to reveal a USB drive that can connect to a PC or Mac
- Stores up to 7 hours of high resolution video at a time
- Built-in lithium polymer battery can be charged via USB port
- Includes covert pen DVR, 3 ink refills, USB cable, user’s manual, USB power adapter and informational booklet
Walmart Spy Pen Camera #2:
Swann DVR-421 PenCam Mini Video Camera & Recorder Executive-quality Black Ballpoint Pen w/ 2GB Flash Drive

The Swann PenCam DVR Mini Video Camera & Recorder is living proof the pen is mightier than the sword! The stylish-looking casing with metallic gold trim and pocket clip holds an executive-quality black ballpoint pen with hidden talents, as it contains a pinhole video camera so small you almost can’t see that it’s there. Use the PenCam to shoot AVI video files at 640 x 480 pixel resolution or JPEG still images at 1280 x 1024 photo resolution, all at the push of a button.Make your own videos or photos and store them on the built-in 2GB flash drive.
- Real ballpoint pen
- DVR
- Camera
- Easy uploads to YouTube
- Long-lasting battery
- 90-minute charging time
PenCam’s intelligent design includes 2GB of built-in internal memory that can store over an hour of video footage. Viewing or copying recorded files is easy, just unscrew the top of the pen to reveal a USB plug that can connect straight into your computer’s USB port. No special cables, no adapters, no drivers, no worries! Transferring files is easy as the PenCam can be used as an everyday USB thumb drive, able to store a myriad of file formats without fuss.
Walmart Spy Pen Camera #3:
Digital Peripheral Solutions Q-See4GB Covert-Ops 4GB Surveillance Pen
Easy to Use – Playback files on Computer – Recorder Hidden in Working Ink Pen – Records Video
Takes Photos – Records Audio – Use as Webcam or Photos for Email
UPDATE: It appears Amazon.com is offering all 3 of these pen cameras “in stock” and at a lower price than Walmart. -OCPI Blog.
About the Author:
Ryan Garrahy is a state licensed private investigator specializing civil, criminal & workers comp insurance investigations. He is the owner & principal investigator for Orange Investigations.


We have tried using these kinds of pens, but find them quite unreliable. There are certainly better, more effective, devices out there that do the same thing.
Private Detective
February 10, 2012 at 7:13 am
Some of the older versions of the pen cam were down right horrible. Since about 2010 or so the pen cams have seemed much more reliable. The DOD 720p pen cam I mentioned in the article is the most reliable pencam to date that I’ve personally used, never had an issue obtaining video in a crucial situation.
Ryan Garrahy, PI
May 6, 2013 at 2:16 pm
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Camera Pen Reset | My Camera Corner
February 18, 2012 at 3:16 am
Cool Device! Private Investigators really have the greatest gadgets ever! They even have a way to make their report easy and convenience! Indeed, they have the coolest job ever!!
andrei
March 1, 2012 at 8:26 am
Thanks Andrei for the comment, yes the improvement of the time/date stamp on these tiny cameras make life much easier as a PI when it comes to documenting & submitting evidence.
Ryan Garrahy, PI
May 6, 2013 at 2:14 pm
I enjoy studying and I conceive this website got some truly utilitarian stuff on it! .
Oklahoma Judicial Process Servers
June 11, 2012 at 11:40 pm
That’s awesome I have to get a couple of those.
ccpi2012web
June 12, 2012 at 11:41 am
Yea, these pen cams are great aren’t they. They are great for capturing video and fit in very well in just about any environment. As a private investigator, you need different “tools” for each assignment, the pen can is a really great tool, it’s been my go-to camera for various situations where I needed to capture undercover video for clients.
Ryan Garrahy, PI
May 6, 2013 at 2:13 pm
You are in reality a just right webmaster. The website loading speed is incredible. It sort of feels that you are doing any distinctive trick. Moreover, The contents are masterwork. you’ve done a fantastic job in this topic!
spyphone
July 25, 2012 at 10:16 pm
there should be more refills
Anonymous
July 27, 2012 at 1:16 am
Greetings OCPI. A couple of things.
First, I have a small concealed camera. It’s not in a pen, but works along similar lines. These things are most effective when the object they are mounted in is stationary. The video quality can be quite good, but it’s tremendously annoying if the camera is bouncing around. Hence your pen camera might be fine – if you locate the pen strategically, leave it sitting in place, and with the camera ON. It might also work if it;s in your hand or pocket, and you STOP to look at your subject. But small cameras are very sensitive to body movements.
Also … wanted to go back to an article you wrote at the start of the year. You pointed out that GPS trackers are illegal in CA as a way of monitoring a person. But what if you place the tracker to monitor an OBJECT. You don’t know a priori who is going to pick it up – so is this a different situation from monitoring a person? Good question
Give it some thought.
cheers,
Pete, Redondo
peteca1
October 19, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Thanks for commenting Pete. In California, you can track anything that is considered your property. For vehicles, as long as you’re the co-registrant – you’re good to go. In regards to your question about tracking an “object”, this would be something the courts would need to decide on. The 4th amendment is in place to protect people, rather than places. Check out Katz v. United States – 389 U.S. 347 (1967) this may be able to give you some insight.
Ryan Garrahy, PI
May 6, 2013 at 2:10 pm
I was curious if you ever considered changing the page layout of your website?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two pictures.
Maybe you could space it out better?
Business Enterprise: Administration Article Classification
January 22, 2013 at 4:11 am
Thanks for your comments and input, I do focus on original content. The layout for the blog is basic, it’s hosted by WordPress. I’ll look into adding more pics, readers seem to like that.
Ryan Garrahy, PI
May 6, 2013 at 2:04 pm
I have purchased this device from walmart . Realy cool device.
spy pen
April 29, 2013 at 5:41 am
If the article helped out your decision, then glad to assist.
Ryan Garrahy, PI
May 6, 2013 at 2:02 pm
I believe everything composed made a lot of sense. But, what about
this? what if you wrote a catchier post title? I ain’t suggesting your information is not solid, however what if you added something that grabbed a person’s attention?
I mean Walmart.com Now Selling Spy Pens & Hidden Cameras | Orange County Private Investigator Blog is a little vanilla.
You should glance at Yahoo’s home page and watch how they create news titles to get viewers to open the links. You might add a video or a related picture or two to grab people interested about everything’ve written.
Just my opinion, it could bring your blog a little bit more interesting.
contact flirting
May 6, 2013 at 1:50 pm
Thanks for your input, I’ll look into it for the next post.
Ryan Garrahy, PI
May 6, 2013 at 2:01 pm