11 January 2026
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
The ooono is a small button, you install it on your dashboard. It connects to the ooono app.
For Irish motorists concerned about keeping their licence intact and avoiding fines, tech solutions promising a helping hand are nothing new. But the latest gadget gaining modest attention in Europe — and trickling slowly onto Irish windshields — is the OOONO Co‑Driver NO2, a compact, screen-less device that aims to alert drivers to speed cameras and road hazards without the clutter of full-blown navigation apps.
What it Is
The OOONO Co-Driver NO2 isn’t a traditional radar detector. Instead, it’s a small Bluetooth-enabled puck that pairs with your smartphone and draws on a community-sourced database of reported cameras and hazards to warn you well before danger looms. The idea is simple: fellow drivers around Europe report speed cameras and hazards via the accompanying app, and your device relays those alerts to you in real time — helping you stay aware and (hopefully) safer on the road.
The system also allows users to confirm, report or dismiss warnings as they drive, feeding back into the network to keep the data fresh.
How it Works in Practice
Once connected to your phone and mounted on the dash, the OOONO springs to life automatically when you drive. Alerts — visual LEDs or audible tones — warn of upcoming fixed cameras or hazards based on reports from other OOONO users. According to user reviews elsewhere, it’s easy to install and fairly intuitive to use.
But there’s a key caveat: just like being the first person to have a fax machine in the 1980’s its effectiveness depends on the number of other users!. In places where many drivers contribute reports, alerts tend to be timely and frequent. In areas with few users, reports can be sparse — and warnings thin on the ground.
The Irish Reality: Quiet on the Network
Here’s where the OOONO story meets Irish roads: unlike navigation apps such as Waze or Google Maps — which boast millions of active contributors globally and are widely used here — OOONO’s community in Ireland is still very small. In Cork the only other notification I have seen was the fixed speed camera on near Lissarda on the main Cork to Kerry road. While there’s no official user-count figures for the Republic, local forums and threads on driving tech rarely mention the device, and a handful of Irish owners have noted they rarely see local camera alerts because few users have reported them.
One reviewer even remarked that the product “is still in its early stages, hence not many people using it unlike Waze — so critical alerts are getting missed especially mobile speed cameras.”
In short: on roads from the M7 to the Wild Atlantic Way, OOONO’s warnings may be patchy unless more Irish drivers adopt it — a self-fulfilling problem for a device built on crowd participation.
Pros and Cons: What Irish Drivers Should Know
Pros
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Simple setup: Just pair with your phone and go — no subscription needed.
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Compact and unobtrusive: No big screen or extra wires.
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Community input: Alerts improve as more people join.
Cons
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Sparse coverage in Ireland: Without a large local user base, warnings can lag.
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Relies on app connectivity: Bluetooth and phone app must be running.
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Not a radar detector: It doesn’t pick up actual radar or laser signals — only reported data.
A Tool for Safety, Not a Silver Bullet
Irish drivers are increasingly aware of the impact of speed cameras: surveys show a strong consensus that cameras help encourage compliance with speed limits. But many still rely on familiar navigation apps or cruise control as their primary aids. For now, the OOONO Co-Driver NO2 might best serve enthusiastic early adopters or frequent travellers who want an extra layer of awareness — but its potential remains limited by its relatively small user footprint here in Ireland.
Whether the OOONO community will grow enough to become a genuine alternative to mainstream apps remains to be seen. But for now, while this little gadget scores high on ease of use and ingenuity, its real-world usefulness on Irish roads is only as strong as the community behind it.