Teledyne FLIR Announces FLIR ONE Edge Pro – The First Truly Wireless Mobile Infrared Camera Detachable form factor is i deal for inspecting hard-to-reach places The FLIR ONE Edge Pro is designed with a spring-loaded clip, and that means that it's totally brand and device-agnostic – allowing users (and companies with several workers) to attach the camera to many types of mobile phones and tablets.

Earlier I mentioned the two temperature range settings: -4 to 248 and 32 to 752. So if you point the camera at an object with a temperature that's outside the range you've selected, you don’t get a warning. It just displays the temperature at the end of the selected range. For example, when I set the camera to the lower range and pointed it at a gas flame, it showed the max temperature at about 266 degrees. But when I switched the camera to its higher range, the temperature reading of the flame rose to over 700. Are you a zebra fish? If not, you are missing out on something: the ability to see infrared light, the thermal radiation beyond the scope of human vision given off by everything around you. FLIR’s analysis software, FLIR Tools, allows you to change the color palettes and take readings from 4,800 measurement points in the image files, a little like using the eyedropper in Photoshop. The “RESNET” compliant and IP54-rated FLIR ONE Edge Pro has a spring-loaded clip designed to allow operators to attach the camera to many types of mobile phones and tablets. Thanks to the combined Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection, users can operate the Edge Pro up to 30 meters away from their mobile device, providing the flexibility to effectively inspect hard-to-reach places or those scenarios requiring greater standoff distances to maintain operator safety.

Accurate, But Laggy

The FLIR ONE Edge Pro also features an extended battery life compared to previous generations of the FLIR ONE and an easily-recognized battery life indicator, making it ideal for more prolonged inspection situations including disaster restoration, home inspection, energy auditing, and industrial equipment diagnostics. Additionally, app developers have access to the FLIR ONE software development kit (SDK) to create custom applications for exclusive use with the FLIR ONE Edge Pro. The pictures the One Edge Pro provides are about as good as those from the Flir One Pro, which is unsurprising because they use the same thermal imager. The lower-resolution visual camera isn’t as sharp if you view in visual-only mode, but in MSX mode the two devices seem to identify and outline contours well.

Combined with its 15Hz refresh rate (many are only 9Hz), it can easily be used to spot animals or people in the dark, or through dense foliage. There’s also a 300-lumen LED light, should you want to surprise someone you’ve spotted in the dark. The simple menu system provides access to other useful features too, such as Level and Span adjustments (a little like manual exposure, allowing you to isolate a thermal range), and Emissivity adjustments (manual or pre-sets). Note: the older CAT S61, still available in places, had a lower resolution IR camera, but offered laser measuring, offering an alternative with even more flexibility.With adjustable focus, the lens can be set on subjects as far as 550m (1,800ft). That’s not only handy for outdoor pursuits but allows you to take full advantage of the relatively high resolution to get sharp thermal images at any distance. Thermal imaging works in the dark, or through smoke, but can be fooled by the reflectiveness (emissivity) of a surface. Because IR is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, like visible light, it also has similar properties when it encounters lenses or rain. For professional use, it pays to read up a bit on understanding thermograms, but you’ll understand the basics the moment you power on your thermal camera. Depending on the software, you can also take retrospective measurements from the thermal JPEGs. How we test thermal cameras Beyond the visible spectrum, there is an unseen world of heat radiation. Arty infrared film photographs aside, the practical uses of thermal imaging devices – also known as infrared thermal imagers – traditionally belonged only to military and professional budgets. GOLETA, Calif. – Nov. 10, 2022 ― Teledyne FLIR, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, today announced its FLIR ONE ® Edge Pro, a wireless thermal-visible camera for mobile devices. Unlike previous models, the reimagined FLIR ONE Edge Pro doesn’t need to be physically connected to its companion mobile device nor does it have separate models for specific operating systems, providing maximum flexibility for thermal inspections.

The device charges through the USB-C port on the side, and a single button on the front turns the camera on. The FLIR One app controls everything else. Near the top of the body are two cameras: a 160- by 120-pixel infrared camera and a 640- by 480-pixel visible light camera. In standard lighting, the images from the two cameras are combined to give you a picture with the invisible detail of the thermal image overlaid on top of the visible light image; a process FLIR gives the rather grandiose name of Multi-Spectral Dynamic Imaging. These dynamic visuals can be saved as 640- by 480-pixel photos or as a video that runs at about nine frames per second—rather choppy, but it's a limit imposed by the US government on technology that might be exported. IP54-rated, the rugged thermal imaging camera can measure temperatures up to 400°C (752°F) and it has a maximum 1.5-hour battery life. Unlike previous models, the FLIR ONE Edge Pro doesn't charge up from the smartphone and instead needs to be charged separately. Offering effective image quality and processing to deliver results, the FLIR ONE Edge Pro features a 160×120 resolution radiometric Lepton ® thermal imaging camera paired with a visible camera. Along with VividIRÔ, which combines multiple image frames to deliver one sharper, final image, the cameras are brought together via MSX ®. The MSX patented image enhancement feature overlays the edge detail of the visible camera onto the thermal image without sacrificing any thermal data within the image, providing greater context and clarity to improve decision support. While the FLIR C-Series produces useful images in good light via MSX, this camera can do so at any time, since it doesn’t rely on visual light to boost its resolution. For our money, that makes it the best thermal-imaging camera for night use today. For cloud storage, imaging processing, and reporting, the FLIR ONE Edge Pro benefits from a rich set of Teledyne FLIR software including Tools Mobile, Ignite cloud, and FLIR Thermal Studio desktop software. This allows users to easily share Edge thermal photos with clients and seamlessly integrate them into professional reports.The FLIR One Edge Pro performs well but is not perfect. The fact that captured videos are limited to a jerky nine frames per second is frustrating. To be fair, that isn’t the company’s fault: The US government doesn’t allow higher-frame-rate cameras to be exported to other countries without an export license.

A rectangular bump near the top of the One Edge Pro contains the two cameras, which include a circular cutout for the thermal core and a more conventional smartphone-style camera for visuals. A power button positioned below the bump turns the camera on and off, and three LEDs indicate the camera’s status. A USB-C port on the right side is for charging. Flir estimates battery life runs up to one and a half hours. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s longer than the Flir One Pro’s single hour of battery life. When clipped onto my Samsung Fold 4, the FLIR One Edge Pro stayed firmly in place, but it felt like it could slip off at an inopportune moment. I found myself instinctively keeping a firm hold on both the camera and the phone. The camera's default setting combines images from both cameras, so you can see an “outline” of a real-world object colored in with the temperature information. You can choose to view just the IR or visible light images. These settings can be selected in the FLIR One app, which is available for iOS and Android. This app controls the camera and keeps a library of saved images and video; no data is stored on the camera itself. This easy-to-use app allows you to control how the sensors’ temperature measurements are displayed in the images and videos, either by marking the hottest and coldest spots with crosshairs or setting up to three spots in the image to be continuously measured, which is especially useful in video mode. Teledyne FLIR promises that it will be easy to recognize where problems are located and identify targets, thanks to FLIR's MSX (Multi-Spectral Dynamic Imaging), 160 × 120 (19,200 pixels) thermal resolution and VividIR, which combines multiple image frames together to deliver a clearer image. FLIR ONE Edge Pro price and availability Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. Read our editorial mission & see how we test.

Flir One App Experience

The ergonomic advantage in this instance isn’t enough to make up for the shortcomings of the wireless connection that make it possible. I found the live video feed to be laggy and jerky, forcing me to wait seconds at a time when trying to position the camera at a good angle. The thermal imager only scans 8.7 times per second and must occasionally “hiccup” to calibrate the temperature range. The lag I saw with the Edge Pro, however, went far beyond these technically necessary quirks, particularly in comparison with the Flir One and Flir One Pro. We had a few issues which might tempt us toward an all-in-one thermal-imaging camera (like FLIR’s own C5), not least the latency in or dropping of connection in wi-fi heavy areas. Even rotating the phone did this sometimes, though undoubtedly bug fixes will come. At 90 minutes, the battery stills seems a shade of disappointment, but that is the cost of the wireless communication (it also represents a doubling compared to the old FLIR One). The thermal core on the One Edge Pro is identical to the one used by the Flir One Pro. It has a resolution of 160 by 120 pixels and two selectable temperature ranges of -4 to 248 degrees Fahrenheit (-20 to 120 degrees Celsius) and 32 to 752 degrees Fahrenheit (0 to 400 degrees Celsius). It’s accurate to within 3 degrees Celsius, or 5%. The FLIR ONE Edge Pro is the most versatile and advanced thermal-visible mobile camera yet thanks to its detachable form factor, designed to fit comfortably in your hand. It offers significantly greater flexibility by eliminating the need for specific connection ports or operating systems,” said Chris Bainter, vice president of marketing and business development, Teledyne FLIR. “In addition to the new hardware design, Teledyne FLIR is providing more software tools to empower new and untrained users to conduct thermography inspections, process images, and create reports. Common uses range from building inspection and auto repair to industrial maintenance applications.” Although there are several of us on the team, including me (Adam Juniper), we generally test thermal cameras by using them in day-to-day tasks like inspecting ventilation/insulation, heating equipment (radiators, boilers) and plumbing (hot water pipes and taps). We also test any special claims made by the manufacturer about individual products, as well as the overall experience.