Note: I need to mention that on the left, there’s the AGM Glory Pro, the TC001 being on the right. Since the left footage was slowed down by AGM, I had to cut some parts to make it match with the Topdon TC001. Also, the freezes that you see on the right side are not video cuts, it’s just the TC001 recalibrating. Rather than being a standalone device, the FLIR ONE connects to your smartphone, which on iPhone is the Lightning port. You save money because the device doesn’t need a screen to operate, it displays the live image on your phone’s screen.

We have a review of the Doogee V20 Pro coming soon that uses an InfiRay sensor and that has a thermal resolution of 1440 x 1080, providing a level of detail that is dramatically improved over the P2 Pro. One thing that was improved in comparison to the older TG165 is the exterior enclosure because the camera is now fully waterproof and dustproof with an IP54 rating. This has been a trend with Flir’s newer handheld thermal cameras and it is something that is going to greatly benefit HVAC inspectors, plumbers or engineers who need to use them in harsh conditions.In terms of its temperature monitoring abilities, you’ll be glad to know it has a thermal scope from -40F° to 626°F (-40°C to 330°C), with a 0.07C sensitivity. Like the Flir, it comes with either an Android USB-C, microUSB or a Lightning port. The Flir saves images at a remarkable 1,440 by 1,080 pixel resolution, but that’s a bit of a cheat. Well, perhaps cheat is too strong a word, but some sleight of hand is going on here. The infrared sensor only captures 80- by 60-pixel images. To create the higher resolution image, the device smooths and scales up the lo-res thermal image and combines it with a much-higher-resolution visible light image from a second camera located right next to the infrared one. Yup, this device adds two cameras to the multiple ones your phone already has. Within the scope of the limited resolution of the sensor, the results are decent but not at the level we’ve seen from the best phone-integrated sensors. We had better results without the Macro lens in position, and reading the manual is essential to get anything like the promotional results that InfiRay show. With a 2.4″ LCD, a 80 x 60 infrared resolution and a 9Hz refresh rate (Limited by EAR export restrictions, not the technology itself), you should be able to spot any air leaks, moisture patterns, overheating fuses or faulty engine parts.

The first time the app is launched, it displays thermal results in a monochrome palette, but you can select from various eye-popping schemes that grade temperatures with vivid colours. One of the most important features of a thermal image camera is the sensor’s resolution that determines the quality of the image. The higher the resolution, the more accurate and sharp the image will be. More importantly, high-resolution thermal cameras allow the user to measure small objects at a bigger distance. 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.It’s the same sensor that InfiRay used in its P2 model, using a custom ASIC chip to process the data from the thermal sensor array, and it consumes 350mW. What also makes the results from that phone, and a few others that we’ve tested, is that they can combine conventional image camera capture with the thermal image to better explain what you are looking at. This feature is very important when looking at an engine, as an example, since random blobs of colour might not reveal exactly where the issue is without additional information. It is similar to the flir one pro camera in some ways. However, it has a higher resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. It has a thermal sensor that relies on a mobile phone`s camera to show images. It can spot heat signature up to 1800 feet.