We have all seen the Fluke Thermal Imager guns which are great, but they sure are expensive. About two years ago small FLIR thermal imaging attachments started to become available for Apple iPhones and Android mobiles. FLIR thermal imaging attachments are now also available for iPads.

Here is a good overview article from last year (2015) . http://www.cnet.com/products/flir-one/

It is now 2016. I am in the market to buy one for my iPad or my Android Samsung Galaxy Note 4. It is kind of overwhelming. I’d like decent resolution obviously, and the ability to store the thermal images. I am hoping that someone here maybe has recently bought one, either for home/hangar use, or for aircraft maintenance say to check for cabin drafts, window air leaks, etc.

Any suggestions? As I said, I have both Android and Apple so either platform is fine.

I have no idea on the android, bit works dam well on the 5s that I have, greatest thing for checking bad plugs, induction leaks, will scare u to see you cabin!! Has a very good temp reading from I think way farther than an inexpensive point and shoot one. Wilga Beast has a video of his radial running and you can see right through the cowling to the cyls, and exhaust.
I have an extra one in a box unopened if your interested? PM me

https://www.facebook.com/WilgaBeast/videos/10154239103798168/

Note the temps in the middle of the screen

They work best when measuring a large temperature differential, the color scale is relative not absolute. I've used the FlirOne for Android quite a bit on my Galaxy S6 for capturing laminar to turbulent boundary layer transition on airfoils in a wind tunnel. Uniform cooling prior to test was the most difficult task. When capturing video, the file size can grow very quickly so be ready with space on your device. Sometimes the app stops working between runs until the app cache is cleared. What specifically do you want to know?

@ M6RV6 : PM Sent

Coloradokevbot wrote:

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What specifically do you want to know?

I'd like to know what the temperature resolution of the units might be, and does the resulting subtle color output differentiation take full advantage of newer device screens.

Does it offer an option to select a desired temperature range to permit better resolution ?

Are scans able to be stored either as still screen captures or videos as well.

Are the storage formats open, ie commonly used jpg, mov, MPEG4, etc. and not some screwball proprietary format.

How good is the resolution for home use say from 20 to 120 degrees F.

I do not own a plane so I am not using this to check CHT, Vetterman exhaust pipes, etc. I need good resolution ie color differentiation in the moderate temperature range found for example in a hangar or at home.

I don't want to buy a unit that has a super broad range with insufficient resolution and or poor accuracy in the moderate range that I need to measure. Kind of like having an old analogue tire pressure gauge that goes from 0 to 200 PSI and all you really need is good info in the 20-40 PSI range, and that is all squeezed into a tiny part of the pressure arc.

Denali wrote:I'd like to know what the temperature resolution of the units might be, and does the resulting subtle color output differentiation take full advantage of newer device screens.

According to their documentation, LSR is 0.18 deg F (0.1 deg C). It is pretty easy to switch between the scales. There is an option to switch between various color pallets (B/W, W/B, rainbow, contrast, arctic, hot/cold, iron). I don't know if an image would look any different on an extra hd (4k/retina) display compared to lower res but their 'MSX blending' overlays the thermal spectrum on top of the visible spectrum for better images/resolution.

Denali wrote:Does it offer an option to select a desired temperature range to permit better resolution ?

Not to my knowledge, although this would be a very nice feature for keeping scales constant to provide better comparison across various images.

Denali wrote:Are scans able to be stored either as still screen captures or videos as well.

Yes.

Denali wrote:Are the storage formats open, ie commonly used jpg, mov, MPEG4, etc. and not some screwball proprietary format.

Yes, .jpg for stills and .mp4 for video.

Denali wrote:How good is the resolution for home use say from 20 to 120 degrees F.

That's probably its most accurate range. Documentation states 32 deg F to 212 deg F (0 deg C to 100 deg C), but I have seen it measure both higher and lower values.