20 Best Thermal Imaging Scope (2022 Updated)

I was very skeptical about buying a thermal monocular after reading many different reviews of many different products. I’m so very happy I chose the Fleer Scout 3 320. I live on 20 acres and I am able to see deer rabbits squirrels raccoons and many other animals in the dead of night all over my property from my porch.

Great product,I highly recommend it.

Thermography is a way to take photos that show the change in temperature over an image. You can locate warm/cold pipes inside walls, find where your homes insulation could be improved, use it to find which electronic component has shorted on a board (it’ll be hot), you can review how evenly heated some food is, or the cookware used to cook it.

The FLIR ONE is an attachment that has two cameras, one in the visible spectrum, and another, temperature-sensitive one. The app then overlays the two images so you can see which bits are hot and cold.

However, it doesn’t use your phone camera (that would cause parallax issues) and so you should expect a lower resolution image, especially compared to newer phones. Even though the FLIR ONE Pro falls in between the price ranges for the cheaper FLIR ONE Pro LT, and more expensive FLIR ONE PRO GEN3, this is superior in two key ways.

1. It has 4x the thermal resolution of the other two models. 2. It can depict temperatures up to 400 Celsius, rather than the 120 of the other models. This is an attachment for phones/tablets. Each model can come in any one of THREE different plug variants, and you need to buy the right one for your phone.

If you get it wrong, you can get some adaptors that will work. but I don’t recommend it. Type 1, Lightning port for Apple devices: Anything over an iPhone 5 should work. Type 2, Micro USB: Used for older generation Android phones.

Since this is getting out of date, these tend to dominate the cheaper end of the price ranges on eBay. Type 3, USB-C: Used on newer Android phones with USB-C port. As long as you use Android 11 or above, you’re fine.

Since it’s just a phone attachment, it’s MUCH cheaper than the stand alone thermographic cameras of similar spec. Often $800 or more cheaper. However they’re quite delicate, and certainly not water or even weatherproof.

Keep this in mind. The FLIR ONE app has a lot of mixed reviews. In fact, my first installation on the Android couldn’t record videos. It was only after I uninstalled, then reinstalled with ALL the permissions allowed and the optional FLIR Ignite cloud account (free at the time of writing) that it could record video.

It will try to upload any videos to the cloud, and this doesn’t work if you have limited upload bandwidth. I would love to be able to record videos to the local phone without any cloud nonsense. However, it does record to the phone as well.

You might read in other reviews about the timelapse function. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find that option in the latest Android version. Many reviews have complained thatcertain features have been removed, if they were, I’ve found that they’ve been put back or simply moved.

I find the app quite intuitive. However, it’s well worth calibrating the “overlap” of the thermal/visible images regularly. It needs changing every time you get closer/further away from your subject.

This is just a slider, and can be done in mere seconds. I really like the various colour palettes for differing circumstances. Some colour sets are better for subtle colour differences while other ranges are amazing for depicting wider temperature ranges.

I also love the ability to add/remove (and move) any spot readings to an area in the image, even include the colour key AFTER taking the image. You can literally edit ANYTHING after the fact as all the data is captured and stored.

This allows you to move quickly when “on scene” and then fix anything up later. oh wait, there’s one exception. The one exception to this is image calibration/alignment. That has to be done at the time of shooting.

Now the Pro can be set to work like the other models and only go up to 120 Celsius, and this reduced range does increase the accuracy of the readings somewhat. However, if you enable the 400 Celsius mode, there’s only a few degrees here or there difference.

There are some factors which impact this though (reflective, low “emmissivity” surfaces) and how long the unit has had to “warm up” or “acclimatize”. Since I’m used to the camera being on the top of the phone, and since the port is often at the bottom of the camera (where the attachment is connected), I tend to hold the phone upside down/horizontally when using this attachment, mostly so my hand doesn’t obscure the attachment’s cameras.

The screen rotates accordingly when recording. Just note that the US gov’t has made selling any IR camera with frame rates better than 9fps illegal overseas, so you won’t get smooth, high-motion video footage at this units 8.

6fps. Overall, this is a surprisingly capable unit for the money. If you’re gentle, are willing to put the attachment away into the provided storage case, and can handle the attachments 1 hour of battery life (cannot charge while in use, and takes 40 mins to recharge, not off a phone), along with the lack of water/weather proofing.

then this is fantastic value because is matches some stand alone units that cost well over $2000.

I wanted to love this product, but I’m kind of stuck in the middle. The purchase/delivery started off rough with the shipment getting lost along the way. B&H Customer Service was prompt in replying and issued a gift card almost immediately.

That didn’t really resolve my problem though, since I either needed the device through them or to purchase it elsewhere. So I contacted them again and they immediately shipped a replacement. Ok, great customer service and we’re on our way.

The camera arrives, nicely packaged, I try it out, works okayish. Probably need to do make some adjustments still. It’s an expensive attachment, not great instructions, but I’ll figure it out. But, I was kind of thinking the thing was brand spanking’ new since no where did I see anything saying it was used or refurbished etc and the price was in line with other new ones at other stores.

So I was a little surprised to see photos of someone’s a/c unit and heated floors show up on my phone along with a thermal image I took myself when I saved it. That was interesting. So all in all, for an expensive product, I think it’s not quite worth what I paid for it, even if it was new, but that could be because I haven’t had time to get all the settings quite right (kind of doubtful, but possible).

And it surely isn’t worth the price I paid if it is indeed used, which it seems to be. So, yep – stuck in the middle and giving it 3 stars.

Received the Flir One Pro iOS for registering for a Level 1 thermography certification class. At first thought it was a gimmicky IR camera but soon realized it’s true value and capabilities. It’s now the first IR camera I grab when headed to class or working at a job site.

The Flir One Pro does everything my Flir C5 camera can do, in a much smaller footprint. I really like that IR images are saved on my iPhone for immediate review and use. HVAC student and clients alike are in awe at the IR images I’m able to take using the Flir One Pro.

This little device has made my facilities management job so much easier, I’ve used this camera for finding water leaks, overheating breakers, overheated motors, refrigeration leaks, lack of insulation, wet insulation, and the list goes on.

Having this IR camera in my pocket has DSC Only drawback is the battery life (approx 45-60 minutes). Charges easily using a USB-C cable. Unit doesn’t draw power or charge when connected to iPhone. Great tool for size, nothing but pleased.

It’s a FLIR brand thermal camera. Rock solid build, drop resistant. Temperature sensitivity is good enough to trace heat loss when diagnosing automotive A/C or heater issues, finding faulty wires in my furnace or poor solder joints on some circuits I work on.

Features are budget level – only reads temperature at the center – no hot/cold spot metering. Thermal imaging cells are expensive – resolution will be low and looking at images later might be confusing (like baby ultrasound images) I waited for mine to go on sale locally and bought it with gift/spoil me money.

There is now a MAXIMUM brand camera for less money – I might have bought it instead, but have been satisfied with the FLIR build quality so far. Best use case is finding my black kitten under furniture in the dark – levels the playing field – LOL!.

We purchased this thermal camera since I am the property manager of an apartment building that used to be an old school. We’ve been chasing leaks trying to diagnose the source, and when we finally purchased this camera it made everything so simple we are kicking ourselves for not purchasing it a year ago.

Customer service was excellent, shipping was faster than expected, and we will definitely shop here again. Thank you!.

Purchased this to monitor some NTE thermistors and locate hot spots on a system we build. Note to users, a little curser alignment helps and is easy to do with the thumb button interface. Side benefit: I walked around my house with furnace full blast and located a few spots where mice came in in the winter.

It takes solid pictures as well. Note as you may have read, the IR camera is separate from the thermal sensor but it really makes no difference. I would buy it again.

This monocular rocks, it is easy to use and works well within its limitations. This monocular is very lightweight 6 ounces vice 21 ounces for my FLIR OTM366. The controls are very easy to use, it has a very quick start up and shutdown sequence (around 1 second).

The major buttons provide on/off menu selection, brightness, taking a picture and choosing your color pallet. You have a choice of nine color pallets. The ON/OFF button also selects your Menu options.

The menu options include Battery, Date/Time, 24 hour etc. Its very easy to use, when I first used it everything was blurry (there is no focus adjustments) it turns out you have to adjust the diopter.

This is an excellent all around tool. I bought one for my daughter to use when she gets on work and has to go to a dark parking lot in the city. Peace of mind. I highly recommend downloading the tech support documen (FLIR Scout TK battery recharging instructions).

All over its a highly recommended FLIR Monocular. You can get better and more range and features but it will cost a lot more.

IR scopes can cost thousands of dollars. However, if you want get your feet wet then this is the model for you. It’s not military quality views but it does an amazing job of seeing in the dark on a budget.

For example, on a warm humid night I was looking through the scope next to some woods on my property when I noticed several heat sources about 40 ft away. It turns out there were four deer I would have never known were there.

The trick is that you need to use the best preset that will contrast heat sources compared to the background. Cats and birds are hard to see regardless as they have smaller heat signatures. Basically, the bigger the object the better it sees.

The colder and less humid the night the better it sees. For this scope it’s all about the contrast of the target vs the background. Do some research about the advantages and limitations of FLIR if you have more questions.

Pro’s: Great price, has seven different settings to help you see objects depending on conditions, takes pictures and videos, use day or night, no light source required. Cons: The image is not real sharp beyond 75-100 yards, battery life is about 2 hours, slow refresh rate on monitor.

Don’t expect to track fast moving cars. Works best in cool conditions. To sum this up. If you want to track Taliban from thousands of feet up the be prepared to spend $$$$ or higher. If you want to see game or human sized objects across a field at 100 yards or see if that strange car parked at the end of the road was recently driven then this is for you.

Personally, I believe I made a great purchase.

For a FLIR this is relatively inexpensive and seems it will do the job. I’m new to FLIR and still practicing, but this unit has nice features. The camera/video ability may come in handy too. It even seems to see pretty well in almost total darkness, so the additional expense of a “night vision” device may not be needed.

The optics could be better, but to improve those requires lots more money. This should let me know if an intruder or animal is nearby us. Lightweight and easy to carry afield and in the camper. The only addition that I feel should be included would be a protective case or storage bag.

I ordered a Pulsar Helion XQ30F from Sport Optics. The sales rep (Ben) called me three weeks later saying that this model would not be available for some time. So, he got with Pulsar and they upgraded my sale to the next higher model (Helion XQ38F) at the same great sales price I had received for the XQ30F.

How many companies would do this? My hats off to both Sport Optics and Pulsar. Have no fear dealing with Sport Opticcs. Thay are the real deal!.

Does everything I expected. Great design.

I got this to go in the woods and hunting and for surveillance around my house for emergencies. It is very low resolution for one so images from it are worthless. But movement and finding moment makes this useful.

you can see where things are if you hear a sound or noise in the woods you can see if there is something in a given location. Finding a deer or tracking this would be super useful if you acted quick enough.

I like it but I might save for higher Resolution model in the future.

I purchased one , and it works to what i was expecting, to detect up to 100m. after that you wont be able to detect. But inside this range it works well to detect, not to identify. It is not comparable to a thermal scope, but to me it was better option to the leupold cheap monocular or the flir tk.

It is well constructed, feels solid, I dont like the double function switchs, press and hold, i would rather to have one solid click. Dont forget to properly turn it off, because you can only put it to sleep, and it still will consume battery in a day.

This monocular worked much better than anticipated. I identified a large group of hogs at 350 yards first time I used it. Would never have known they were there without it. This will quickly become an indispensible tool for night hunting.

This thermal scope works just as advertised. It is an affordable entry level thermal for long range detection. I’ve used it to detect deer around my house at night at 200-300yds.

I didn’t expect a lot of clarity with this equipment due to my experience with another brand thermal monocular. I was pleasantly surprised that once properly focused, deer, rabbits and hogs, etc were easily distinguishable.

Very easy to operate, compact and light. After holding the (m) button in for a few seconds the menu will pop up and all options are easy to navigate thru. Thermals are great for an entry level device, 10 to 50 yards heat sources are pretty identifiable but past 50 you can still read heat signatures but identification gets fuzzy.

One magnification is clear 2times a little fuzzy and also 4 times Absolutely love it for walking out at night and making sure nothing is going on Overall in my opinion AGM hit out of the Park.

I try not to get to exited anymore, it reduces my disappointments. Im pleased to say Im definitely not disappointed. This mono shines in every area I was looking for. Ive logged countless hours looking for price, quality, performance.

Agm also has a couple models at a higher price point with a crisper screen. However for the time I spend in the bush this guy satisfies my every need. Agm if your hiring am happy to push your product great product!.

Works well best item I bought .

This is my 3rd Flir so ill base the functions based on my past experience. First ordering through B&H was an easy and worry free experience. I choose them above 2 other retailers based on their price and shipping services.

Fast. I order this and recieved immediate email confirmation amd they shipped hours later. 3 days later it was at my house. Now tonthe Flir. For the price the scout TK is the best monocular on the market.

I have own 3 flirs, Luepold, sightmark and ATN hand held and this one is great for the price. Grant it if you pay thousands youll get a better product, but for hunting amd general surveillance upto 100 yards, this will suffice.

I use it for surveying the woods at Zerp dark thirty before I march to my stand to avoid accidentally crossing between a bear and her cubs or a Bigfoot and their meal.

This is my preliminary review of a FLIR Scout thermal imaging Monocular. I gave this product a 5 Star rating based on my limited testing and use since my purchase. The unit is compact and easy to use.

This unit has many nice features and the menu is easily to use to navigate through the features. I also like the fact that you can record still images and videos. The images can be readily downloaded to a PC using the supplied USB cable.

The color pallets offered should should allow everyone to choose a preference for their own individual application. Unit starts right up in about 5 seconds. Images are then optimized once the sensor completes its first calibration automatically once the unit has been in operation for several minutes based on background IR levels.

Only drawbacks thus far is that I was hoping that optical resolution would be better. There is also no magnification offered by the monocular. The adjustment for the diopter is an essential great feature to fine tune the lens to accommodate each persons individual eyesight for a clear sight picture.

Not sure how long the batteries will last during usage but if it comes close to the 5 hour run time they say it will be great. Charging via the USB cable seems to take a few hours but I feel a slow charge should be kinder to theinternal battery.

Once the battery has reached the end of its usable life it must go back to the manufacturer for a replacement. Don’t know how much that will cost along with a diagnostic check and tuneup if needed. I have been unable to check or perform any upgrades to the installed software as yet.

Planning to reach out to the manufacturer to determine if this can be accomplished online or will also require a factory performed service. All in all I’m very pleased with the product and would highly recommend it.

I have worked with FLIR in the past professionally and their reputation for quality and service is unsurpassed. It is a good value for the money but do not expect to get the performance and range of a higher end unit at this entry level.

Used to work with Seek cameras (not using the phone software). I thought FLIR was going to excel my previous experiences but this is definitely a NO. Good things on the C5: Size, handling, “MSX”, calibration card included.

The bad: Thermal sensor is not good. If not for MSX, pictures are too blurred even when you are looking at a 2deg delta temp. 2m away on a room. 5MP visual camera? Really?? No! All pictures are 640×480, even when you save a separate visual sample (system options).

Absolute lie (or mine came defective. but I doubt it). You have WiFi and BT, but just to pick up internet! Seriously?! If you want to pair the camera with a phone or tablet to at least use the official FLIR tool app.

that’s another NO. You have to send them to the “cloud”, where you can only see images, can’t edit, and later download them to a phone/tablet to be able do a bit more. Otherwise, traditional USB cable to PC.

What’s the point on WiFi & BT if connectivity is so limited? Recording videos? NO. Just streaming via USB cable (?!) That’s when portability is over. Would have been great to have video (and voice!) notes, I was expecting that.

Storage, 1. 5GB. Yes. it is enough for lots of 160×120 images but I was expecting a bit more on everything for this price tag. Definitely going to try its “competitor” on this form factor. Deception on my first FLIR.

TEquipment Response: Thank you for your feedback! We are sorry to hear you are having issues with your unit. Please give our customer service a call to see if we can assist you!.

Needed a thermal camera for inspecting the house and it’s great for the job. Able to spot insulation issues around doors, in walls and ceilings easily. Good mix of features and functionality for the price.

Slightly more bulky than a phone. UI is a little clunky but useable. Good thermal resolution and the picture overlay is nice. 4hr battery and 5000 pic memory easily cover my needs. Display is bright and touchscreen is responsive.

Easy to download pics via USB or via the wifi to their cloud app. It pauses to calibrate a lot, which can be annoying.

This C5 camera is a great asset to my handyman business. Easier to find actual leak sources vs cutting multiple holes in the walls to find it. Also with raising heat costs, I’m able to help my customers find air leaks or broken window seals and poorly insulated areas of their houses and businesses.

Great customer service from TEquipment. Thank you.

I had been using a low cost IR camera +the FLIR TG165) which is basically a spot meter with an uncalibrated low-res thermal camera added. It was useful for pointing out where the hot spots were in electronic assemblies that we maintain, and affordable.

However, the resolution was a bit too low to clearly see details on some PCB assemblies. So, I looked for a higher resolution camera, and quickly found that the prices go exponential with increasing resolution.

I finally found the E6 on eBay at a discount from the mfr. List price and bought it. It has a 160×120 IR camera resolution twice that of the TG165– less than the 320×240 I wanted, but it was affordable while the better one was not.

This unit is adequate for my present need, and just BTW, has also been useful for finding spots in my home where better insulation was needed (especially useful with the cold spell we are having just now!!) I wish the cost of these things would come down some; there is some competition from SEEK, but their products just did not seem to be as well made or as well calibrated.

I also did not want a unit that requires your phone to use it, since I am using it for other things constantly! The FLIR unit is stand-alone and it resides on my workbench for immediate use all the time.

To sum it up, the FLIR E6 is a good IR camera but like most of these products, is overpriced. It is a good deal, though, if you can find one at a discount or used.

The FLIR E8 Thermal Camera stands out among current thermal camera offerings in one very important way: it offers 320 x 240 resolution for thousands of dollars less than other available cameras. To be sure, the FLIR E8 does not offer all of the features that some users will need, but in terms of outright thermal resolution, it delivers in a big way.

The E8 is part of a new family of FLIR infrared cameras, the Ex-Series. The Ex-Series makes some significant improvements to the outgoing i-Series, including an integrated digital camera, and the addition of FLIRs MSX image enhancement technology.

On the exterior, it would be hard to overstate the build quality of the E8 the fit and finish are simply excellent, on par with an Apple or Samsung product. The soft touch housing feels great in the hand, and does double duty by providing the thermal camera with enough shock protection to withstand a 6 drop and keep on working.

And while somewhat subjective, its our opinion here at Ivy Tools that the E8 and its Ex-Series of thermal cameras have the best overall balance in the hand. The combination of light weight and great balance make the camera effortless to use on larger jobs.

The camera is glitchy at best. Some days the Thermal MSX feature works some days and others it doesn’t. When using the MSX feature the screen has horizontal lines and the image is green. Customer support says to ship it in for service (2-3 week turnaround or down time with out thermal capabilities).

Other days it works fine. This is the second Flir thermal imaging product to go bad in under a year. Buyer beware!TEquipment Response: Thank you for your feedback. This is not a typical Flir customer experience.

Please contact us for support. We will also forward your feedback directly to Flir and some of their management. Please expect them to follow up with you as well. We value your business.

This Flir product is outstanding in all ways. Ease of operation, battery life, time to recharge, durability, ease of handling and storing in your pocket, and much much more. A single draw back I see is the inability to adjust the high and low temp settings on the fly.

Yes, you can look away at something colder and ‘lock’ the settings and then turn back to the hotter target but you will still have about a 10 deg F difference between your high and low settings regardless of the target temp output.

This is the only thing I found that didn’t meet my requirements but I would gather from this fact that the difference of 10 degrees is a function of the sensor and firmware loaded in the camera. I picked mine up on ebay for $379 as the second owner and it was in mint condition but didn’t come with anything else, just the camera.

I can pick up a nice Pelican like case from Harbor Freight for $20 that will be better than most available as a standard C2 carrying case. Since this charges with a standard Android like compatible USB cord to charge with, everyone has at least 1 or 2 of those laying around.

Once you’ve used this camera for a weekend you won’t need the booklet or instruction manual so that wasn’t a big deal since everything is on-line anyway. Once I went to the Flir website and registered my product, I got an additional 2 yr warranty on the camera so I’m really happy my money was well spent.

The compact size of this unit makes it extremely easy to use. The resolution, and combined camera and IR thermal imager, makes demonstrating motor failure, electrical and electronic hot spots and bad connections a breeze.

The size of this unit allows you to slip it in your shirt pocket, and carry it around easily. It not only aids in instruction, by showing realtime conditions, demonstrating the subject, and situations, invisible to the naked eye, but real time, time sensitive diagnosis.

On site uses are infinite. We will definitely be ordering more of these, they are a real game changer in construction, education, electrical service, building servicing, and mechanical service areas This device opens up a whole world, that is invisible to the industrial service technician, or engineer.

Perfect for classroom instruction, and on site and in-plant diagnosis of difficult service issues, and repair programs. Don’t know how we got along with out it. You simply can not operate a modern industrial service business, engineering class, with out one.

This it’s truly an amazing camera. For size its size does an amazing thing. As a home inspector is cool allows me to visually give proof to my clients in many aspects. Infrared technology comes in a great little package here separating items that are producing sheet from those that are not.

What an amazing lightweight little cool so easy to use that takes pictures.