Want to get a rugged smartphone with thermal imaging. Any recommendation? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Thermal Michael
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 20, 2022, 08:29:59 am
content: Guys, I am thinking about to get a rugged smartphone with thermal imaging function. Kind of lost in all those brands and models. Any recommendation?And will it be more convenient than a plug-in thermal camera for smartphone? Like FLIR One or InfiRay T3S.Thank you.

author: M0HZH
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2022, 09:28:05 am
content: I use the FLIR One for the home lab, it is annoying to plug it in and fire up the software everytime and deal with the high battery drain. I would rather have a standalone camera to be honest.

author: Vipitis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2022, 09:36:10 am
content: Any external dongle will not be rugged, but some external dongles will give you much better quality.As far as I know there is 4 total phones with a thermal camera that I know of. All of them are Leptons. I own two of them. I cannot recommend them as thermal cameras but I can recommend them as rugged phones with a gimmick.There might be another phone with a different core embedded, but I have not read much about it. It's from AGM and looks like it has a Seek core, which will be a much better experience due to the framerate and resolution.Do you have anything specific you want to do with it?

author: thermalengineer
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2022, 10:19:27 am
content: At the beginning of January, I went to the CES show in las vegas and surprisingly found that there were some exhibitors (agm/infiray....) presenting their products of rugged phones with thermal imaging. I don't know too much about those two brands, my friends told me that agm new flagship use the thermal sensors from infiray.Due to the construction and protection features of rugged phones, I tend to choose the phone because rugged phones are better for anyone living or working outdoors than a plug-in thermal camera for smartphones.

author: Thermal Michael
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: January 26, 2022, 07:34:54 am
content: That's what I am thinking about.And to be honest, although I love FLIR very much but the resolution of FLIR One is unacceptable. They really need a updated version.As for the thermal rugged smartphone, I never used any of them, but CAT, Blackview and AGM is kind of famous and there are some reviews available online for reference. Does anyone own any of those three above and maybe could give me some advices?Thanks,

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2022, 03:39:25 pm
content: I bought a Blackview ruggedized phone specifically for use with a thermal imager. Battery life is fab, protection is pretty good, but the phone itself is largely unusable - the finger detection operates about 3mm above the screen so accurate dabbing (and dabbing when not meaning to) is a big issue. Never managed to resolve it and the phone has been unloved and unused since about 2 weeks after I got it.Maybe it was a one-off...

author: Vipitis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2022, 07:11:13 pm
content: I own the CAT S60 and S62 and used them essentially daily since late 2016.The S62 has been s great update and I am really happy with the device. It even got the promised Android 11 update, which CAT hasn't delivered before. It lacks a headphone jack which might be an issue for some. also you don't have any physical button on the front or below the display... Where the clearly is space to use. That's quite a disappointment. The Thermal camera+ app doesn't work which means I am almost never using the Lepton because I can't stand the blurry "up" scaling.

author: hendorog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2022, 08:56:54 pm
content: Quote from: dunkemhigh on January 26, 2022, 03:39:25 pmMy older BV 9900 Pro has been ok in use.The problems I've had:Very prone to random button presses when in a pocket. Literally goes crazy.Cant update to android 10 due to fingerprint hardware driver problem.Getting slow now.Lack of udates is the biggest annoyance for me.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2022, 12:54:21 am
content: QuoteCan you switch to LineageOS?

author: hendorog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2022, 01:32:07 am
content: Not sure, but unlikely the FLIR would be supported?

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2022, 01:50:38 am
content: Ah, sorry, didn't realise it had the thermal camera embedded.