So I’ve been using this for a weekend now, and I gotta say, I’m thoroughly impressedâwhat a great and useful piece of technology for many different uses! Let’s get into all the aspects, “The Good, The Bad & The Returnable (spoiler.. there isn’t one for returnable)
// Packaging & “In the Box” Items â “The Good”
I won’t bore you with details, the short and sweet version is that the box is really nice, professionally laid out & designed, and very “gift-able”. Inside you get everything you need and more. The device itself, wrist strap, charging USB cable (forgot to include in my photo), multiple international power supply plugs, manual and some additional marketing + registration material.
// Quality of the Deviceâ”The Good”
Right off the bat, you realize the construction is rock solidâfully wrapped in a soft rubber protective shell, keeping it safe from any accidental drops. The screen also has a flexible plastic feel to it, so unlike the glass your phones are equipped with, this will take a good beating before shattering. I’m very happy with its build quality, no issues or worries, however I don’t think it’s water/dust proof, so just keep that in mind before getting carried away with how you handle it. It’s an expensive technology, so like your phone, be cautious. That being said, it is built to be used in rougher environments, so don’t be overly worried about dirty fingers.
// Features & User Experienceâ”The Good”
Finally the good part. Using it is a joy, it boots up relatively quickly (10-15 sec), sometimes taking a little longer to calibrate which it does frequently during use. The screen is plenty bright by default, but does have 3 settings (low, med, high). The screen is very responsive, but like your touch phones, you will need special “touch” gloves or your bare fingers in order to respond to your interactions. It’s got multiple viewing color modes, plus MSX technology which helps you see what your looking at through the devices screen. Basically it draws lines around objects to help discern object detailsâit’s a very useful option that most will have enabled at all times. It’s got a flash you can turn on/off, or even use as a flashlight. The battery lasts for a while, I’d probably recharge it every 3 days of regular and constant usage. One of my favorite features is the double photos that it takes. So after each photo, it instantly takes 2 pictures, one of the thermal view, and one of a regular photo so you can see exactly what your looking at (see attached photo). There’s also a lot of device settings and parameters that can be tweaked, things like: Emissivity, Reflected Temperatures, Distances, Language, Time, Units, Brightness, Screen Orientation, Power settings, and few more.
One of my other favorite features which I stumbled across accidentally, was the ability of locking the temperature range/color scheme. When your pointing the FLIR at any particular area, theres a temperature range for whatever scene your looking at, and the colors are spread out across that range. For example (see attached photos), my kitchen had a temperature range of 175 – 71.8, the oven was recently on so it was 175 and the coolest areas on the floor were 71.8. The color for the hottest area is 175 and shows as white. In my next photo of my TV, the range is 93.3 to 73.4, with the highest temperature of 93.3 also displaying as white. Both different “high temps”, but both showing as white. The lock feature, simply locks the color to temperature association, and applies it to every scene you look at as long as that lock is in place. This way you can compare 80 degrees, to 80 degrees, scene from scene. It’s all a bit confusing, but basically allows the hot temps to really come through and stay consistent as you walk around your location. All you have to do to enable this, is tap on the temperature range, either the top or bottom numbers and you’ll see a small lock appear. Tap it again, and it disables itâsimple, and brilliant. I also like this because I find the FLIR calibrates less often. One last thing I wanted to point out, is the large action button on the top. There’s only two buttons on the device, a power button, and a “Take Photo” action button. This action button is oversized, which really makes it easy to take a snapshotâa small detail, but was well thought through.
// Usagesâ”The Good”
I don’t work in construction, and I’m not a handyman in the traditional sense, so for me, I’m not as interested in finding cold or hot spots around the house, or electrical problems, etc. I actually have other practical uses for this FLIR C2. Believe it or notâit’s privacy. Let me explain, this is a thermal imager that picks up any thermal signaturesâwell any device that’s got electricity flowing through it will be giving off a heat signature. Some more then others, but nearly all will. My wife and I do a fair amount of traveling, most of those travels require staying at either hotels or airbnb type locations. This camera is an amazing tool for bug sweeps. If there’s a camera hidden in a teddy bear, this thing will pick up that warm battery immediately. Unplug any electronics that you don’t need, let them cool down, then walk through the area with this camera. You will find head signatures anywhere, even through thin dividers! So if there’s heat coming from places that shouldn’t have anything there, investigate. Even things like fans that aren’t even running give off heat and are clearly visible on this device. So if your the type that sleeps outside the comforts of your own home, this might be a good investment for you.
Another thing I use this for is power saving. Unpluging all sorts of devices we had no idea were running hot even when not on, like the fan, but also things like lamps, gaming systems, even electronic wine openers.. all of it is adding to your energy bill, even though it’s at such a small amount, every bit could help.
The other interesting thing I discovered, was that my TV was much hotter in one of its corners. It ran 14 degrees hotter then any other place (see photo attached). So if your making a large purchase, and want to make sure there’s nothing strange or wrong with your product, this might be a good way to determine that too. I still haven’t looked into the whole TV issue, and I’m not sure there’s anything I can do about it, but I will be testing some settings to see if I can turn down some dynamic lighting or something.
One last thing to note, this is obvious, but might you might not realize it right awayâthis will not function through a window. So if your inside your home/apt, and trying to pick up heat signatures outside, it will obviously not work.
// Overviewâ”The Good”
Anyway, I really really like this device, I think it’s a wonderful product, that’s capable of doing a lot of very handy tricks. It’s built very well, a lot of great features and customization options are included. I would highly recommend this portable unit to anyone looking for a solution to several scenarios.
