The latest compact smartphone camera from Thermal Master may look a fair bit like its earlier pocket-sized model we covered, but looks are deceiving – and the new P4 makes some pretty big advances that you'll see as soon as you plug it in.
I’m no stranger to imaging devices from Thermal Master, a company that aims to make this technology accessible for everyday users at a fraction of the price of top-line gear. The P4 is essentially a pocket-sized thermal imaging camera that turns a smartphone into a surprisingly capable heat-detection tool. Plug it into an Android phone or laptop via USB-C and it can “see” temperature differences invisible to the human eye (as you’d hope thermal tech would). While we're not comparing its abilities to high-end thermal equipment, the P4 does a lot for less than US$300 (at its current sale price).
Essentially, with the camera plugged into the phone and the app open, the screen will display hot electrical components, cold air leaks and overheating machinery, through both the colors displayed and the temperature readings over those different areas in frame.
At the core of the P4 is a 256 x 192-pixel infrared sensor that detects heat radiation. Thermal Master’s app – free to download and easy to use – then processes the data fed to it from the hardware to display a 512 x 384-pixel image on your phone’s screen. It detects temperatures from -20 °C to 600 °C (-4 °F to 1,112 °F), so it can pick up everything from cold drafts sneaking in through window cracks to electronics becoming dangerously overheated.
One of the biggest improvements on the P3, however, is the P4’s dual-camera system. Instead of just displaying a bunch of colors indicating temperature range, the P4 also comes with a visible-light camera alongside the infrared sensor. Essentially, you can use the app to overlay thermal data on a regular image – and it makes using this technology less abstract and more "real world." This is particularly handy if you’re working on intricate electronics where it can be hard to see the problem area just through thermal imaging alone. For me, it takes away that step in brain processing required to turn that image of colors into what you see with your own eyes. It may not be a feature for everyone, particularly expert thermal imaging users, but for novices, it makes the P4 more user-friendly than earlier models.
The P4 has also had a makeover when it comes to its design. The P3’s manual-focus macro lens has been dropped, in favor of a fixed-focus system with a wider field of view. It’s not just less fiddly for the user – wrangling hardware adjustments while trying to capture macro images via a phone-screen button was pretty annoying at times with the P3 – but broadens the scope of use. Now you can scan walls, ceilings, whole engines and more in clear detail, rather than be restricted to close-range inspections or blurry images when trying to capture a larger view in frame.
The software has also been improved, with features like time-lapse recording to track heat changes, and temperature displays being much clearer. Admittedly, I haven't tested the time-lapse recording, as besides a boiling kettle and my cooling feet without socks, neither seem a worthy use of the feature or of my night.
It's worth noting that while the P4 is a big step up from the P3, it still suffers from the same issues most smartphone thermal cameras do. Being able to plug the tiny camera into the USB port and use on-the-go is one of its appeals, but it's also a downside. It plugs into your phone's charging port, and draws power from your phone – so something to keep in mind for extensive use.
And unlike the P3, the P4 is a solely Android device, with no iOS compatibility in the pipeline. Incidentally. this review is months overdue because my Android phone was 4,500 miles (7,200 km) away from my P4. But pleasingly, once my phone had some charge, the app downloaded quickly and instantly detected the camera when it was plugged in. Consumer technology with next to no setup time is one of modern life's true joys, I have come to realize.
I won’t pretend I have used a compact thermal camera for anything as useful as the things Thermal Master lists as key areas of functionality; but as an animal scientist, thermoregulation is critical data for understanding wildlife, from environmental adaptions to locomotion across species. Thermal imaging can also help you see what your indoor and outdoor plants need before they show visible signs of stress.
And, the P4 will also take nightmare-worthy selfies.
Nonetheless, this model of course simplifies the technology, but does it well – shrinking a lot of the key functions of high-end gear into a device small enough to fit into the tiniest of pockets. Plus its uses are both practical for troubleshooting cooling and heating issues, and easy to use for curious minds, like seeing how cold your tongue gets after eating ice-cream and how long it takes for it to return to its normal range. Now that's what I call versatile application of technology.
The P4 is currently available at a discounted rate of $299 (regular price $349) from the Thermal Master site. Use the code THERMALBF10 for 10% off at checkout, on both Amazon and the company's official store.
Source: Thermal Master
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