Thermal Cameras: TOPDON ITC629 vs FLIR ONE PRO 

Having used thermal imagery since the early 90’s. They are useful for every trade there is. From water leaks anywhere roof or ground. Air leaks in A/C dusting as well as doors and windows to radiator and oil passage pluggage and thermostats. Bearings also. Limitless uses. You can even determine fluid levels in tanks regardless of fluid type.

Thank you Ivan. Good job. Have a blessed and safe week to you and your family.

Ivan has a rockin' stereo with cassette tapes in his garage!

Good video , I have a flirone it's great tool to have , I brought the OTG-C Adapter instead of cable which worked just fine Thanks Rob mobile man

Since these are thermal imagers, I would prioritize "image quality" over other criteria.

Great vid Ivan, thanks for taking the time to do this. If the FLIR doesn't even run off of the phone's battery, I think a great improvement they could make, would be to make it Bluetooth... This way you can keep the screen in one hand and move the camera part in tight spaces with the other. You could also clip the camera to the power bank instead of your phone.

I got a Flir DM284. It's a really nice multimeter that also has a thermal imager on board. Two good tools for the price (and space) of one.

This is a fantastic review, really appreciate your effort

The image quality on that Flir looks amazing.

love those tool comparisons

If you want to be 100% sure that you have the right fuse in mind, put your finger next to it and put the camera to thermal only. It will very quickly become clear if you point to the right fuse since your finger is warmer than the environment.

Ivan, awesome reviews!! Good comparison of both. I like both. So close. But with flir, it's better for rendering. I like it, but for price, i don't lol haha

My CAT S61 phone as the FLIR integrated in the phone , love the feature

Great info on the comparison Ivan. Even if it was kind of techy/nerdy info. no offense. A $400 tool that I wouldn't use very often seems like a little out of my price range for a home mechanic. Plus the Flir is way more expensive than the 400 if you factor in the cost of the phone as well.

Nicely done Ivan. I personally have an issue with ANY tool that relies on another for use. If one part is missing, broken, discharged, or unavailable, you're stuck. (Like a scope without leads)

Truth: Having any thermal camera is better than nothing ha ha :-D You have found them really handy :-D A lot of electronic repairers use them to see where the power is mostly going or failing to go. I like the topdon for its all in one handyness.

Good job on the content helping me make an informed decision to update my diagnostic tools. I'm definitely interested in the flir. I think it's quality pictures sets it apart from its competitors. I do car diagnostics as well & I think your point on that particular area was the fact based on my decision. Itll be nice to have it for home use as well but clearly won't need a dedicated home unit 2nd device. Thanks again

Great comparison mate, I have the Flir TG167 and love it !

FYI Topdon have now a mobile option - TC001, which according to Topdon "For your information, TC001 is our new thermal imager, the picture fluency and clarity as well as the NETD are better than ITC629 : ITC629：NETD＜50mK 9Hz TC001：NETD＜40mK 25Hz Big bonus with TC001 is video output.. and at the moment, they are both the same price point! NB: You'll need a mobile that handles OTG. Also note the Flir1 Pro I believe has a NETD of 70mK

An interesting category to have added would have been accuracy. Just for fun - using a black body calibrator. I guess the accuracy is really not that important for how your using it since your mainly interested in relative thermal differences between objects. But it would be interesting to see the results!

The camera / sensor separation issue is called parallax. The one point about the flir one pro that makes it great is the ability to use the cable. While you chose a short cord, you could have used a much longer one now you have a remote camera that can fit into areas where the phone either wouldn't fit or you couldn't see it. This is handy for going into walls or other openings. Modifying a cord so that it's not all long and wonky off of the flir one is great. You can also tape it to a coat hanger or other extension object to reach. Metal coat hangers are good because they're ubiquitous and can be easily bent to shape. I'll use pliers to bend the end into a tight hook so that with adequate tape, it's coming back out of wherever you put it. Remote flir is also good for inspecting ceilings and the like where it's not comfortable to be looking up the entire time. Oh, the FLIR ONE is now easily found for $200 or less (pro model more$).

nice info. thanks.

You can buy USB, and Lightning, Extenders which'll allow the plug in cameras to work with pretty much any case. No cable and velcro required LOL. The ability to use these cameras with extension cables also lets you look in places you can't access with a handheld. I also sometimes use my IOS Seek in "selfie mode" to look behind things same way you do with the conventional selfie camera.

Hi Ivan I recently bought a cat s61 rugged smart phone with flir camera , would highly recommend. One word of warning dont allow the flir one pro,s battery to fully discharge or it will brick , thats what happened to mine and when researching found it was a common fault. Regards Joe

I have the Flir tg167. Works perfect.

Two more categories: Being able to find it. I would find the bigger case each time. Dropping the item. Topdon looks a little more resilient. I have heard great things about the flir. Thanks for the eval. Are you my kid? I would buy both with that type of review also. It is kind of like having several different scanners some are better than others for a given application. PS Great minds think alike!

Hi Ivan, fun video. I would have loved to have seen a category for temperature accuracy. If you you every do an update or add another thermal camera to your toolbox please consider it. I bet one of your multimeters has a temperature measurement setting, though I'm sure you would need to purchase the thermocouple.

Excellent info on both units. Not a fan of either one. Thanks Ivan!

That was a good review. I've been on the fence about which one to get. I've been going on the more expensive handheld just to get a good image when I can get a superior image off the phone. I drive semi which would be good for detailing a bearing that's hot or universal joint that's hot so the handheld would be better there. But if you have 5 minutes to set everything up,phone one she needs a better choice because of the resolution. The only thing you didn't cover was distance. How far they need to be or how close they need to be to start showing results. which one can take a picture of the outside of your house showing where heat is leaking out. Or how close I have to be to an engine block to see if one cylinder is hotter than another.

Excellent Excellent!

Used the Flir at wok for years its hard to beat. in a beatin a place like steel mill' cars no trouble.

As an iphone user I've been looking for one that doesn't depend on a phone. Unfortunately the price for what I'd want is too much for how often I'll use it. I really like your demonstration in the fuse box. It would be nice to have one that will focus close and accurate enough to look at an SMD board.

I’ve had 2 Flir one pro (iOS), both quit working just days after new. Seemed to just lock up. Tech support gave up with resetting etc. Was superior picture quality tho. Ended up going back to a hand held unit.

Also, since the Flir is an app on your phone, it's easy to update the software.

Привет, Иван! Классные штуки! Покажи через них как скрутки проводов греются.

What a coincidence. Marty just did a review on a ulefone smartphone armor 9 with an endoscope and thermal camera built-in

I have a Milwaukee thermal imager it runs off a 9v,its not as nice as either of yours but it does the trick, it was $169

For professional use, the Topdon seems the better option, because of battery life and ease of use. Going on your review, I'd buy the Flir, because of the higher resolution, accuracy and the smartphone integration. You can quickly diag cat efficiency with the Topdon. For parasitic drains, you can use the Topdon for quickly looking at the usual suspects: alternator, entertainment, aftermarket junk, ecm/bcm/Xcm. And if you inspect a fuse box, use a slightly warmer than ambient pointer in the picture to identify the warmer fuse: a pocket screwdriver that was in your pocket, or even your finger. Your price comparison was not fair, because the Flir can only be used if you have a reasonably new smartphone with a decent screen and USBC socket. But Flir made some booboos there: indeed, the connector should be able to come out further. And the camera having its own battery is a plus. But when that battery is almost down, it should present you with the option to just continue by using your phone's battery. It will probably run down your phone's battery very fast but at least you have an option to finish what you were doing. The tiny power bank they gave you is probably just enough for powering the camera. Which is fine. But this Flir could shine by accepting a high-power USBC charger/powerbank and simultaneously recharge the Flir and the smartphone, while in use. You did not test that. But not much chance that it would work on that way. It would require extra electronics in that small thing that already needs all of its space for its battery. But an USBC laptop power supply can put out enough power and recharge your Flir and your smartphone simultaneously, while in use.

If you can find the FLIR E4 for a very reasonable price, you can then (software) mod it and turn it into the much more expensive E8, which has IR resolution of 320 × 240. Both use the same hardware and just bound by software.

so a year later ...have you thought about another better one you wish you would have gotten? i am looking for one, prices are all over the place. mostly for electrical but other stuff too

What’s better about the Flir is that they pull the actual image in, do an edge detection filter, and overlay the edges on the thermal image. Also the cameras are closer together, and flir spent much more time on the software.

If you had plugged in the FLIR at the bottom of your phone (as designed, without the cord), would the overlay feature not be so accurate? I think, being further away from the camera lens, that it might be worse than the Topdon. Curious if you've ever taken the case off and tried that. I'm leaning more towards the standalone product because, for what I would use it for, the accuracy of the overlay is probably not as important for me. But then I think..."yeah, but when you need it". Damn decisions.

Im already buy uni-t ut260b... ACCORDING ME one of the best on market with ratio money - quality.

$400! I'll just lick the fuses and relays.

I'd likely opt for the Flir One due to the image resolution quality and overlay. No parallax issues either like the Topdon.

I was actually lucky enough to win the snap on one which is like $1200 Its the first generation one. it doesn't have the image overlay but i like it, now would i pay that much for it probably not, unless i knew i would be using it every day, and i would go for the second generation which allows you to have a side by side image and an overlay. Battery life seems to be pretty good and does last a long time in storage as well. takes pictures to a memory card or i could plug it in to the computer.

If you don't use it every day, the Flir might be the way to go. If your using an imager more than once a week, both might be the hot setup depending on what they're needed for.

U said the flir didn't suffer from the image overlap issue. But it totally does. My One doesn't seam to have a camera alignment adjustment

Like #215 Thanks for the video!

What about a CAT S62 Ivan next phone upgrade?

Flir for the win .The toDon is a Chinese knockoff for the very respectable and high quality Topcon from Japan the I use very often.

Good

I have the Flir. It does the job just sometimes the picture is a bit laggy.

Which one do you think would be best for home HVAC tubing leaks in the attic of a home?

that lose i'd pick the better quality picture over convenience.

I never have any issue with the Flir one pro with my iPhone case, just plug in and go. Maybe keep an old android phone without a case in your toolbox to use, save messing around with the cable.

You're comparing an add-on to a phone to a dedicated, hand-held camera. The FLIR TG267 would be a better comparison to the Topdon as they're both handheld dedicated instruments that are comparable in price. Transferring pictures from your phone to computer is easier than the SD card. You get a Microsoft APP that pairs the phone with the computer and the phone becomes another device you access from the computer. You simply open the picture from the phone on the computer and then save the image onto the computer or to cloud storage - wherever you want the image.

Have you ever seen BigClive's CAT phone with the thermal camera built in? It's pretty neat

The Topdon is a rebranded HTI-18 which sells for about the same price, however that same company makes the HTI-19 which has a much better resolution in comparison . I own the 19 and have been pleased with the quality I bought it on a Amazon Black Friday special last year for $350 www.amazon.com/dp/B08CGZKV5R/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_u-uBFbVG6H58Q

This is way off the beaten track Ivan and it's not that I wouldn't use this on a car to check things which I would like if I had a cylinder misfire or thermostat or clogged radiator or a bad catalytic converter but I have a question. I would like to blow in insulation in my house, do you think this would work to locate stud cavities in house construction either from the outside or the inside. Just being a home mechanic I sort of balk at paying that kind of money for a Flir camera ,not that I wouldn't use it but maybe half a dozen times a year but I thought that using it to image a wall in a house so that I could put in my own blown in insulation. Just for you-know-what and giggles could you try it?

👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

You honestly don't have the ideal setup for the FLIR camera. I'd say the standalone cam works better for you in this scenario. I will say, I like the FLIR overlay function. I like the FLIR brand and history they are kind of the go to name in IR imagers. Pro for the FLIR is also using the high quality smartphone screen vs a screen on the standalone that you know isn't going the be the same quality as a good smartphone. Sure, you can transfer them but that's an extra step too. The standalone unit also has a slow, weak CPU. The UI is noticeably laggy and slow, vs the FLIR which uses of course the smartphone's hardware for a smoother, more usable UI.

for some reason when I read topdon, my mind says topdown or topdong, I'd probably scribble a G on the end, being the bonehead that am :))

🤗

I think it is disingenuous to say the Flir looses a point cause of the case. Their are a ton of cases for different phones and to be able to design for all on the market and future is a lot to ask reasonably. I have used the Flir on several different cases, phones and tablets with no problems. I 100% agree with the battery life on the Flir. My battery life is just trash I definitely do not get an hour out of it especially if I use it outside in the winter. I also think the Flir one pro is about $50-$100 when I bout mine. The fact the Flir comes with a battery these days does add value but not really enough to justify the price I think.

cat s61

Surely you could just put your finger on the fuses to figure out which is which?

Had a couple Flir pro. Loved the images it produced BUT the battery sucks. seems to self discharge between use and if it goes totally dead unit goes stupid and will not power up or charge battery up again. Under wty no less and Flir s response " battery is a consumable and not a mfg defect therefore not coverable under wty" So I have 2 useless Flir pros.Replacing battery will not fix issue. unit goes stupid and will not power back up.

I did mechanical work on farm equipment for 20 years, 1972 to 1992 and I used a digital temperature sensor or simply put my fingers. got real quick results and knew exactly where the problem was.

You really can't fault the manufacture of the android camera just because your case is thicker than the foundations of the Empire State Building.

Привет Иван! Птичка СНИГИРЬ, бросилась мне в глаза! Мне стало грустно за тебя........ я чуть-чуть прав? (скажи по-секрету)

I think your ease of use rating should be a bit more even. It was your choice to install an aftermarket phone case. It's like blaming Toyota for having a crap engine when you changed the injectors out with whatever was cheapest at the parts store. I understand your use of the phone case. I have one of a different brand that has caused me the same issues over the years with various other items. I mean you spend a grand on a new phone and you don't want to destroy it in 6 months because it was dropped in a gravel drive way or you dropped something on it- both of which I have done. But that is our choice to protect them and what to protect them with. Someone else may never see that issue with the case preventing the fitment. And you even said you had to modify the extension cable to get it to even work with your choice of case.

Hti19 thermal

I think flir has a patent for image and thermal overlay. Other companies work around this feature to offer something similar and cannot offer exact.

I have a couple old android phones can't you use a old phone

Would just loose that case

The one case that most cases don’t fit in.

foist????

Complaining about the camera because you use an abnormally large case not valid

Well look what case you have... Thats kind of useless wining... Take your stupid cover off and all works just fine.

So you prefer a low res thermal image as apposed to a hi res thermal image because the normal non thermal image looks better... WTF am I even watching.