PROS: Very low price, Records video, easy to use.
CONS: The app is not the best, not very usable for inspecting smaller details
| Product | Type | Resolution | Battery capacity | Waterproof | LCD screen | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
PerfectPrime IR0102 | Smartphone | 32 x 32 | No | Yes | No | Click for more info |
PerfectPrime IR0102 Specifications
| Type | Smartphone |
|---|---|
| Resolution | 32 x 32 |
| Pixels | 1024 |
| Connectivity | USB Type C |
| Temperature range | -4°F to 572°F (-20°C to 400°C) |
| Accuracy | ‘+/-3°C |
| Thermal sensitivity | 0.07°C |
| Distance | |
| Storage Type | No |
| Battery capacity | No |
| Dimensions | 3.56 x 3.5 x 1.3 inches |
| LCD screen | No |
| Refresh rate | 9Hz |
| Applications | Home Repair, Search and Rescue, Industrial Repair |
| View Angle | 43° x 43° |
| Features | Waterproof, Dustproof, Manual Focus, Visual Camera |
PerfectPrime IR0102 – Specs & Review
The PerfectPrime IR0102 is a very low-cost thermal imager that attaches to your smartphone and is part of a larger budget thermal cameras offering from PerfectPrime. It works with any Android smartphones or tablets.
The way you attach this thermal camera to your phone is you plug it into the USB-C port, so you are going to need an Android USB-C smartphone to use it. Careful, don’t mistake the port with micro-USB. There is however the possibily to use an adapter to micro USB but we haven’t tested this option.
Installation is pretty straightforward: You take the camera out of the package, plug it into your Android phone’s USB-C type port then you download the IR0102 Thermal Camera Viewer app from the Google Play Store. Launch the app and you’re connected.
What is really great is that this camera for android devices has not only the ability to capture thermal images but also video and that’s where the advantage of having a phone app comes in. Video is an option only on more expensive handheld thermal cameras.
It overlays the visible light image with the thermal image just like other infrared cameras do. Now you might expect for it to use your phone’s camera for visible light, but no. It uses its 0.3 megapixel visual camera. Not all manufacturers do that, just Flir and Perfect Prime. It can overlap the two images either in a 50-50 ratio or just have one of them show.
You get a large number of color palettes to choose from and for easily spotting the highest and lowest temperature, we recommend the grayscale palettes.
It is possible to take advantage of the phone’s high-performance camera to use it as the visible light camera and the IR sensor for thermal imaging, but indeed because the cameras are so far apart, the software would have to do some figuring out how to overlap those visible images and infrared images and do proper registration. And that is the main issue with image overlay in the Seek Compact models which do just that.
In the upper left corner it displays the minimum and maximum temperature and also the spot temperature. It does have an over-temperature alarm if the temperature goes higher than a set value or lower than it.
PerfectPrime IR0102 – Thermal imaging quality
This is a camera with ir resolution that is far from the one of a professional grade thermal camera, it is just 32 x 32. Now given that the price for this thermal imaging device is so low, you can’t expect to get a lot of thermal resolution for your money. The total number of pixels that the IR sensor outputs is 1024 pixels.
As we mentioned before, it combines the thermal image with a visual image to improve the quality. While this is nowhere near as good as the msx image enhancement technology on devices like the Flir One Pro or the Flir C2, it does provide a big boost in quality to compensate for the low-resolution sensor.
The good news is that the infrared refresh rate is 9hz which makes for decent frame rates. Of course, there is no manual focus mode on this device.
PerfectPrime IR0102 – Temperature Range, Accuracy
The temperature accuracy is worse than what you usually get with lower-end thermal cameras, it is +/- 3 degrees Celsius. So if you are looking for super high accuracy, this is not the device for you. But you don’t need to have that much accuracy to an HVAC inspection, building inspection or just have a look at electronic wiring or electric fuses if they are overheating.
PerfectPrime say you can use this infrared thermal imager camera for “adventure or exploration”, but realistically you can’t. While it is compact and easy to transport, the IR resolution is too low. There are however thermal imagers for android that can be used, like the Seek Compact Pro.
The IR0102 thermal imaging camera has a very low thermal sensitivity which is a nice surprise. The temperature measurement sensitivity that triggers a change in the measuring device is 0.07 degrees Celsius. It has a standard 43 degree viewing angle and the temperature range is from -20 celsius to 400 celsius. So its thermal scope allows it to work in low and high heat very well.
PerfectPrime IR0102 – Battery life & Memory
Obviously, it doesn’t have an SD card. This cheap thermal camera uses your phone’s storage so it will depend on how much space you have but a 0.3 mega pixels image on a smartphone is going to take up so little space, you can shoot in the thousands and not have to delete anything.
No batteries required as this thermal image camera powers itself from your phone. We did not do a test to see how much it drains a phone’s battery life and are curious if you experienced much shorter battery life because of it.
The IR0102 compact imager for android cell phones is not waterproof or dustproof and you can’t expect that at this price. Plus, remember that the more important part of the system is your phone so in case you drop it in water it is likely that it is the more expensive component.
It doesn’t have its LCD display screen, it uses the phone’s screen which is great because the handheld cameras have very bad screens.
Where can you use this compact thermal imaging camera for android? Mostly all applications in which you don’t need the high IR image resolution. Would not use it in electronic boards inspection but it can easily apply to HVAC inspections, Industrial Repairs, Roofing, home inspections, Leaks and Insulation checks.
Because it is so compact, easy to transport, the PerfectPrime IR0102 thermal imager won’t have a problem fitting in your toolbox.
All and all it is a very cheap alternative to more powerful thermal cameras like the Seek Thermal Compact, Flir One Gen 3 or Flir One Pro LT.
Given all the product information we have and given its current price on amazon would we buy this specific camera attachment for smartphones? No. We would increase the budget and buy either a Flir One Gen 3 or a Seek Thermal Compact.
