Seek Thermal Reveal vs RevealPro vs Compact vs CompactPro

Let’s have a look at each product in particular.

Seek Thermal Reveal

The Seek Thermal Reveal is a pocket thermal camera with a high resolution and great battery life.

The camera is equipped with an IR sensor that provides a thermal resolution of 206 x 156 pixels, so in total you get a thermal image with 32,136 pixels. It is not a radiometric model though, so the thermal images don’t have any kind of temperature data embedded in them.

Another thing that it lacks is a visual camera, however at this thermal resolution you almost don’t need it. Usually the higher the image resolution resolution, the less need for a digital camera to distinguish the objects you are measuring.

Something that distinguishes the Reveal series from other cameras is that the infrared sensor and the 300-Lumen LED light are mounted on the top, not on the back so you need to get used to looking down on the device when you measure something that is in front of you. The rubberized casing provides more grip for the user, but whether the carbon fiber texture represents good design, that depends on one’s taste.

It has a temperature range from -40°F to 626°F (-40°C to 330°C), so it performs well with heat as well as freezing temperatures, but the place where it really shines is its 0.05 C thermal sensitivity. Now there are not many thermal imaging cameras that can detect such a fine temperature difference and this camera picks up on even the slightest changes in temperature.

In terms of internal memory, Seek Thermal have equipped this compact thermal imaging with an SD Card slot so you can expand your memory as much as you need to and when you want to transfer the images to your computer, you can do so via USB cable. Another place where this camera exceeds any kind of expectations is battery life. The battery can last for a full 10 or even 11 hours of thermal imaging which most probably makes it the thermal camera with the best battery life on the market that you can buy.

Its LCD color display has a reasonable size of 2.4″, not the biggest nor the smallest and its design has to be one of the coolest that we’ve seen in the industry with these vibrant color choices on the front.

Seek Thermal Reveal vs Seek Thermal Reveal XR

The main difference between the standard Reveal and the Reveal XR is the detection distance because the XR can detect heat up to 900 feet, so better than the standard model but not as good as the Pro.

The XR also has the FastFrame technology so it has a 15Hz refresh rate. The viewing angle is narrower with a field of view of 20 degrees. What is great is that they kept the SD Card slot and the 10-hour battery life.

Seek Thermal Revealpro

And now we ask, what is the difference between the Seek Thermal Reveal vs Seek Thermal RevealPro?

The Seek RevealPro has a higher quality infrared sensor that can output a 320 x 240 thermal image that adds up to 76,800 pixels, so more than double the amount you get on the standard Reveal.

Another big difference is that the Reveal Pro can detect heat up to 1800 feet away instead of just having a 500 feet detection range. This makes it usable to detect wildlife and in most outdoor applications.

One downside with the RevealPro is that it only has 4 hours of battery life compared to the 10 on the standard Reveal. Things look the same with the memory, it only has a fixed internal storage of 4GB compared to the expandable SD Card slot on the standard model. But even the 4GB are more than enough for 4,000 images and this time, they are stored in radiometric form with all the thermal data for each of the 76,800 pixels.

If you look at them side-by-side and you start them both, you’ll immediately notice something about the Reveal Pro: The frame rate of the image is surprisingly smooth for a thermal camera. Why is that? Because it has Fast Frame technology that takes it up to a refresh rate of 15 Hz. The cameras have a fixed focus, there is no option to manually adjust the image quality or image performance in terms of that.

The part with which we were not content with is operating the digital zoom. It is an easy camera to configure, you can adjust the emissivity settings, turn on/off the LED Flashlight and change the temperature units between Fahrenheit, Celsius or Kelvin.

Design-wise it depends on your preference. The carbon fiber look on the Pro is sleek but it is a question of taste. The Reveal Pro also has 2 extra versions: The Seek Thermal Reveal ShieldPro and the Seek Thermal Reveal FirePro.

Seek Thermal Reveal Shield Pro vs Seek Thermal Reveal Pro

The Shield Pro was built to be used in law enforcement and has an IP67-rated enclosure. That means it is completely dustproof and completely waterproof. You can splash it with watter, spray it and even immerse it underwater and it will still function.

The screen is also made of Corning Gorilla glass so that it is scratch-resistant and tough. It also has an extended detection distance of almost 2400 feet. Given its low price it is a great proposition for police and law enforcement in general.

Seek Thermal Reveal Fire Pro vs Seek Thermal Reveal Pro

Then there is the Fire Pro which also has an IP67 rating, so that it can withstand water, dust, dirt and can also be dropped from more than 2 meters without it sustaining any damage to the components.

But this being a tool for firefighters, the temperature thermal scope was extended from -4 to 1,022F (-20 to 550 C). 550 is about the temperature of fire but right at the moment when it starts, once it has properly started it easily goes past 800 C.

The display is also made of Corning Gorilla Glass. You also get a choice of 3 colors: Fire, Survey and Color. You also get a choice of 9 color palettes to choose from to help you distinguish between heat signatures

The price is the same as the price of the Shield Pro making it an attractive and accessible tool for first responders.

Seek Thermal Reveal Pro vs Seek Thermal Reveal XR

The XR is different from the Pro in mostly the same ways that the standard Reveal is: It has a lower IR resolution of 206 x 156, a lower detection distance but this time it is closer (900 feet for the XR to 1800 feet for the Pro).

The Seek Reveal XR does have the FastFrame technology just like the Pro and to its advantage, it has the 10-hour battery life which the Pro lacks and the SD Card slot for expanding the internal memory.

Seek Thermal Compact PRO

The compact series has 3 models and this one is the top of the line. Even though it is a smartphone attachment, it is still a high-resolution thermal imaging camera. You pay less than what you would for a professional thermal imaging camera that works without a phone, but the entire cost goes into the thermal sensors and nothing else.

Now let’s have a look at the Seek Thermal Compact Pro vs Seek thermal Reveal Pro.

They are fundamentally different in form factor because the Reveal Pro is a handheld camera while the CompactPro is a smartphone thermal imager. The RevealPro has an LCD screen, a rechargeable battery and an internal memory while the Compact Pro, like most infrared cameras for smartphones only has an infrared sensor and makes use of the smartphone for those 3 elements.

The CompactPro makes use of the smartphone’s camera so it brings an additional image enhancement feature that you don’t get on the Reveal. The Compact Pro is also capable of doing video recordings.

Both have the same 320 x 240 thermal resolution, the same temperature range, thermal sensitivity and detection distance. But we found the picture quality on the RevealPro to be superior nevertheless.

If you are looking for a more entry-level thermal imaging camera, the standard Seek Compact provides great value at half the price of the Compact and for much less than what a Seek Reveal Pro thermal camera would cost. It is actually cheaper than even a Perfect Prime IR0001.

The main alternative to the CompactPro at the moment is the Flir One Pro with MSX technology, that is an infrared thermal imaging camera with a similar price tag that is just as good as the CompactPro for home inspections. As a night vision device, the Seek does a better job. Both are very easy to use by the average home inspector without even consulting the user manual.