Seek Thermal is one of those companies that, even if you don’t know their name. They have been used by industry experts and people you would more than likely trust your life too. Recently we here have noticed that companies like Seek Thermal and Flir have been growing a strong set of consumer tools. Over the last few years, both companies have gone head to head and have added on smartphone attachments for both android and iPhone users opening up a whole new category.
In the past, the costs associated with thermal cameras similar to these have restricted their usage and kept it out of the consumer market. Luckily, advancements in technology have made these types of products much more affordable and in a form factor that consumers can really accept.
Seek thermal who we will be reviewing has three different options available, Compact ($249USD), CompactXR ($299USD) and CompactPRO ($499USD).
In today’s review, we will be taking a closer look at Seek Thermal’s CompactPRO.
Specifications:
At first, glance Seek Thermal’s design isn’t the most rugged design, especially compared to the Flir One which is slightly more rugged. What we can say about the CompactPRO is that it is exactly as advertised, lightweight, compact and fully featured. The rectangular unit has dimensions of 1″ x 1.75″ x 1″ and weighs approximately .5 oz. In addition to the 320×240 thermal sensor inside the unit, the CompactPRO leverages the phones built-in camera to do side by side images. The field of view is 32 degrees and unlike most thermal imaging cameras that have a video frame rate that is capped at 9 Hz the Seek Thermal CompactPRO is capped at 15 Hz.
Software
The app is available for both iOS and Android and is extremely easy to use. You start by registering the product and then you are pretty much ready to start using your Thermal camera. The app has great instructional videos on how to use the CompactPRO, but for the most part, has a very intuitive UI which makes it very easy to navigate.
Initial screen 
Car hood 
Water Leak 
SSD 
SSD
The picture quality isn’t the best looking, even with the higher resolution thermal camera but the data generated more than makes up for it. Keep in mind thermal cameras like the CompactPRO are not intended to take photos or videos for entertainment purposes. They’re intended to measure temperatures across their view and show hot and cold spots to do thermal testing on products or identify problems that need to be addressed. Its a tool for plumbers, electricians, insulation experts, Lab techs and even carpentry, and can be extremely useful to contractors who need to find where a draft is coming from or if a pipe is leaking.
Testing
Now I did have tons of fun with it, using it in some product testing as well as some home adventures.
Focus:
All Seek thermal compact series cameras have an adjustable focus lens allowing you a little more flexibility when imaging an area. You can aim and focus from as close as 6 inches or as far away as 1,800 feet with the CompactPRO. This provides more work versatility, making the Compact PRO useful in many different situations.
Autocalibration
One thing you will notice right away is the continuous calibration, which is expressed by the constant clicking you will hear the minute the app starts up. What happens is that an internal shutter closes for a short second to compensate for self-heating. At first it is a bit of a distraction but eventually, you stop noticing. The issue of this is that you end up running into some focus issues when recording video and moving around.
Battery Life:
The camera does use your phone’s built-in battery so take that into consideration as it did seem to draw a lot of power from my iPhone 8 to the point where the phone would heat up after only a few minutes of use. If your planning to use it for more than an hour, I would recommend carrying a power bank to recharge your battery as it took my iPhone 8 from 80% charge to 12% in about an hour. Of course, it could drain even faster if you do video recording.
Searching for ghost:
Although a bit creepy I took a ghost hunter tour of my home. I walked my house several nights with the Seek Thermal camera and I am glad to report that no one came out to say hi.
I did this as many do believe, there is no better way to hunt ghosts than with a thermal camera. This is because “apparitions don’t exist in the visible light range”, sensing how entities change temperatures in the air is the best way to hunt them down.
You have to keep in mind thermal cameras are non-contact temperature sensors. They can tell the difference in temperature of an area without having to come into contact with any of the objects. Allowing you to see temperature changes in real-time. The best part is with the Compact series you are actually able to record video so if you do end up seeing something you have more than just an image you have video footage.
Even though I didn’t get to see any apparition, what I did see was that I had a water leak in one of my rooms. Normally, I would have never been able to see this leak until it was too late and caused thousands of dollars in damages. But thanks to the Seek Thermal CompactPRO and my Ghost hunting mission I stumbled uppon the minor water leak in time to repair it. The significant localized temperature variation in my ceiling really stood out and even looked like a small blue puddle which caused me to investigate further and find the leak in my attic.
