Thread: Cheap cheap Thermal Camera for Android Phones

I've been circling the thermal camera threads for ages wishing and wanting one but on a tight financial leash with she who must be obeyed.

I started seeing stuff appear on Ali Express, and I've brought a bit of gear from there and understand the pros and cons. In particular an Android thermal camera attachment caught my eye. My needs for thermal were very basic, more experimental/wanting to learn how they work/their practical uses. So I bit the bullet and ordered one. Also worth noting is my phone is a waterproof model so using it in 'the wild' won't be an issue, and it has a massive battery (it's an Oppo Reno 13F).

I purchased the Tooltop M7 Outdoor Thermal Camera from the Tooltop Direct store, here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009176174066.html

Cost landed in NZ, including freight and GST was nzd$388.

Technical specs are:
Specifications:
Model: M7
Detector Type: Vanadium oxide uncooled focal plane detector
Effective Pixels: 256x192
Pixel Pitch:12um
Spectral Range:8um~14um
Sensitivity (NETD): ≤40mK@f/1.0
Focal Length: 10mm
Field of View: H: 17.5°,V: 13.1°
Focus Control: Manual Focus
Color Palettes:6 (white hot/black hot/iron red/alarm/emerald/amber)
lmage Mode: General Mode/Raw Mode/Jungle Mode/Sketch Mode
Cross Cursor: Color & Style Switching Support
Thermal lmage Flip: Support
USB Port: TYPE-C
System Requirements: Android 6.0 or later
Power Supply: DC 5V
Power Consumption: 0.35W
Operating Temperature: -20°C~+50°C
Product Dimensions: Ф26 mm x 29.5mm
Net Weight: 26g

The camera uses an app called Pixfra Sight from the Google Play store (all english language, no strange Chinese stuff).

I ordered on 6th August, and it arrived on 12th August.

Playing around with it at home I found some quite interesting uses for it like finding studs in walls, checking for hot spots in the roof, and spotting rats/mice in the neighbours garden. I also found holding it was a bit clumsy, so ordered a 'pistol' grip and phone clip from trademe (around $20 altogether) - which I highly recommend.

I really wanted to try it with some animals so went for a drive nearby, spotted a field full of bunnies next to the road and stopped to take some piccies. The video below is around 2pm on an overcast day. I used the black hot palette as this was easier to see on the phone during screen during daytime. The bunnies here were easily visible with the naked eye, and range was on average 75m. One interesting point to note was there were several I didn't notice and only realized they were there on reviewing the video. If I had been out hunting the thermal would definitely have helped. I also tried some sheep 150-200m (not in the video) and it worked well.



So $388 to get my foot in the door of the world of thermal. From what I've seen so far it's definitely been worth it and I'm looking forward to getting out on the hunt with it.

I checked out the link and it says the sensor is 256x192 but if you 'enable super infrared resolution mode' you can have 512x384.
Have you tried enhancing the resolution to 512x384?. As I would be interested to see if there is much difference.

I will do some research into that and come back to you.

Originally Posted by vulcannz

I will do some research into that and come back to you.

Cheers.
Also do you remember the TradeMe link or seller for the handle and phone clip attachment?

Universal Handheld Pistol Grip: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketpl...ing/5472716489

and

YUNTENG Camera Tripod Head Adapter Universal Small C Cell Phone Clip Holder: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketpl...ing/5478409081

Thanks for the links @vulcannz

I know a little about these types of thermals. I think Infiray Xinfrared was the first to bring these 'thermal phone cameras' to market with their T2 model, and this Tooltop M7 design will undoubtedly be a similar competitor.

The one BIG benefit I have noticed with this M7 is its 50 Hz frame rate, compared to the Infiray T2 Pro's 25 Hz. Thermal cameras have always had a drawback with their refresh rate.
With any computer-rendered image, at 25 Hz there will be a small amount of lag, but hopefully, this 50 Hz high refresh rate can help minimise it. A higher refresh rate results in smoother and more fluid images, especially when tracking moving targets or using a thermal from a moving vehicle (50Hz means the display is refreshed 50 times per second).
For this one benefit alone (+ its relatively cheap price), I'm thinking of purchasing this Tooltop M7 over the Infiray Xinfrared T2 Pro...

Yup I noticed that too, though being a newbie it is hard for me to quantify. I can tell you that the videos I am getting off the device are 50 frames per second or more. I tried to avoid comparing with the T2 Pro as I have no first hand experience to compare the two.

OK I tried to figure out the difference in enhanced resolution mode. The app saves all images in 960x720 format. I tried two very similar photos of my pooch having a snooze. I did this using a tripod to minimize the 'human' error. I struggle to see a difference, I do note that one file is 100kbytes and the other is 106kbytes, a 6kbyte difference in a jpeg image does indicate there is more detail in there.

1st pic - standard


2nd pic - enhanced res


My thoughts: is the enhanced resolution a marketing thing? Possibly ... 50/50 I think. Would I use it in the field, no - I cannot see much of a difference that I would intentionally bother to use it.

The second picture definitely looks more defined to me. The hair in the ears, gaps in the coat etc.

Originally Posted by StrikerNZ

The second picture definitely looks more defined to me. The hair in the ears, gaps in the coat etc.

Yeah, but it's not twice as defined.
I think we can put this 512x384 'super infrared resolution mode' in the 'marketing department' box.
512x384 is twice as good resolution as the advertised 256x192 - and there is no way that second image of your dog is twice as clear.
The sensor is 256x only...if it really had the ability to use 512x then it would be a lot more expensive.
My guess is that it has an image enhancement program that tries to make the image look a higher resolution....but fails the 2x marketing claim.

From that video you put up, its got me very interested!
Would love to see something after dark without ambient light when the heat marks may be a bit more obvious.
Any chance of something deerish in size at the 200-300m mark?

I've dabbled with low resolution thermals and have eventually bought high res - save your $$ to afford a 640x512 and be done with it. Anything beneath this is crap. Its like HD 4K tv vs the old school nokia cellphone video. Just bite the bullet - you won't regret it.

https://nightvision.co.nz/product/fa...h-rangefinder/

Yeah umm $380 vs $2899.

MikeyB I will post some pics of what you want as soon as I can.

Originally Posted by stumpys

I've dabbled with low resolution thermals and have eventually bought high res - save your $$ to afford a 640x512 and be done with it. Anything beneath this is crap.... Just bite the bullet - you won't regret it.

https://nightvision.co.nz/product/fa...h-rangefinder/

Oh right, so just 'bite the bullet' on a $2899 640x512 thermal, vs the $388 256x192 thermal outlined above - the thing that will regret it is your bank account.

While I remember someone asked me about the stud finding abilities.

The pic below is from our living room which has a high/no ceiling. It is pointed towards a wall at the end of the room, looking up at about 45 degrees. The first horizontal line on the bottom is where the ceiling would be, you can see the studs in the wall and the lighter colour where there is insultation. Above that you can see the area where it turns dark is the roof cavity behind the wall, the bright round thing is the DVS vent.