Thread: Cheap thermals

Anyone used one from temu or the likes.
Just looking for something to spot possums with up close. Not interested at seeing deer at 1000m

https://nightvision.co.nz/product/in...id-cellphones/

I have one of these. Excellent value for money. Will actually spot deer at 1000m haha. Works great for picking up possums, will see them a couple hundred meters away. Excellent option now that thermals are legal on public land as they take up no room in a pack, and I am generally carrying my phone anyway. Also comes with a rail mounting system so you can mount the phone and camera to the rifle to use it as a thermal scope. Ive not tried this yet but would be a good laugh (not on DOC land obviously). Phone screen has the advantage of its very easy to point out to your mate where a hot spot is compared to a monocular.

Being an NZ retailer at least you know they stand behind the product and there are options to sort out replacement if it fails etc. There are similar looking ones on temu etc but most likely just knockoff copies so no idea how they would work.

Would have to agree. Had a good nosy at them at the Rotorua Hunting and outdoor expo a couple of months ago. For a thermal that someone wanted 'just for shits and giggles' its a high quality bit of kit that's use and compactness goes way beyond what you pay for it.

See this forum is worth it's weight in gold! I had dismissed these as cheap gimmics and was looking at investing in something more the norm. My rifle is only good to about 100 yards anyway so as long as it can see a heat signature I'll have to scurry closer for it

I got a hand held “thermal/ night vision” from temu with some credit they gave me just to try it out. The night vision is quite impressive for the $80 or so but relies on the IR light on the device to be illuminated to see smaller features clearly more than 70ish meters away. This IR light is not pure IR and is very visible to the naked eye so I can’t imagine it would be much use if you are trying to stay undetected. Also many of them advertise 7 different mode or whatever but really there is only 2 one with the IR light on and one with it off, I couldn’t see any differences switching between the other modes. The display is also not great making it hard to make features out sometimes. And there really is no thermal detection, only night vision. So basically a cool gadget for cheap but only night vision, no thermal, and it probably wont be that beneficial for hunting with a glowing red light being on when you use it. Hope this helps.

I think if you want a thermal that actually works you kind of just have to pay the money for a good one…. Something I’m building myself up to doing atm

Originally Posted by Remmodel7

Anyone used one from temu or the likes.
Just looking for something to spot possums with up close. Not interested at seeing deer at 1000m

Just be careful with temu or aliexpress, they sell a lot of thermals designed for other work like inspecting houses or circuit boards. These thermals are not suited to anything further than a few meters away. Use the one Juicy linked too as a good baseline for specs. Even infiray have different models (for example the T2 Pro is ideal for hunting and the P2 is not). Once you filter out all the garbage you will most on aliexpress/temu are the same price as the T2 Pro juicy linked too.

can get the guide thermals for afew hundred cheaper then in nz so would rather a nz warranty. gunshitty have them from 1000$

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mLeGjfD

Any chance someone has taken the gamble on one of these? Looks very similar to the NZ one just a few hundred cheaper. I like to travel light so not that keen to lug round a 'proper' thermal but I always take my phone anyway so they look interesting even if performance isn't great

I managed to pick up the xinfared T2 pro off Temu for $470. I can only assume it's somehow related to the tarrifs and just wanting to get rid of stock. It's arriving the next couple of days so I'll report back but so far it looks like the exact same but of kit as the NZ distributor.

Right. It's arrived. It works bloody amazingly except it's IOS only and doesn't work on my Samsung Galaxy... Works great on my wife's phone though! Tossing up if I buy a cheap iPhone now and keep it or send it back to Temu. Id been looking forward to this all week!

Another option is I buy it off you for what you paid for it.

It would have to be next week though as I am off fishing tomorrow for the weekend.

@Mcowin You could get an adaptor to try from Temu or Ali Express they are less than a couple of dollars.

After trying a few adaptors I caved and ended up picking an iPhone 7 up for $80 off market place bringing my total to $550. I am very impressed! For such a small bit of kit I highly recommend. Have just had a play at home and can already tell it’s going to be worth it’s weight in gold (which wouldn’t be very much).
Awesome features for a ‘ bottom of the line ‘ bit of kit. There’s a tracking feature where you just on the camera around and it will automatically clip a cross hair to any heat signatures it finds. As soon as I figure out how to add pictures to posts I’ll bung one up but really looking forward to putting this thing through its paces. I’m all for supporting local but you can’t turn down $300 savings.

Sorry mate I was too deep into it and I couldn’t give my wife the satisfaction of me sending it back with my tail between my legs. Stoked I persevered though. Definitely keep an eye out for a deal.