InfiSense P2 IR USB-C Camera for Android and IOS

The full title of this gadget is “P2 Thermal Imager IR Sensor Resolution 256*192 Mobile Phone Infrared Thermal Imager Camera Thermal Leak Diagnosis Thermal Sensor Thermometer” – there’s a mouthful.

Let me start by clarifying – Banggood sent me this item to review – I AM NOT getting anything out of sales – no affiliate schemes etc. I was at first a bit disappointed to find this software is NOT on the Android PlayStore – you have to download the APK. The APP is called InfiSense.

Well, ALL the instructions that came in the box were in Chinese and the QR code in the leaflet included with the product took me to WeChat – not something I want to progess. Turns out I was looking at the wrong QR code.

When I look at the YouTube videos out there on the P2 – countless references to the “supporting APP” and they make a big deal about unboxing – instead of getting down to simply installing and using the APP – so I won’t be doing any of that.

The tiny camera unit is in a nice black case with an even nicer pouch and instructions (which could be anything as there was no English).

On my Redme 10 Pro phone, the APK file referred to is in the LEFTMOST QR code in the leaflet, which downloaded but at first would not install. I had to go to settings – privacy protection – special settings and allow installation of “unknown APPs” at which point the APP installed. And.. wait for it…

My phone asked if the camera could access my hardware then asked if the APP could record and access my media. I said yes. NOW I was getting somewhere. I saw the word EASY in ENGLISH. I allowed the unit to take a photo (because of the high resolution, no need to worry about visual overlays) – the image was in monochrome with coloured temperature indicators.

In the APP main screen there is a little icon looking like the “single/multi image” choice you get on webcams is actually a means to select the colour palette (IR image colours are not real – they substitute colours for IR temperature variations). Now I was on familiar territory. Here’s my foot (left). Can you see the partly off-screen 17 on the right of the image – that’s the background temperature and the 30.8 would be the temperature of my sock in degrees C.

The P2 is a tiny unit which fits on the bottom (or top depending on your phone) of your phone (USB-C) and has it’s own IR lense with 256*192 resolution which is not at all bad resolution for an IR camera – you’ll see I’ve looked at many similar sensors on the blog and some are no-where near this resolution. Image can be landscape or portrait and being USB-C you can use it forwards-or-backwards-facing.

The P2 unit is not cheap – Banggood want about €236 – but then I have to pull myself back to that resolution – other IR cameras can cost twice that to get the same or less IR resolution. Let’s take a look at something more useful than my leg…

To the right, my Raspberry Pi 4 in an open format case with dual SSD. You can see the highest temperatrure here is 36c – and that’s because the RPi has a large heatsink on it. The LOWER SSD (in the image on the right – just out of direct sight as there’s a PCB between the two drives) is the one actually being used right now. The RPi is mainly cool thanks to the fan.

With a different template you get to look at things slightly differently – over to my hand. There are no overlay images here, this is straight off the IR sensor Here you see (I have rubbish circulation) that the palm of my hand is quite warm but my fingers rapidly drop toward room temperature. I know, it looks coloured in manually but I can promise you it isn’t.

Lest anyone think these devices are limited to simple tricks like this – a useful thing to do is measure heat loss through windows, doors, roofs and yes, walls (and there are many other uses) in lots of industries. Right now with the rising cost of electricity I should think one of these kind of devices is a good investment.

I couldn’t resist, this is my cat sleeping (right).

So the P2 then has the hardware of better and more expensive “Perfect Prime” cameras – but I have to say that the latter have better software – more filters and lots of info about infra-red (all in English). See my other blog entries about Perfect Prime and their many IR cameras (some working with phones, some stand-alone).

I’m pretty sure however that the images I’m getting from the P2 are about the best I’ve had from a phone-add-on unit and I’ve not even removed the plastic “out of the box” lens cover yet.

Ah, ok – settings – F/C control, measurement correction for several different surfaces, ambient temperature compensation – it’s all in there in settings. Chinese/English language set, high and low temperature alarm…

The APP will record IR video as well as stills (but bear in mind the IR resolution). Example video including daytime outside view – and our new gas hob – below:

WOAH, I’d just finished writing when I noted at the top of the APP, the EASY button toggles to PRO and several new features become available – more fun for me.

It is night now and we’re all sitting around the fire and the TV. The fire at this point looks almost dead as it’s getting near bed-time but the IR camera shows that’s far from the case. Again those temperatures are all in degrees C.

We realised some time ago that the chimney pipe is a very important source of heat and the IR camera points that out quite clearly.

So in PRO mode it is possible to mark points or lines etc and observe minimum and maximum temperatures and other features – two cat heads in the photo on the right.

Also, long after one of the cats got up, the settee around where he was sitting stayed quite warm. I can see I’m going to have lots of fun with this.

Just been checking the roof beams to see how warm they get – very warm as it happens. Looks to me like more heat redirection coming along soon. No doubt I’ll soon find even more ways to waste time with this handy device.

Finally, yes, our floor is tiled (great in the summer, not so great in the short Spanish winters) and gets quite cool even when the house is kept heated. so the readings below are not far off.

And because Banggood were kind enough to sent this great gadget FOC with no guarantee I’d like it, I’ll leave these links up for a few days.

1. Spring Trendy Sale New Releases
(Time:  March 9th-March 16th)

2. Saver Deposit Sale
(Time:  March 9th-March 16th)

3. Saving Tips
(Time:  March 9th-March 16th)