Having just recently written up the Perfect Prime IR281 thermal camera (not cheap) I thought it might be useful to take a look at the less expensive add-on for mobile phones version IR202 from the same company. I’m showing photos of all three variations of this mobile phone add-in camera, but let’s be clear, I am discussing only the Type-C version of this handy thermal camera add-on for mobile phones – as that is the only one I’ve tested.
This unit plugs into the bottom of your phone and after installing the APP “IR202 Thermal Camera” gives you a low-resolution (80*60) IR measuring capability along with the ability to record IR video at up to 15fps – that is, the company have tested this on a number of phones including all new Samsungs…and I’ve just added more phones to the list including my Poco X3 NFC, Redmi Note 8 and (Feb 2022) Mi 10 Pro phones.
Measurement range is quoted as -20c to +300c. As their website is (seriously) so good with information, it’s a bit pointless re-inventing the wheel here – instead, if IR cameras interest you, check out my other blog entries such as IR281, IR0005 and the Perfect Prime site itself.
I’ll add to this article as time goes on and I learn more but suffice it to say for now that the IR202 can handle various pseudo-colour palettes, you get to see a normal image, there is emissivity control for different surfaces, over and under-temperature alarm capability and the IR image at the same time and the normal image has temperatures superimposed. Dynamic range is programmable. The USB-C version is obviously reversible.
My unit (on the back) says IR202 Thermal Camera for Android – then GERMAN TECHNOLOGY – designed by Perfect Prime in the UK (the company is primarily USA-based) and made in the PRC. CE, FCC and ROHS for those who care about such things. Oh, and it comes in a neat protective case.
February 2022 I’ve added Mi 10 Pro to the list of tested phones and added a photo showing the IR image as the MAIN image (bearing in mind the resolution is 60*60 in IR).
And so here are a bunch of new photos of my coffee mug on the desk using different filter settings on the free IR202 APP. As will be obvious, my coffee was cooling down over the period of taking these photos – and for variety at the end a shot of my hand 🙂 I’m sure you’ll find more meaningful photos on the Perfect Prime website.
