TOPDON TC001 Thermal Imaging Camera for Android, 512x384 High Resolution

I have tried this camera against a very expensive handheld FLIR and a temperature probe sensor and this seems to be very close in comparison. The emissivity feature works but it doesn't seem to be super accurate when viewing things like shiny metal. I used the tempersture probe to get a baseline on a shiny metal object, adjusted the emissivity on the camera multiple times and could not accurately get a reading. Another thing I've noticed is when viewing an object that emits infrared (a TV remote control), this camera does not pick up any signs of infrared. I'm not sure if it's the type of lens over the camera or what, but trying every different color scheme and tried different settings, nothing seemed to work.Even with what I mentioned above, this thermal camera works very well. The update speed when viewing an object is so fast, the handheld FLIR doesn't compete. As soon as I move the camera to view an object, it shows the updated temperature almost immediately.. and on 3 separate parts of the screen! It shows where you are aiming and automatically locates the coldest and hottest objects in the view. The different color schemes are nice, I like how intuitive the app is to use, it gives you information on the emissivity section with common emissivity settings, it has a picture in picture mode so you can view in thermal and in normal lighting, the carry pouch, and USB line is also a nice addition; I have an otterbox case on my phone and because of the cable I don't have to remove the case to use the thermal camera.I've used this camera on my house that I'm remodeling to check for hot spots in the walls and ceiling; I've also checked another closed in house to check for leaks in the walls.I am very pleased with this purchase and will be recommending this thermal camera to others in the future.

The app for Android was very easy to find in the Google app store, just search for TC0001 to find it.The first time I plugged the IR camera into my phone, it asked if I wanted to auto launch the app Everytime I connect the camera, I selected yes so I don't even need to pin the app to my homepage, just plug the camera in and it opens the app. The app is also pretty easy to use and figure out the options on it. It can display in both ⁰C or ⁰F by changing settings in the app.The camera does work very well. I was even able to see the warm spot in the wall behind the hot water pipe for my water heater. And see how hot a battery charger was getting. The response rate on the camera is also impressive as well as the resolution of the pictures. So far I have only used it from about 18 inches away to over 20 feet away and it works great. I have not yet tested it for very close up pics, like on a circuit board.I also like that it comes with a USB cable that is USB C male on one end and USB C female on the other, with an adapter to USB A male so you can use a single cable to connect the camera to a phone or a PC. You could plug the camera directly into you phone, assuming you either don't have a case on your phone, or a very thin case. The only down side to the cable it comes with is it is a bit too long if you just need to use it to connect to your phone so you don't have to remove any case you might have, which makes it a little hard to hold both your phone and the camera in one hand. Although I did also buy a short 5 inch just USB C male to female cable that also works with the camera and makes it easy to use one handed.Overall I am impressed with it and it was worth the money.

It is important to note that the build quality of the product is good, seller ships fast and for it comes with all necessary accessories.Pros:* Cheaper than others, especially for the price range (considering the discount).* Better than Flir in almost every situation in that price range and you don't need the visible light camera.* Easy to use software, gets the job done.* Very good build quality.Cons:* Support seems to be nonexistent. I submitted a ticket more than a week ago, followed up and still don't have any answer. So if you are buying this Chinese product with the hope that the US office will be helpful when you need support, you'll be wrong.* There is a visible Vignette around the corners of the image that usually results in a slightly higher temperature readings, especially when there is small variance in the temperatures in the picture. See attached videos and photos. This results in Hot reading to constantly stay top-right (or other corners) when assessing walls. I have to draw a square in the middle to keep the readings accurate. And YES, I've tried to clean the lens with the provided cloth. I've seen this in other reviews uploaded in Amazon.* Software is quirky sometimes. Doesn't remember settings and flips to default orientation on it's own. Sometimes I need to switch between High-Temperature readings and back to Normal-Temperature to fix image color distortions.* Still on mobile app, after the latest update, the gallery in the app doesn't work at all.UPDATE: Finally I was able to connect with support. They were very helpful and offered several options to resolve the issue.Also there was a recent app update for Android that fixed a few of the quirks. I still see a room for improvement but it is much better. Haven't had issues with crashing.I am pretty happy with the quality of the camera and what it offers compared to similar class products. Great value if you are looking for thermal imaging.

Extremely useful and accurate tool! Set up was very easy, just installed the app and plugged in the camera. The app launches automatically, one click and it works.My insulation is quite old so I was checking to see how well it was working because I could feel some heat from the ceiling. Turns out, most of the insulation is fine and the temperature there is very close to the inside temperature inside the house. But, I did find several hot spots where the insulation is missing or too thin. Also I found the top of my kitchen cabinets are letting in a lot of heat as well. This camera is going to save me a lot of money because all I have to do is fix these hot spots and not redo the entire attic. I can even make out where the rafters are in the ceiling even with just a couple degrees difference.When scanning, the picture updates very quickly and I have not have the app crash at all. There are many adjustments available in the settings including emissivity so if you must have a very accurate reading for a certain surface, just look up the emissivity of the material you would like to measure and input that number. I left it at 0.90 because I am just looking at relative temperature differences. It seem to work fine and the temperature readings were very close to what I would expect them to be.Overall this is an excellent thermal camera and you won't find one even close to this good at this price.

The camera works and produces great image quality, but the app crashes a lot. I have a brand new phone with the latest version of Android. You have four main options from the main menu, the first of them being Thermal Imaging and second being Temperature Monitoring. If you go straight to Thermal Imaging, it attempts to start it up, but you will likely get errors that the system time may be wrong or something about making sure OTP is on in the settings (of which I could not find anywhere). It may switch your screen back to your phone desktop. The only way I could get it to work was to go to Temperature Monitoring first, then back out and go to Thermal Imaging. Even then, sometimes it would crash, but most of the time it would work. During normal use, it may also crash, but the recovery from that is easy. It also sometimes pops up with a message about the device with a bunch of technical information, all completely unprompted. So, this app is not what I would call easy to use, but once you get used to the crashes, you can get through them quickly and get the Thermal Imaging going and it's fine.I selected this particular camera because the user-submitted images were of higher quality than many other thermal imaging cameras. I'm still mostly fine with my purchase. It gets the job done. Being a tech person, I am no stranger to bugs, so I really don't care that much. As long as I can get it working eventually.As far as interesting results go, I was able to find cool spots on the floor in the basement. I lifted the rug up, which revealed damp spots. All along one wall in particular. On the outside of the house, this wall happens to be located between the house and the front sidewalk, so all the dirt in that area is very much encased. Most likely the water is pooling up there, which results in it leaking to the basement. So, the plan now is to rework the drainage in that area. The camera is able to see studs in the walls. I noticed that most of the GCFI receptacles were much hotter than normal outlets. On my mother's older home, you could see how the insulation in the walls had sagged about an inch, so there were slight hot spots at the top of nearly every wall. I didn't find much else that was terribly interesting, but that's probably a good thing.Despite the app crashes, I would still recommend this camera.

I debated for over a week on which thermal camera to buy. I settled on this one and I'm very happy with my choice. I ended up going with it because it's powered off of my phone rather than needing to be charged separately like some competitors, and the resolution was better at a similar price point.I attached a few photos that demonstrate what it's capable of. In one, you can see the heated seats in my truck - it has enough thermal resolution to see the elements themselves under the leather. In another, you can see the uninsulated cover to access my attic and how it's clearly much colder than the rest of the ceiling. In the third, you can see that the tall older wood windows in my house are much less efficient than the smaller newer vinyl replacements. In the final image, I've shown one of the different color scale options that I think is very helpful to find hot spots.I like that it points out the highest and lowest temperature in an image as well as the center. Those numbers aren't necessarily completely accurate, but they're close - for example, in the photo of the front of the house it was about 0 outside, so the windows showing -11 are probably reading a bit low. I'm not super concerned with that given I'm really just looking for trends. The Top Infrared app is easy enough to use and allows taking both video and photos.If you have a phone case, a small USB-C extension adapter is helpful rather than relying on a cable or removing the case. It will not connect with a case because the plug can't insert fully. One competitor thought of this and designed an extendable USB-C connection to deal with it - it would be nice if Topdon had done the same, but an adapter works okay for me.I've found some places where I have work to do with improving insulation around the house, and frankly it's just a lot of fun to play with. I absolutely recommend this thermal camera.

Bought this to (among other things) help me locate warm radiant floor heat pex tubes under our 4" concrete slabs. I was skeptical at first, but as you can see from the photo, this works! The pex is stapled to foam board at the bottom of the slab, and the ID of the tubing is 5/8". This puts the top of the tubing at 3 3/8" under the surface of the slab, give or take. Thrilled with the product.

It's really a good little thermal camera for the price. The thermals are good, the temperature seems accurate, the build quality is good. If you need an inexpensive thermal camera this is it.The good: It has a nice quality little case that comes with it, similar to a small hard drive case. Very protective. The build quality is good. It comes with an extension cord that's around 9" long (which you will need if you have a phone case that prevents the camera from seating all the way into the USB port). The image quality is good, and it seems accurate.The bad: It doesn't overlay a real camera image with the thermal image. That's a much more high end feature. The USB port length is not adjustable, so if your phone has a case on it that blocks the body of the thermal camera from getting close enough to the body of the actual phone, then the USB port won't plug in deep enough to work. That's why you get the short USB extension cord. The cord also keeps your camera easy to move around with your other hand.It's amazing what you can do with a thermal camera. You can look at your walls, windows and ceilings to see where cold air is leaking into your house. You can check for overheating electrical components. You can see if certain parts of an electronics board are failed and heated up (for PCM and motherboard repair, etc). On cars, you can look a cold car over in the morning and see if there are any warm spots. Warm spots indicate that some piece of electronics is running when it shouldn't be, causing a parasitic draw. You can spot bad bearings in a spinning pulley that are beginning to heat up. You can see if your brakes work evenly on both sides of the car, or if you have a bad wheel bearing. You can see if coolant is flowing properly thru a radiator, or if a thermostat is open and flowing water. It's really good for automotive diagnostics.If you are looking for a budget thermal camera, this is it!

Very good product

Greatvlittle product. Very easy to use

This camera punches above its weight for the cost. The build quality feels premium, and the heat mapping provides detailed, clear photos. It’s also fast, processing the thermal images without frustrating lag. One of the surprising features is the packaging; it comes in a durable zippered case for safe storage. The included USB cord is a thoughtful touch that makes maneuvering the camera much easier if you don't want it hanging directly off the bottom of your phone. Highly recommended!

Very simple to set up, solidly built and works well, perfect for checking out my battery and inverter cables for hot spots. The only very slightly negative point is I can't plug it into my phone with the thick protective case I have. So I've used self adhesive velcro tape to be able to attach it to the back of the case when needed, and used the supplied cable to plug it in.

Lo uso casi todos los días para mi trabajo,es espectacular como funciona....y por ese precio, ya he comprado 4 como esto para mis técnicos