Thermal imaging cameras are great for detecting and visualising electric wiring in walls
or defective bearings. This compact model simply plugs into your mobile phone.
The MiniE thermal imaging camera from Hikmicro measures just 4.2cm x 2.3cm x 1.1cm and costs around £110 (Amazon.co.uk). It connects to IOS or Android phones or tablets (from IOS 14 or Android 7.0) using the USB-C port or with one of the included adapters (Lightning for iPhone, USB-C). With a low power consumption of 0.31W, this should give you six to eight hours of runtime, depending on the phone’s battery.
Setting up the camera is easy: Download the Hikmicro Viewer app, plug in the camera and you’re good to go. The thermal image is created based on nine temperature readings. The image resolution is 96 by 96 pixels, and the image frequency is 25Hz, which is sufficient. The camera measures temperatures in a range between -20 to +400°C.
We double-checked the measurements with a thermometer and found the accuracy to be +/- 2°C and sensitivity of 0.5°C, so good results. Sometimes you will need a bit of patience for the device to automatically calibrate itself.
The camera can be used for photos and videos, although it is best to deactivate the automatic calibration when shooting video. It’s also possible to display various measured readings and specific areas or spot measurements.
You need to ensure that the distance to the surface is no more than 15 metres. For our test we opted for a distance of 1.5m. As well as the adapters, the camera is supplied with a 40cm USB-C extension lead, which obviously only connects to a phone with a USB-C port. It doesn’t work with the Lightning adapter.
Alexander Bertling
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