When it comes to thermal imaging cameras, most of us know the industry leading brand FLIR, alongside its competitors like Seek Thermal and Fluke.
However, just like in most industries, there are some smaller players who try to make a name for themselves in the market by offering exceptional value in their products.
In this post, we reveal 3 lesser-known cheap thermal imaging cameras under $300 that can be seriously considered — especially if you are a beginner who is looking to buy your first thermal cam with tight budget.
Let’s unearth these 3 hidden gems (plus one ‘bonus recommendation’ at the end of post).
#1. Perfect-Prime IR0001 and IR0002 Thermal Imagers
Based in Dayton of New Jersey, Perfect Prime was founded in 2013. They have operations in the US, EU, and Australia – primarily focus on digital measuring equipment and consumer electronics, and expanded into thermal imaging since 2015.
Perfect-Prime Thermal Imager is available in several variants, and the model IR0001 with 1024 pixels is the most affordable entry model.
Perfect-Prime IR0001 Key Specifications:
IR Image Resolution: 32 x 32 ,1024 pixels
Temperature Accuracy: ± 2°C or ± 2 %
Display Screen: 2.4 inch full angle HD
Visible Image Resolution: 0.3 mega pixels
Temperature Range: -20 to 300 °C
Thermal Sensitivity:0.15°C
Capturing Frequency:6 Hz
Storage memory: 4GB Micro SD Card
Apart from the low 1024 pixels resolution (32 x 32) of this IR0001 entry model, all its other key features and specifications are pretty comparable (or more superior) to the entry model of other big brand thermal imaging cameras.
For examples, its temperature accuracy of ± 2°C or ± 2 % is better than the ±3°C / ±5% thermal accuracy of FLIR One and FLIR One Pro, while the 2.4 inch HD display screen of Perfect-Prime IR0001 is slightly larger than the 2 inch screen size of FLIR TG165 which is much more expensive.
So what are the other big brand thermal camera model you can get at this price point?
The Perfect-Prime IR0001’s price indicated above is unbelievably low for a handheld thermal imaging camera, to the extend that none of the big brand’s handheld thermal imager is available at this price range.
However, if you currently own a smartphone or tablet, you can explore Flir One thermal cam or Seek Thermal Compact Imager for iOS / Android, as comparison.
Indeed, you can even select the next level Perfect-Prime IR0002 model with 60×60 pixels (3600 pixels) configuration for higher resolution, and the price is still around $300.
Check out the video below to have an overview of this Perfect-Prime IR0002 thermal camera with unbeaten value; Suggest to watch it in full screen and HD mode for better viewing.
#2. Koolertron HT-175 Infrared Thermal Imaging Camera
The specifications of Koolertron HT-175 thermal camera indicated below are basically the same as the Perfect-Prime IR0001, however note that this model does not have SD card slot.
Koolertron HT-175 key specifications:
IR Image Resolution: 32 x 32 (1024 pixels)
Measurement Precision: ± 2°C or ± 2 %
Display Screen: 2.0 color screen
Temperature Range: -20 to 300 °C
Check >> User Reviews and Latest Price
The brief video below shows a quick glance on this Koolertron HT-175 thermal camera.
Not bad, isn’t it?
#3. Pyle Infrared Thermal Camera – 60×60 Resolution
Pyle Infrared Thermal Imaging Camera has the ability to take instant digital sensing signatures that are usually accurate and thus reliable. It has a digital display screen that shows images in HD color readouts which can be selected from 4 colors — including iron red, high contrast, gray scale and rainbow.
This inexpensive thermal camera has a handheld and a small button, thus you can easily point and trigger the button to capture images on various items. It provides useful information when you’re inspecting insulation systems, performing maintenance and repairs on various appliances as well as energy efficiency and device troubleshooting.
Pyle Thermal Cam Specifications:
Image Resolution: 60 x 60 (3600 Pixels)
Temperature Accuracy: ± 2°C or ± 2 %
Digital Display Screen: 2.4 inch
Temperature Range: -20 to 300 °C
Thermal Sensitivity:0.15°C
Image Capture Frequency: 6 Hz
Storage memory: 4GB Micro SD Card
Some of its characteristics and how this thermal camera can help:
- Thermography used to stay safe: It can be used to see through smoke, especially by firefighters when they are trying to put out a fire and find persons.
- Accurate troubleshooting: The Pyle imaging camera provides thermal signatures that can used to detect any leaks of heat due to faulty thermal insulation, and thus corrective measures can be taken to improve the situation.
- It makes it easy to correct household problems: The imaging camera, due to its ability to detect heat problems, it makes it easy solve heating and cooling issues in the house, for example in faulty HVAC systems and other electrical issues.
- It is able to save information: The Pyle imaging camera comes with a Micro SD that can save information and make it easy to transfer it to the computer.
- Portable: Due to its compact design and its small size, Pyle imaging camera is very portable provides an image on its HD display. It can even detect objects in the dark and provide visuals in real time on temperature over a wide area.
While the 60 x 60 (3600 total pixels) resolution of Pyle therma camera is not fantastic –
note that it’s not too far away from the 80 x 60 (4800 total pixels) IR resolution of Flir One and Flir TG165 thermal imagers.
Indeed, the -20°C to 300°C (-4°F to 572°F) temperature range of this Pyle thermal imaging camera is much better than the 20°C to 120°C (-4 to 248°F) measurement range of Flir One thermal cam for iOS and Android.
The cost of Pyle thermal imaging camera was around $300 at the point of writing this post, but its price may change from time to time, so you need to >> check out its latest price.
We believe the very affordable deals above represent good alternatives for big brands like FLIR, especially if you are looking to buy very cheap entry level thermal imaging camera under tight budget restriction.
However, in case you don’t mind to pay over $300 for a budget handheld thermal camera with much higher resolution —
then we suggest you look into our “bonus recommendation” below.
HTI HT-18 Thermal Imager with 220 x 160 Resolution
This thermal imaging camera has an infrared image resolution of 220 × 160 that helps to deliver greater image quality.
HTI HT-18 has 35,200 total pixels, nearly 10 times higher resolution than the 3600 pixels of Perfect-Prime IR0002 and Pyle thermal cameras mentioned above.
HTI HT-18 Thermal Cam Specifications:
Image Resolution: 220 x 160 (35200 Pixels)
Temperature Accuracy: ± 2.5°C or ± 2.5%
Display: 3.2″ Full Color Display Screen
Temperature Range: -20 to 300 °C
Thermal Sensitivity:0.07°C
Image Frequency: 9 Hz
Storage memory: 4GB Micro SD Card
The HTI HT-18 also comes along with 2 major functions that can help improve the accuracy and usability of this thermal imaging device:
- The first major function is that it has an adjustable radiation coefficient that can help to increase the measurement accuracy of half reflection surface.
- The second is the thermal point and cold point temperature mark that can guide users to the areas that have lowest or highest thermal image temperature.
HT18 provides real-time thermal image and also surface temperature measurement. You can customize the color palette, and it has a 3.2 inch color display screen (larger than the 2.4 inch screen size for other thermal camera options above) that shows all the images or the problems that have been captured.
The images captured by this high resolution thermal camera can be stored in it or transferred using USB to be saved in a computer. Due to the ability to transfer the thermal images and full vision images to a computer, you can easily generate a report and printing.
HTI HT18 imager is easy to use and can actually be used several seconds after turning it on. It can help electrician and maintenance personnel to detect a problem and solve it quickly.
What are the other big brand thermal camera models you can get at this price range?
For comparison, you can check out the cheaper options below – both with great user reviews:
- FLIR TG165 Spot Thermal camera with lower 80×60 resolution >> Learn more
- Seek Thermal Reveal with lower 206×156 resolution (32,136 pixels). >> Learn more