UTi260B 256 Heavy Duty Series Thermal Imager

Very good IR camera. Good price and operating features. Only down side is the time for the unit to boot and the 1 amp charge rate. I have purchased 3 of these units.

The thermal imager turns on and shows an image, so I assume it works as intended. I don't know much about thermal imagers, nor how to use one, nor even why I bought one, so don't take too much from this review.

I have been using this thermal camera since early March of this year.

I used to work with $35,000 infrared imagers in the 90's. This imager certainly can not compete with them. However, for small businesses and homeowners, you can find signs of problems before they become problems. The resolution is quite satisfactory. I very much like that I can select the temperatures displayed are from where in the image that I am interested.

A very useful feature is that this device also has a camera that shows light visible to our human eyes. This is very helpful when I prepare a report to a client; they likely are not used to seeing thermal images and may have difficulty understanding that image. By including the 'normal' camera image alongside the infrared image, my clients do not have to ask me "what am I looking at." Using the set-up menu, you can choose to have the visible image superimposed on the thermal image, or, save it side-by-side.

The software for my desktop/laptop makes collecting/reviewing the saved images extremely easy. If I want to go back and look at images I collected for a client many months ago, I find it much faster to look on the desktop's local drive than to go through the 'playback' function on the thermal camera. But of course, like a smartphone, if I have the thermal camera in my hands, I can quickly show to the client the thermal image from my last visit before they paid for repairs (by electricians, roofers, plumbers, etc.)

Personal use? : I found problems with the water heater vent pipe in my garage (you can not do that by feeling the pipe with your hands.) But also, the thermal gradient resolution is so good it has helped me identify potential areas of interest in printed circuit board assemblies, and, incorrectly specified electrical connectors (like the ones only carry 2 amps.)

Another feature that I find very useful is that we can select to display the thermal image in artificial color (color indicates temperature) or in gray-scale (black= cooler, white= hotter.) I may prefer one type of image over the other depending on the task I have been paid for.

This thermal imager is built quite rugged, I believe. I have no fear of dropping it, even if holding it above my head. For transport, I did purchase a small transport case.

A nice feature that I have not yet needed, is the built-in white LEDs that can be turned on /off as desired. That feature would probably make electricians happy because they would not need to 'aim' a flashlight. (Again, referring to the built-in visual camera.)

I am very happy that I purchased this imager. It paid for itself in the first week that I used it.