Laser Thermometer ( Review )

Wow , been wanting one of these for the longest time :

Yes I was too cheap to buy in at around the hundred mark , the seventy five mark , the fifty mark and even the twenty five mark . The other day I saw twelve and a half Australian bananas , and I had to have one . Not just anyone , it had to not be 9v . I would love to see AA but AAA would have to do . ( 2 x AAA )

Now we have a old mercury thermometer that was saying 18.5c , and this IR thermometer was giving 18c .. (?) De we give it to the IR (?)

Anyhow , taking skin temperatures from about 2 meters returned 26 to 27 Celsius , and from about 15cm gave 30 Celsius .

Wood from about 5 meters or more was about 1deg C out ( 17.3 @ 5meters 18.3 from 30cm )

A nice reflective surface like painted brick ( white ) was about 0.1 celsius out from 5 meters + to 30cm ( 18deg Celsius @ 5+ meters to 18.1 Celsius @ 30cm )

Now , I have to say , what a useful little gadget ..

Takes AAA

Turns on with the press of the trigger , takes temps with a second press

Turns off automatically

Draws a minuscule amount of power in use ( 0.02Amp approximately )

Cheap

Seems to be well made for the $

so far nothing to complain about

Accuracy ( ? ) A degree here or there ?

Honestly , if you dont have one , why not ?

I bought one of these exact same ones from Gearbest.

It works really well and was so cheap.

I recommend it to anyone.

i have the 550 from banggood (15.25 USD/yours is 8.99 there before discount)

the laser is just for aiming and i am not sure where it aims due to the offset…
the IR spot gets around 42cm in diameter @ 5m (spot size is 12:1)

i use it on less than 50 cm most of the time and “scan around“ a bit taking the highest value when measuring the temp of a light for example…

but as you guys said:
go get one everyone! :wink:

Can I use it on humans?

why not?

but turn off the laser before aiming at someones face
that one is very bright!

I’ve been wanting one of these for years, what’s the benefitof the more expensive one at banggood, also… Do you have a code?

Working well; I’ve got two, one for objects and one for the people; what for people is more accurate but has a narrower range.


Thanks Joshk you’re awesome!!!

On a more serious note though, don’t be a jerk.

Anti Banggood drones can’t help themselves.

There are so many different models for infrared thermometers - is there a point in spending more?

Are the more expensive ones more accurate or better in a way when measuring flashlights?

If you follow my posts you would know exactly what happened to me. But by all means, carry on.

the GM550 goes up to 550°C (330°C on the GM320) - the other stats look similar
try the code “cupones” - just a Dollar, but maybe you can use it for “free shipping upgrade” :wink:
i bought mine on a flash sale 6 month ago for 9.99 iirc

@Joshk:
i am sorry you feel not handled well (didn´t you get a free light to compensate the wrong item?)
but any shop at any country sells and advertises also sh*t…

You can use it to check skin temperature but not internal temperature. If you’re looking to see if someone has a fever or is suffering from hypothermia, this would not be helpful. For medical use get a dedicated Digital ear thermometer aka Tympanic thermometer. They do a reasonably good job of measuring elevated temperature, though I believe they are unsuitable for use in hypothermia and a rectal thermometer is your best bet.

I’d rather not take that bet thank you very much. An armpit thermometer works great for when I need it.

Yep, these are great. They’re quite spot on for general uses. Very cheap, I was surprised when I got mine and see how good it was.

Only note that you really can’t measure fever with them - you need one of those narrow-range higher-accuracy ones (probably like one of those picture above).

You can point into the ear for inner temperature, BUT, still not good enough. For example, mine has 2’C accuracy, so if someone’s burning up at very dangerous 40’C fever, the ear reading might still show 38’C which says only slight fever, and still be correct within its range.

So again, not for uses which needs higher accuracy. Other than that they’re great for the price.

Whether you want to spend more depends largely on what you want to use it for. There are three things you get for more money:

1). Wider detection range. There are some models that can accurately measure from –20F (about –30C) to 2200F (1250C) in a single range.

2). Adjustable emissivity. The accuracy of the measurement depends to a certain extent on the emissivity of the material you have the device pointed at. For most materials you can approximate it, and you won’t be far off. IIRC, the usually approximation is about .9. the more accurate the emissivity setting, the more accurate the temperature measurement.

3). Measurement spot size. On the lower end thermometers the measuring spot will be about 1/10 the distance from the object. So if you are ten feet away, the measuring spot will be about 1 foot in diameter. For more money you get a small spot, I have seen them down to 1/120. Obviously if you are looking at relatively small objects from a healthy distance, you want a much smaller spot, at 1/120 the spot is 1 foot in diameter at 120 feet.

The top end devices with the wide temp range, emissivity adjustment and very narrow spot will cost upwards of $1000. As a hobbyist it is doubtful you need that capability, and for most hobbyist applications, a low priced unit will be more than adequate.

Thanks, that was very helpful. I guess for looking at flashlight temperatures the cheaper ones will be fine. Don’t think I will ever have 30° in my applications. Also great info on the spot size, but you are right pointing at a flashlight LED or driver will be fine with almost any of these devices.

M4D M4X had a good point re: range, for my automotive uses a higher range might be useful.

That’s fine if you’re checking to see if you should take an aspirin, that’s not what I was talking about. I know Wikipedia is not the best source, but I think this quote sums up what I’ve always been taught as an EMT, so I’ll just leave you with this.

I’m wondering what thermometer to buy….GM320 or GM300E.
The latter costs double, but has adjustable emissivity (and larger range which means little to me).
Do you think it’s worth to pay extra?

If you want to do measurements on a shiny titanium light, I can imagine you want to adjust emissivity. Comparing titanium to aluminium in terms of thermal properties is an interesting aspect of the hobby.
This is something you can take into consideration.