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FLIR's latest thermal camera gives your phone a snap-on heat-vision upgrade
The FLIR One Edge Pro is the company's most flexible way yet to bring IR cameras to smartphones
Remember when smartphones only had one camera on the back? One lens, one sensor, take it or leave it? Well, to say that things have gotten a little nutty since then is nothing short of an understatement, and these days the expectation is that a well-rounded phone needs to offer multiple cameras: ultrawide, telephoto, or maybe even variable optical zoom. For all those options, though, we're still talking about cameras that only capture visible light — and isn't that just so, like, narrow, man? There's a whole, big electromagnetic spectrum out there, and with FLIR's new One Edge Pro, your phone can start taking advantage of it, snapping thermal pics in the infrared.
The latest heat-vision-equipped smartphone is making its way to the US
Runs hot, cold, wet, however you'd like
Have the need or in the mood for a thermal-seeking camera on a ruggedized smartphone. The Cat S62 Pro — made as with most Cat-branded phones by U.K.-based Bullitt Group — is about to come online to retailers in the United States for a slightly better price than was first quoted.[EMBED_YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnM9YUHndGc[/EMBED_YT]The S62 Pro was initially announced last July with a FLIR-supplied camera that quadruples the thermal resolution of the one it gave to 2018's S61. The Verge points out that it comes at the cost of a couple other sensors like one for air quality and one for spatial distance that were on the older phone, but it might be better to stick with one great play than three okay ones.It also features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, a 4,000mAh battery, a 5.7" 1080p+ display, and a programmable key, backed by a non-slip plastic coating in the rear, an IP68 rating, and MIL-STD-810 testing that shows resistance against 1.8m drops onto steel. As a bonus(!), it'll launch with Android 10 with a guaranteed path to Android 11.Originally announced with an MSRP of $749, the U.S. unlocked version equipped with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is just about ready to go from Cat, Amazon, and Home Depot for $699 — though the buy links haven't exactly gone live yet. You can chance an international version from Amazon, though, if you don't mind mismatched bands.
The Cat-branded S60 was a very interesting phone, even if it wasn't the best phone for most people. This phone was the first and only Android device to have an integrated FLIR thermal camera, but it won't be the only one for long. Now, Cat is following it up with the Cat S61. It has a lot in common with the S60 (as the name implies), but all the specs have gotten a boost—even the thermal camera.
The first gen FLIR One was only for iPhone, but the second gen had Android support. The problem: in those days microUSB still reigned supreme, and it was non-reversible. That meant some phones had the port facing the "wrong" way to use the FLIR One dongle. Today, FLIR is announcing a new third generation FLIR One thermal camera that adopts the Type-C port. There are plenty of other changes, too.
The Cat S60 is the very first Cat phone we've reviewed on Android Police, and it should be obvious why. These are niche devices that mainstream consumers mostly don't care about. They can take a beating, but they're also big and heavy. The S60 isn't necessarily different in that respect, but it does have one very interesting feature that other phones don't—this is the first phone with a built-in FLIR thermal camera. It would be silly to compare the Cat S60 (manufactured under license by Bullitt Group) directly to a phone like the Galaxy S7 or HTC 10, although the $600 price tag is in the same ballpark as those phones. I'll try to evaluate the S60 on its own terms and see what it offers for the rugged phone enthusiast.
The Cat S60 was announced earlier this year as the first phone to have one of FLIR's thermal camera sensors built right in. The phone does look a little bulbous, but it's not bad compared to a lot of Cat's other rugged phones. Anyone looking to pick up this unusual device should start saving now. Pre-orders are going to start next month.
The FLIR One thermal camera is pretty neat, but it's not exactly convenient to plug it into your USB port all the time. Now, Cat has announced the first phone that has FLIR's thermal imaging technology built-in, the Cat S60. The specs actually look a bit more in-step with modern Android phones than I'd expect, and it has all the usual Cat ruggedized features.
FLIR Systems is one of the premier makers of thermal camera technology at the high-end of the market, but in recent years it has also been branching out to the consumer level. The first-generation FLIR ONE smartphone thermal camera was only available for the iPhone and it was a bulky case design. Now the second generation unit is coming out for Android in a few weeks, but it's not cheap. So, what does it do and is that worth $250 to you? Let's find out.
Humans cannot see infrared light, but some creatures can (like snakes, beetles, and the Predator). If you want to be more like the Predator, there's always the Seek Thermal Camera, which is a fun little gadget that plugs into the USB port on your phone or tablet to give it real time thermal vision. It's usually $249, but now it's down to just $189.54 on Amazon.