Considering adding thermal imaging to your repertoire? While FLIR's smartphone thermal camera, the FLIR ONE has been out for a while now and speeding up many a tradesman's day, there's now competition - the Seek Thermal Compact.

They may be the new kids on the block, but Seek are hitting the ground running and may well be giving FLIR a run for their money. In this blog, we'll take a look at the Seek Thermal Compact, and the FLIR ONE, to see which is the best option for you

The Technical Bit

Let's begin by taking a look at the manufacturer's specifications for both cameras.

Please note that pricing shown is true of the time of writing and is subject to change.

Feature SEEK COMPACT FLIR ONE
Price £215 £165
Thermal Resolution 206x156 160x120
Field of View 36 46
Temp Range -40 to 626F (-40 to 330C) -4 to 248F (-20 to 120C)
Frame Rate <9Hz <8.7Hz
Detection Distance 1000 feet (330yards, 300 m) Not specified
Spectral Range 7.5 to 14 μm 8 to 14μm
Focus Adjustable Auto

What Benefits Does the Seek Compact have over the FLIR ONE?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPMe4hlNjxA

Like the FLIR ONE, the SEEK Compact can plug directly into your smartphone. They are both pretty similarly priced, so what does the SEEK Compact have that the FLIR ONE doesn’t?

  • There's no need to charge up the Seek Thermal to use it with your phone - the camera will get its power directly from your smartphone, meaning there's no need to charge two things when you're going out to do thermal surveys. The FLIR ONE must be charged separately and has its own independent power supply.
  • Sleeker, more compact design than the FLIR ONE
  • Adjustable focus - if you can't get a good image with the Seek Thermal Compact, you can adjust the focus as needed to improve the images' quality. The FLIR ONE has automatic focus - you can't take manual control over the images' focus
  • The Seek Thermal Compact is shipped with a waterproof case - ideal for use in outdoor conditions
  • Higher standard thermal resolution of 206 x 156 pixels compared to the FLIR ONE's 160 x 120 pixel detector - every image has more pixels of temperature data, ensuring more accurate temperature results when using the Seek Compact
  • Wider temperature measurement range: -40 to 330°C (-40 to 626°F) compared to the FLIR One's -20 to 120°C (-4 to 248°F) range, allowing the Compact to be used in a wider variety of different applications

What Benefits does the FLIR ONE Have Compared to the Seek Compact?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_qJkG9fcl4

  • FLIR MSX - FLIR's unique multi-spectral dynamic imaging (MSX) mode extracts the detail from a standard digital image and adds it to your thermal images, enhancing the level of detail in every image captured
  • Two cameras in one - the FLIR ONE actually includes both digital and thermal cameras
  • Time Lapse and Panoramic capturing modes - more options for images than the Seek Compact
  • Faster heat signature analysis - in practice, the ONE will pick up on heat signatures slightly faster the the Compact will