B10

Brilliant. Just remember to slide open the lens cap! Prompt delivery. Works out of the box. Instructions included.

Spent a lot of time thinking I'd 'buy the best' and go for a Flir infrared imaging camera but was put off by the slow update speed (9fps, something to do with USA export restrictions) and the painfully high prices. While trawling the internet for reviews (as you do), Hikmicro was mentioned as a worthy manufacturer so I looked at their range. I chose this model because of the fast update speed (25fps) and its IR resolution. I would have liked WiFi connectivity but I didn't want to pay the extra £200 for the B20. I was very impressed by the build quality and the professional feel of the unit. It works fine as expected and with the extensive warranty I feel that I have invested in a useful test instrument. The only thing I would have liked is a proper carrying case (ie not just a pouch, something that holds the power supply and lead as well) but the box it comes in is quite sturdy and will serve well for the time being.

I use many devices every day, this camera meets my requirements, it is precise, fast and easy to use. Very good price-performance ratio. Good support from the manufacturer, the first one turned out to be factory defective, I received a new and functional one quickly and efficiently. I am very satisfied, I highly recommend a good purchase.

It’s an ok, bit of tech but only as look and see. To get accurate readings we had to fully expose pipes to make accurate assessment. Very basic but good -; if you only need a vague idea what’s going on thermally.

Don’t use it much but I love gadgets and wanted something like this for a long time. It’s fun watching the central heating warm up in the winter. It’s just fun watching temperature of anything change. I haven’t tested the accuracy as I don’t really need to.

Clear images, multiple ranges and settings to choose from and approximately 75% cheaper than a well known leading brand. Maybe instructions could be made easier to understand.

It was time to replace my iPhone Flur and after doing quite a lot of research, I decided to buy this one. The battery life is so much better than the flur, it is nice to hold and rugged with a built in lens protector.

I’m no expert in this but it works well to assess if/where the house is loosing heat.

Très bonne pour le prix.

Funkar som den ska. Nöjd

Works great

I had 2 Flir thermal imaging cameras before and one Hikmicro B10 just purchased. This B10 is the best unit of all I owned. 25Hz as compared to 9 Hz is a much faster in refresh rate. Full features in settings can be optimized to gain maximum operation performance. I do like the large 3" screen with a decent resolution. The Fusion mode is my preference with an amazed clear images. Long battery life is a bonus feature, in addition, with the built in 16GB flash memory storage as well. A very good product for a reasonable price point in the market now.

Update Oct 2023: I received the replacement unit and put it to the test. Quite an improvement! Customer service at HIK Micro wanted me to try a replacement, and while it wasn't initially high on my priority list, I'm glad they persevered. Settings are somewhat important, so I compared the replacement B10 to the Flir C5 at 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 meters, in both well lit and darkly lit rooms, looking mostly at walls and windows, but also at some nearby networking electronics. Here's where the surprise was. While the Flir C5 had an edge in the thermal map and image quality for well lit areas (which is visible + IR light mixed together), the HIK Micro actually beat the C5 significantly in moderate and dark light conditions. The true capabilities of an IR camera, which in theory should work in a completely dark room to your eyes, became apparent as the extra IR pixel count of the B10 started to matter with less full-spectrum visual light. Both models blend a standard 2MP camera image with the IR image, providing the sharpness of a regular picture overlaid with a (somewhat fuzzier) IR image. Software is then used to sharpen the composite image. But as standard visual light fades, all you have left is the IR image. The B10's higher IR pixel count clearly wins here. There are also a few extra luminance settings on the B10, with around 10 categories like cement, electronics, walls, etc. The C5 doesn't have quite so many. Frankly, you are not going to want to dive into menus to make changes for various subjects, but it's nice the extra flexibility is there. I should add, even imperfect settings still will give you a good idea of any thermal imager's capabilities, but tweaking is recommended if you are really trying to get that ideal image. One other minor point, the Flir C5 takes perhaps a minute to boot, while the HIKMicro B10 takes perhaps 15 seconds. It doesn't sound like much of a difference, but it's noticeable when you just want to get a quick picture. I still like the point-and-shoot camera style of the C5, its build quality, and the quality of daylight/well-lit images. Its image blending software is very high quality. On the other hand, after using the B10 in several modes, and particularly in darker areas, I honestly stopped wanting to use the C5 and kept finding things to explore with the HIKMicro B10. If each cost the same, it would be a difficult choice, dependent more upon how you will use one of these. At the current lower price for the B10, however, the HIKMicro is a compelling overall choice. Update Sept 2023: HIKMicro has since reached out to me to learn more about the issues I reported, and offer a replacement unit, even though I have since returned the original item. I will further update my review upon testing another item. I am certainly impressed that the company has made more than one attempt to contact me, and resolve any faults in my unit. Original Review: My B10 had a minor but noticeable defect in the screen, where the left-side of the screen was always brighter (a lighter shade of purple) than the right-side. From the moment I turned the unit on, and tried pointing it at water, pointing at vents, and to a flat wall, etc. all I could notice was this warmer left-side of the screen. Actually, when turning it on, at first nothing happened. I then saw a flash screen in Mandarin, then it seemed to turn itself off. I turned it on again, and then all wording was in English. A little strange. HIKMicro has made a name for itself in IR imagers, and not all users may share my experience. However, even ignoring the discoloration in the screen, the overlaid 2Mpix camera image with the 256x192 IR image just wasn't as clear as I'd think it should be. I've used a Fluke Ti20 (128x96, 15 years old) and a Flir C5 (160x120) that are at least equal to the better-spec'd B10, and in many use cases, I think these other units were quite a bit better. I think that's because it's not just about the IR resolution. Though important, I'd argue that thermal depth is amongst the most important of specs (i.e. 30mK vs 70mK vs 150mK, etc.), or the lens quality, or the image blending software, and probably other design factors that can be harder to qualify. The image size on the B10 is a little smaller than I thought it would be too. It has a lot of robust features, but they are a little buried in the menus. Still, the B10 does offer those many features including multiple screen formats and colors, which are welcome. The build quality seemed good, certainly high enough for a home or home office environment. I'm not sure these would stand-up to industry knocks and bangs, though, but of course, these are much less expensive than other brands that offer the extra shock resistance, like the above noted Ti20. I realize that lower-ranking reviews disappoint some, but in the greater scheme of the thousands of units sold, this is my experience with the B10, and so this will count only in its small way to the grand total. However, I think I was hoping that technology had caught-up a little further than it really had. I since went with that more expensive, traditional brand as we need a little better shock resistance, and in my opinion, I think the lower IR res of the other brand is offset by the higher mK and imaging software features. Still, the B10 is magnificently affordable for the masses, and if the choice is a B10 or no IR camera at all, then pick the B10.