We loved everything about the compact FLIR ONE thermal camera the company announced at CES last year, except for the fact that it was initially only available for iOS devices, and it required your phone to be trapped inside a fairly cumbersome case. So the company decided to fix that, revealing a tiny new version of the FLIR ONE at CES this year that hangs off the bottom of either iOS or Android devices.
Available sometime in the middle of 2015, FLIR is aiming for a slightly cheaper price tag than the original $250 FLIR ONE. And that not only gets you the same dual camera system that blends thermal images and regular photos so it's easier to see what's going on, but also an improved thermal sensor with about four times the resolution of the original.
With its new compact form factor the new FLIR ONE is of course reminiscent of the Seek Thermal camera that entered the market a few months ago, but it looks like FLIR is taking the lead again on features because the new FLIR ONE retains the original version's rechargeable battery that's good for about an hour of use—so it won't drain your smartphone or tablet. And the FLIR ONE app has been vastly improved too with support for shooting panoramic images now, and even time-lapse videos.
There is one other notable feature of the new FLIR ONE—at least the iOS version. Since Apple's Lightning port is completely reversible, you can flip the attachment around letting you take thermal selfies or "thermies" as FLIR's reps unfortunately called them. But we're willing to look past that and remain excited for this awesome hardware update. [FLIR]
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