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FLIR · Flir TG165-X Thermal Imaging Camera with Bullseye Laser, Spot IR | 80x60 IR, -25 to 300C, spot thermometer, MSX, IP54, building/HVAC/electrical, strap, pouch
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An imaging infrared thermometer with a 4,800 pixel detector, a measurement range of minus 25 C to 300 C, a bullseye laser that shows the size of the measurement area, MSX visible detail overlay, a drop tested IP54 enclosure and a warranty of two years on the camera with ten on the detector. The pixel count is small and the listing states it plainly. What this instrument actually fixes is the error that makes ordinary infrared thermometers unreliable.
It is a thermometer first, and the listing does not hide it
The first bullet gives the number without decoration: a 4,800 pixel IR camera. That is an 80 by 60 detector.
Put it next to the other instruments in this project. 160 by 120 is 19,200 pixels and is considered entry level. 256 by 192 is 49,152. 320 by 240 is 76,800. At 4,800 you have roughly a quarter of the pixels of the cheapest phone attachment we have reviewed.
So this does not resolve a warm component on a circuit board, and it will not show you which of three adjacent terminals is running hot unless the difference is large and the terminals are not adjacent. Judging it as a thermal camera leads to one conclusion only.
The useful framing is different. This is an infrared spot thermometer that happens to display a coarse thermal image of where it is aimed. The image is there to help you point. The measurement is the product.
Understood that way the specification choices line up. The range stops at 300 C. The enclosure is rated. The laser shows a measurement area rather than a target. The warranty covers the detector for a decade. These are the decisions you make for an instrument someone carries every day and uses to read numbers.
The bullseye laser fixes the oldest infrared mistake
Here is the error that makes most infrared thermometer readings wrong, and almost nobody using one knows they are making it.
An infrared thermometer does not measure a point. It collects radiation from a circular area, and that circle grows with distance according to the instrument distance to spot ratio. At a ratio of twelve to one, measuring from twelve inches away gives a one inch circle. From ten feet away it gives a ten inch circle.
The reading is the average over that whole circle. So aiming across a room at a single warm breaker and reading 38 C tells you the average of the breaker, its neighbours, the busbar, the enclosure and the air gaps. The breaker itself might be at 70 C.
Users make this mistake because the laser dot on most instruments marks the centre of the circle, not its edge, and a single dot looks like a point measurement.
The listing states that the laser indicates the size of the measurement area for faster and easier detection. Being shown the circle changes behaviour immediately: you see that the spot is larger than the thing you wanted, and you walk closer. That is a more substantive improvement to measurement accuracy than any pixel count on this page.
Our explainer on accuracy against precision covers why an averaged reading can be repeatable and still wrong.
MSX matters more here than on a better camera
MSX embosses edge detail from a visible camera onto the thermal image. On the FLIR E6 Pro, which we reviewed with its 240 by 180 detector, MSX is a convenience that makes reports easier to read.
At 80 by 60 it is closer to necessary. A thermal image that coarse, of a uniform wall or a grey panel, is an abstract cloud. There is nothing in it to tell you which part of the real object you are looking at, and misidentification is the second biggest source of wrong conclusions after the spot size problem.
Overlaying visible edges gives the blob a context: this warm patch is on the pipe, not the wall behind it. That is why the feature appears on an instrument where image quality is otherwise not the point.
The specification and the gaps
| Specification | Published in the listing |
|---|---|
| Detector | 4,800 pixels, which is 80 by 60 |
| Temperature range | Minus 25 C to 300 C, minus 13 F to 572 F |
| Laser | Bullseye, indicates measurement area size |
| Image overlay | MSX, patented |
| Enclosure | Drop tested, IP54, dirt, dust and oil |
| Warranty | Two years camera, ten years detector |
| Measurement accuracy | Not stated in the listing bullets |
| Distance to spot ratio | Not stated in the listing bullets |
| Emissivity adjustment | Not stated in the listing bullets |
| Thermal sensitivity | Not stated in the listing bullets |
The missing distance to spot ratio is a strange omission given that the bullseye laser exists specifically to show you the spot. The laser makes the spot visible; the ratio would let you calculate it before you walk over. Both would be better than one.
No emissivity adjustment is mentioned, which is the limitation to take seriously. Emissivity is how efficiently a surface radiates, and polished metal radiates so poorly that it reads far below its real temperature. Two handheld infrared thermometers elsewhere in this project state adjustable emissivity from 0.1 to 1.0. If bare metal electrical work is your use case, that absence matters more than the pixel count.
The ten year detector warranty is the same term FLIR applies to its higher resolution cameras, and the reasoning is the same: the detector is the part that cannot be economically replaced, and a decade long term is an implicit statement about expected drift.
Who should buy it
Buy this as a daily infrared thermometer for someone who takes a lot of readings and needs them to be right: HVAC commissioning, electrical maintenance rounds, building checks. The bullseye laser addresses the real source of error, MSX stops you misidentifying the target, IP54 survives a working bag and the detector is warranted for ten years.
Do not buy it expecting thermal imaging. At 4,800 pixels it will not find the warm component in a cluster, and the cameras in this project that will are plainly listed by their detector size. And if you measure bare metal, establish whether emissivity can be adjusted before relying on the numbers, because the listing does not say.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How small is 4,800 pixels really?
It is an 80 by 60 detector. For comparison, cameras in this project state 160 by 120, 256 by 192, 320 by 240 and 512 by 384. At 4,800 pixels you are not resolving components, you are seeing a coarse heat map of a scene. The listing is honest in printing the figure plainly, and the right way to understand the product is as an infrared thermometer that shows you a picture of where it is pointing rather than as a thermal camera.
What problem does the bullseye laser solve?
The biggest one in infrared measurement. A spot thermometer averages the temperature across a circular area whose size grows with distance, and users consistently assume the reading applies to the small thing they aimed at. The listing states the laser indicates the size of the measurement area. Being shown the actual spot, rather than a single dot in the middle of it, prevents the error where you think you measured a terminal and actually measured the terminal plus the air and metalwork around it.
Why is the range only 300 C?
It is a deliberate positioning. Minus 25 C to 300 C covers building fabric, electrical distribution, HVAC, motors and most mechanical work. It does not reach flue gas, exhausts, kilns or cooking surfaces, where other instruments in this project reach 550 C or 1022 F. If your work includes high temperature targets, check the ceiling before buying.
What does MSX add on a detector this small?
Interpretation. MSX embosses visible edge detail onto the thermal image, so a coarse 80 by 60 heat blob sits inside a recognisable scene. On a high resolution camera MSX is a convenience. On a detector this coarse it is close to essential, because without landmarks an 80 by 60 thermal image is genuinely hard to place.
What does IP54 cover?
Dust protected and protected against splashing water, which is what the listing describes as protecting the camera from dirt, dust and oil. It is not an immersion rating. For a tool carried round a plant room or a building site that is the appropriate level, and it is more than several instruments in this project publish at all.
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