In the Fall of 2012, Fluke released their VT02 visual IR thermometer. A few months ago, in October of 2013, Fluke came out with their VT04 visual IR thermometer, an upgraded model.
What is a visual IR thermometer? Essentially, a visual infrared thermometer is a low resolution thermal imaging camera that provides greater measurement context than simpler temperature measurement tools, such as thermocouples and simpler IR thermometers, that only provide singular temperature readings.
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Visual IR thermometers are not quite as versatile as even entry-level thermal imaging cameras. For this reason I was very critical of Fluke’s recent VT04 visual thermometer and its $1200 pricing at launch.
Why buy a visual thermometer when Flir offers their “real” E4 thermal imaging camera for $995. And that’s without taking into account the E4’s ability to be software-modded for a boost in features and resolution.
(While it can be said that the new Flir ONE thermal imaging camera is a $350 camera, it’s really a $350 device that isn’t at all functional without a $550-$650 smartphone.)
A few days ago I was on the phone with a very friendly Fluke representative, and I don’t recall how, but we spoke for a moment about the VT04 and its pricing. I was in front of my computer, and was quite shocked to find that Fluke has slashed the prices of their visual IR thermometers.
The VT02 is now priced at $450 (via Amazon), and the VT04 is priced at $630 (via Amazon). This places the VT thermometers in between modern IR thermometers and thermal imaging cameras.
While Fluke’s VT-series visual infrared thermometers are not quite full-fledged thermal imaging cameras, they are much more capable than single-measurement IR thermometers.
Fluke was right to reduce the pricing on their visual IR thermometers, as this makes their VT’s much more appealing than they were.
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Jerry says
A price cut is never a bad thing, unless they cheapened the product somehow.
Stuart says
I very highly doubt that they cheapened the product. With very high certainty I would say that the price drop was a strategic move in response to the market and their primary competitor, Flir.
Why would someone purchase a visual IR thermometer for $1060 when they could instead buy a thermal imaging camera for $995? With ~$450 and ~$630 pricing on the VT02 and VT04 respectively, Fluke will move many more visual thermometers.
Visual IR thermometers are between IR thermometers and IR cameras in terms of features and functions, and so the pricing should reflect this.
Jim says
Even at $450, the VT02 doesn’t seem very compelling. It received a pretty scathing video review at EEVblog where it was compared side-by-side to a FLIR I3.
At $150 or $200 it becomes an interesting toy but someone willing to shell out $500 for a tool probably intends to use it to make money in which case a good argument can be made that they should fork over another $500 and get a bonafide thermal imager.
Stuart says
It’s not really fair to say that anyone who is interested in buying a VT02 at $450 should spend $545 more for a Flir E4 or similar.
Let’s say an organization wants to order 5 units for their MRO guys. That $500 difference becomes $2500. Even for the individual user, that extra $500 can instead be used towards a borescope, multimeter, AND a 7″ Android tablet.
Yes, it’s a hard sell compared to “true” thermal imaging cameras. That the price drop makes these more attractively priced doesn’t mean they’ll fly off the shelves.
Even at current pricing, I favor the E4 at $995. That’s the purchasing decision I made a few weeks ago, and I would do it again. But that’s not going to be the right decision for everyone. There are a lot of users for whom a visual thermometer will be the better choice.