I turned my phone into a thermal camera with the RISION Magic Pro

Credit: Robert Triggs / Android Authority

As Android Authority’s resident testing engineer, I find temperatures a constant source of both success and failure for our gadget reviews. Whether a phone can sustain its fast charging speeds or deliver peak performance during prolonged gaming sessions depends on how well it dissipates heat. To see how modern gadgets fare, a dedicated temperature camera is often a very helpful solution, but it can be cumbersome, expensive, or come with poorer-quality optics. But what if I could make use of the countless phones I already have? Well, I’ve had the RISION Magic Pro () in the lab to see just how well that works.

The RISION Magic Pro is a compact thermal camera, designed for professionals, that connects to your Android or iOS phone’s USB-C port. From there, you can control the camera via the RISON app, which provides a live temperature readout, screenshot capability, and a selection of customization options. …