News The Pixel 8 Pro temperature sensor is only good for one thing

[AC News]

The thermometer feature on the Pixel 8 Pro is pretty cool, but is it any good? Time to find out.

The Pixel 8 Pro temperature sensor is only good for one thing : Read more

 

[notovinar]

While a temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit is equivalent to about 10 degrees Celsius, a difference of 50 Fahrenheit degrees is a difference of about 27 Celsius degrees, because the two scales don't have zero in the same place.

 

[beef623]

A few weekends ago we were using a pair of fryers, one with a working thermometer and one with a broken one. We used the app to check on the temperature of the broken one. I set my temperature app to liquid and held it about 5 inches above the surface of the oil and it always seemed to be within 5 degrees (F) of what the working thermometer said until it got over 300, but the sensor says it will be inaccurate over 300.

 

[Lumesynth]

There seems to be a couple of fundamental misunderstandings here in the article.

First obvious one. Body temperature is CORE body temperature. Skin temperature is always going to be lower. 91-94 is probably average if your body temperature is is also average though it's extremely variable because of ambient tempand evaporative cooling.

The thermostat inside a kettle, and the ember mugs, are also woefully inaccurate. I just checked mine against a Fluke 54-2 and Klein IR thermometer. My Stagg EKG Kettle was 7 degrees off until around 160 degrees F where they are calibrated towards, and it was closer. The Ember mug set at the same 134 degrees was 121 with the Pixel reporting 117.

The Pixel uses an IR thermometer. It's extremely sensitive to angle and distance. I'd guess at the 2" distance it probably has a 2" target that it will average. Likely getting the edges of the mug into the averaging window skewing results. Also, holding the phone above a boiling liquid will quickly fog the IR lens and make the results irregular quickly explaining your 50-degree delta, zero chance you could keep the device within 2 inches of a boiling substance without it fogging.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

There seems to be a couple of fundamental misunderstandings here in the article.

First obvious one. Body temperature is CORE body temperature. Skin temperature is always going to be lower. 91-94 is probably average if your body temperature is is also average though it's extremely variable because of ambient tempand evaporative cooling.

The thermostat inside a kettle, and the ember mugs, are also woefully inaccurate. I just checked mine against a Fluke 54-2 and Klein IR thermometer. My Stagg EKG Kettle was 7 degrees off until around 160 degrees F where they are calibrated towards, and it was closer. The Ember mug set at the same 134 degrees was 121 with the Pixel reporting 117.

The Pixel uses an IR thermometer. It's extremely sensitive to angle and distance. I'd guess at the 2" distance it probably has a 2" target that it will average. Likely getting the edges of the mug into the averaging window skewing results. Also, holding the phone above a boiling liquid will quickly fog the IR lens and make the results irregular quickly explaining your 50-degree delta, zero chance you could keep the device within 2 inches of a boiling substance without it fogging.

So basically, the article is bad and unscientific but the conclusion is correct. The thermal sensor is all but useless.

 

[Lumesynth]

So basically, the article is bad and unscientific but the conclusion is correct. The thermal sensor is all but useless.

More like.
Article is bad and unscientific.

Pixel 8 temp sensor is...acceptable if you use it as intended and understand it's limitations as an uncalibrated IR thermometer. While it may have a ~5% delta in accuracy compared to a calibrated thermocouple, the difference between 325 and 341 degrees in a frying pan are barely relevant. If they are to you, you should probably have a dedicated tool for that purpose.

At the end of the day though, that begs the question. What's really the point of it? My use has been exclusively checking if a pan is above 300F.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

More like.
Article is bad and unscientific.

Pixel 8 temp sensor is...acceptable if you use it as intended and understand it's limitations as an uncalibrated IR thermometer. While it may have a ~5% delta in accuracy compared to a calibrated thermocouple, the difference between 325 and 341 degrees in a frying pan are barely relevant. If they are to you, you should probably have a dedicated tool for that purpose.

At the end of the day though, that begs the question. What's really the point of it? My use has been exclusively checking if a pan is above 300F.

Somehow I've managed to survive this long without pointing an IR thermometer at my frying pan, yet my eggs always come out perfect.

Clearly I'm a culinary prodigy.