RISION Magic series thermal cameras are what you need to find air leaks and cold spots at home

Most homes have a few problems worth fixing before winter sets in – from drafty windows and doors and patchy insulation to heating that doesn’t reach every room and outlets that work harder than they should – things that aren’t easy to find and drive up your energy bill. A thermal camera helps you find these issues by turning surface temperatures into an easy-to-read color map. And with the RISION Magic Series, you can now put one on your phone or laptop.

The RISION Magic and RISION Magic Pro plug into the USB-C port of your smartphone or Windows laptop, and show you where heat is escaping, if your heating is falling short, or whether an electrical part is running too hot. And with exciting discounts for Prime Big Deals Day, you can make sure you aren’t left in the cold this winter. Here’s what you need to know.

Why you need a thermal camera this winter

Many cold-weather issues start small and can be hard to notice until you start seeing energy bills that are higher than usual. A thermal camera is a handy tool that reads the temperature of any surface in front of it. It can’t see through walls, but reading surface temperature can give you useful clues about what might be happening inside.

Point it at a window on a chilly evening, and you’ll see a leaky seal as a streak of cooler color spreading from the frame into the wall. Similarly, a door with worn weatherstripping shows the same along its edges. On walls and ceilings, patches where insulation has shifted or was never installed appear as darker spots. Common trouble spots include the attic hatch, the spot where a dryer vent passes through the wall, and the edges of recessed ceiling lights, and you can easily check them all with a quick walk around your house.

It’s just as easy to examine heating systems. Underfloor heating pipes and electric mats show up as clear lines beneath the floor, making it easy to spot cold zones or loops that aren’t warming up. Radiators that are warm at the bottom but cold at the top need fixing. And HVAC vents that blow noticeably cooler air than others might indicate a leaky duct in the attic or crawlspace.

Safety is important, too. During winter, space heaters, electric blankets, and holiday lights often share outlets and power strips. If you notice a plug, outlet, or extension cord that feels warmer than the ones around it, it’s worth taking a closer look before a bigger problem develops. Luckily, RISION makes it incredibly easy to stay on top of these issues.

RISION Magic: For regular home checks and weekend fixes

The RISION Magic is the one most homeowners should start with. About the size of a matchbox (60 x 42 x 10mm) and weighing just 24g, it’s light and compact enough to sit in your pocket or a work drawer until you need it. The housing is made with an aerospace-grade alloy, so it’ll survive an accidental slip out of your hand without issue.

You also don’t have to worry about keeping the device charged since it draws power straight from your phone. You’ll get 5 to 8 hours of continuous usage on a full charge, which should be more than enough to inspect an entire house in one go. If you have a phone with a thick or rugged case, it also includes a USB-C extension cable.

The sensor has a 160 x 120 resolution, which RISION’s QuadIR technology upscales to 320 x 240. QuadIR runs on RISION’s own chip and uses AI processing to double the image’s resolution in each direction, resulting in a noticeably sharper picture. Paired with a 52° x 39° field of view, that’s plenty of detail to scan a wall, a window, or a stretch of floor to see temperature changes, and a 25Hz refresh rate keeps the live image smooth as you pan across a room.

A single-lens dual-light fusion system called AI BiSpectrix makes things even clearer. This feature blends detail from your phone’s regular camera onto the thermal image from the RISION Magic in real time, so you’ll also see an outline of the window frame or the edge of a floorboard along with the heat map. This overlay makes it much easier to tell exactly what you’re looking at.

Under the hood, the thermal sensitivity (NETD) is 40mK or better, so it can pick up even small temperature differences like the slight chill from a draft caused by window air leaks. The measurement range runs from -4°F to 1,112°F (-20°C to 600°C), and you’ll get the most reliable readings if you stay within 16 feet of the places you want to scan.

A late autumn or early winter walkthrough is the best time to use the RISION Magic. After you turn the heating on, you can work your way through the house, starting with the windows and exterior doors, before checking walls and ceilings in every room, but particularly in an attic or basement if you have those. You can even use it to check underfloor heating in a bathroom or kitchen. This will give you a clear idea of what needs fixing or patching before even colder temperatures set in.

For the Amazon Prime Big Deals Day sale and beyond, the RISION Magic is priced at just $119 ($20 off) until October 10.

RISION Magic Pro: Best for more complicated issues

The RISION Magic Pro carries over everything from the Magic. It has the same 24g alloy body, build, and battery-free design, a similar battery life, and features like AI BiSpectrix fusion. The thermal specs match too, with 40mK or better sensitivity, a 25Hz refresh rate, and a -4°F to 1,112°F range.

The biggest difference is the sensor. The Magic Pro uses a 256 x 192 native sensor that QuadIR upscales to 512 x 384, along with a slightly wider 56° x 42° field of view.

The extra detail is a noticeable upgrade when it comes to crowded scenes. If, say, you’re looking at a panel full of breakers, you can see exactly which single breaker or terminal is running hot. And with AI BiSpectrix, you’ll even see an overlay of the breaker labels, so you aren’t left guessing which one it is. You can use it to trace a refrigerant line or follow a duct seam to see exactly where your heater is leaking, or check your entire home for insulation problems from the outside.

For professional users like electricians, HVAC technicians, or home inspectors, the app’s documentation tools are especially useful. You can use the Magic Pro to not only identify the issue, but also mark it up and hand a finished report to a client or colleague, without needing to do anything on your phone or computer later.

RISION is offering a $70 discount on the Magic Pro for the Prime Big Deal Days sale until October 10, bringing its price down to $229.

The RISION View app

Both cameras run on the RISION View app, available on iOS, Android, and Windows, and you don’t have to worry about subscriptions, paywalled features, or even needing an account. Simply plug in the camera, open the app, and you’ll see a live thermal image in seconds. You will only need an account if you want to set up cloud backups.

The live view offers 12 color palettes, with adjustable text color and size for on-screen readings. It’s important to choose the right settings, since some options are better suited for small temperature differences, while others are easier to read in a bright area. You can also place up to 5 spot markers, lines, or box areas, and track temperatures from all 15 areas simultaneously.

With real-time waveform tracking, you can turn temperature readings into a live graph over time. And with custom temperature thresholds, you can highlight a chosen range, so background heat fades away and the spots you want to know more about stand out, with automatic alerts when a reading crosses your limit. You can also set emissivity and measurement distance for more accurate readings on different materials.

A captured photo also stores complete temperature data, so you can tap a spot on a saved image to get temperature readings without rescanning the area. Video recording works the same way, which is useful to see how something heats up or cools down.

When you need to share information, the app builds auto-formatted PDF reports with the thermal images, temperature data, time, location, and your notes. You can even add a custom watermark, like your business name, and GPS location tags to each image. And with cloud sync, you can keep a backup of your reports and access them on your phone, tablet, or PC.

Get the RISION Magic series now

With the RISION Magic series, you can turn your phone into a capable thermal camera without carrying an extra, bulky gadget. Both models are battery-free, pocket-sized, and drop-tested, with QuadIR sharpening, AI BiSpectrix overlays, and a free app that handles everything from 15-marker live measurement to finished PDF reports.

Get the RISION Magic for everyday checks, like seeing why the spare bedroom is always cold, making sure there aren’t air leaks around your windows before winter, or confirming whether your space heater is working properly. Meanwhile, the RISION Magic Pro is better suited for more complicated tasks, like finding a duct leak or doing a full home energy audit. It is also the best option for professionals like electricians, HVAC techs, and home inspectors, with the added benefit of PDF reports, a big positive.

For the Prime Big Deal Days sale, RISION is offering up to 23% off its portable thermal cameras, with the RISION Magic down to $119 and the Magic Pro at $229, through October 10.