Fluke 62 MAX+ vs Klein Tools IR10 Dual-Laser Infrared Thermometer

The Fluke wins on how its numbers are stated rather than on how big they are, which is the thing that separates a usable reading from a plausible one. The Klein gets you a tighter optic and a contact probe for less, and gives up some accuracy and some disclosure to do it.

Fluke 62 MAX+

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The one that tells you what its distance-to-spot ratio actually means.

• Fluke publishes the 12:1 optic as calculated at 90 percent energy, so the ratio has a defined basis instead of being an unexplained number.
• Accuracy is the greater of 1.0 C or 1.0 percent of reading, with separate 2.0 C and 3.0 C bands stated for the sub-zero ranges.
• Rated IP54 per IEC 60529, tested to a 3 meter drop, and runs on a single AA alkaline cell.

• No contact probe input, so air, gas, liquid and internal temperatures are out of reach entirely.
• The 12:1 optic reads a wider spot at any given distance than the Klein's 20:1 optic.
• Fluke rates it at 8 hours with laser and backlight on, the shortest of the three MAX-series guns on the same datasheet.

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Klein Tools IR10 Dual-Laser Infrared Thermometer

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Tightest optic here, plus the contact probe that covers what infrared cannot.

• 20:1 optical resolution, the tightest of the four, and the manual charts the spot diameter at 10, 20, 40 and 80 inches.
• A K-type probe is included for what Klein calls bulk temperatures of air, gas, or liquids, which the infrared sensor cannot measure.
• Emissivity adjusts 0.10 to 1.00 and the printed manual carries an emissivity chart for asphalt, brick, concrete, glass, marble, copper, sheet aluminum and cold rolled steel.

• The 20:1 figure is published as a bare ratio with no energy fraction stated, unlike the Fluke.
• Infrared accuracy is 3 F (1.5 C) or 1.5 percent whichever is greater, looser than the Fluke's 1.0 C or 1.0 percent.
• The bundled K-type probe is rated only to 356 F (180 C); anything hotter needs a separate high-temp probe.

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Side by side

The bottom line

Our overall pick is the Fluke 62 MAX+ - The one that tells you what its distance-to-spot ratio actually means. Choose the Klein Tools IR10 Dual-Laser Infrared Thermometer instead if tradespeople who want one tool that reads both a hot surface and the air coming out of a vent.

Want the full picture, including the other options we compared and the popular one we'd skip? Read the complete The Best Infrared Thermometers: 4 Compared (and One to Skip).