Withings Thermo smart temporal thermometer review

There are lots of reasons to take your temperature. Maybe you’re feeling ill and want to see if you have a fever. Or maybe you’re trying to get pregnant and are tracking your temps to see when the best time to … well, you know. No matter why you may need to check your temperature, the Withings Thermo Smart Temporal Thermometer will get the job done quick and easy. But does it work better than a $5 digital thermometer from Walgreens? Let’s find out.

What is it?

The Withings Thermo Smart Temporal Thermometer is a battery-powered digital thermometer that does not require you to put it in your mouth, your ear or your rear to take a reading. It reads the temperature by sweeping the infrared scanner across the forehead to measure the heat over the temporal artery which carries blood from the heart.

Design and features

The Withings Thermo smart temporal thermometer is a white plastic device with one button, a white dot matrix style display next to it that is readable at night so you won’t wake a sick child to check their temperature. On the end of the Thermo is a green silicone cap that protects the sensor when the thermometer is not being used.

The Thermo thermometer is powered by two AAA batteries which are included in the package. The battery cover is held in place by a magnet, which makes it very easy to remove when the batteries need to be replaced. Note: I could not find any info regarding battery life.

Using the Withings Thermo smart temporal thermometer

To take a temperature reading, you just remove the cap, press the button, wait for it to vibrate once, scan from the middle of the forehead straight across to either the left or right temple. The Thermo will then vibrate twice to let you know that it’s done and you’ll see the recorded temperature on the display next to the button. Green means no fever, orange = mild fever and red = high fever.

See it in action

To compare temperature readings from the Withings Thermo smart temporal thermometer with other thermometers, I ransacked my medicine cabinet and gadget shelves to find an old CVS digital thermometer, a slightly newer Vicks digital thermometer, a Walgreens old-style glass thermometer and a Kinsa Smart Thermometer.

As luck would have it, when I removed the glass thermometer from its case, it was broken… So I won’t be including data from that thermometer in my tests.

For each test I took my readings one after the other with no waiting, drinking, moving around in between. Here are the results.

Test 1

Withings Thermo: 98.3°F
Kinsa (digital thermometer): 98.1°F
CVS (digital thermometer): 98.0°F
Vicks (digital thermometer): 97.9°F

Test 2 (next day)

Withings Thermo: 98.4°F
Kinsa (digital thermometer): 97.9°F
CVS (digital thermometer): 97.7°F
Vicks (digital thermometer): 97.7°F

Test 3 (30 minutes after Test 2)

Withings Thermo: 98.3°F
Kinsa (digital thermometer): 97.6°F
CVS (digital thermometer): 97.5°F
Vicks (digital thermometer): 97.3°F

As you can see from the temperature readings, the Withings Thermo’s readings were always slightly higher than the other thermometers I used. So I decided to just test several readings back to back with just the Thermo to see how reliable it is.

Test 4 (consecutive readings one after the other – .5 inch or less away from forehead without touching it)

Withings Thermo: 98.1°F
Withings Thermo: 98.2°F
Withings Thermo: 98.1°F

Test 5 (consecutive readings one after the other – touching forehead)

Withings Thermo: 98.3°F
Withings Thermo: 98.2°F
Withings Thermo: 98.4°F

The back-to-back Withings Thermo smart temporal thermometer readings were pretty consistent. But I still wonder about the difference between the Thermo and my older digital thermometers. Which thermometer’s readings are correct? I’m inclining to think that the old (and cheap) CVS and Vicks digital thermometers are the most accurate because their readings tended to be the closest together.

Readings are automatically synced to the Thermo app. I am surprised that a stand alone app is needed for the Thermo when all of the other Withings products that I have tested share the main Withings app.

The Thermo app supports up to 8 users which it gets from your existing (or new) Withings account. Since Jeanne is already set up in my Withings account for the Withings Body Cardio Scale, she automatically shows up in the Thermo app. The app is really basic and displays a time line of readings.

Clicking on a reading will allow you to add notes, choose from a symptoms list and even attach a picture.

Final thoughts

Is a $99.95 thermometer better than a $5 thermometer? I guess that depends on who will be using it. If you have small children who don’t like to have their temperatures taken orally, in the ear, or by rear, the Withings Thermo smart temporal thermometer is definitely a less stressful way to get a reading. It’s also very fast compared to the older digital style thermometers which can take a minute or what seems like an hour to get a reading. The Thermo’s automatic recording feature is also really helpful if you like to keep a log of readings. Yes, you can obviously write readings down manually with pen and paper, but having it done automatically saves time and avoids possible recording errors. So yes, there are advantages to buying the Withings Thermo over a Walgreens bargain bin thermometer. You’ll just have to decide if your budget can afford those advantages.

Update 5/11/22

Last week I was unlucky enough to get a breakthrough case of COVID. Using the Withings Thermo smart temporal thermometer made it really easy to keep track of my fevers during this time. I liked having it next to me on my night stand or by the couch. I could test my temperature as often as I liked and could even share it with Jeanne who was also sick with COVID. But sharing meant not having to get up, walk up the stairs to the bathroom to disinfect it before she could use it. It was also great that the battery in the Withings Thermo smart temporal thermometer was still working after years of little use. Thanks Withings!

Price: $99.00
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Withings. Please visit their site for more info.