REVIEW: Andres Industries TILO-3Z thermal imaging goggles

You can't have everything... or can you? For example, the thermal helmet lamp. Would that be a helmet lamp with thermal imaging function or more of a thermal imaging device with an additional lamp function? This almost philosophical question has driven us, and we wanted to get to the bottom of it with the help of the TILO-3Z from Andres Industries. "Z" stands here (also on the packaging) for the civilian version. It has one thing in common with the military version: it is the world's smallest thermal eyewear and a great device for many applications.

The TILO-3Z is delivered to the user in an elegant box. It doesn't take up much space: small but powerful.

Insight into the Holy of Holies: Inside the box, surrounded by protective foam, is the thermal helmet lamp with the removable eye cup.

What immediately strikes one is the small size of the TILO-3Z. The device is just 67 x 64 x 40 mm in size and is powered by a CR123A battery. The two buttons next to the LED and above it on the left are clearly visible. These buttons control the light functions.

The battery compartment is located at the bottom and is sealed with a screw cap. The cap is initially secured against loss by Hypalon.

Here is the eyepiece on the back. Compared to the device, it seems huge. The eye relief is chosen so that the TILO-3Z can be used without any problems with protective goggles.

The TILO-3Z from the side with the eyecup attached. The buttons visible here are for operating the thermal imager.

So what can the TILO-3Z actually do? First and foremost, it is a headlamp with white (max. 160 lumens), red (max. 24 lumens), and IR light. These lights can all be regulated in 10 levels and have functions such as flash, SOS flash, and continuous light. And just a note: to keep the length of the review bearable, we will cover the helmet and head mount in a separate article coming soon.

The operation is done through the two frontal buttons. These are few buttons for many functions. For precise operation, we refer to the manual, as it is quite complex.

Which brings us to a minor criticism: when turned on, the light jumps to the last used setting. So, if "White Level 10" was the last setting and you actually want "Red Level 1" to avoid being detected too quickly, it initially lights up brightly, and you have to cycle to the desired setting. For tactical situations, it would be better if the lamp always started with "Red Level 1."

Secondly, the TILO-3 – and this is the main function – is a thermal imaging goggle/handheld monocular. For this test, we had the TILO-3Z (Z for Civilian) available. Compared to the military model TILO-3M, it has a lower temperature resolution (<60 mK) and a frame rate of only 9Hz. This makes the image slightly jerky when observing moving objects. Observation while standing or walking slowly is possible. That's great, even though the military version with a higher frame rate is even better. In simple terms: no jerking in that case.

Activating the thermal imaging function is as simple as with the TIMRO: unlock the cover, flip up, and you're ready to go! To turn it off, simply close the cover again.

Since the TILO-3Z is a very small thermal device, one should not expect too much here. Those who have looked through larger and much more expensive devices may not be overly enthusiastic. HOWEVER, detection of heat sources up to 300 meters is possible with the TILO-3Z under good conditions. Up to 200m, you can definitely see persons - or deer. Considering the size and price of the device, the performance is excellent.

Overall, there are ten different filters available for the image output. When setting the filters, following the principle of Payer: "Never go back!" Meaning, if you want to switch from, for example, "Black Hot" back to "White Hot," you have to go through the other eight modes. Each mode can have its own observation advantage.

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