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My initial reivew of the ThermoWorks Signals

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    My initial reivew of the ThermoWorks Signals

    This is a brief preliminarily review on my personal thoughts and experiences, I will update as I learn more. To read Bill McGrath's Official AmazingRibs.com review, click here.

    I bought a unit when it was on the special 15% off members' sale. Out of the box it's a nice heavy well-built unit like most TW stuff. No kickstand, the base unit is built with a triangular shape so it needs no stand. Has magnets to adhere to something metal too. All 4 probes and the charger hook up on the right side. The package comes with 12v (not 5v like cell phone chargers, please note that!) wall charger + USB-C cord, 3 meat probes and 1 air probe, 1 probe clip. Built-in rechargeable battery.

    My unit happened to be faulty, had a devil of a time getting it connect. So, TW sent me a new one and the new one which I received today connected flawlessly right away. I'll skip the faults of the first one, they're pointless if you know how a proper one should work.

    First, download the ThermoWorks app. Apple or Android.

    To connect: IMPORTANT! Enable Location services AND Bluetooth on your phone FIRST. This is mandatory. WiFi, for initial connection, is not enough. You must enable Location and BT before trying to connect. The instructions (albeit tiny print, hard to find on the included card) say this, but they don't stress its importance IMO.

    Then, turn on the Signals. Then open the app. I suppose in either order.

    On your phone app, Menu > Devices. Add the Signals. If it doesn't show a Signals there, click the blue "Add Device" at the bottom. If your unit works correctly it will show your Signals unit, if it's on. (Mine wouldn't hence my issue with a faulty one).

    Once you are connected (via BT initially) you can connect via WiFi and it will ask you on the app which network. Then you enter your network's password. Once it's connected to WiFi you then shut off the Location and BT to save battery.

    From there it should work automatically. The Home screen shows all 4 temp probes, their recorded min/max, and the alarm values. My gripe: They're too big, it won't show all 4 on a single screen. It shows only about 3 1/4. It will not go into landscape mode when you tip your phone. Hopefully future updates to the app correct this. Who wants to scroll to see the 4th probe? Not me. Lazy & proud.

    Probes can be named as you wish, alarm values can be set, etc. You can adjust alarms from the app or the base. Either will update the other, this is nice.

    You can use with only Bluetooth (95' range it states), only Wi-Fi (worldwide range as long as your app-enabled device has internet, and only after initial connection) or neither- just the base unit. You MUST though connect initially with Bluetooth & Location. You can shut these off and use Wi-Fi only after initial connection.

    More to come as I use it and find other Easter Eggs or caveats.

    #2
    Looking forward to seeing what you have to say about this. I have been debating if I need this or just a second Smoke. 90% of my cooks are fine with just the two probes on my current Smoke but it is always nice to have the extra probes when you need them on some bigger cooks.

    Comment


      #3
      Thanx Huskee. Lookin' forward to your updates although I won't need one since my Meater should be here any year now...

      Comment


        #4
        Thanks. Was thinking of that as I got the gateway for my smoke, totally unable to connect, although I have not phone tech support yet. TW products are usually good but no WiFi is a drawback with Smoke

        Comment


          #5
          I love my Signals. If I could connect all species of bbq man can too. Ugh!!

          im not quite the tech guy but I suppose I can see myself using the graphs n stuff.

          i really hope it works for you. I just found prime brisket for $3.49lbs and I’ll be wet aging and trying it out.

          Comment


            #6
            I’ve been very pleased with my TW smoke (w/accompanying bridge). Interested to hear more on subsequent cooks. Having it work thru my Wi-Fi is a must, Bluetooth is too unreliable, IME.

            Comment


              #7
              Waaaaaay too technical for this white boy. I just need a stand alone that graphs.

              Comment


                #8
                Thanks for the setup tips. I will refer to them when my Signal arrives on Monday.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Thanks for posting. Always interesting to see new products. The remark about not all 4 probes showing up on the screen is just ridiculous though. How can they not have seen that during testing? Either way, look forward to the rest of your review.

                  Comment


                  • Huskee
                    Huskee commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Right! The ability to shrink the screen would be nice. I hope it comes with a future app revamp.

                  • Troutman
                    Troutman commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Get a bigger phone, mine show up on my iPhone XL just fine

                  #10
                  Battery life & charging: On a 10-second update rate (the quickest it offers) the device lasted between 12 to 12.5 hrs from full charge to dead. So it might last a brisket cook if you had it set that high, but 10 sec really isn't needed by most people. I will do more testing to see what a slower refresh rate offers by way of battery life.

                  I will echo Bill's sentiments and add my own dismay that the device's battery icon is NOT segmented. In other words the battery shows all or nothing. The app will show you when there's a near-dead battery, but the device still shows a full icon. To be blunt, that's just dumb. And when you're charging the device, the battery icon blinks. It does not show you how much charge it's received or how much is left to full. And the app may show you a weak battery but it does not show you how much battery is left. Only when it's near dead.

                  For the price I find this to be an unacceptable oversight in engineering.

                  more updates to come.....

                  Comment


                    #11
                    OK I called TW about that exact point and they pointed out that if you into your settings it identifies the device and how much battery charge you have by percentage. (Sorry I don't have the app in front of me to give you the direct path). What's also interesting is on mine, which was 100% charged, it only lost about 30% of the charge, or down to 70% after my dry aged brisket cook which took about 6 hours. Not sure if there's a straight line correlation but a more traditional 12 hours cook would not drain the battery regardless. Worse comes to worst just plug it in for a long cook. I do that routinely with my Fireboard anyway.

                    Good overview regardless. You seem to be having more problems with the app then I have had. It's definitely finicky, I may call them and talk to them about their efforts to improve on the software. The device itself is still very solid imo.

                    Comment


                      #12
                      Oh yea one other thing I might add (although minor) is those big circles that you complained about turn colors when you approach the targeted temperature. About 10* out it signals and turns yellow. When you hit the target temp it goes red and signals continuous until you mute it. Although again not necessary, it's a nice little feature.

                      Comment


                        #13
                        Huskee, I am looking forward to hearing more from you. Are you doing a cook today with it? I see there is a 10% sale for AR members, but only until Sunday. Not quite ready to pull the trigger. I see better reviews on the Fireboard, but I am very happy with my Thermapen, so Thermoworks usually puts out a good product.

                        Comment


                        • Troutman
                          Troutman commented
                          Editing a comment
                          I own both, the Fireboard is much more versatile with a better app. You have more probe capabilities and an upgrade to fan control. If the capabilities of the FB are not what you need then either unit should work fine.

                        • Huskee
                          Huskee commented
                          Editing a comment
                          No cooks today. Flooded crawlspace and burned up sump pump issues today...

                        #14
                        I was torn between this and Fireboard, but since I always had problems with the connection on my Smoke receiver, I went with the Fireboard and love it.

                        Comment


                          #15
                          I was so close to purchasing this when it was 15% off, but the 12 volt charger with a standard usb-c connection was an instant NO. A good pitmaster will remember the 12 volt part, but I cannot risk my daughter or wife trying to charge a 8-900 phone with it. I really do not understand what they were thinking.

                          Comment


                          • Huskee
                            Huskee commented
                            Editing a comment
                            Most new phones recognize a wrong charger and say so, I doubt you'd really have issues. But yeah, you never know.

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