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Hints, Tips and Observations
There are some differences between the MEATER and MEATER+ probes, as well as some hints/tips/observations we'd like to pass on:
New Status Light Behavior: The status LED on the original MEATER charging block merely indicates the condition of the battery in the charging block which is used to charge the battery in the probe. With the MEATER+, the status LED takes on a few new functions. With the original MEATER probe, when you press the the button on the charging block, the LED showed green if the charging block's battery was good, red if not.With the MEATER+ probe:
- Pressing the button when the probe is in the charging block will show green if the battery in the charging block is good, red if not.
- When the probe is out of the charging block, the LED will flash green if there is a Bluetooth connection between the charging block and the probe.
- When the probe is out of the charging block, the LED will single flash red if there is no Bluetooth connection between the charging block and the probe, or if the charging block is in the process of establishing a connection.
- When the probe is out of the charging block, if you initiate a software update to the charging block, the LED will double flash red while the update is occurring.
Charging Block Software Update: Now that the charging block has a Bluetooth repeater in it, it also contains firmware to run the Bluetooth communications. This firmware may need to be updated occasionally. When you remove your MEATER+ probe from the charging block and a Bluetooth connection is established between the charging block and the smart device, the MEATER App on your smart device will determine if the firmware in the charging block needs to be updated. The App will ask you to start the process which takes about 8-10 minutes. Make sure that the probe, the charging block and the smart device are all close to each other during this process. Also make sure you have a reasonably fresh battery in the charging block so that the update process doesn't get interrupted.
Here are two screen captures of the update in progress and the update complete:
Connection Time: When you remove the MEATER probe from the charging block, it will show as connected in the MEATER App usually in less than a second. With the MEATER+ probe, this connection time can be between 5-10 seconds. Both probes will disconnect in less than a second when the probe is placed back into its charging block.
Indicators In The MEATER App: When you add a MEATER+ probe to the MEATER App, the entry created in the list of probes has two new indicators. The first indicator shows the strength of the Bluetooth connection between the MEATER+ charging block and your smart device. The second indicator shows the level of the battery in the MEATER+ charging block. (It can take 30 seconds for the signal strength indicator to show the current Bluetooth signal strength.) The following screen capture shows the entry on top for the MEATER+ probe (with the two new indicators), and below that the entry for the original MEATER probe:
Using The MEATER+ Probe Without A Charging Block: Since the actual probe that comes with the MEATER+ is virtually the same as the probe that came with the original MEATER, you can use it without the charging block. Why might you want to do this? Well, if the battery in your charging block goes dead in the middle of a cook and you don't have another one handy, you can pair the MEATER+ probe with your smart device and it will appear in the list of probes just like the original probe did. Eventually, when you replace the battery in the charging block, you will need to unpair the probe from your smart device and then it will automatically pair with your charging block again.
MEATER+ Charging Block Auto Power Off: If the MEATER+ charging block is unable to establish a connection to the probe for more than an hour, the charging block will turn off to save battery life. To turn the charging block back on, simply press the button below the status LED on the front of the charging block.
Connecting Multiple Probes to the APP: The MEATER app supported connecting up to 4 of the original probes via Bluetooth, and up to 8 of the original probes via MEATER Link. Now, the MEATER app can connect to a combination of MEATER and MEATER+ probes, but still with a limit of 4 probes via Bluetooth and 8 probes via MEATER Link.
Availability
The MEATER+ Probe is now available to the general public. (We had obtained ours as the result of a special offer made by MEATER to Kickstarter
supporters who had ordered the MEATER Block.) You can order MEATER+ Probes on their website. You can also order MEATER products through Amazon:
One important note: According to a recent email from Apption Labs, the MEATER and MEATER+ probes that are being sold now are different than and incompatible with the probes that will ship with the MEATER Block. So if you are planning on ordering the MEATER Block in the future, don't buy MEATER Probes now thinking that you will use them with MEATER Block. As of this writing, MEATER Block will ship with its own probes, so you don't need to purchase any now in anticipation of buying a MEATER Block without any probes.
So the obvious question is whether or not the MEATER+ is worth the additional $30 over the original MEATER probe. Based on our testing, it seems to depend on how you will be using your probe. Will you be using it outdoors with line of sight connectivity between your smart device and your cooker? In that case, the MEATER+ should give you considerable extra range. Or will you be trying to use it indoors where you don't have a line of sight connection? We found that the increase in range when trying to monitor the probe indoors was quite meager.
In order to monitor our cooks throughout our house with either the original or the MEATER+ probe, we would have to use the MEATER Cloud function which requires that you have a smart device near the cooker that connects to the probe (or the MEATER+ charging block) via Bluetooth and connects to the internet via wifi. This smart device sends probe data to the MEATER cloud which you then can monitor on a second smart device that connects to the MEATER cloud via wifi.
In light of what we found, we think that for most people the original MEATER probe will probably do the job unless you just simply need a little more range. But if you want to be able to monitor your cooks from anywhere without having to use two smart devices, you may wish to wait for the MEATER block which has wifi capability in addition to the Bluetooth connection to the probes.
Contact Information
Apption Labs, Inc.
11908 Ventura Blvd. Suite 202
Studio City, CA 91604
Apption Labs Limited
7-8 Westbridge Close
Leicester, LE3 5LW
General Email: hello@apptionlabs.com
Support Email: support@apptionlabs.com
Web: https://www.meater.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apptionlabs/
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