Bluetooth Range
One critical aspect of any wireless probe is the range of the Bluetooth communications. What good is a wire-free thermometer if you can't stray more than a few feet from your cooker before losing your connection? So, it's no surprise that as new brands come out, they are constantly working on extending the range and reliability of their Bluetooth offerings. Typhur is using Bluetooth 5.4, so let's see how the Typhur Sync probes do in communicating with the base unit.

We tested the range of the probe's Bluetooth signal in a large number of environments. To test the Bluetooth range of the probe, we placed the probe in its test position and then measured the range by measuring the distance at which the base unit stopped reporting temperature changes. (The base unit doesn't seem very eager to report a lost connection. When it does lose a Bluetooth connection, you will see a rotating circle while the base unit searches for the probe.) Here are the results:

Straight line of sight between the probe in the vertical position and the repeater. (Note 1)	876+ feet
Inside a large Big Green Egg ceramic cooker outdoors on our deck.(Note 2)	39+ feet
Inside a large Big Green Egg cooker, measured from inside the house through a sliding glass door. (Note 3)	75+ feet
Inside a Weber Smokey Joe metal cooker with both vents closed.	155 feet
Inside a Bosch electric oven with the door closed. (Note 4)	30+ feet
Inside a Panasonic microwave oven with the door closed. (Note 4)	37+ feet
Inside a Bosch Speed Oven (combination microwave and convection oven) with the door closed. (Note 4)	30+ feet
Inside a cast iron Dutch oven with lid. (Note 4)	48+ feet
Inside an All-Clad sauce pan with lid. (Note 4)	42+ feet
Wrapped inside two layers of heavy duty aluminum foil.	13 feet
Inside aluminum tray with one layer of aluminum foil covering.	342 feet
Notes: 1. This is the maximum distance we can walk down our street and maintain line of sight. 2. Due to the geography/layout of our deck, we couldn't get any further away. 3. The distance from the cooker to the front wall of our house is 75 feet, so we couldn't get any further away. 4. Due to the geography/layout of our kitchen, we couldn't get any further away.

The next thing we usually do is measure the Bluetooth range of the probes when the probe is in our ceramic cooker and we wander around our house. We'll spare you more diagrams and simply say that we could maintain a Bluetooth connection in our 3500 square foot house everywhere on the first floor, everywhere on the second floor and even everywhere in the third floor attic.

So all in all, the Bluetooth range of the Typhur Sync probes is quite impressive. However, that is really is really only important if you are not using the built-in Wi-Fi bridge in the base unit. Otherwise, the base unit will be sitting by your cooker and repeating the data to the internet and your smart device.

NUGGET ALERT: The Bluetooth signal radiates most strongly out the sides of the probe. So one way to improve the Bluetooth range of the probe is to place it sticking out of the meat vertically if possible.

NUGGET ALERT: While this should be obvious, we'll point it out anyway. Bluetooth communications are backward compatible, meaning that the Typhur Sync base unit can communicate with older smart devices that only support Bluetooth 4. However, you won't be able to achieve longer distances unless your smart device supports Bluetooth 5. Of course, if you use Wi-Fi to communicate between the base unit and your smart device, this is not a concern.

NUGGET ALERT: Water will eat Bluetooth radio waves for lunch. If you are going to use the Typhur Sync probes for sous vide, you can expect drastically reduced Bluetooth range if the probe's Bluetooth antenna is submerged.

Thermometer Accuracy
The Typhur Sync probes contain six temperature sensors, five food/internal sensors and one ambient sensor. The internal sensors are located in the lower third of the probe. The ambient (or pit) sensor is located in the handle of the probe, near the stainless steel ring.

Meat Sensors: The temperature limit on the meat sensors is 212°F which means you can't do the boiling water test to check their accuracy. You get a warning screen and can't see the temperature being recorded:

Hence we could only test room temperature and an ice water bath for the internal sensors. In the following tables, the error amount is shown in red if the value was outside Typhur's stated accuracy range. Otherwise, the error amount is shown in green.

Typhur Sync Internal Sensor Accuracy Data, Room Temperature (71.5°F)
.
Sensor # Reading Error 1 72.1°F +0.6°F 2 72.1°F +0.6°F 3 72.3°F +0.8°F 4 72.3°F +0.8°F 5 72.3°F +0.8°F Probe 1		Sensor # Reading Error 1 70.9°F -0.6°F 2 71.1°F -0.4°F 3 71.0°F -0.5°F 4 71.1°F -0.4°F 5 70.7°F -0.8°F Probe 2

Typhur Sync Internal Sensor Accuracy Data, Ice Water Bath (32.9°F)
.
Sensor # Reading Error 1 34.9°F +2.0°F 2 34.9°F +2.0°F 3 34.7°F +1.8°F 4 34.5°F +1.6°F 5 34.3°F +1.4°F Probe 1		Sensor # Reading Error 1 32.7°F -0.2°F 2 33.1°F +0.2°F 3 32.8°F -0.1°F 4 32.9°F  0.0°F 5 32.2°F -0.7°F Probe 2

As you can see, probe 1 had 10 our of 10 readings outside Typhur's stated accuracy. Probe 2 had 3 out of 10 readings outside the stated accuracy. So, not very impressive. You may wish to perform this sort of test for your own probes and then take any error into account when actually cooking.

Ambient Sensor: We also checked the accuracy of the ambient sensors in boiling water by holding the probes upside down and immersing only the handle. What we found was that probe 1 read about 4.0°F too high, and probe 2 read about 2.0°F too high. Well within the ±9.0°F stated by Typhur, but still not very impressive.

That said, the behavior of the ambient sensor when cooking can be affected by such things as things the bubble of cool air that exists near the surface of the cold meat. Inserting your probe too deeply into the meat lest the ambient sensor be too close to the cold meat. The roasting pan, using a glass container, the proximity of the ambient sensor to the walls of the cooker, the “cold” spots of the oven, the size of the roast, etc. etc. etc. And you should be aware that the purpose of the ambient sensor is not to tell you the temperature of your cooker. Let us repeat that. The purpose of the ambient sensor is not to tell you the temperature of your cooker. The actual purpose of the ambient sensor is to measure the temperature of the air near the meat for use in predicting cook finish times.

If you dig into the Apption Labs patent application for its MEATER probes and look at paragraph 46:

"As noted above, more accurate predictions on completion time and resting temperature rise can ordinarily be made by utilizing dual-sensor technology. Using an ambient or external thermal sensor in or near the third portion 102 can enhance estimation of heat input at the location of the food 108, which can vary when the food 108 is moved, turned, or when changes in cooking environment occur, such as opening the hood of a BBQ, adjusting heat on a gas grill, or charcoal fuel losing heat. The heat input at the location of the food 108 can be estimated more accurately using an ambient or external thermal sensor adjacent an exterior surface of the food 108 and measuring the ambient temperature over a period of time."

NUGGET ALERT: The purpose of the ambient sensor, as we have explained, is to give the App information about the air temperature near the surface of your meat. Therefore the ambient sensor will report the most accurate temperature to the App if the probe is inserted into the meat up to the handle, thus placing the ambient sensor as close to the meat as possible.

Setting Up Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
Up until now, we haven't used the App because you can use the probes and the base unit together to do basic temperature monitoring. However, if you wish to monitor things on your smart device, you will need to pair the base unit to your phone, and set up Wi-Fi so that the base unit can connect to the internet. This will allow you to monitor your probes anywhere that you have access to the internet. The process is pretty simple:

1. Set up an account with Typhur.
2. Pair the base unit to your phone.
3. Connect the base unit to your home Wi-Fi. (You can skip this part if you only with to have a Bluetooth connection between your base unit and your smart device.)

So we'll now take you through all the screens on the App to accomplish this. First, download the Typhur App to your phone. There are versions for both iOS and Android. Then proceed as follows:

1. When you first start the app, tick the box saying you agree with their user agreement, etc.

2. Now tap on the button that says "Sign Up With Email".

4. Enter your email address and a password, then press "Sign Up".

5. If successful, you will get a message at the top saying that your email has been registered. Now you need to sign in. Press the "Sign Up" button.

6. Enter your email address and password again and tap on "Sign In".

7. Next tap on "OK" to allow the App access to Bluetooth.

8. Then tap on "Allow" to allow the App to send you notifications.

9. Now you are in the App. To begin the pairing process tap on "Devices".

10. Tap on "Add Device".

11. Tap on the image of the Typhur Sync.

12. The App searches for your base unit. Tap on the image of it.

13. The App will now pair with your base unit.

14. You now have 30 seconds to press the ENTER button on your base unit to confirm the pairing. Tap "OK".

15. The App then notifies you that Pairing is complete. Tap "Done".

16. Next, the App wants to connect to Wi-Fi. It gives you a list of available networks. Tap on the one you wish to use. Tap on "Skip" if you don't wish to set up a Wi-Fi connection.

17. You are prompted to enter your network password.

20. Enter your network password and then tap on "Connect".

21. Finally, you are all set up. Once connected to the network, the App shows you the main screen for your base unit.

NUGGET ALERT: Typhur advises that while you don't absolutely need to use Wi-Fi, your readings will appear on your smart device faster with Wi-Fi than with Bluetooth.

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