InkBird review Introduction- I really love this InkBird 150ft Bluetooth Grill Thermometer IBT-6XS. I’m excited to give you some honest feedback on it, but first off, let me start out by giving you just a little bit of background on myself. I’ve been grilling and making BBQ for the past 10- 12 years, and I take it pretty seriously. I usually cook out at least 3-4 times a week. I routinely cook for my extended family and larger groups of people (20-50 people or so). I’ve been doing this for quite a while and I’ve become very picky about the products that I use. I cook almost exclusively with charcoal and live fire. If you’ve been cooking for very long, you probably already know the importance of accurately monitoring the temps of both your cooking chamber and the temps of the meat you’re preparing. Virtually every stock thermometer that comes with a grill or smoker is inaccurate. Even if it’s accurate initially, they will fail over time. It’s virtually guaranteed. Monitoring cooker temps is important, but monitoring temps of the meat you’re cooking is even more important. It really comes down to safety and making sure that the food you’re preparing has been cooked to a safe temperature. The absolute last thing you want is to get someone sick from eating food that was not cooked to a safe temperature. Maybe you already know all of that, which is why you’re shopping for a thermometer in the first place. So let’s get down to the nitty gritty of this InkBird IBT-6XS and discus what sets it apart from the competition. Overview- this InkBird IBT-6XS is a digital thermometer with 6 wire probes. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth. It operates on the InkBird app and virtually all interaction with the thermometer takes place through the app. The receiver (the red hexagon in the pic) attaches to a magnetic mounting base (the black hexagon around the red hex in the pic). All information from the receiver is sent to your phone via a Bluetooth connection. The receiver toggles through the temps of whatever probes are plugged into it, but most interaction takes place through the app on your phone. Receiver- the receiver has a single on/off button. The receiver (and really the entire unit) has a nice design. I like the aesthetics of it. It’s sleek, and looks nice without being overly techy. There are 2 ports on 3 different sides of the receiver to plug in your temp probes. Separating the probe ports is a simple feature, but it makes it much easier to keep your wires separated when initially setting up your probes for a cook. It has a good sized display that toggles through current probe temp readings, but otherwise, all info is relayed through the app. Magnetic base- the base is sturdy and encompasses the receiver. It seems like it would offer it a bit of protection against accidental drops and bumps. The back is magnetized, which is a handy feature and aides in placing the receiver in a convenient location. The base fits very tightly around the receiver, but possibly a little too tight. It’s pretty tough to remove the receiver from the base, which wouldn’t be a big deal, except you have to remove the receiver from the base to charge it. I think this will likely loosen up over time, but it’s pretty tight right now and difficult to get a good grip on it and pull them apart. Battery- This unit runs on a rechargeable battery. They state it will run for up to 60 hours before needing recharging. When I tested it, I got over 50 hours run time before recharging, and the battery wasn’t completely dead. That’s pretty impressive. Not having to keep spare sets of batteries on hand for an overnight cook is really handy. One possible issue that I did come across is that the unit will not operate while charging. So, if your battery dies in the middle of a cook, you’re going to need to recharge (which is done through a USB port) before you can operate the unit. With 60 hours of run time, I don’t see that being a likely scenario, but it is worth noting. Bluetooth- The receiver connects to your phone via Bluetooth. Every other digital thermometer that I’ve owned (and I’ve owned quite a few over the rears) connects to a handheld display, instead of your smartphone. The reported connectivity range of the InkBird is 150 ft. My connection was probably close to that while I was outside with my smokers, but was reduced once I went inside. Reception will drop quite a bit when the Bluetooth signal has to travel through the exterior of your home. Still, I was easily able to monitor temps with a fairly strong signal throughout most of my house. There is a 4 bar signal indicator, so you can tell when you’re close to getting out of range. I lost reception in a bedroom of my basement that’s on the far end of the house from where I had the unit set up on my back patio. Otherwise, I held signal throughout my nearly 4,000sf house. Reception was very good from my master bedroom, where I’d be monitoring temps on an overnight cook. Probes- The probes are fairly lengthy at about 6 inches. They appear to be well built and of sturdy construction. I especially like that they are reinforced with a metal clasp where the braided cable attaches to the probe, which is traditionally a weak point on temp probes. The junction between the cable and the probe is typically where probes get damaged, either by moisture, or from the cable pulling out from the probe. The clasp should help reduce the likelihood of either of those problems. I did both an ice-bath and boiling water test and the probes were accurate. The tip is thin and sharp, which makes for easy placement in meat. The kit also included 3 clips for attaching a probe to a cooking grate to monitor cooking temps. One complaint is that the probes are large, which does take up some cooking space on the grate when monitoring cooking temps. Other manufactures make smaller probes for monitoring cooking temps that attach to the grate. This reduces the footprint of your probe on the grate and allows you to fit more food on your cooking grate. It may take a bit more creativity to place these probes. (See pic) These probes definitely do their primary job, in accurately reading temps. They’re also sturdy. Poor durability of probes has always been one of the biggest complaints with all digital thermometers. From all indications, these InkBird probes appear to be very well built. If I had to choose, I’d definitely choose the larger InkBird probe that may be more bulky, but is reinforced in the area most susceptible to damage. App/User interface- I saved the best for last. This is where the InkBird IBT-6XS really shines. Most other digital thermometers (especially in this price range) use a separate wireless display to monitor temps remotely. These displays are severely limited in their capabilities and the interface is really terrible. I have a few remotes that I’ve had for years and it still takes me several tries and failed attempts any time I try to change target temps. There’s usually one or 2 buttons that you have to hold to activate the process, then repeatedly press the same button over and over until you get to the setting you’re trying to adjust. If you accidentally press the button 17 times instead of 16, you’ve overshot and you need to go through the whole process again. Virtually all interaction with the InkBird takes through the app. To connect, simply turn on your phone’s Bluetooth and then open the InkBird app. It automatically connects to the thermometer and displays a readout of current probe temps. The InkBird uses the capabilities of your phone instead of using its own separate handheld device. The InkBird app in conjunction with your phone creates a much more extensive, and intuitive experience, as well as allowing for a much greater range of personalization. Setting notifications for probes is very easy. There are several preset temps for various proteins (chicken, pork, etc.) There are preset high/low temp ranges for monitoring different cooking styles such as warm smoking, BBQ, etc. It’s very easy to create your own custom settings for preferred food temps as well as high/low ranges for cooking temps. All custom settings are saved, so the next time you open the app, you are able to choose one of the preset temps or your custom temps. Just assign a setting to each probe and your phone will notify you when the food has reached your desired temp, or when your cooking temp is outside your specified temp range. There are a couple of areas in the app that could be better, if I’m being picky. There is a function that will display your probe temps over the duration of you cook in line graph format. The preset markers for temp aren’t very applicable to BBQ or grilling. The markers for temps on the X axis of the graph are 0*, 93*, 186* and 280*. I assume those numbers are the result of a conversion from Celsius, but they’re not very standard or commonly used numbers for cooking. The app will display whatever preset target temp you entered for that probe into the graph, but it would be nice if the user had the ability to adjust the range of the temp displayed, or could zoom in on the graph for a clearer picture of how temps have changed over time. The app does not save graphs from previous cooks, which doesn’t bother me. If you’re someone who logs every last detail of each cook, you could just take a screenshot of the graph before turning off the unit. Summary- The InkBird IBT-6XS is a very well designed unit. It has a great design, accurately reads temps, allows the user to monitor 6 temps at once, provides impressive flexibility and has an intuitive interface. The InkBird app, used in conjunction with the capabilities of your smartphone, puts this device lightyears ahead of any other product that I’ve used. I don’t think I can overstate how much better the InkBird interface is than any other remote thermometer in this category. There are a few minor issues (such as temp probes taking up grate space, and extended range of Bluetooth) that are discussed in detail above. Overall, the InkBird IBT-6XS is an excellent product whose capabilities will likely far exceed the needs of even the pickiest of users like me.