Fireboard 2 vs InkBird

[CMTiger]

So the Fireboard comes in at more than double the price as the InkBird. My question is I'm curious if it's worth it.

What are some pros and cons when comparing the two?

 

[Murphy's Law]

I originally bought the Ink Bird and ended up giving it to my son-in-law and ordered the Fire Bird 2.

A few pro's of the Ink Bird:
- Cost (as you pointed out)
- Built in magnet so it will stick to the gill w/o having to buy an accessory
- Works OK and I'd say the app is functional

Pro's of the Fire Board 2:
- Seems like a more robust and better built unit (at least to me)
- Better app and functionality. You can save your cook info with temp graphs, notes, and pictures
- I prefer the menu system, screen and screen layout options on the FB vs. the IB
- Room for 6 probes vs 4 on the Ink Bird. This will allow you to monitor multiple cooks (even across two grills if they're close, multiple proteins and/or several ambient probes to get a feel for heat distribution
- Better probes and more options (hint: if you buy FB make sure to buy the competition probes - both long and short. They are awesome)
- Good tech support (never tried Ink Bird in full disclaimer)
- iWatch support (I use this a lot)

If I had to do a quick summary, the Fire Board is the "gold standard" and the Ink Bird is a very good value option. I use several pieces of equipment from Ink Bird in my home brewing and it's a solid "value brand".

At least that's my two cents!

 

[YYCRed]

That's a great question. I bought the FireBoard after reading through this forum, but it was mainly for the history of my cooks. Maybe I just missed it on the Inkbird, but I don't think it has that feature. I can see how long and at what temp(s) I cooked various meals so I know what way turned out the best. I guess you could do this manually, but I'm lazy

Either way, both are great for temperature capture.

 

[YYCRed]

I originally bought the Ink Bird and ended up giving it to my son-in-law and ordered the Fire Bird 2.

A few pro's of the Ink Bird:
- Cost (as you pointed out)
- Built in magnet so it will stick to the gill w/o having to buy an accessory
- Works OK and I'd say the app is functional

Pro's of the Fire Board 2:
- Seems like a more robust and better built unit (at least to me)
- Better app and functionality. You can save your cook info with temp graphs, notes, and pictures
- I prefer the menu system, screen and screen layout options on the FB vs. the IB
- Room for 6 probes vs 4 on the Ink Bird. This will allow you to monitor multiple cooks (even across two grills if they're close, multiple proteins and/or several ambient probes to get a feel for heat distribution
- Better probes and more options (hint: if you buy FB make sure to buy the competition probes - both long and short. They are awesome)
- Good tech support (never tried Ink Bird in full disclaimer)
- iWatch support (I use this a lot)

If I had to do a quick summary, the Fire Board is the "gold standard" and the Ink Bird is a very good value option. I use several pieces of equipment from Ink Bird in my home brewing and it's a solid "value brand".

At least that's my two cents!

Great points, Murphy! I would recommend you get the magnetic base for your FB. I have one and use it to stick the FB under the shelf when it's raining.

 

[Murphy's Law]

Great points, Murphy! I would recommend you get the magnetic base for your FB. I have one and use it to stick the FB under the shelf when it's raining.

I have the base! Just a caution though - don’t leave it out in the exposed sun for any period of time. I left mine on the grill and I am guessing the heat caused it to swell and the flat area were you attach the device became convex rather than flat. Due to this the Fire Board wouldn’t sit in the cradle. So I have two bases actually!

Don’t do that!

 

[tommyb50]

The accuracy is what drew me to the Fireboard but now that I have it I think my favorite feature is the ability to log and graph a cook with notes and pics. I can see how advantageous this will be in the future, say you got that brisket just right, now anytime you want you can go back and look at exactly what you did. Thats pretty dang awesome...

 

[CMTiger]

so you can't store on the InkBird........That seems like a pretty big con in comp to the Fireboard.......but a $150 con? I'm not sure.

 

[JamesB]

so you can't store on the InkBird........That seems like a pretty big con in comp to the Fireboard.......but a $150 con? I'm not sure.

The FireBoard also stores your cooks online via their web app, and can be shared via a link from the app, so that anyone can follow your cook in real time.
Is that necessary? No, but it’s a lot of fun to follow someone’s overnight cook, and see how it turned. I’ve picked up a lot of tips and tricks just by doing that.

 

[CMTiger]

LoL thanks for all the replies. Now there's the pro/con on whether I want to try and sale my wife on a $99 temp probe for my free grill from work or a $249 one. She already is telling me this free grill isn't looking so free. LOL

 

[RustyJake]

LoL thanks for all the replies. Now there's the pro/con on whether I want to try and sale my wife on a $99 temp probe for my free grill from work or a $249 one. She already is telling me this free grill isn't looking so free. LOL

Sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness rather than for permission...just saying
I have been happy with my Fireboard2 Drive so far. It does everything it is supposed to do, and does it with accuracy and convenience.

 

[CMTiger]

an FYI on the InkBird webstie. Maybe the app has recently updated?

【Temperature Graph & Calibration】You can save and download the temperature graph of this oven thermometer through the APP, no worry about lose the data any more. Data Storage: free App storage

 

[TheGrumpyGriller]

so you can't store on the InkBird........That seems like a pretty big con in comp to the Fireboard.......but a $150 con? I'm not sure.

The InkBird does keep track...in the app, you can go back and look at previous dates and then export to a CSV file. It's certainly not as slick as the FB (I presume), but so far, I've rarely looked back at charts from previous cooks. I am way below competition level and so far, I don't find that enough of a better feature to warrant the extra costs. I will say that I do, on occasion, wish I had a couple of extra probes (4 vs 6), but for the cost, I could get a second IB with discounts and still spent 1/2 to 2/3 the cost one FB2.

All this being said, it appears the FB is a very solid instrument based on forum comments, so chances are you won't go wrong with either. Even if you go the IB route as I did, and then decide to get a FB, having the extra capacity is not a bad thing

 

[Rickg3669]

Which one has the most range via wifi? Also what are your thoughts on Meater

 

[TheGrumpyGriller]

Which one has the most range via wifi? Also what are your thoughts on Meater

With either, since you are using WiFi, it's just got to be close enough to connect to your home's WiFi network. Once that's done, you can access from anywhere you wish so long as your phone/tablet has access to the internet.

 

[Rickg3669]

Oh ok . I had a Masterbuilt that would connect directly to my phone via wifi and would drop out once I left the area