The best digital thermometers are designed to produce fast temperature readings. It will help you see whether you, or the person you’re caring for, has a fever. While you can buy dedicated thermometers for babies, most modern digital thermometers are suitable for use on adults and children. Although we’d always advice reading the instructions and following the manufacturer’s recommendations for use.
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The best digital thermometers come in five common guises. They are forehead thermometers, ear thermometers, rectal, contactless (you’ll spot these in offices, gyms and salons), and smart thermometers. Here we’ve focused mostly on in-ear, smart and forehead thermometers, simple because they are easier to use.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s definition of fever is when a person has a measured temperature of at least 100.4°F (38°C).
As fever is a major coronavirus symptom, non-contact thermometers with fever alerts have become popular, alongside smart thermometers that can store multiple temperature readings per person. Why is this a handy feature? Because it can show you if your temperature is continuing to climb or not.
The best digital thermometers for babies and children, meanwhile, are those with a large, backlit display that’s readable in a dimly lit nursery (necessary for nighttime temperature readings). Based on our experience, we’d also recommend choosing one with large, easy-press buttons. So that you aren’t juggling a wriggling baby and trying to operate a fiddly thermometer.
Why use a digital thermometer
Besides fever monitoring, these might be other reasons why you want to buy a digital thermometer. For example, you might be trying to conceive a baby and therefore want to get a better idea of when you’re close to ovulating. In that case, we’d point you towards a basal thermometer (see below). As these are designed to recognize the tiny changes in body temperature that could indicate upcoming ovulation.
Or maybe you have an ongoing health condition and need to track your temperature for several days at a time.
It’s important to remember that even the very best digital thermometers aren’t accurate enough to base an entire medical plan upon. For expert advice you consult your doctor. A thermometer can help you get an idea of what’s going on. And whether it’s wise to seek further medical help.
Depending on its design, the most effective ways to use a digital thermometer are:
Oral (in the mouth)
Axillary (armpit)
Forehead
Rectal – use a separate device for oral and rectal readings
Here’s our guide to the best digital thermometers available to buy online…
Best digital thermometers
1. Withings Thermo – Best digital thermometer overall
Withings Thermo
This smart thermometer tracks the temperature of up to eight users.
SPECIFICATIONS
Reading: oral, rectal, armpit | Temperature memory: Yes | Accuracy: ±0.4°F (±0.2°C) | Temperature range: 95°F – 109.8°F (35°C – 43.2°C)
Reasons to Buy
- Non-intrusive
- In-app health guidance
Reasons to Avoid
- Expensive
- Tricky to use on yourself
The Withings Thermo is a temporal thermometer that derives temperature readings via the temporal artery (a major blood vessel
) located at the side of your temple. This location is supposed to be the next most ‘real’ temperature when compared to using an internal (i.e., rectal) body temperature location.
We’ve been using the Withings Thermo smart thermometer for a while now, and it’s a winner for taking the temperature of any babies or children in your family. Why? Because it’s non-invasive and can be used quietly when your loved one is asleep. To use the Thermo, start in the center of the person’s forehead and draw the thermometer slowly towards their hair line for around three seconds, moving the device until it beeps.
The temperature-reading clout of the Withings Thermo comes in the form of HotSpot technology, made up of 16 infrared sensors. These sensors take over 4,000 measurements per reading, which is pretty intense. Once captured, your temperature is displayed on the front of the Thermo. A color-coded LED indicator tells you if you have a fever, making it easy to spot at a glance.
Via the Withings companion app (iOS, Android), you can track changes in body temperature and add notes about any symptoms or medications for the person you’re caring for. This smart thermometer is capable of monitoring up to eight individuals at any one time, making it the best digital thermometer for larger families too.
Temperature readings sync automatically with your smartphone. The Thermo app will give you health advice based on the reading and the person’s age, fever history and additional symptoms.
2. Braun Thermoscan 7 – Best digital thermometer for ease of use
Braun Thermoscan 7
This digital thermometer provides age-adjustable fever guidance.
SPECIFICATIONS
Reading: Ear | Temperature memory: Yes | Accuracy: ±0.2°C (±0.4°F) Display of rectal equivalent temperature | Temperature range: 50°F – 104°F (10°C – 40°C)
Reasons to Buy
- Stores last nine temperature readings
- Wide angle ear probe for accurate readings
- Disposable probe covers included
Reasons to Avoid
- Kids may find it intrusive
This is one of the most feature-rich digital thermometers you can buy, which is one of the reasons why it’s so hard to track down at the moment. The Braun ThermoScan 7 considers every step of your temperature reading process, making it as easy, accurate and as comfortable as possible.
While some babies and children might rebel against having a thermometer inserted into their ears, Braun’s doctor-recommended Thermoscan 7 has a wide angle probe to make accurate readings easier to achieve – so you won’t have to keep adjusting the angle and irritating your child.
Built-in sensor pointer guidance makes this even faster, and a night light makes the entire device easy to use in darker environments.
Braun Thermoscan 7 has a useful temperature memory function, which means it stores nine previous temperature readings, enabling you to track any change in temperature.
The Braun Thermoscan 7 thermometer uses color-coding to help you see at a glance whether you have a fever (Image credit: Braun)
The thermostat uses age-adjustable fever guidance, to validate the age-based fever cutoff points. The Thermoscan 7 takes your age into account when producing a body temperature reading, then color codes it so that you can see at a glance whether you have a fever.
3. Motorola Care+ 3-in-1 – Best digital thermometer for liquids too
Motorola Care+ 3-in-1 Smart Thermometer
Get a one-second reading with this no-touch digital thermometer.
SPECIFICATIONS
Reading type: No contact | Fever alert: Yes | Temperature memory: Yes | Temperature range: 93.2°F-109.3°F
Reasons to Buy
- Color-coded fever alert
- Quiet mode
- Stores up to 30 readings
Reasons to Avoid
- Quite chunky
This is a very simple to use digital thermometer capable of delivering one-second temperature readings without making contact with your skin. There’s also a quiet mode (nighttime mode) for taking a person’s temperature while they’re asleep, and it can store up to 30 readings at a time to give you a clearer picture of whether a person’s fever is worsening or easing off.
The Motorola Care+ 3-in-1 Smart Thermometer is also safe for use as a water, baby food and liquid thermometer, so it’s a pretty handy device to have around. But it isn’t just for use as a baby thermometer, and can therefore be used to pinpoint a possible fever in older children and adults too. It does this via a color coded fever alert system. Green signals a healthy body temperature, while red indicates a fever.
To use the Motorola Care+ 3-in-1 Smart Thermometer, simply turn it on, hold it about an inch or so away from your forehead, and you’ll see the temperature reading displayed almostly instantly on the thermometer’s large display. If you connect it to the Motorola Hubble app you’ll also see the reading displayed there too. In the app you can then add in additional health notes to share with your doctor as needed.
You don’t even need to switch it off, as Motorola has designed it to automatically power off after use. The battery life is around a year with average use, and thanks to a low battery alert you’ll know when it’s time to switch in some fresh ones.
4. Braun No Touch + Touch – Best digital thermometer for babies
Braun No Touch + Touch Forehead Thermometer
A non-contact infrared thermometer that can take readings from 2cm away.
SPECIFICATIONS
Reading: Forehead **Accuracy: ** Information not available | Fever alert: No | Temperature range: 96.3°F – 108°F (35.7°C – 42.2°C)
Reasons to Buy
- Non-contact readings
- But also forehead readings
Reasons to Avoid
- Quite chunky
Braun No Touch + Touch is impressive, as it can take a temperature reading without touching a person’s forehead. Via a physical button on the thermometer you can quickly switch between contact and non-contact readings.
Non-contact temperature readings are handy if you don’t want to wake an ill baby, child or adult from a replenishing sleep and you just want an idea of how they’re doing, temperature-wise. Though for absolute accuracy, run a contact forehead temperature reading with the Braun No Touch + Touch Forehead.
Braun’s digital thermometer can also be used to measure liquid temperatures, which means you can use it to check the temperature of your baby’s bath, or even the milk they’re drinking.
Just like the Braun Thermoscan 7 further up our list of the best digital thermometers, the Braun No Touch + Touch Forehead uses color-coded temperature guidance, so you can tell quickly if you or the person you’re caring for has a fever.
There’s also probe positioning advice, and Age Precision technology to give you clearer health guidance based on the age of the person you’re taking a temperature reading for.
5. iProven Clinical Basal Thermometer – Best digital thermometer for tracking ovulation
iProven Clinical Basal Thermometer BBT-113A2A
A digital thermometer for helping you pinpoint your most fertile days.
SPECIFICATIONS
Reading: oral **Accuracy: ** 1/100th degree | Fever alert: not applicable | Temperature range: not applicable
Reasons to Buy
- Long battery life
- Easy to spot BBT spikes
- Comfortable in the mouth
Reasons to Avoid
- Slow to capture readings
Basal thermometers take much longer to capture a reading than any other device in our guide to the best digital thermometers, but that’s pretty standard among basal readers. When it comes to tracking temperature for signs of impending ovulation, the smallest spikes in temperature make all the difference, and accurately capturing that small difference in temperature takes time. In this case, a minute.
The iProven Clinical Basal Thermometer is accurate to 1/100th degree, helping you to spot that tiny jump in temperature just before you ovulate. The thermometer sits under your tongue, toward the back, where you should leave it with your mouth closed.
The thermometer will beep once a reading has been captured, signaling the time for you to remove it. The temperature reading will be displayed on the body of the basal thermometer itself, giving you plenty of time to jot it down in your basal body temperature monitoring (BBT) notes or fertility tracker app.
At the beginning of your monthly cycle, your basal body temperature will remain fairly consistent, averaging between 97.2 and 97.6 degrees Fahrenheit. As you get approach ovulation there’ll be a dip in BBT followed by a sharp increase averaging between 0.4 to 1.0 degrees just after ovulation.