The 9 Best Forehead Thermometers

Parents checking on a sleeping child will like how the iHealth PT3 works: hold it a little over an inch from the brow, press the button, and it buzzes softly instead of beeping when it's done. A distance sensor helps keep each reading steady. Popular Science named it a top infrared pick, while noting that forehead results trail ear and oral ones. It doesn't keep a log of past readings, so jot them down during a fever.

Instead of pointing at the skin, you glide the Exergen TAT-2000C+ across the brow to the hairline, then touch it behind the ear, reading heat from the temple artery. A hospital study in Australia found scanners like it caught fevers that no-touch devices missed, though Exergen is the one promoting that work. It stores the last eight readings and runs on a 9-volt battery that comes in the box. The scan takes practice to get right.

For a low-cost model that touches the skin, the ADC Adtemp 427 rests its flat tip on the temple and beeps when the reading is ready, after about six seconds. ADC says it meets the industry accuracy standard for spot-check thermometers, and ADC covers it for two years. It shows only the last reading, and the child has to hold still while the tip stays in place, a tall order for a fussy toddler.

A napping child can stay asleep with the Braun No Touch 3-in-1, because one button turns off the beeps. The backlit screen glows green, yellow or red, so a fever is clear in a dark room, and it remembers the last 10 readings. Braun claims accuracy within about half a degree. A second mode checks bottles and bath water. It has to be held within a couple of inches, and Braun posts few technical details for this model.

Aiming is the tricky part of a no-touch reading, and the Innovo iF100B helps with a blue guide light and a distance sensor that steer you to the right spot first. It stores up to 30 readings, which makes it simple to track a fever overnight, and the ring around the button turns red when a reading runs high. Innovo doesn't publish an accuracy tolerance for this model, so its precision claims are hard to check.

Huge numbers of families keep the Goodbaby FC-IR202 in the medicine cabinet, and it covers the basics: point it at the brow from about an inch and a half away, press, and the screen turns green, yellow or red. It also reads a bottle or a room, saves past results and has a mute button. Goodbaby asks you to let the skin settle for about 10 minutes after coming indoors. Beyond the maker's word, there's little proof of its accuracy.

Babies who wake at a touch can get a reading from the Frida 3-in-1 held just off the skin, and pulling off the cap reveals an ear probe for a closer check. Ear readings are a common choice for children past six months. A third mode reads bottles and room air, and the backlit screen works in a dark nursery. The ear probe has to be angled back and up to read well, which takes practice on a squirming child.

Shaped like a small pistol, the HoMedics TIE-240 suits adults checking each other or a caregiver screening several people in a row. A colored backlight shows whether a reading is normal or high, and it saves up to 50 results with the date. It also measures food, drinks and room air. The warranty covers a year. The accuracy claim on the box rests on the maker's word, and the grip takes more drawer space than a slim wand.

Some people trust a reading more when the tip touches the skin, and the Braun Sensian Contact 5 works that way: press it gently to the brow and it reads in about two seconds. The large screen changes color with the result, and a cap protects the sensor in a drawer. Braun calls it clinically validated. It's a pricey way to get a basic touch reading, and it has no ear or no-touch mode for a sleeping child.