If you're a regular tech reader here, you'll be familiar with Thermal Master by now. But out of all of the company's devices, this one has been the hardest to test by far – not because of the quality, but because of nature itself. I've now spent several months amid soul-crushing heatwaves, monsoonal wet weather, and a couple of typhoons. So it's made time spent outside pretty challenging.

So, unlike my usual reviews, I've had trouble taking photos of the detected birds on screen, because my iPhone is even less tolerant of the heat than I am. And you'll know how fun phone screens are to control in rain, when local birds tend to bunker down deep in the mountains surrounding my apartment.

The DV2 lets you spot them where a set of binoculars may not; it uses thermal imaging but its unique design is what sets it apart from more conventional units.

It feels more like a lightweight camcorder, in a sense, with a flip-out, smoothly rotating 5-inch screen projecting what's picked up by its 10-mm f/0.8 lens. It sort of looks more like a smartphone that flips out of the side of a selfie stick than any similar tech I've seen before.

And while it's designed for spotting elusive birds among dense foliage, it's not limited to the avian world. It can pick up distant mammals hundreds of meters away even in broad daylight.

Thermal Master says its range is more than 1,000 yards (914 m/3,000 ft), but I wasn't able to confirm this precisely, given the weather and living on the side of a mountain where distances are harder to properly gauge.

But like other Thermal Master devices, it punches above its weight when it comes to its price and holds its own against much more expensive tech in the same field, including Zeiss.

The display is a touchscreen (with 1,280 x 720 resolution) and does a good job at spotting heat even in thick foliage. However, think of it as more of a bird-finder than something that can identify species. If you're a serious birder, you'll probably want to use it in conjunction with other tech if you want photos or species recognition, for example.

And because of the extreme heat, I found the DV2 not as effective as I'd expect it to be in cooler weather. Even at night, the "feels like" temperature has regularly exceeded 100 °F (more than 40 °C), which is not ideal for this gadget.

However, I think using it at night is its strength, particularly if you're looking for elusive nocturnal types like owls. That said, the screen does project a fair bit of light, which can be disorientating and also startle birds close by. Any animals at a distance, however, are likely to be less bothered.

Where I am right now, I basically have birds of prey circling over the mountains during the day, and tiny species fluttering about before dusk. The DV2 will spot these smaller birds, but from a distance they'll appear more as heat patches than defined shapes – so, again, it'll find them but you might need other tools if you want a good look at these feathered friends, or to capture good images of them.