It's also hard to use them if you have any kind of a case on your phone.
If I had one that worked via Bluetooth or Wifi, or was built into a phone case, or had a longer cable that I could route around my existing case, then I might give it another try.
Short of that, I'm looking forward to the standalone model.
Standalone versions have been around for years with a really wide array of designs for different purposes (industrial, security, testing, most recently lightweight UAV cameras). For the standalone cameras you pay a bit more because it can't bum off the phone's screen, storage, input, and all that. The TG165 at $350 looks to be the low end unless I'm missing something. No way to browse their site by prices.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Battle-of-the-thermal-imaging...