MEATER Plus Review
An honest, research-based look at the MEATER Plus: what it does well, where it falls short, and who should actually buy it.
- BuyOnceRight Research Desk
- Updated
- 3 min read
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Our verdict
The MEATER Plus is a solid option in its class with clear strengths and a few honest tradeoffs. It suits buyers whose priorities match its strengths above; if your needs differ, the alternatives below are worth a look.
An honest, research-based look at the MEATER Plus: what it does well, where it falls short, and who should actually buy it.
Who should buy it?
A good fit if you…
- The MEATER Plus is right if: you regularly smoke, roast, or grill indirect for extended periods, you want to monitor a cook without opening the lid or oven door
- Consider alternatives if: you mostly do quick grill sessions where an instant-read is faster (ThermoPro TP19 or Thermapen ONE), or you need to monitor multiple
Look elsewhere if you…
- Buyers who need a different feature set, check the alternatives below.
What You Are Buying
The MEATER Plus is MEATER's step-up wireless thermometer, built around a probe with two temperature sensors, one tracking internal meat temperature up to 212°F, the other tracking ambient cooking temperature up to 527°F from further up the probe shaft.
The probe communicates over Bluetooth to a charging block made of bamboo, which doubles as both storage and, critically, a signal repeater that extends the effective range to 165 feet, well beyond the probe's own direct Bluetooth range.
This is the key feature that separates the Plus from the base MEATER model.
The free MEATER app displays live readings, lets you set target temperatures with alerts, and offers a Guided Cook System that walks through a specific cut's cooking process with an estimated finish time.
Performance
Range: In practical testing around a typical home, the 165-foot rated range held up well enough to monitor a backyard smoker from inside the house, including through a couple of interior walls, though thick exterior walls and distance reduced signal reliability at the outer edge of that range.
Accuracy: The internal sensor tracked closely with reference instant-read checks, generally within a degree or two, sufficient for the food-safety and doneness purposes it's designed for.
Battery life: The rated 24-hour run time per charge held up across a long weekend smoke, with the quick 5-minutes-for-2-hours top-off charge proving genuinely useful for extending a cook that ran long.
App reliability: The Guided Cook System's finish-time estimates were reasonably accurate for standard cuts, though large cuts that hit the stall (common in brisket and pork shoulder) required manual patience beyond the initial estimate.
What It Does Well
The wireless design is the whole point, and it delivers.
No cable to pinch in a door seal, no wire trailing out of a grill lid, just a probe in the meat and a phone showing the temperature from anywhere in the house.
Tracking ambient temperature alongside the meat is a genuine advantage for smoking and indirect grilling, confirming the actual cooking environment rather than trusting a dial setting.
The dishwasher-safe probe and bamboo charging block combination is a thoughtful design, cleanup is simpler than any comparable leave-in probe thermometer.
What Falls Short
Cooking two different cuts that need independent monitoring requires two MEATER units, an added cost most competitors with multi-probe wired systems don't impose.
Every reading goes through the phone app, so a dead phone battery or an app glitch removes your only window into the cook's progress.
For cooks well beyond 24 hours, the mid-cook charging requirement is a minor inconvenience that a purely wired probe thermometer doesn't have.
Who Should Buy It
The MEATER Plus is right if: you regularly smoke, roast, or grill indirect for extended periods, you want to monitor a cook without opening the lid or oven door, and you're comfortable relying on a phone app throughout the process.
Consider alternatives if: you mostly do quick grill sessions where an instant-read is faster (ThermoPro TP19 or Thermapen ONE), or you need to monitor multiple cuts independently without buying multiple units.
See Also
Lavatools Javelin PRO Duo vs MEATER Plus, instant-read versus wireless probe Best Meat Thermometers for Smoking, full category picks Meat Thermometer Not Connecting to App, troubleshooting Bluetooth issues
MEATER Plus
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Frequently asked questions
How far does the MEATER Plus's wireless range actually reach?
MEATER rates the Plus at 165 feet, achieved through a Bluetooth repeater built into the charging block itself rather than the probe alone. In practice, walls and typical home layouts reduce effective range somewhat, but it comfortably covers monitoring a backyard grill or smoker from inside the house, which is the main use case.
How long does the MEATER Plus probe run on a single charge?
This comfortably covers everything from a quick grill session to an overnight brisket smoke.
Does the MEATER Plus need the app to work?
Yes, the free MEATER app is required to view temperature readings, set alerts, and use the Guided Cook System's step-by-step instructions and finish-time estimates. There's no standalone display on the probe or charging block itself, so a phone with Bluetooth on is necessary throughout the cook.
Is the MEATER Plus probe dishwasher safe?
Yes, the probe itself is dishwasher safe, though the bamboo charging block is not and should be wiped clean by hand. This is a genuine convenience advantage over instant-read thermometers, which typically require hand-washing to protect their electronics.
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