How Will Handheld XRF Instrumentation Shape Field-Based Elemental Analysis?

Thermo Fisher Scientific recently announced the launch of a new line of handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometers called the XL5e and XL5e Plus. This announcement reflects a broader trend in scientific instrumentation, where systems are becoming increasingly complex while being engineered into smaller, highly integrated form factors (1,2).

In this video segment, John Margeson, a Product Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Tewskbury headquarters, discusses the updated software capabilities in the company’s new line of handheld XRF spectrometers.

Spectroscopy: How does the XL5e’s updated software and wireless connectivity support modern quality management and compliance processes?

John Margeson: That is something that we definitely made sure to take account for in the XL5e. When you're talking wireless connectivity, we're talking about two things: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities. The XL5e has both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi built in, so that comes with every XL5e analyzer. They support two different types of connectivity. With Wi-Fi, that's mainly about sharing results from your analyzer to a PC or some other network. Every analyzer we provide comes not with just the analyzer and the software built into the device, but they also come with a PC companion desktop application. If you want to review your results from a days of scans or if you want to share results with others, instead of just having to look at that on your analyzer, you can share that to your PC, so it makes it really easy to share and analyze and get in depth for some of the more analytical and academic customers.

So instead of having to connect your analyzer to the PC to share results, you can do that directly through Wi-Fi. That's the core benefit of the Wi-Fi connectivity. On the other side, Bluetooth is mainly about connecting to accessories. I talked about how the XL5e doesn't have some of the bells and whistles that the XL5 Plus might have. Say you don't want to go for the XL5 Plus because you don't need the integrated GPS, but later on, you still want to use GPS with your XL5e, you can use Bluetooth to connect to an external GPS that you may have.

Even more common is using the analyzer to connect to a Bluetooth printer. There are operations where people need results tangibly printed immediately after each scan. So, we could connect this analyzer to a Bluetooth printer that supports that. And then similarly, we talked about speeding up operations in QC and quality control incoming inspections. There are often standardized types of information that our users want to enter into the device, so that when they're going back later, they have a barcode that houses all that information, so all they would have to do is connect to a barcode scanner. Instead of having to type in everything onto your analyzer, you just scan that barcode that puts the data into the analyzer's information. And later, when you're reviewing that scan, you have all that relevant data there. So Wi-Fi helps send the data to your PC desktop application, and the Bluetooth helps your analyzer connect to a wide variety of accessories.

This interview is the third part of our conversation with Margeson. You can view the first two parts of our conversation below.

Part 1

Part 2

References

1. Wetzel, W. Thermo Fisher Expands Handheld XRF Line with New High-End Analyzer for Field Use. Thermo Fisher Scientific. Available at: https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/thermo-fisher-expands-handheld-xrf-line-with-new-high-end-analyzer-for-field-use (accessed 2026-01-28).
2. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Niton XL5 Plus Handheld XRF Analyzer. Thermo Fisher Scientific. Available at: https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/industrial/spectroscopy-elemental-isotope-analysis/portable-analysis-material-id/portable-metal-manufacturing-inspection-recycling-solutions/niton-xl5-handheld-analyzer.html?erpType=Global_E1 (accessed 2026-01-28).