Review: Vantrue® OnDash R2 2K HD DashCam Ambarella A7L50 + OV4689

Sunny

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Dash Cam
More than I can review. ;)
VANTRUE sent this camera for review. Thank you Joe @JIVAN .
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Review Summary: Will update after review is complete.
Quick Links:
Daytime video screenshots
Daytime videos
Night video screenshots
Night videos

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Details:
The Vantrue OnDash R2 is based on Ambarella A7L50 chip with OV4689 CMOS sensor and here is the product link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B017AV83UK
This R2 has same chip as R1 PRO but body is completely different and uses mini-USB port.
The body is slimmer, wider and looks well built.
The front has some chrome but overall body is black.
Menu settings are also re-designed.

As expected from Ambarella A7L50 chip, R2 can record videos at 2560x1080p or 2304x1296P @ 30fps and has HDR option at 1920x1080p resolution.

As what's the difference between this and R1 PRO version?
Good question! Compared with R1 Pro, the R2 features:
- WDR (Wide dynamic range). This made the image of R2 more balanced and clear in high contrast condition.
- Exclusively new setup interface. We made a change on the setup menu interface, more convenient and easy to use.
- Parking mode triggered by the motion detection. The motion detection will only be active in Parking mode, will not function when driving. It’s easy to switch the camera to parking mode by just one press, and when the car restart and move, the camera will auto come back to the driving recording mode.
- We made another USB port on the suction cup mount, when joint with the camera, you could plug the cable to the port on the mount. This made it more easy to hide the cable.

It has a 500mAh rechargeable built inside. The parking mode is based on motion detection. It’s easy to switch the camera to parking mode by just one press on the hot key, and when the car restart and move, the camera will auto come back to the driving recording mode.

Hope this will help.

Also the USB charger is unique.
This is the first charger among my dashcams that has extra USB port so those with only one 12v outlet can still charge phone.

20151111_233214-Vantrue-OnDash-R2.jpg

BTW, it works great and has enough juice. My phone showed 1000mA input charge that is much better than my original phone's 1A usb charger that only gives around 700mA.

Screenshot_2015-11-12-08-46-30[1].png


Unboxing video:


MicroSD card goes in with pin stripes on the back:
Vantrue-R2-20151116_084000.jpg

Package contents:
The product box is very small compared to previous models.

1. Vantrue OnDash R2Dashcam.
2. Suction Mount - moves back and forth as well as pans left to right to some degree.
It has usb port to charge so the camera can be taken without messing with power cable.
[The mount is similar to G90 but has better snapping lock that I can hear it when it's locking.]

3. Car USB charger dongle with additional USB port. Nice!
4. USB to mini USB cable.
5. Thank you card with quick start guide.
6. User Manual with detail information and color menu settings pictures.
7. mini-HDMI to HDMI cable.

DSC03343-Vantrue-OnDash-R2.jpg


Front:
Lens housing is chrome and there is a chrome piece but otherwise black.
There is a LED light and a logo 'VANTRUE OnDash R2'.
Looks elegant and feels well built.
DSC03344-Vantrue-OnDash-R2.jpg

Top has power, photo buttons, mount and AV port (connects to TV or to rear camera as per manual).
Not sure why the rubber cover is there as it won't work without plugging in so need to open it all the time anyways.

DSC03345-Vantrue-OnDash-R2.jpg

Right edge has reset and mini-HDMI out:

DSC03346-Vantrue-OnDash-R2.jpg

Left edge has microSD slot:
DSC03347-Vantrue-OnDash-R2.jpg

Back has 2.7" LCD screen with buttons on the sides and LED status indicator on left top corner.
The LED blinks Red while recording.
Left of LCD has up/down buttons.
Up also acts as LCD off/on.
Down button also acts as parking monitor button when pressed for over 3 seconds and mutes audio if pressed once.
Right of LCD has OK and Menu buttons. Menu button also acts as Event/Emergency button to lock video file.

DSC03349-Vantrue-OnDash-R2.jpg
DSC03348-Vantrue-OnDash-R2.jpg


Few pics from amazon product site:
71d8q%2BD0aPL._SL1500_.jpg


81Ty2hsDs8L._SL1500_.jpg


715TqPdsfTL._SL1500_.jpg


61NhIH6tJlL._SL1500_.jpg


More to come after tests...
 
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Folders and files:
Folders are pretty standard with Ambarella based dashcams.
EVENT for event triggered clips. It saves 30 seconds of video, 10 secs before and 20 secs after.
However, at medium sensitivity, it's very sensitive.
I had Dome D201 side by side and Dome doesn't have any event files while this one has 9 event files in a 35 minute drive.
Any pothole, bridge gaps etc... are triggered.
I need to set it to low sensitivity.
Good thing is it cuts that video portion from Normal video clip so we are not saving the same footage in two places.

NORMAL folder is for regular videos.
File names have date and time. Nice!

VBR:
A 3 minute 2304x1296p resolution clip is around 400 mb in size and 18.1 overall VBR.
Video VBR is 18 mbps and audio is 128 kbps.
Folders and files.png
 
Daytime video screenshots:
Daytime video is very good.
All areas/corners are in good focus and colors are natural.
I like how it's not overly bright like some other Ambarella based dashcams.

Most screenshots are from the spots that I normally use for other dashcams so it'll be easy to compare.
It should be 2015, not 2014.
1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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7.
22351133693_134361a3cd_o.png


8. Against the Sun.
22553941597_fb81c0dede_o.png


9. Underground parking garage.
22580136689_ec9da118db_o.png


10. Underground parking garage.
22553987438_4b8f92999d_o.png
 
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Daytime Videos:
Video: Very good video. Colors are good, brightness is perfect. Not too bright.
Audio: Audio is pretty good but has some low frequency rumble. Still is clear and loud though, no distortion.

1. Side streets:

2.

3. Side streets to highway:

4. Even triggered by rough road on highway:

5. Even triggered by bridge gap n highway:

6. Highway to downtown area:
I was trying to turn the LCD on and pressed down button which turned the audio off so need to press the up button for that.



To compare against Dome D201 video taken at the same time, click below:
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...dashcam-gearbest-com.14779/page-3#post-198428
 
Evening and Night Video Screenshots:

Vantrue-R2-2014-11-12-17-03-08.MOV_000156748.jpg

Vantrue-R2-2014-11-12-17-06-51.MOV_000013160.jpg
Vantrue-R2-2014-11-12-17-11-37.MOV_000024342.jpg

HDR:
Vantrue-R2-2014-11-12-17-35-17.MOV_000067391.jpg

Vantrue-R2-2014-11-12-17-40-31.MOV_000033142.jpg

Vantrue-R2-2014-11-12-17-53-17.MOV_000002894.jpg

Vantrue-R2-2014-11-12-17-54-18.MOV_000023707.jpg

Low beam:
Vantrue-R2-2014-11-12-17-54-18.MOV_000086372.jpg


High beam:
Vantrue-R2-2014-11-12-17-54-18.MOV_000087461.jpg
Vantrue-R2-2014-11-12-17-54-18.MOV_000131805.jpg
 
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Vantrue R2 can be rotated pretty much from the center of windshield to driver or passenger side window.
I tried this today and worked pretty good.


Can read license plate through driver window.
2014-11-20-16-41-45-sideways.MOV_000029941.jpg
 
Thank you for the review, what setting on camera you use for the review? EV setting, picture quality etc...
 
Thank you for the review, what setting on camera you use for the review? EV setting, picture quality etc...
I mostly leave everything at default but resolution is at 2560x1080p.
 
It is quite interesting that the manufacturer hiding their website. I can't find it anywhere, which is unusual. It is typical that from time to time they are making upgrade improving firmware etc... In this case how can you check if you have the latest firmware if you can not find the site. Perhaps someone knows anything, please share. Thank you.
 
It is quite interesting that the manufacturer hiding their website. I can't find it anywhere, which is unusual. It is typical that from time to time they are making upgrade improving firmware etc... In this case how can you check if you have the latest firmware if you can not find the site. Perhaps someone knows anything, please share. Thank you.
You are correct, even google cannot find their website and there is no evidence of support, no help, no thread for getting help, no way to find firmware repository anywhere. Who is this Vantrue? Is he the Messiah that giveth the blessing of the world's best dash cam?
 
It sure is an attractive product, but I too would never buy unless I could find an internet source for at least firmware updates.
 
The only contact info I see from them for help is email at vantrue@yeah.net. I tried going to the main website (yeah.net) but it's just an email provider. I couldn't find a website for them either but I did email them asking for firmware updates.
 
I was curious, this is my first dashcam that I bought, since I got it on a deal. I was wondering how the parking mode works? I know it has a built-in 500mAh battery in it and you can toggle the parking mode on when you leave the car but how long would that last time? The manual states that you should hook it up to an external battery to keep it recording for a while.

One of my main reasons for getting a dashcam was to see if I can record people vandalizing my car, since I did get some scratches on it before.
 
I was curious, this is my first dashcam that I bought, since I got it on a deal. I was wondering how the parking mode works? I know it has a built-in 500mAh battery in it and you can toggle the parking mode on when you leave the car but how long would that last time? The manual states that you should hook it up to an external battery to keep it recording for a while.

One of my main reasons for getting a dashcam was to see if I can record people vandalizing my car, since I did get some scratches on it before.
Built in battery is not going to last more than few minutes.
You have to hard wire or use battery pack.
 
Thanks so much for the reply. I guess I'll have to do that then! Is there anything I should be aware for the parking mode other than needing to connect to a power source?
 
It is quite interesting that the manufacturer hiding their website. I can't find it anywhere, which is unusual. It is typical that from time to time they are making upgrade improving firmware etc... In this case how can you check if you have the latest firmware if you can not find the site. Perhaps someone knows anything, please share. Thank you.[/QUOTE]

I just bought a Vantrue 5/21/2016 and it says it ships from Overseas and should take 8-16 days...
Yesterday I received a notice saying it already shipped from TampaBay.
Today I received it (50 miles from Tampa)... and the shipping sticker gives the address of a Chinese outfit in Lexington, KY ( maybe it is just a Warehouse/distributor: see attached PIC).
It came with a Toshiba 32GB Exceria SD
 

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Last month I bought a No name "G1W-C" for $23 on Ebay; but it came with a defective mount (when mounted it faces sideways: left or right) and only a USB Charger not the PC Cable to transfer files: the charger has a very thin cable... So I requested a return and ended up keeping it for $15.
I bought a Mirror mount (shipped free from China for $2.04), but I did not realize then that the USB cable is also needed for the PC... so today when I received the Vantrue , I used their cable to test the G1W-C and the pictures/videos were pretty good ( much better than my Cellphones Cam.).. so I may use one for the front and one for the back using a power bank : i hope the cams won't tell the difference, and that they will work when driving).
 
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The only contact info I see from them for help is email at vantrue@yeah.net. I tried going to the main website (yeah.net) but it's just an email provider. I couldn't find a website for them either but I did email them asking for firmware updates.

I requested the same from them yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to get a response from them within a few hours. The link is active to a RAR file updated a few days ago though I have not had a chance to try it yet. All said, I have found the R2 a good camera--and was kicking myself for not checking for firmware before purchase. So optimistically happy with this result. From Vantrue:

It will be really appreciate if you can help us to share the latest firmware, we are sure it will of great help to our daily work. Please check the link below:

http://www.evernote.com/l/AYhJxatbLXhJT5f5SA78KqWXeemLVDNvWRI/
 
Do you know what this Update for/what does the Upgrade do?
I am very happy with the video as is : using Resolution 2560x1080p / 30f which give near perfect video/pict with only a slight increase in MB used.
5 min segment uses 676,128 kb in 2560x1080p vs 553,248 kb for 1920x1080p... 123,000 kb more to get a stunning video.
Compared to 5 min on G1W-C which uses 941,792 kb in 1,440 x 1080 p and gets a so so video.
 
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