COOAU D30

The COOAU D30 is a Chinese 2-channel rideshare camera released Oct 2019. The COOAU name is trademarked by a Chinese company called Shenzhenshi diyigouxiang keji youxiangongsi (not the easiest to pronounce).

The D30H is based on the Novatek NT96663 processor and both the front and cabin cameras use Sony Exmor IMX323 CMOS sensors. While starting to show their age, these are decent components and can be found in many other popular dash cams.

Video Quality

The front camera records 1080p video at 30fps with an average bitrate of 10 Mbps. Video quality for the front camera during the day is good and night quality is average.

The cabin camera records 1080p video at 30fps with an average bitrate of 6 Mbps. There are numerous negatives with the cabin camera. While there are 4 infrared lights for the cabin camera, these are best suited for night recording (records a monochrome image with the infrared lights on and color image without). Unlike most rideshare cameras that automatically turn on the infrared lights based on lighting level, this has to be manually done on the D30. This is really poorly implemented.

Also at night, the cabin camera does a good job if better lit streets, however in poorly lit streets, it is difficult to see the rear passengers clearly. In addition, numerous owners complain of a purplish tint to the videos like the photo below. Overall, the cabin footage for the D30 is disappointing.

Features

The D30 has a 2″ screen, g-sensor and has built in GPS. The camera comes with WiFi and has supporting apps for Android and iOS. The app name is Ficam. The D30 provides non-buffered parking mode if you hardwire the dash cam to your vehicle (optional hardwire kit required).

The camera comes with a suction mount that can swivel 360° to record interactions at your side windows (i.e. police traffic stop). The D30 is a medium sized camera, build quality is good and reliability has been average. Unfortunately the D30 does not come with audio error notifications but does provide error notifications on the screen but these can easily be missed by the driver.

One thing to be aware of on the D30, is that you cannot turn off the screen fully. While it does have a screensaver option, this will show the time and speed. Some people like to have the screen fully off and unfortunately this is not an option.

Support

COOAU appears to be responsive to questions but beyond that, the camera has limited support. They do not share any firmware updates on their website but some owners have received firmware updates via email. COOAU provides a 12 month warranty, which is standard for most dash cams.

Known Problems

Camera reboots /restarts

A number of owners have indicated the camera will often reboot during a drive continuously. Make sure you are using the supplied power supply. If you are, the problem is a defective camera with no known solution

Sample Videos

Should I Purchase

The COOAU D30 is a reasonably priced rideshare camera with GPS and WiFi. Front camera video quality is fine but the cabin video quality is not ideal. The weak infrared lights and having to manually turn them on and off are big negatives. Overall the negatives make this camera not an ideal solution for Uber drivers.

Specifications

Published: November 15, 2020