Review: VIOFO A119 1440p GPS Dashcam - NT96660 + OV4689 (Gearbest)

[Sunny]

Thank you @GearBest for providing VIOFO A119 Capacitor Dashcam for review.
Gearbest product link: *****************************************
Description & Features:
It's capacitor based and has Novatek NT96660 chipset and OV4689 sensor.
It has 2.0 inch LCD screen and comes with two mounts, one with GPS and another without GPS.
Video Resolutions: 1440P 30fps / 1080P 60fps; 6G F1.8 and 160 degree wide angle lens.
Support TF card class 6 or above up to 64GB (not included); Power supply: 5V 1A.
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Summary: will be updated as I review and test but will note things as I go on.
PROS: Great build qulity, very discrete all black wedge design.
>Day video is very good and night is pretty good as well, much brighter footage.
>Audio quality is very good.
>GPS locks pretty quick.
>Beeps constantly if recording is stopped.
>No heat shift focus as of yet.

CONS: I have it partially behind the RV mirror and it's not easy to press emergency button. This issue is with most wedge dashcams. I pressed the emergency but instead pressed rec button and it stopped recording. Good thing that it beeps constantly if recording stopped otherwise you don't notice recording stopped as it's pretty awkward to look behind the RV mirror in dashcam's screen while driving.
>Audio has some vibrations when going uphill and accelerating. Could be the heavy GPS mount or something else, I'll test more.
>Format card warning comes up and doesn't go away until canceled or okay and doesn't record when it's prompting. This is even when format warning is set to 30 days and even after turning it off entirely. ...continued...
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Unboxing and Sample Videos of VIOFO A119 GPS 1440p Dashcam:
Unboxing and videos of day and night...

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Package Contents:
1 x A119 Car Camera, 1 x Non GPS Mount, 1 x GPS Mount, 1 x Dual USB Car Adapter (3.1A), 1 x USB Cable, 5 x Clip, 1 x Mount Detaching String, 1 x English User Manual


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VIOFO A119 Dashcam Images:
Since it's similar to A118/B40C, I have them here side-by-side along with Mini 0807 for size comparison:
A119 is slightly slimmer but bigger than A118.
Middle one is the VIOFO A119:

 

[Sunny]

Installed pictures:
It is very discrete from outside.
Specially with Sky's reflection it's very hard to see even when you look for it.
From inside:




From outside: where is it?


There it is.

 

[Sunny]

VIOFO A119 Folders and Files:
Files have date time so easy to find a particular video.
Normal videos: \DCIM\Movie
Event videos: \DCIM\Movie\RO -- Entire clip is protected.
VBR: Overall VBR is 20.4 mbps with video @ 20.1 mbps and audio @ 96 kbps.

 

[Sunny]

Daytime Video Screenshots (1440p):








Nighttime Video Screenshots:
1440p:







1080p 60fps:

 

[Sunny]

Video after parking all day under the Sun: Focus is still good. Extreme corners are not as sharp but that could be the angle of my windshield.
...

Screenshots after parking all day under the Sun:

 

[GearBest]

Hi Sunny, thanks for your sharing. Looking forward to watch the footage of A119. From the pic, A119 looks bigger than both 0807 and A118C/B40C, but hidden perfectly.

 

[basjke]

Look forward to the video footage Sunny, particular some night videos in not well lit areas, if that would be possible

 

[Sunny]

VIOFO A119 Daytime Videos: Video quality is very good. It is sharp and colors are natural and bright.
Audio also is very good.
[I noticed some vibrations in audio at few places, especially when going uphill and accelerating. I'll test more and see what that's about.]

There are day and night video samples in the Unboxing Video here.

Here's one after parking all day under the Sun. Focus is still good.
Few beeps in the beginning are for trigger/event after I pressed the emergency button.

Look forward to the video footage Sunny, particular some night videos in not well lit areas, if that would be possible

I'll have RAW links soon but for now, here are VIOFO A119 night videos in youtube:

Night videos quality is pretty good. It's much brighter compared to other Novatek based cameras I have.
Night Video 1440p:

Night Video 1080p @ 60fps

 

[Sunny]

VIOFO A119 RAW Videos: Do not play in dropbox player. Download and play.
These videos are clipped to save space in dropbox so for longer videos, watch unboxing video and other follow up posts.

Daytime 1440p:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g1ed23jd2yqwak2/Fragment of 20160727-day-a119.mp4?dl=0

Night 1440p:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3nyfc0dbwktw5jf/Night-1440p-2016_0121_203010_041(fr).MP4?dl=0

Night 1080p @ 60fps:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hyt4wccho7l8wg6/Night-1080p-60fps-20160727-a119.mp4?dl=0

 

[basjke]

VIOFO A119 Daytime Videos: Video quality is very good. It is sharp and colors are natural and bright.
Audio also is very good.
[I noticed some vibrations in audio at few places, especially when going uphill and accelerating. I'll test more and see what that's about.]

There are day and night video samples in the Unboxing Video here.

Here's one after parking all day under the Sun. Focus is still good.
Few beeps in the beginning are for trigger/event after I pressed the emergency button.

I'll have RAW links soon but for now, here are VIOFO A119 night videos in youtube:

Night videos quality is pretty good. It's much brighter compared to other Novatek based cameras I have.
Night Video 1440p:

Night Video 1080p @ 60fps

Thanks Sunny, they look pretty good on first sight, but I wonder why you cut of the video each time you turn in to an unlit street.Would it be possible to record a bit further in such an unlit street?

The reason i ask is that I want to buy an A119 in next few days, my first cam ever as you probably will know, and where I am we have lots and lots of streets with no street lights. Darkness is here at 7pm already, so it will be used a lot in the dark, but I'm sure others will also be interested in such footage.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sunny]

Thanks Sunny, they look pretty good on first sight, but I wonder why you cut of the video each time you turn in to an unlit street.Would it be possible to record a bit further in such an unlit street?

The reason i ask is that I want to buy an A119 in next few days, my first cam ever as you probably will know, and where I am we have lots and lots of streets with no street lights. Darkness is here at 7pm already, so it will be used a lot in the dark, but I'm sure others will also be interested in such footage.

Thanks in advance.

Longer night videos are in the unboxing video here starting at 6:30 in the video:

 

[basjke]

Longer night videos are in the unboxing video here starting at 6:30 in the video:

Thanks again Sunny, I notice you put a lot of effort and time in that review, the day videos are astonishing, and the night videos are really satisfying. Now I wonder, if one should put an IR torch on the front of his car, if that would have a positive effect on the picture.

 

[Sunny]

Thanks again Sunny, I notice you put a lot of effort and time in that review, the day videos are astonishing, and the night videos are really satisfying. Now I wonder, if one should put an IR torch on the front of his car, if that would have a positive effect on the picture.

Not sure on the IR torch.

If you liked the youtube videos, you'll like RAW samples even more.
Here they are from the post above, don't play in the browser, download and play:
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...am-nt96660-ov4689-gearbest.20542/#post-269226

 

[Sunny]

Format warning and beep when recording stops.

 

[basjke]

Format warning and beep when recording stops.

View attachment 24900

Is this an error ? Isn't it supposed to auto loop?

 

[Sunny]

Is this an error ?

Format reminder is good thing.
You can set the reminder in 15, 30 days etc...
However, it only works if the card is in the camera during that period.
I set it for 30 days yesterday and took the card out to transfer videos to PC.
I put it back this morning and it prompted to format so that's not very useful for those who take it out often.

For the beep when recording stops, it's very good warning so we don't forget it.

 

[basjke]

Format reminder is good thing.
You can set the reminder in 15, 30 days etc...
However, it only works if the card is in the camera during that period.
I set it for 30 days yesterday and took the card out to transfer videos to PC.
I put it back this morning and it prompted to format so that's not very useful for those who take it out often.

For the beep when recording stops, it's very good warning so we don't forget it.

Sorry if i sound dumb, but are the format warning and the stop recording beep separate functions, and if so why does it stop recording?

Do all cameras do an auto format after a certain time, or can you completely disable that function? Is there any advantage that it does an auto format?

 

[Sunny]

Sorry if i sound dumb, but are the format warning and the stop recording beep separate functions, and if so why does it stop recording?

Do all cameras do an auto format after a certain time, or can you completely disable that function? Is there any advantage that it does an auto format?

Yes, two different functions.
If you watch the video, I stopped the recording but it could stop if the card is bad/full.

Very few come with format warning and even fewer have auto format option.
So far, among the dashcams I have, only LUKAS has auto format option without user input.
Others like this A119, you have to press OK or Cancel once it prompts.
You can disable it or set how many days to prompt.

 

[Sunny]

The card format warning came up again even without taking microSD out of the camera and settings at 30 days reminder.
I turned it off for now.

 

[basjke]

The card format warning came up again even without taking microSD out of the camera and settings at 30 days reminder.
I turned it off for now.

But as you turned off the warning, could it not happen now that card formats without any warning.

Could this be a problem with the card?