Zenfox T3 Triple channel dash cams free test invitation, limited quantity

[HonestReview]

String/fishing line takes a couple of minutes, at most. The residue can be rolled up into a ball with your thumb.

I have a tinted front window. I couldn't just yank at it, for fear of damaging the tint. I had to heat it up, saw with fishing line, heat it up, saw with fishing line. It took a good 30 minutes to get it off properly without damaging my tint.

 

[kuoh]

Yeah the thickness of the unit is not conducive to behind the mirror mounting on the driver side of many newer cars, especially if it has auto dimming or other electronic features that makes the mirror thicker as well. Mounting next to the mirror, but low enough to capture out the windows on the interior camera creates more driver obstruction than I'm comfortable with, so it had to go on the passenger side for me as well. This causes the back of the mirror to block most of the interior view of the driver side, but does get great side views out the passenger window. In my SUV, it's either up top with full cabin, but no outside view or smack dab in the middle below the mirror creating a huge obstruction if I want full views all around.

KuoH

My mirror is in the way and I couldn't really get a great spot to avoid it. You can see the cabin fully with interior camera, but I was hoping to get more out the side windows. Passenger side is better.

 

[HonestReview]

With the T3 being heavier than most dashcams, I think it is very good to have an extra strong sticky pad, don't want the thing hitting your head in an accident!

You are right, the adhesive has a very strong tensile strength. The camera won't dislodge or come loose during an accident. So I get the reasoning. My comment was more of satire per say. The 3m pad is hell on earth to dislodge and remove.

 

[HonestReview]

Yeah the thickness of the unit is not conducive to behind the mirror mounting on the driver side of many newer cars, especially if it has auto dimming or other electronic features that makes the mirror thicker as well. Mounting next to the mirror, but low enough to capture out the windows on the interior camera creates more driver obstruction than I'm comfortable with, so it had to go on the passenger side for me as well. This causes the back of the mirror to block most of the interior view of the driver side, but does get great side views out the passenger window. In my SUV, it's either up top with full cabin, but no outside view or smack dab in the middle below the mirror creating a huge obstruction if I want full views all around.

KuoH

Yep. I have auto dimming mirror, city safety with lidar, etc. You can see what the mirror looks like along with the housing. It is definitely not conducive to hanging a camera with an interior cabin view, and hopes of capturing around the side windows.

I will say that my Viofo A129 Duo sites dead center, and had I mounted the T3 there, it would have been somewhat better at capturing the interior and surrounding views. However, the mirror obstructing the view was unavoidable. I guess if I mounted all the way down the window it might have overcome the annoyance but then capturing the cabin properly would be affected. With my vehicle, there's no possible way to shoot above the mirror.

So what I did was the best possible setup with my current situation. There was zero chance I was prioritizing the T3 over the Viofo A129 for mount placement, because the T3 is a beta with bugs, and the A129 is a reliable.

Stock photo of my mirror below.

 

[Harsh]

I have a tinted front window. I couldn't just yank at it, for fear of damaging the tint. I had to heat it up, saw with fishing line, heat it up, saw with fishing line. It took a good 30 minutes to get it off properly without damaging my tint.

I've removed mounts off aftermarket tint film. Was probably your first time removing a mount. All you need is the string.

 

[EGS]

A special F*CK you to 3M. Your G0d Damn adhesive tape is a son of a bitch to remove. Accidentally mounted the camera crooked. A Hair Dryer, Fishing Line, pliers, and 30 or so minutes later, I got it off my damn window. This time to be far more precise in mounting.

My mirror is in the way and I couldn't really get a great spot to avoid it. You can see the cabin fully with interior camera, but I was hoping to get more out the side windows. Passenger side is better. I wasn't about to remove my Viofo A129 Duo which I know is reliable and a workhorse to risk running only a T3. @kamkar1 did that mistake and I wasn't about to repeat it.

None the less, about 3-4 hours later, my cameras are now mounted properly (best I'll get the front), hardwired into fuse box using the HK3 hardwire kit from Viofo, and the wires neatly tucked behind the side curtains. Removing the C Pillar in my car is a trip to hell and back. That trim requires some forcible strength to yank those clips out....Ya thanks Volvo, just like 3M, I guess you never intend for anything to come loose easily.

One major gripe is the Viofo Hardwire Kit isn't a perfect match. The cable is inverted as I mentioned. And so I took some wire clips and mounted them on side of camera. Otherwise, the usb cord seems to come loose easily. So that solved that issue. Parking mode Works from my initial testing. Will see how it goes over the coming days.

Haven't tested cameras out driving yet. I'll be running a Sandisk Ultra Plus class 10 until the Sandisk High Endurance shows up.

And to that I'm in business.

LOL, that is why is the best tape out there and exactly what it suppose to do... you don't want a tape that falls off on its own after a few days.

 

[kuoh]

It's still a bit early in the testing, but it seems that there are many other dashcams already in retail distribution with more serious bugs and little to no support, so I'm glad we're getting the chance to solidly test this one out and openly share the results. For me so far, other than the occasional last file corruption on shutdown, the bugs I've notice seem to be fairly minor and the picture quality appears to be quite good. Even the audio is clear and able to pick up voices of drive through workers despite being mounted on the passenger side, which was not the case with any of my previous dashcams mounted on the driver side. Admittedly, I haven't gone through the dozens of dashcams that some of the more active members here have so my sample size is relatively small.

I have to say though my initial impetus for installing a dashcam was mostly because of other drivers, but with the current state of law enforcement in the US, it's starting to lean some in the direction of protecting myself from poor policing as well. Hopefully we will see some more options for remote camera installs and hidden main units with wifi offloading. With the availability and low cost of portable computing and storage devices now, I could imagine a dedicated wifi offload device, like a raspberry pi mounted in the back or trunk that could constantly pull new recordings off the dashcam and back it up to a cheap SSD and perhaps the option to cloud upload on demand using the event/emergency button or G sensor trigger.

KuoH

There was zero chance I was prioritizing the T3 over the Viofo A129 for mount placement, because the T3 is a beta with bugs, and the A129 is a reliable.

 

[HonestReview]

I have a tinted front window. I couldn't just yank at it, for fear of damaging the tint. I had to heat it up, saw with fishing line, heat it up, saw with fishing line. It took a good 30 minutes to get it off properly without damaging my tint.

LOL, that is why is the best tape out there and exactly what it suppose to do... you don't want a tape that falls off on its own after a few days.

Yep. Agreed just a pain to get off.

 

[HonestReview]

I've removed mounts off aftermarket tint film. Was probably your first time removing a mount. All you need is the string.

1. First time removing one of these.
2. If you can get it off with string on a tinted window very quickly, make a how to video. I'd love to know the technique.

I spent 30+ Minutes heating it up with blow dryer, sawing, heating it up, sawing, all while using fishing line. I've heard dental floss works too. the problem with tinted windows is if you pull or yank prematurely, your tint will come off with the adhesive mount. Being my first time, I wasn't going to press my luck.

 

[HonestReview]

It's still a bit early in the testing, but it seems that there are many other dashcams already in retail distribution with more serious bugs and little to no support, so I'm glad we're getting the chance to solidly test this one out and openly share the results. For me so far, other than the occasional last file corruption on shutdown, the bugs I've notice seem to be fairly minor and the picture quality appears to be quite good. Even the audio is clear and able to pick up voices of drive through workers despite being mounted on the passenger side, which was not the case with any of my previous dashcams mounted on the driver side. Admittedly, I haven't gone through the dozens of dashcams that some of the more active members here have so my sample size is relatively small.

I have to say though my initial impetus for installing a dashcam was mostly because of other drivers, but with the current state of law enforcement in the US, it's starting to lean some in the direction of protecting myself from poor policing as well. Hopefully we will see some more options for remote camera installs and hidden main units with wifi offloading. With the availability and low cost of portable computing and storage devices now, I could imagine a dedicated wifi offload device, like a raspberry pi mounted in the back or trunk that could constantly pull new recordings off the dashcam and back it up to a cheap SSD and perhaps the option to cloud upload on demand using the event/emergency button or G sensor trigger.

KuoH

They have these already if you're wanting to spend $500 or $600 USD. Thinkware uses the cloud. The drawback is that your vehicle always needs internet for these features to work. Otherwise, you're back to saving to a memory card. Meaning you either hardwire in a always hotspot or you can only upload while the vehicle is on and the onboard hotspot runs. Thinkware and I believe Blackvue off remote viewing of your vehicle, too.

My Viofo A129 has a dupe frame every 92 frame bug and occasional dropped frame. Annoying but not catastrophic. Not going for cinema quality video. The A129 duo performs reliability. The T3 is new, not heavily tested, and still in the beta phase. So I wouldn't yank out my workhorse and replace it with the T3 just yet.

Bugs / Gripes I've Encountered on T3

1. My High Endurance just arrived today going to install. Hadn't been home to do so. Not sure about the 32GB Sandisk Ultra Plus I've been using.

2. The Camera gets REALLY HOT in the car....To be expected

3. Lack of record light. The Viofo A129 Duo has a record light and indicates if there is a problem. The T3 does not.

4. The ZenFox App doesn't always seem to function properly. I've had multiple instances where I go to settings via app or to view files, and then attempt to go back to live view, and live view doesn't show up. Screen remains black.

 

[kuoh]

I'm not talking about uploading every recording to the cloud, just manually or G sensor triggered ones, but even that's not as desirable as a method to automatically offload recordings locally over wifi. A good system using remote cameras would also have many more options for space and cooling, which seems to be a real limiting factor for the current all in one platforms.

KuoH

They have these already if you're wanting to spend $500 or $600 USD. Thinkware uses the cloud. The drawback is that your vehicle always needs internet for these features to work. Otherwise, you're back to saving to a memory card. Meaning you either hardwire in a always hotspot or you can only upload while the vehicle is on and the onboard hotspot runs.

 

[kamkar]

The T3 do have record light, but not a dedicated LED, but there is a red light in / behind the buttons that are on constant when recording, and flashing when not recording.
You will not see that light in the daytime, not even in the daytime of Danish and Swedish winters i think, but at night you can see it just fine.

 

[HonestReview]

The T3 do have record light, but not a dedicated LED, but there is a red light in / behind the buttons that are on constant when recording, and flashing when not recording.
You will not see that light in the daytime, not even in the daytime of Danish and Swedish winters i think, but at night you can see it just fine.

Having a visible led light is very useful, because if you ever see it stop blinking, you now there's an issue. When I ran the Sandisk Ultra Plus in the Viofo, I'd see the light remain solid red. Indicator I had a problem.

Other thing that does concern me is the T3 gets scolding hot when baking in the sun. Even with tinted windows.

Let's say its 26/27C outside, a car sitting in the sun easily heats up to 44/45C. I hope this camera has good cooling.

Far as parking mode.. So far so good. The HK3 works, though it wouldn't be the optimal solution. Usb plug is a bit wobbly. I used adhesive cord mounts to keep it in place. None the less, parking mode functions as expected.

 

[runtohell121]

Downside of the T3 is the LED is too dim and the "beep"/alert sounds are too low; can barely hear it.

I went to review the footages on the Sandisk High Endurance card... The recording seems to be cutting short of 3 minute interval at times, it would record 2 minute, then 1 minute, then 3 minute or some other various time (few seconds of recording and start another clip and so on), maybe missing a few seconds. Going to try another card to see if that still happens. It was set on low bitrate.

Another issue I have is the date/time; somehow it is two days ahead and time is off even though I had it set to correct time and time zone, as well as synced with my phone's time when I was connected to change some settings.

 

[HonestReview]

Ok so I've run the camera all day today and noticed extreme differences between the Viofo and T3 (for the worse).

T3 set to Maximum Resolution 2K ( 2560×1440) x 1080P (1920x1080) x 1080P (1920x1080P)

Viofo A129 Duo running 1080P (1920x1080) Front + 1080P (1920x1080) Rear

T3 is SIGNIFICANTLY worse at night capture. I realize higher resolution means smaller pixels and less light. However, the Viofo is able to capture far more detail than the T3 hands down. I even had the T3 set to WDR and Viofo to Normal and the Viofo still could see objects better.

I Know some others have a Viofo A129 Duo so feel free to chime in here. My tests showed without any doubt either the color and saturation need serious tweaking on the T3 or the Lens being used by the T3 is inferior to the components in the ViofoA129.

I'll get some screenshots over to ZenFox when I get time....But I'm definitely not impressed with the ZenFox's night capability at current settings.

 

[Jeremy Wong]

Ok so I've run the camera all day today and noticed extreme differences between the Viofo and T3 (for the worse).

T3 set to Maximum Resolution 2K ( 2048×1080) x 1080P (1920x1080) x 1080P (1920x108P)

Viofo A129 Duo running 1080P (1920x1080) Front + 1080P (1920x1080) Rear

T3 is SIGNIFICANTLY worse at night capture. I realize higher resolution means smaller pixels and less light. However, the Viofo is able to capture far more detail than the T3 hands down. I even had the T3 set to WDR and Viofo to Normal and the Viofo still could see objects better.

I Know some others have a Viofo A129 Duo so feel free to chime in here. My tests showed without any doubt either the color and saturation need serious tweaking on the T3 or the Lens being used by the T3 is inferior to the components in the ViofoA129.

I'll get some screenshots over to ZenFox when I get time....But I'm definitely not impressed with the ZenFox's night capability at current settings.

Can you share the screenshots here also? I would like to see the differences.

 

[TonyM]

T3 set to Maximum Resolution 2K ( 2048×1080) x 1080P (1920x1080) x 1080P (1920x108P)

I thought the T3 maximum resolution is 2560×1440? The video quality might not be so good if it is downscaled to 2K.

 

[Nigel]

I thought the T3 maximum resolution is 2560×1440? The video quality might not be so good if it is downscaled to 2K.

Yes, and it is not "108P" on the rear either!
Native resolution is QHD + FHD + FHD.

Can you share the screenshots here also? I would like to see the differences.

Yes, would be interesting to see.

The A129 can be a bit too bright at night, a brighter image results in more motion blur and over exposed plates when they are in the headlights. Looking a bit dark is not necessarily a bad thing.

Make sure you review dark night time footage at night when you can see the darker parts of the image on your monitor. Unless you have an exceptionally bright HDR monitor, watching night time video when the sun is out will always give a poor result.

 

[Zenfox_Official]

For the live view issue, it seems to happen on the latest IOS version, it will work after disabled the 4G network, need do further checking.

 

[Zenfox_Official]

Another issue I have is the date/time; somehow it is two days ahead and time is off even though I had it set to correct time and time zone, as well as synced with my phone's time when I was connected to change some settings.

View attachment 52178

Do you mind checking the file property date-time is the same as file name date time?