My new 70mai PRO@GPS

ursamajor

Active Member
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
418
Reaction score
148
Location
Braila (27.59E 45.16N)
Country
Romania
Dash Cam
Viofo A129+, LS650W, GoClever DVR Extreme Gold
Today (maybe at noon or a little later) I'll receive it. It will replace my old LS650W, a good camera, still working, but I needed the resolution and performances of the Sony IMX335 sensor. :D Maybe sometime I'll use LS650W as rear camera. ;)
It was a promo package from a retailer from my country (emag). I ordered yesterday this promo package. The price of the whole package was 323 RON (Romanian Lei), meaning about 66 euros (or about 80 $).
I'll be back with impressions and a mini review. (y)
 

Attachments

  • 70maiPro.jpg
    70maiPro.jpg
    37.2 KB · Views: 9
So, first short impressions... Xiaomi strikes back! ;) This 70mai Pro IS a real best buy. The build quality is very good for the price, maybe unexpected for someone, but not for me, because I have (and had) some Xiaomi devices and I'm accustomed with their quality, powerful hardware and performance/price amazing ratio. I started it and I played a little with the app and the settings of camera. WiFi connection is rapide and stable and the use of the app is simple and intuitive.
But enough with praises... I just tested it indoor and I saw the sensor is very sensitive, but very, very noisy in advanced low light. I saw a comparison video between Viofo 119 v3 (same sensor) and 70mai Pro and the image in low light of Viofo was waaaay better, without noise. I don't know if these are the limits of the chipset or this aspect could be improved by firmware. I don't know if Xiaomi is interested by this issue, but I know it's a serious one... a problem that should be solved.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20201204_153630.jpg
    IMG_20201204_153630.jpg
    126.1 KB · Views: 16
  • IMG_20201204_153801.jpg
    IMG_20201204_153801.jpg
    134.1 KB · Views: 17
  • IMG_20201204_153836.jpg
    IMG_20201204_153836.jpg
    117.2 KB · Views: 17
  • IMG_20201204_154226.jpg
    IMG_20201204_154226.jpg
    108.8 KB · Views: 18
Last edited:
The A119v3 came about after a lot of individuals worked on modified FW for the V2. Counting the minor FW variations there were probably 100 FW's tried and shared so they could be tested world-wide. In the end Viofo took the best FW and wrapped the V3 around it. Had to be at least a thousand hours of efforts going into that.

So you shouldn't expect any other factory FW based to match this performance. They can't afford the work it takes. But there may be people doping modified FW for this cam somewhere if you look around.

Phil
 
The A119v3 came about after a lot of individuals worked on modified FW for the V2. Counting the minor FW variations there were probably 100 FW's tried and shared so they could be tested world-wide. In the end Viofo took the best FW and wrapped the V3 around it. Had to be at least a thousand hours of efforts going into that.


Phil
any image related firmware adjustments in the V2 don't relate to the V3, different sensor has completely different parameters
 
any image related firmware adjustments in the V2 don't relate to the V3, different sensor has completely different parameters
It's why I said he wrapped the V3 around it, meaning the concepts of the changes. I guess I didn't word that as well as I should have.

What was learned from the modders is still being applied to his cams even if not directly; if you study how lighting changes while driving and low-light work was once done before the modder's input and look at that after, you'll see that there's now a smoother and faster adjustment for brightness in the first example and better detail capture with less noise in the second example than his cams had before. When you compare that in other cams using the same hardware you'll see it too. It's a better understanding of how the many adjustable parameters interact.

The A139 being totally different too still shows what was learned; the vid aspect of the FW is near perfect with the first FW. With most of the other cams people test here by now you'd have already heard several comments about something about improving vid quality :cautious: Almost none of that here- Viofo has learned something well (y)

Phil
 
It's why I said he wrapped the V3 around it, meaning the concepts of the changes. I guess I didn't word that as well as I should have.
learnt from looking at the results maybe, hardware is all different, processor, sensor and SDK are all different so nothing really translates to the newer model
 
You learn more of where to put your efforts in ways people want; something like a marketing study does. Once you know what's wanted it's easier to provide that from the start. If you're only seeing your own point of view you can miss things. Some things will be similar with any video camera even if the exact means of making adjustments to change differ- things like raising contrast at night tending to add 'noise' and how gamma affects sharpness. If this were easily done every cam would have great video, but there is skill needed, the skill comes from knowledge, which in this case a lot of the knowledge came from the modders who worked on the v2.

(By the way, this is not my thread so I'll leave this discussion here)
Phil
 
No problem, my thread is an atypical one. Anyone is welcome. ;) I would not like to discuss about general things, but about some specific ones, such as the quality of the recordings. I also think that vendors should concentrate on people's feedbacks and solve all asked problems. I find inacceptable such a big difference in image quality between two DVRs having the same sensor. Concerning modified firmwares for 70mai Pro, hmmm, I glanced the thread in question and I found that the (too small) improvements on image quality does not justify the replacement of original firmware.
 
. I find inacceptable such a big difference in image quality between two DVRs having the same sensor.
same sensor, different processor, they each have their strengths and weaknesses, image quality may never match as a result of that
 
same sensor, different processor, they each have their strengths and weaknesses, image quality may never match as a result of that
Indeed, different processors, but I guess the firmware is bad at 70mai Pro, it's not the fault of processor. I think 70mai "Firmware Department" is "at the beginning of the road" concerning subtle tweaks of the processor's functions and finding the best settings. Maybe they look at this section of forum and they focus on the quality of the results, ie videos.
And another bad thing about the firmware: the WDR implementation is... Awful! With A! The noise become huge using WDR especially in low light! Even my old LS650W was better at this chapter. Now I'm forced to keep WDR disabled...

In daylight the quality seems to be good, no problem at all. Good level of details, good sharpness, pleasant WB, good color rendition. I'll test it also outdoor, in the night, to see if I'm satisfied enough by the results in real life, not in extreme condition that I tested it indoor.


 
Last edited:
And almost a door removal too :eek: Glad it didn't involve you (y)

Phil
 
I tested it in the night and I didn't like what I saw... Car plates are unreadable, noise is huge in low light. :( Maybe should I return this "best buy"? :unsure:
Pity, good hardware, bad firmware!

 
I didn't like the quality of images (especially at night) and I decided to return this camera and to buy another. I have in mind Viofo 119 v3 + GPS. Is there another (better) option at around 100$/euros to replace 70mai Pro?
 
Back
Top