Zenfox T3 recived

[TonyM]

I suppose taxi / uber drivers don't need to leave the camera running so much in parking mode. Personally I prefer a more discreet setup, but I can see why the T3 might appeal to certain drivers.

 

[kuoh]

Probably not for most of them, but I can envision some of them parked while waiting with the AC off and windows down, but the key on for the radio. Situations like this may exacerbate the parking mode overheating problem and the way it is now, it is not very obvious when one or more of the cameras shutdown. It can also take tens of minutes after turning on the AC before it cools enough to reactivate cameras, which can lead to missing critical footage should something unfortunate happen during that time. On really hot days and parked in the sun, I've occasionally lost all cameras shortly after starting up as the AC has not cooled the interior sufficiently yet. I'm definitely going to have to consider other more reliable systems unless we get definitive proof that the T3 has been significantly improved with regard to overheating. It's a real shame, as I'm actually satisfied with the overall features, form factor and image quality.

KuoH

I suppose taxi / uber drivers don't need to leave the camera running so much in parking mode.

 

[runtohell121]

I thought most of us gave up testing the Zenfox T3... I just unmounted it from my vehicle yesterday. Overheating is what makes it unreliable, even with AC on, you just don't know when one of the camera decides to stop recording.

 

[kamkar]

I just ran a few days with normal bitrate, and it is the same as before, at some time it stop recording just saving 1 second or two from the front and cabin camera ( no rear camera ) And no alarms given.
I think i will replace it with something else when i get the chance, but right now not many cameras on my windscreen.

 

[EGS]

I thought most of us gave up testing the Zenfox T3... I just unmounted it from my vehicle yesterday. Overheating is what makes it unreliable, even with AC on, you just don't know when one of the camera decides to stop recording.

I still use mine but nit for testing purposes any longer. However, it doesn't shut off anymore while driving in a fairly warm to hot day like it did prior the cooling modification but honestly I don't trust it as much as the viofo which is my main unit. I use the zenfox for redundancy.

 

[HonestReview]

I still use mine but nit for testing purposes any longer. However, it doesn't shut off anymore while driving in a fairly warm to hot day like it did prior the cooling modification but honestly I don't trust it as much as the viofo which is my main unit. I use the zenfox for redundancy.

The Wifi broke on my 2nd model so if I dare activate, the camera halts and requires yanking power cord. I've considered merging my melted camera and the one where the wifi on board went back to make a "good unit". So far, I'm just running the 2nd one without ever enabling wifi. Redundancy and it gives me an interior camera. Do I trust that camera? Not at all. My main unit is still the Viofo A129 Duo. The T3 is merely there as a secondary means of capture, with the added benefit of an interior camera.

I did try swapping the Wifi Antenna from my Melted Modded unit to the 2nd unit. Didn't solve. Must have a bad spot on board for 2nd unit. 2nd unit originally worked but then wifi stopped allowing itself to be disabled without crashing camera. Not a firmware bug at all, as I've reflashed.

 

[Haydora]

Hi all,
I'm new comer in Zenfox club,
For users who did use T3 dashcam, should you share your overall feedback
with thanks

 

[Nigel]

Hi all,
I'm new comer in Zenfox club,
For users who did use T3 dashcam, should you share your overall feedback
with thanks

Apart from some heat issues with the first units, it has been a good dashcam, I think a good camera for taxi/uber use, especially if you want the customers to see that they are being recorded by a serious looking camera. For personal use, rather than taxi use, I suggest looking at the Viofo A139 instead, that is more discrete, seems much higher build quality, and it has better parking modes, more suitable for private use where you don't want to make the passengers feel like they need to behave!

 

[SawMaster]

Welcome to DCT @Haydora

Most of what you'll find in this thread relates to pre-production cams in beta-testing so yours will likely not have any of the issues noted and discussed here. We haven't seen much of the T3 as it is today but I'm sure we will hear from you if there's any issues

Phil

 

[Haydora]

Apart from some heat issues with the first units, it has been a good dashcam, I think a good camera for taxi/uber use, especially if you want the customers to see that they are being recorded by a serious looking camera. For personal use, rather than taxi use, I suggest looking at the Viofo A139 instead, that is more discrete, seems much higher build quality, and it has better parking modes, more suitable for private use where you don't want to make the passengers feel like they need to behave!

Thanks @Nigel for advise, I already ordered T3 for my private car for security reason. Perhaps A139 wil be my next deal unless an affordabe clouding device reach the dashcam market.

 

[Haydora]

Welcome to DCT @Haydora

Most of what you'll find in this thread relates to pre-production cams in beta-testing so yours will likely not have any of the issues noted and discussed here. We haven't seen much of the T3 as it is today but I'm sure we will hear from you if there's any issues

Phil

Thanks @SawMaster keep you informed.

 

[HonestReview]

Hi all,
I'm new comer in Zenfox club,
For users who did use T3 dashcam, should you share your overall feedback
with thanks

Did you buy the Production Model Zenfox or were you given a product sample as part of the beta test? The product sample / pre production models were a disaster. Overheated, shut down for no reason, etc. Zenfox disappeared after we openly stated the product was laden with bugs and not ready for production.

We have not heard much feedback as to whether these issued remained upon bringing the T3 to market or if Zenfox actually corrected the numerous design flaws.

Issues in pre production model included:

1. Camera overheating and stopped recording.

2. New Firmware cut out interior upon overheating allowing only front and rear to record. Thereafter, if camera got hot, it shut down and beeped itself to death.

3. I used the Viofo Hk3 hardwire kit and it supports parking mode.

 

[Haydora]

ZT3 is just ordered not yet receive so for me not obvious to know if product is from testing batch or production. I hope Zenfox did improve meanwhile mentionned issues. Remain confused till performing testing.

 

[Nigel]

ZT3 is just ordered not yet receive so for me not obvious to know if product is from testing batch or production. I hope Zenfox did improve meanwhile mentionned issues. Remain confused till performing testing.

There shouldn't be any pre-production models around now, they were never supposed to be sold anyway, we had a test batch built to find problems and we found very few problems. A few people had an issue where the camera shut down one or more channels to protect itself from overheating. This was when testing in the heat around mid-summers day, and the cameras cooling has since been improved, so I don't expect any heat issues to remain while driving. Any 3 channel camera available currently may have heat issues if left recording in a parked car in hot sunny conditions and if you use parking mode in Casablanca then I won't be surprised if yours shuts down for a while over midday in the summer, but that is not really a fault, that is what it is supposed to do.

Issues in pre production model included:

1. Camera overheating and stopped recording.

2. New Firmware cut out interior upon overheating allowing only front and rear to record. Thereafter, if camera got hot, it shut down and beeped itself to death.

3. I used the Viofo Hk3 hardwire kit and it supports parking mode.

The first two are the same heat issue, the third doesn't seem like an issue to me! So that is really only 1 issue in the pre-production cameras which has been addressed.

 

[Haydora]

There shouldn't be any pre-production models around now, they were never supposed to be sold anyway, we had a test batch built to find problems and we found very few problems. A few people had an issue where the camera shut down one or more channels to protect itself from overheating. This was when testing in the heat around mid-summers day, and the cameras cooling has since been improved, so I don't expect any heat issues to remain while driving. Any 3 channel camera available currently may have heat issues if left recording in a parked car in hot sunny conditions and if you use parking mode in Casablanca then I won't be surprised if yours shuts down for a while over midday in the summer, but that is not really a fault, that is what it is supposed to do.


The first two are the same heat issue, the third doesn't seem like an issue to me! So that is really only 1 issue in the pre-production cameras which has been addressed.

Thanks Nigel for explanation. Appreciate members forum work testing. In fact I m expecting parking mode mostly within night.
I wonder to know the high temperature treshold cut off.

 

[SawMaster]

As I've stated here in this thread and elsewhere, in my 5+ years of testing and using dashcams in high-heat situations I have not had a single cam come to permanent harm from overheating- the only exception being shortened LiPo battery life in non-supercap equipped cams. I have had some cams which stopped functioning and cams which stopped recording from the worst heats; restarting them always brought them back online. The summer heats I see every year are well beyond what Nigel experiences in both their extremes and duration- probably at the limits of what any well-designed cam can endure without stopping if I leave the windows open for some airflow. Morocco will match or exceed this kind of heat.

I'm given to understand that the production cams have better heat management but I haven't seen inside of them, and I've seen only two reports from people using them since normal production started- neither was experiencing high heats. This is why I'm so interested in knowing how this cam will do in Morocco; it will show us whether the overheating issue was addressed well enough or not.

Phil

 

[Nigel]

I wonder to know the high temperature treshold cut off.

It is a combination of heat and how much sunshine there is shining directly on the camera or through the car windows causing greenhouse effect. So it is very difficult to say how hot it can cope with.

In Casablanca during summer, the sun is going to be above the car at midday, so as long as you don't have a glass roof it may heat the car a lot less than further north where the sun can shine directly into the windows.

You should expect it to shut down sometimes over midday in summer, it restarts itself when it cools down. If you want a 3 channel camera that is unavoidable at the moment. Even with a 1 channel camera which might continue recording, it is not going to be good for the camera. If you can park the car undercover then the problem should be solved.

Currently nobody has had heat issues with the Viofo A139 3 channel dashcam, but most of use have not been testing it over mid summer, only a very few people in Australia, so we don't actually know that it is better. We will only find out with experience...

 

[Haydora]

The highest pick in Casablanca can reach 43°C the average max is around 30°C as well.
During summer hottest days inside car reach 50°C witch in my opinion is still within dashcam temperature range. I would say that the campany did carried deeply stress test process to master a key element in automotive industry. Moreover I guess that the cutoff phenomena is mainly due to internal semicon heating and dissipation efficiency , It's some way frustrating to discover safety weaknesses in some accessories manufacturing reliability.

 

[jokiin]

The highest pick in Casablanca can reach 43°C the average max is around 30°C as well.
During summer hottest days inside car reach 50°C witch in my opinion is still within dashcam temperature range. I

if the outside temps get to 43°C in summer it will reach into the 80's in the car at the top of the window if you're parked out in full sun

 

[HonestReview]

There shouldn't be any pre-production models around now, they were never supposed to be sold anyway, we had a test batch built to find problems and we found very few problems. A few people had an issue where the camera shut down one or more channels to protect itself from overheating. This was when testing in the heat around mid-summers day, and the cameras cooling has since been improved, so I don't expect any heat issues to remain while driving. Any 3 channel camera available currently may have heat issues if left recording in a parked car in hot sunny conditions and if you use parking mode in Casablanca then I won't be surprised if yours shuts down for a while over midday in the summer, but that is not really a fault, that is what it is supposed to do.


The first two are the same heat issue, the third doesn't seem like an issue to me! So that is really only 1 issue in the pre-production cameras which has been addressed.

How have the issues been addressed? Do you own a retail model to make that assertion?

This statement coming from the same person who told everyone here we're wrong and that heat isn't an issue. All because you live in the UK where does it nothing but get cloudy, rain, and never gets hot. And apparently 99% of the world revolves around the UK.

At least be upfront and truthful. If you don't know the answer, don't pretend and mislead. We simply don't know if the overheating was resolved. The fact Zenfox vanished after receiving our criticisms would suggest he didn't care enough to fix the problems.