VIOFO A329S - Testing/Review - RCG

[Nigel]

Means update the firmware THEN factory reset everything.
Put everything back to default settings

And there is an option in the set up menu and app to do the reset.

 

[Vortex Radar]

Go first to Parking Mode > Vehicle Battery Protection > Cut-off Time > Parking Recording Timer > 30 Minutes (for example)
and then you should have acces to this:

View attachment 79948

Thanks for this. I just tried it, but I'm still not seeing the hybrid parking recording option anywhere. It just shows me all the normal parking recording options as if the cut-off timer was set to off. I tried with both the shipping fw, 1.0_20250510 I believe, and after upgrading to 1.0_20250527 from their website.

 

[rcg530]

Thanks for this. I just tried it, but I'm still not seeing the hybrid parking recording option anywhere. It just shows me all the normal parking recording options as if the cut-off timer was set to off. I tried with both the shipping fw, 1.0_20250510 I believe, and after upgrading to 1.0_20250527 from their website.

I just ran a test. If I power the A329S using the CLA power adapter / cable as supplied in the box, it will only show the original/traditional parking modes. When I power the A329S using a HK4, it will show the new/additional parking modes as options.

 

[PykeOPATHIC]

I just ran a test. If I power the A329S using the CLA power adapter / cable as supplied in the box, it will only show the original/traditional parking modes. When I power the A329S using a HK4, it will show the new/additional parking modes as options.

Same with the HK3-C .

 

[Vortex Radar]

I just ran a test. If I power the A329S using the CLA power adapter / cable as supplied in the box, it will only show the original/traditional parking modes. When I power the A329S using a HK4, it will show the new/additional parking modes as options.

Thank you! Just switched over to the HK4 and that did the trick. Now it works fine. 🙂

 

[Mtz]

I just ran a test. If I power the A329S using the CLA power adapter / cable as supplied in the box, it will only show the original/traditional parking modes. When I power the A329S using a HK4, it will show the new/additional parking modes as options.

I consider it is normal to not show the Parking Mode options when using the cigarette lighter adapter.

 

[Nigel]

I consider it is normal to not show the Parking Mode options when using the cigarette lighter adapter.

What about if I want to use a USB-C powerbank for parking?

 

[Dan-UK1415]

What about if I want to use a USB-C powerbank for parking?

You use the HK4 or HK6 hardwire kit connected to the power bank.

I've just set up my A329T with HK4 hardwire kit to a BlackVue B-130X power bank.

I get the hybrid parking mode options and it auto goes into parking mode when I turn ignition off, as the powerbank stops charging from the vehicle is is discharge only, which the hardwire kit recognises.

Before that I was connecting it to the powerbank using the cigarette lighter port option on the powerbank.



Or do you mean a pocket/portable general USB-C port powerbank?

 

[Nigel]

Or do you mean a pocket/portable general USB-C port powerbank?

Yes, that is what I meant, although most of those will automatically turn off when the camera goes into low power mode anyway, so the new parking modes won't work anyway!

Before that I was connecting it to the powerbank using the cigarette lighter port option on the powerbank.

I don't see a problem with requiring a hardwire kit for a 12V dashcam powerbank, it is good for the camera to get the parking mode signal from the hardwire kit.

But there are people who have cars without a 12V lighter socket, who use USB power instead, and previous Viofo dashcams plugged into USB sockets, like the A229, will go into parking mode after 5 minutes of no movement, It seems that those people will be denied the new parking modes, even though they could work... I think...

 

[Dan-UK1415]

Yes, that is what I meant, although most of those will automatically turn off when the camera goes into low power mode anyway, so the new parking modes won't work anyway!


I don't see a problem with requiring a hardwire kit for a 12V dashcam powerbank, it is good for the camera to get the parking mode signal from the hardwire kit.

But there are people who have cars without a 12V lighter socket, who use USB power instead, and previous Viofo dashcams plugged into USB sockets, like the A229, will go into parking mode after 5 minutes of no movement, It seems that those people will be denied the new parking modes, even though they could work... I think...

The A329S/T does have a USB-C power cable that can be plugged into the car's USB port.
The included cigarette lighter has 2 USB-C ports (dashcam and spare).

Viofo did announce previously announce that the new parking mode features require the hardware kit to get the options (announced prior to release).

 

[Link]

But there are people who have cars without a 12V lighter socket, who use USB power instead, and previous Viofo dashcams plugged into USB sockets, like the A229, will go into parking mode after 5 minutes of no movement, It seems that those people will be denied the new parking modes, even though they could work... I think...

I used to power both of my A229 Pros with standard power stations (288Wh LiFePO4 batteries) for extended use of buffered parking mode without affecting the car's 12V battery. It worked well most of the time with the occasional glitch where it would take ~30min to switch to parking mode after a drive or when it would only start normal recording a few minutes into a drive (resulting in many 45s parking videos with overlapping footage).

I think it's a very useful option to have because, well, options are always great, but dedicated dashcam batteries are very expensive.
I understand HK6 is required for the new advanced parking modes, but hopefully, the A329S/T still has this basic functionality.

 

[Nigel]

I used to power both of my A229 Pros with standard power stations (288Wh LiFePO4 batteries) for extended use of buffered parking mode without affecting the car's 12V battery. It worked well most of the time with the occasional glitch where it would take ~30min to switch to parking mode after a drive or when it would only start normal recording a few minutes into a drive (resulting in many 45s parking videos with overlapping footage).

I think it's a very useful option to have because, well, options are always great, but dedicated dashcam batteries are very expensive.
I understand HK6 is required for the new advanced parking modes, but hopefully, the A329S/T still has this basic functionality.

Yes, the new A329 will give you the same functionality as you were using with the A229.

I can understand it not switching the hybrid parking mode to low power mode on voltage, because there is no way to get the voltage of your USB-C connected battery, but it could do it on time, so maybe give 3 hours of low bitrate followed by 3 weeks of impact detection from your 288Wh battery. You would probably choose to use the traditional continuous low bitrate until out of power, but for people using a phone charger battery that is only going to last 20 hours on low bitrate, when they want it to last all weekend, the time based switch would be very useful.

A phone charger would turn the power off when the camera switches to impact detection though, so not many people are going to be able to use that hybrid mode, but some people are going to want it...

 

[Mtz]

What about if I want to use a USB-C powerbank for parking?

I know what you want to say but for Viofo is more safe to offer the parking mode by using a hardwire kit. When the OBD charger will be available, parking mode will be possible by using the provided USB cable, but I expect that cable to be a little different compared to normal USB cables to allow Cut-Off time.
With portable power banks you can still use parking mode, like you said above, but you will not have HPM.

I understand HK6 is required for the new advanced parking modes, but hopefully, the A329S/T still has this basic functionality.

I don't expect new advanced parking modes with HK6 compared to HK4 or HK5. You still have the voltage cut on the HK4 so you can set the voltage cut directly on the hardwire kit instead of chosing it in the Viofo App. Displaying the car battery voltage over the video with HK6 is not a feature for parking mode even it can help debugging the parking mode function.

 

[PykeOPATHIC]

I know what you want to say but for Viofo is more safe to offer the parking mode by using a hardwire kit. When the OBD charger will be available, parking mode will be possible by using the provided USB cable, but I expect that cable to be a little different compared to normal USB cables to allow Cut-Off time.
With portable power banks you can still use parking mode, like you said above, but you will not have HPM.

I don't expect new advanced parking modes with HK6 compared to HK4 or HK5. You still have the voltage cut on the HK4 so you can set the voltage cut directly on the hardwire kit instead of chosing it in the Viofo App. Displaying the car battery voltage over the video with HK6 is not a feature for parking mode even it can help debugging the parking mode function.

I'm thinking twice about getting the HK6. First, I might not need the ability to set the voltage cut off since I already have a battery pack, which means it can power up the dashcam until it dies.

Second is, the ability to set the cut off voltage might be the only difference it has from the HK4/HK3-C.

 

[Nigel]

I'm thinking twice about getting the HK6. First, I might not need the ability to set the voltage cut off since I already have a battery pack, which means it can power up the dashcam until it dies.

Second is, the ability to set the cut off voltage might be the only difference it has from the HK4/HK3-C.

The HK6 means that when your battery pack is down to 10%, you can switch to Low Power Impact Detection and have your car protected for a further week, instead of it running out of power after 2 more hours and leaving you with zero protection. That seems a function worth having to me!

 

[Mtz]

The HK6 is cutting the voltage at 11.8V. So if you will use a battery pack with a Viofo hardwire kit, the voltage cut will be at the same value.

 

[PykeOPATHIC]

Where do you save your parking files, on the Micro SD Card or the SSD? How's the power consumption if you save it on the SSD?

 

[rcg530]

Where do you save your parking files, on the Micro SD Card or the SSD? How's the power consumption if you save it on the SSD?

I posted all of that power consumption info [microSD vs SSD] in this post:

Post in thread 'VIOFO A329S - Testing/Review - RCG'

Jun 5, 2025

During my testing of the A329S 3-Channel prototype dash camera, I performed a series of parking mode power consumption tests. Recently, I asked VIOFO is there was any parking mode that would have a significant change in its power consumption based on the firmware version or the production hardwire. VIOFO stated there should be no notable differences in the parking mode power consumption with the production firmware / hardware.

The power consumption data was gathered using a Fluke 117 multimeter measuring the amp draw with 12.6 volts being provided to the input power wires of a VIOFO HK4...

• rcg530

• 

 

[PykeOPATHIC]

I posted all of that power consumption info [microSD vs SSD] in this post:

Post in thread 'VIOFO A329S - Testing/Review - RCG'

Jun 5, 2025

During my testing of the A329S 3-Channel prototype dash camera, I performed a series of parking mode power consumption tests. Recently, I asked VIOFO is there was any parking mode that would have a significant change in its power consumption based on the firmware version or the production hardwire. VIOFO stated there should be no notable differences in the parking mode power consumption with the production firmware / hardware.

The power consumption data was gathered using a Fluke 117 multimeter measuring the amp draw with 12.6 volts being provided to the input power wires of a VIOFO HK4...

• rcg530

• 

Thank you

 

[PykeOPATHIC]

Thank you

I posted all of that power consumption info [microSD vs SSD] in this post:

Post in thread 'VIOFO A329S - Testing/Review - RCG'

Jun 5, 2025

During my testing of the A329S 3-Channel prototype dash camera, I performed a series of parking mode power consumption tests. Recently, I asked VIOFO is there was any parking mode that would have a significant change in its power consumption based on the firmware version or the production hardwire. VIOFO stated there should be no notable differences in the parking mode power consumption with the production firmware / hardware.

The power consumption data was gathered using a Fluke 117 multimeter measuring the amp draw with 12.6 volts being provided to the input power wires of a VIOFO HK4...

• rcg530

• 

Thanks for this. For a while I thought AED consumes the most power because of the sensor that always has to be on so it can trigger the recording. But it shows in your chart that Low Bitrate Recording consumes more power than AED.