Viofo A329S Review

SafeDriveSolutions said:
Vehicles are changing. We have tried educating on here and on our YouTube videos. Unless you work on thousands of different vehicles every year you would not notice how vehicles are changing. Up until 3 years ago i assumed all car batteries were still standard 12.6 volts means fully charged when off, and 13.8 to 14.4 while vehicle is running means the alternator is charging the battery back up to normal. But vehicles co ntinue to change. We have seen new Hyundai and Kia vehicles where the car battery is sitting at 14.2 volts with ignition off and 14.2 volts with ignition on. This is why we call Vantrue and some other dash cameras battery killers because they do not have proper cut off timers to limit the wear and tear on a vehicle car battery. With a 3 hour timer you can at least limit the wear and tear and most normal driving behaviour will allow you to replenish that car battery.
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Companies make products for the masses, not the exceptions. According to Wikipedia, 24% of Europeans, 13% of Canadians, and 9.5% of Americans elected to purchase Electric Vehicles (Market Share) in 2023. To put it another way 91.5% of Americans, 87% of Canadians, and 76% of Europeans DID NOT purchase Electric vehicles in 2023.

Even more telling, these cars represent a MINUTE PERCENTAGE of cars utilized within countries as a whole. Norway and Sweden represent the largest share at 29% and 11%. All other countries have less than 10% of vehicles on the road being electric.

Dashcam companies have little incentive to invest in the Research and Design of OBDII or Hardwire Products geared towards electric vehicles.

The best answer is use a Battery Pack given the variances in Voltage Settings unsuitable for electric vehicles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car_use_by_country

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Vortex Radar said:
I like the idea of the 2x2 grid for comparing front and rear together like that.

Do you prefer having HDR on in the daytime?
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Yes we do prefer to have HDR on.

But to unpack that and explain it in more detail here are a few reasons why

1. Auto HDR when using this feature turns the dash camera off and it reboots taking 14 to 18 seconds. Being unprotected while driving for 14 to 18 seconds seems like a safety risk.
2. While there may be some benefits in running HDR turned off during the day I find it to be very little.
3. I would prefer to not have customers having to change it depending on the season. Customers want it to be easy and want it to work.

I know not everyone will agree with this but its what we have decided.

Approx 1 year ago I was driving around at night believe it or not with HDR turned off and I got no license plates with an incident where some teens were trying to bait me into a traffic accident at night. No accident occured but still the fact I missed out on critical data at night did not sit well with me. So I prefer it to be on day and night.

If sopmeone wants to manually change it on or off and put in that work. That would be good. Or even look at using the bluetooth button to toggle that would make the best sense. But most customers want to install it and drive. They just want it to record while driving
 
SafeDriveSolutions said:
Yes we do prefer to have HDR on.

But to unpack that and explain it in more detail here are a few reasons why

1. Auto HDR when using this feature turns the dash camera off and it reboots taking 14 to 18 seconds. Being unprotected while driving for 14 to 18 seconds seems like a safety risk.
2. While there may be some benefits in running HDR turned off during the day I find it to be very little.
3. I would prefer to not have customers having to change it depending on the season. Customers want it to be easy and want it to work.

I know not everyone will agree with this but its what we have decided.

Approx 1 year ago I was driving around at night believe it or not with HDR turned off and I got no license plates with an incident where some teens were trying to bait me into a traffic accident at night. No accident occured but still the fact I missed out on critical data at night did not sit well with me. So I prefer it to be on day and night.

If sopmeone wants to manually change it on or off and put in that work. That would be good. Or even look at using the bluetooth button to toggle that would make the best sense. But most customers want to install it and drive. They just want it to record while driving
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That makes sense. It is a PITA to have to be manually changing the AutoHDR times throughout the year, especially for those of us at higher latitudes where sunrise and sunset times can vary quite a bit.

The fact that you still miss footage in AutoHDR mode when it enables or disables HDR is an issue that definitely need to be addressed.
 
Deeteee said:
Does anyone know if the A329S has better heat tolerance than the A229 Pro?
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From everything I've been reading/watching the past couple of weeks or so, that seems to be the case...Whether it's 100% proof, remains to be seen – still early days since release and hasn't really gone through any real world tests in seriously hotter climates yet, something I'm hoping to test out myself...

S

Thread 'A329S – How’s it going in the heat?'

Has anyone read any reviews or, better still, have any experience with the A329S and how it performs in hot summer conditions…? I’m talking like late 30° to early 40’s – i.e a nice mild Perth summer..! 🥵

I’ve been set on getting the BV 970 Plus Box edition, for a number of reasons – neat & secure install and heat resistance being main ones….But I’m having a last minute wobble on the BlackVue’s – they haven’t (yet/if) released their v2 firmware for the Box model, so still no HDR, plus reports of the current 970 models with HDR implemented seem to be somewhat negative…..

There’s some...
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Well i guess it is time to make a video. i have procrastinated too long on this.
The Viofo A329S is available in 10 options

Time for my thoughts on this dash camera and to finally produce a video showing all the Pros and Cons of this product.

a329s options.webp
 
I've had it installed for a couple of weeks (329s and rear). Rather impressed. Exported frames are crystal. Slightly annoyed to get 60fps (nowhere on website (UK) could I find mention of this) you need to disable HDR, but then then I'm not filming spaghetti western.

However, give you a headline feature but at the sacrifice of an old headline feature 🙄.

Strangely today I did have the camera not recognised the HK6 cable so hybrid parking wasn't available. Unplug usb c and reconnect all good.
 
SafeDriveSolutions said:
Well i guess it is time to make a video. i have procrastinated too long on this.
The Viofo A329S is available in 10 options

Time for my thoughts on this dash camera and to finally produce a video showing all the Pros and Cons of this product.

View attachment 85798
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What I always emphasize in my recommendations is that not limiting users and allowing them to choose the camera they want, or rather, need, and use it with the same main camera will improve usability.

The A329s series currently appears quite functional, and its design eliminates both variety and limitations.

I have different expectations for usability in the future. Time will tell.
 
ogzogz said:
What I always emphasize in my recommendations is that not limiting users and allowing them to choose the camera they want, or rather, need, and use it with the same main camera will improve usability.

The A329s series currently appears quite functional, and its design eliminates both variety and limitations.

I have different expectations for usability in the future. Time will tell.
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Its not so much recommendations. I use to put out the videos right after launch but then I was more worried about stability and reliability then getting views on launch. Some people may not like that approach but I would prefer to just make sure it is working as it should.
 
SafeDriveSolutions said:
Its not so much recommendations. I use to put out the videos right after launch but then I was more worried about stability and reliability then getting views on launch. Some people may not like that approach but I would prefer to just make sure it is working as it should.
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@SafeDriveSolutions you can all but guarantee every electronic device has software bugs, stability issues or security flaws upon release. Why do you think so many electronics get firmware updates and/or security patches? Manufacturers aren't going to sit on a huge investment to hammer out every glitch in a lab setting. Technology literally has a ticking clock of obsolescence upon release. The company itself and/or a competitor is immediately working on the next project that outperforms and outdoes the previous one.

Therefore, companies often release products before they're ready for "prime time" figuring the masses of consumers will moan and give feedback on any problems encountered. Ultimately, Videos highlighting stability and reliability are generally irrelevant unless it's a serious and uncorrectable design flaw (camera overheats prematurely, hardware is failing and camera is dying prematurely, and/or whatever product / issue, etc. Otherwise, I look for a company's reliability and track record on resolving issues rather than for hunting down the elusive product that performs perfectly out the gate.
 
jsmith said:
@SafeDriveSolutions you can all but guarantee every electronic device has software bugs, stability issues or security flaws upon release. Why do you think so many electronics get firmware updates and/or security patches? Manufacturers aren't going to sit on a huge investment to hammer out every glitch in a lab setting. Technology literally has a ticking clock of obsolescence upon release. The company itself and/or a competitor is immediately working on the next project that outperforms and outdoes the previous one.

Therefore, companies often release products before they're ready for "prime time" figuring the masses of consumers will moan and give feedback on any problems encountered. Ultimately, Videos highlighting stability and reliability are generally irrelevant unless it's a serious and uncorrectable design flaw (camera overheats prematurely, hardware is failing and camera is dying prematurely, and/or whatever product / issue, etc. Otherwise, I look for a company's reliability and track record on resolving issues rather than for hunting down the elusive product that performs perfectly out the gate.
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I agree with you that connected devices such as mobile phones and laptops receive frequent bug fixes and security patches alongside feature updates.

Viofo dashcams are not connected devices, and the company does not offer OTA firmware updates. I suspect the majority of Viofo customers will only ever use the firmware that is installed when the dashcam is delivered. Therefore I believe that out of the box reliability is important.
 
TonyM said:
I agree with you that connected devices such as mobile phones and laptops receive frequent bug fixes and security patches alongside feature updates.

Viofo dashcams are not connected devices, and the company does not offer OTA firmware updates. I suspect the majority of Viofo customers will only ever use the firmware that is installed when the dashcam is delivered. Therefore I believe that out of the box reliability is important.
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Firmware development is decidedly more complicated than it was 15 years ago, so whether a device is connected or not, it's very difficult to get everything right out of the box. There will be things that public users will find that a limited number of dashcam company employees won't be able to find or account for. This is just the nature of things these days - sure, we can get things mostly stable but it's just too hard.

What is important is that a company like @jsmith said, will do their best to resolve the issues when they surface and are reported on. And listen to feedback and do their best to continuously improve their products.
 
TonyM said:
I agree with you that connected devices such as mobile phones and laptops receive frequent bug fixes and security patches alongside feature updates.

Viofo dashcams are not connected devices, and the company does not offer OTA firmware updates. I suspect the majority of Viofo customers will only ever use the firmware that is installed when the dashcam is delivered. Therefore I believe that out of the box reliability is important.
Click to expand...

I believe the A139 Pro (newest Viofo I own) had bugs / software right out the gate that required subsequent firmware patches. I trusted that Viofo would fix the issues once made aware of the problems, and my predictions proved correct. Thus, Viofo must listen to consumers.

For clarity sake, imagine you spent £ 2,000,000 on R&D for what will be the current greatest and latest product to be released. Do you risk delaying the product to find every bug, or accept such a task in a lab setting would postpone launch by many months? Remember, it's a race not a sprint to recoup money spent, especially on technology. I am reading the Viofo A329 threads out of curiosity, even though I wasn't invited as a reviewer, and I've seen people point out issues needing resolved. Also, check out @Vueroid 's thread and you'll find similar stories. The common denominated is these companies care.

The same could be said for Vantrue. I've submitted a TON of feedback and Vantrue get's their engineers right on the problem.

Ultimately, a product is generaly only as good as its customer service.
 
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