Blackvue DR450-1CH Review

[USDashCamera]

Blackvue's new cheap entry level cam. No wifi, optional GPS, no bright blue LED ring like the 3500, same great parking mode, but same o'le blackvue quality video (which is to say its ok, good enough video, but not above average IMHO):

Pros:

• Same great Blackvue form factor if you like all black stealthy cameras
• Great parking mode with buffered motion/g shock detection
• Affordable relative to blackvue's other offerings
• Very simple design to use in parking mode with a dash cam battery. If you wanted to use the Power Magic Battery you could plug that into your 12v socket, and the camera into the 12v output socket on the battery and viola you have blackvue's great parking mode without having to hardwire into a fuse box. I personally would recommend hard wiring anyways for a cleaner install but some people might not want to (or might not want to pay someone to if they don't feel comfortable doing it themselves).
• The 1080p30 video looks smoother than previous cameras
• Still has the audio alerts (I am so use to blackvue cameras now I forgot to even mention this in the video I think) so when the camera starts up a voice says "Blackvue for your safe driving, starting normal recording" and when you switch to parking mode it will tell you that, when it shuts off it tells you that, when the memory card needs formatting it will tell you that and so on.
• You can turn off the speed indicator and LED recording lights.

Cons

• No WiFi or iOS/Android app support (you must change settings by using the memory card on a PC or Mac with the software provided on the card when you format it in the camera) so it isn't the most convenient camera to change settings when you want to.
• No built in GPS (optional purchase)
• lower bitrate just around 9.8 Mbps
• dark night quality, you'll want to bump the brightness up if you do a lot of night driving.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

You are not retailer ?

No, he is an active enthusiast and reviewer of many different products.

 

[russ331]

Looks like a good choice for those seeking an affordable dashcam with pre-buffered motion sensing parking mode. Except that the cheaper Thinkware F50 also has this feature, plus inbuilt voltage protection & timer & thermal protection.

 

[USDashCamera]

Looks like a good choice for those seeking an affordable dashcam with pre-buffered motion sensing parking mode. Except that the cheaper Thinkware F50 also has this feature, plus inbuilt voltage protection & timer & thermal protection.

yea I did see the thinkware one, i like that thinkware has the built in voltage protection. but I will admit, I hate the design with that clear mounting bracket. I wish it had a more F770 style.

I actually use the F770 as my main cam now finally after over 2 years dethroning my blackvue dr650. but one thing I don't like about it is to use it with the cellink battery b it still needs to use the ground/batt/acc wires. I have been testing it in my house, and there is no way to add a switch so i could have it just turn on through ACC, and only use the cellink when I want it to. if you use the hardwire cable, the ACC cable does not get enough power for the camera to stay on based on my testing. So the only option is always use the timer. I am sure there is some fancy with maybe multiple relays to figure it out but it doesn't seem like it to me. If the batt cord gets power it only uses parking mode. if i try connecting just the ground and the ACC cable (even to the cellink) it turns on but off immediately.

so in terms of parking mode, its hard to say which I like better. built in voltage protection and timer is awesome, but not being able to just use g sensor auto parking mode like blackvue is disappointing for how I wanted my set up to work with a switch.

edit: don't blackvues all have thermal protection? manual doesn't say but i know the 430 model claims it has high temperature cut off. my 650 cams always shut off when i was parked in the sun for 12+ hours and it got too hot, and always turned back on just fine (although a few times I had to let them cool off before they would start back up because they were still so hot from baking in the 80 degree sun for 12 hours).