Viofo A119 Video Review

[AndrewL]

The Viofo A119 is as great as I (and many others) were hoping. Great video quality, stealthiness, capacitors and warning notifications. I think this is the first time I don't have to give caveats when recommending a camera under $100.

Video Clips:

Dynamic Range Comparison
Here the OPIA2 does best followed by the A118 and A119. To note the A118 clip was taken on another day but the conditions were similar and I drove in the same lane. The Yi for some reason did quite poorly.


Download Raw Videos: A118 - A119 - OPIA2 - Yi Dash Cam

Night Comparison Under Brighter Lights
Yi loses out because of its wide angle. OPIA2 and A119 were about the same but t


Download Raw Videos: A119 - OPIA2 - Yi Dash Cam

Night Comparison Under Dimmer Lights
Here the Yi does better. I suspect the A119 has a longer shutter and causes the images to blur. The Yi also has a 2MP sensor and the larger pixels help at night. Hopefully Viofo will optimize the video in the future.


Download Raw Videos: A119 - OPIA2 - Yi Dash Cam

Want Other Raw Videos?
Let me know and I can try to find or produce the videos. I have a number of cameras I can compare it with.


Minor Gripes with the A119
Counterfeit 3M Tape - I suspect from the large amount of movement and the poor 3M packaging that Viofo did not use genuine 3M VHB. It's the first time I've seen the letters on the adhesive so poorly done.

Emergency Record - Only locks the current file and doesn't create a new file as many cameras will do. You can end up at the tail end of a video block and be frustrated as you won't capture what you wanted to see.

Screen Saver - The screensaver is really sluggish to wake from and it's difficult to enter the menu. If you use the 1-second option it's nearly impossible to do anything else.


Interested in Previewing My Reviews and Providing Feedback?
I want to create the best quality reviews so before I publish I'm looking for feedback. I would love to have people look over my work and change anything I may have rushed, overlooked or made a mistake on. Let me know!

Disclaimer
Received my A119 for free from Viofo. They had no input on this review. I'm sure many people here know them to be very ethical from their behaviour on this forum.

 

[bob keene]

Hi what's the purpose of the LED and where is the night vision? I just got mine and tough i would see the dark areas {at night time} clearly and can you say why the camera goes black when recording? the user manual doesn't say much, i need to known if everything works, if not i will be sending it back, this is for the A119. thank you.

 

[viofo]

For dashcam, normally we suggest keeping the screen off.
If you want to keep the screen on, please turn of the screen save option, you can change this in the menu, there is screen save option.
For LED, while the camera is recording, it will not blink, blink while no recording.

For night vision, the night video quality is mainly depends on the hardware like chipset, sensor, and lens.
Some cheap model use bright LED for night vision, but that does not help for night vision.

 

[AndrewL]

Hi what's the purpose of the LED and where is the night vision? I just got mine and tough i would see the dark areas {at night time} clearly and can you say why the camera goes black when recording? the user manual doesn't say much, i need to known if everything works, if not i will be sending it back, this is for the A119. thank you.

Hey Bob, as Viofo was saying the LED is just a notification light. It lets you know if it's working. Can you give me the timestamp where I said the camera goes black when recording? I don't remember saying that.

If it's referring to the screen going blank that's screensaver mode for the LCD display, not the camera as Viofo was stating. It helps you maintain your night vision.

 

[Mozzie]

I am wondering why there has been no proper review of the Shadow 1S. It seems to be on par with the A119 and the Shadow uses a Sony IMX322 sensor. They would be direct competitors on quality and price and would make a good comparison.

 

[jokiin]

Not sure if there has been a review, have seen some feedback and video samples and don't think it looked that great, the night vision feature looked like it needs more work, I don't feel the IMX322 works that well with the A7

 

[Mozzie]

Now that I have both cams, I have done a quick comparison. The A119 seems to have a slightly better picture and slightly narrow FOV. This is good, as the Shadow 1s had a bit too much windscreen. Both are mounted directly onto the windscreen on opposite sides of the mirror. The A119 (using 1440p) has a little better detail. Here are screen grabs from Registrator Viewer: