Looking for first dash cam - must have great night vision

Privatejoker

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I'm going to ask my wife for a dash cam for Christmas, so I'm probably looking for something around the $100 mark. It's got to have great night vision because I drive to work at night. I need it to be 12v powered, I don't want to mess with batteries. I'd prefer to have audio and the ability to turn on and record if it sees motion. No LCD screens. Which units should I be considering?
 
You forgot to mention your budget.
 

Sorry, via mobile phone didnt see all text.
 
I have just got the Mini 0801 I have watched moanteck on youtube and his review was good.
 
GT680W would be my best choice ( video quality vs form-factor ).
Can you explain your 12v request, not to mess with batteries?
Most mid-price range are 5v ( 12v to 5v via cigarette lighter charger ). Only very few high-end are direct 12-24v and without batteries, instead they have capacitors.
 
Cigarette lighter or fuse panel would be fine, I just don't want to deal with changing replaceable/rechargeable batteries. It looks like all the options mentioned have an LCD on the back, I really don't need that. I use my phone as my navigator, is there any real benefit to the GPS? The mini 0801 looks a bit smaller, which is a definite plus. I'm just searching through amazon, but I don't see any mention of motion activation on these. Is that feature out of my price range?
 
For how long you want motion detection working, 1, 2h, overnight?
 
Dashcams which have built in battery are not recommended to keep plugged into constant live power supply for long period ( overnight parking with motion detection option ). Time goes by and there are many issues can accure: built in battery gets weaker resulting in not saving last files, overheating issue ( explosion ) etc. Also cheaper dashcams does not go into parking / motion detection mode automayically, every time you need to click 5-7 clicks via menu begore getting to that option.
Also they can drain your car battery not having voltage cut off.
Sadly within your budget there are no dash cams meeting requests your named.
"Cheapest" good one that can meet your request starts from 180usd and up.
 
Think about the Mobius if you don't want a screen. Motion detection is planned for future FW updates, but not yet available.
Night vision is okay, not great but passable. It might improve with future FW.
 
Think about the Mobius if you don't want a screen. Motion detection is planned for future FW updates, but not yet available.
Night vision is okay, not great but passable. It might improve with future FW.

Mobius will be only good for long therm motion detection use if based on capacitors, like isoprop and Mtz did, but this is specific DIY job and also require special firmware. If Mobius will have such a model in mass-production ,then I also support that choice. Till then because of built in battery, - it is not recommended.
 
I would assume all these units use some sort of power supply or transformer to feed their batteries the proper voltage. If I just yank the battery and have it plugged into 12v constant, wouldn't that solve the battery overheating/exploding issues? Niko, which $180 dollar one were you thinking of?
 
I would assume all these units use some sort of power supply or transformer to feed their batteries the proper voltage. If I just yank the battery and have it plugged into 12v constant, wouldn't that solve the battery overheating/exploding issues? Niko, which $180 dollar one were you thinking of?

Panorama II ( check forum front page / comparison page and powerucc thread ), - is the cheapest premium range good night / day video dash cam with capacitors and it has THE most sensitive motion detection I ever experienced. Some users complain that it maybe too sensitive, but better to be more than less sensitive.
For you it has everything ( exept price you planned earlier ), - quick micr on / off, good night vision, high performance etc.
The only thing is that for motion detection activation you still need to go into menu, its about 4 steps.
Those high-end dash cams based on capacitors which have automatic parking mode for motion detection ( without need to push any buttons ), - they cost much more.

If you are not in a hurry to buy, then I recommend you to wait few month, - there will be a new generation range of dash cams based on Ambarella A7 CPU.
 
We both know that capacitors are almost ready for the Mobius.
 
We both know that capacitors are almost ready for the Mobius.

Thats I have wrote "if he is not in a hurry" , to wait for A7 solution, or lets say as you said "almost" ready mobius capacitors ( never know what kind of bugs it will have and how long it will take to illiminate them ).
Choice is to buy from now available ones or to wait.
 
I'm fine with waiting. When's this next gen coming out?
 
I'm fine with waiting. When's this next gen coming out?

The Ambarella A7 based dashcams are already our there but they are only in the early stage. Probably 2 month when we see more stable ones.
 
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