Viofo A119 Mini - Single channel 2K mini dashcam with Wi-Fi

[inspire]

Hi, I recently got an A119 mini (had an A119S for years). I intend to use it to do continuous recording on a holiday, so I test drove it this weekend.
at 1080p60 it generated about 9 2+Gb files. Only 4 of those ended up readable.
Tried various video players, dashcam viewer (which could extract the GPS data, but not show any video) and the Viofo app.

Found a MP4 repair tool (expensive, so only used trial mode) which showed that all header info was missing (codec, fps info, duration, etc). By giving the tool one of the 4 working videos as an example it recovered everything without problems (losing gps metadata). So the A119 mini wrote correct video data, but failed to add the headers. So that seems less of a bitrate / write speed issue.

Any idea what could cause that or how I could fix that?

I was using a Sandisk 32Gb high endurance sdcard by the way.

The cam is on the same 20220519 firmware like any other production version.

This happened to me too during my first test 2 hour drive, I have not driven my car since then to see if the issue went away. I am also using a SanDisk 256GB Extreme microSDXC, curious if the microSD card is the culprit? Seems like some reason the recording files are getting corrupted.

I was using the highest resolution, 10 minute loop recording.

On side note, I never got to try but, try and play the video directly on the Dashcam. If you turn it on, then put it on standby mode (clicking the recording off), then click on the caution button, it should bring you to all the videos. See if you can play it through there and then your computer

 

[Webalistic]

So after trying with different resolutions, it seems there is a problem with continuous recording. I now found that only if I manually end a recording on the mini or in the app, it will write headers. For continuous recording the recording is split up in 2.15GB files (FAT32 file size limit IIRC) then all the files recorded, except the last one manually stopped (or by shutting down the car) are unreadable due to missing headers.

Perhaps a bug in the mini recordingsplittererthingamajig, or the file size is maxxed and no additional bits can be written to it. No idea.

But for now it will mean the A119 mini is going to be useless for recording my scenic drive. So that sucks... Back to the A119S I guess.

 

[Webalistic]

As for the suggestion about playing the files in the camera. indeed, if I open the defective files, then after a looong pauze, a thumbnail appears. But it won't play beyond 16 seconds, after which it goes berserk. So this step probably actually corrupted it. (whereas the tool I found could fix the whole recording).

 

[runtohell121]

As for the suggestion about playing the files in the camera. indeed, if I open the defective files, then after a looong pauze, a thumbnail appears. But it won't play beyond 16 seconds, after which it goes berserk. So this step probably actually corrupted it. (whereas the tool I found could fix the whole recording).

My guess is that the Sandisk High Endurance card isn't working well with the Viofo A119 mini. Have you tried other cards if you have extras? Was your dash cam sound turned on so that you would have heard the "beeping" sound, noting the unit stopped recording and manually have to start recording again?

I've been trying different cards on the Viofo A229 and I'm coming to a conclusion that the following cards are no good for the Viofo A229, which could potentially apply to the Viofo A119 Mini, but more testing is needed...

• Sandisk High Endurance (128gb)
• Samsung Evo Select (256gb, green/white)
• Samsung Evo Select (512gb, blue)

Currently using a Sandisk Ultra 200gb for the past two days and haven't had any issues yet.

 

[Kremmen]

SDCards are a nightmare to get right because of the different NAND technologies, SLC and MLC

Then you have some that migrate MLC to TLC and that apparently causes high failure rates.

On top of that you have Planar NAND and 3D-NAND.

Just to confuse things further you have 2D-FG and 3D-FG

Confused, you will be....... https://www.atpinc.com/blog/sd-card-classes-speed-applications

 

[Nigel]

For continuous recording the recording is split up in 2.15GB files

You should not use continuous recording.

Use Loop Recording, preferably with 3 minute segments.
If you want a continuous video for movie making, just concatenate all the segments in your video editor.

 

[Webalistic]

That looks like quite a hassle for 2 weeks worth of recordings. Also, how do I know the cam isn't deleting the first recordings on the card? Because I don't. Tried it, and lost the beginning of some drives that way.
This worked fine on my A119S and the Sandisk cards, so I assumed it would work just fine on the mini. Apparently i wasted my money.
Now the hunt for a usb-c to usb mini-b adapter starts as I'm not going to take my whole dashboard apart again to replace the power cable.

 

[viofo]

So after trying with different resolutions, it seems there is a problem with continuous recording. I now found that only if I manually end a recording on the mini or in the app, it will write headers. For continuous recording the recording is split up in 2.15GB files (FAT32 file size limit IIRC) then all the files recorded, except the last one manually stopped (or by shutting down the car) are unreadable due to missing headers.

Perhaps a bug in the mini recordingsplittererthingamajig, or the file size is maxxed and no additional bits can be written to it. No idea.

But for now it will mean the A119 mini is going to be useless for recording my scenic drive. So that sucks... Back to the A119S I guess.

It seems it is a firmware bug, we are working on it.

 

[mat06]

Tested, and I can't wake the parking timer expired A139 up by knocking it, or even taking it off its mount and shaking it. It only responds to its power button or the ACC signal.

So that is another advantage of the new cameras

Does it still work in the Mini after the latest update?

 

[rcg530]

Does it still work in the Mini after the latest update?

No. Yesterday, I completed my power consumption testing with a production A119 Mini and the V1.0 20220621 firmware. As part of that testing, I checked to see if using the parking recording duration timer simply powers down the dash camera or allows it to be awakened by an impact after the timer expires. After the parking recording duration timer expires, the A119 Mini (and the A229 Duo) simply power down. The power consumption level drops to the same level as if you used the <PWR> button to power down the dash camera. I tested all three parking modes with the parking recording duration timer and they all behave the same.

 

[mat06]

No. Yesterday, I completed my power consumption testing with a production A119 Mini and the V1.0 20220621 firmware. As part of that testing, I checked to see if using the parking recording duration timer simply powers down the dash camera or allows it to be awakened by an impact after the timer expires. After the parking recording duration timer expires, the A119 Mini (and the A229 Duo) simply power down. The power consumption level drops to the same level as if you used the <PWR> button to power down the dash camera. I tested all three parking modes with the parking recording duration timer and they all behave the same.

So it seems that it was a bug, not a feature. It's a pity.

 

[Karagandinez]

So it seems that it was a bug, not a feature. It's a shame.

Did Viofo officially promise this function, which is mentioned by rcg530?

 

[gse]

It's a shame.

Only those who do nothing do not make mistakes.

 

[rcg530]

Did Viofo officially promise this function, which is mentioned by rcg530?

When I originally was reviewing the A229 Duo, @Nigel stated that there was a super low power consumption mode that the A229 Duo would enter after the parking recording duration timer expired that allowed the "newer dash cameras" to run in parking mode for weeks but still awaken when an impact took place. Here the first post in Nigel's thread where he states such a feature exists: Viofo A229 - Dual channel 2K+2K dashcam with Wi-Fi

I tested Nigel's claim of this feature existing and found that feature was not present in the A229 Duo dash camera. My testing also found that no such feature was present in the A119 Mini dash camera. When the parking recording duration timer expires, the dash camera simply powers down just as if you had long pressed the <PWR> button to power down the dash camera. I added three rows in my power consumption testing charts to run a test to verify this feature does not currently exist for any of the three supported parking modes.

 

[mat06]

Only those who do nothing do not make mistakes.

You misunderstood me. I don't blame Viofo, I just think it would be nice to have this feature. Maybe I should use "it's a pity" instead

 

[Karagandinez]

When I originally was reviewing the A229 Duo, @Nigel stated that there was a super low power consumption mode that the A229 Duo would enter after the parking recording duration timer expired that allowed the "newer dash cameras" to run in parking mode for weeks but still awaken when an impact took place. Here the first post in Nigel's thread where he states such a feature exists: Viofo A229 - Dual channel 2K+2K dashcam with Wi-Fi

I tested Nigel's claim of this feature existing and found that feature was not present in the A229 Duo dash camera. My testing also found that no such feature was present in the A119 Mini dash camera. When the parking recording duration timer expires, the dash camera simply powers down just as if you had long pressed the <PWR> button to power down the dash camera. I added three rows in my power consumption testing charts to run a test to verify this feature does not currently exist for any of the three supported parking modes.

I saw these posts and asked a question to Viofo's rep:

"For some reason this feature doesn't work for me. Firmware on my copy: V1.0.20220519
Is it supposed to be like this or is it a problem with my instance?"

Here is the response of the Viofo representative:

"We haven't implemented this feature yet, it is possible to support."

 

[Cristianson]

Viofo’s “mini” vs true mini
Just a size comparison…

 

[kamkar]

hehe yesh it is mini as per Viofo sizes, not globally mini.

You could also argue that the Garmin camera are a micro dashcam.

 

[Dashmellow]

Viofo A229 Duo = large (L)

Viofo original A119 V3 = medium (M)

Viofo - new A119 V3 wifi = small (S)

Garmin = extra small (XS)

 

[Mtz]

Viofo’s “mini” vs true mini
Just a size comparison…

If Viofo will have another 1CH dashcam without screen you can make the comparison again. And not forget to compare also the specifications and the hardware used by both cameras.
Latest 1CH Viofo without screen was the WR1, launched 5 years ago and was Full HD like the actual 2022 Garmin Mini 2. And not forget that WR1 had a Sony CMOS and Garmin have an unknown CMOS. Again, Sony CMOS in 2017-2018.