70mai S500 Rear View Dash Camera Testing/Review - RCG

[rcg530]

• Image sensor: SmartSens SC200AI
• HDR
• FOV 138° / F 2.2
• IPX7 water protection

You can get the firmware update 1.0.23ww in the 70mai international app.

I updated the info in my post just before you posted your info.

I have tried to locate a version of the 70mai app that will allow an update to the S500, but both the iOS and Android 70mai apps that I can download to my devices will not show any available update for my S500. I've asked my 70mai rep to see if they can provide the steps (that I haven't already tried) to get my S500 firmware updated.

 

[rcg530]

I've had three issues with the 70mai S500 rearview dash camera. I've made some progress on those issues.

• Unable to upgrade firmware beyond initial 1.1.17ww
  • I provided screenshots to 70mai showing that their iOS and Android 70mai apps do not present an option to obtain any firmware updates for the S500.
  • This morning, I received an email from 70mai stating that 70mai updated something on their end and that I should be able to see/install firmware 1.1.23ww.
  • I just finished the firmware update steps to install firmware 1.1.23ww.
  • 
• Random loss of stored configuration (goes through initial setup at power up)
  • The S500 has lost its stored configuration at least three times since it was installed in my vehicle.
  • During its power up phase, it will enter into the "new product" setup screens (language, time, etc).
    • When I arrive home and park my vehicle
      • I long press the power button to have the S500 power down.
      • I remove the memory card to bulk copy any video files from that day's drive.
      • I reinstall the memory card.
    • The next time I drive the vehicle, the S500 will sometimes power up going through its initial setup screens.
      • One annoying result of this is the Wi-Fi password is changed causing me to have to reconfigure the saved Wi-Fi info on my iOS / Android devices for the S500.
  • I've provided diagnostic logs to 70mai so they can review for any clues.
• Screen on/off status changed when changing gears (park-to-drive / drive-to-park)
  • Passing through the reverse gear position will cause the reverse screen to appear.
  • After passing through the reverse gear position, the screen remains on even though the screen was off before passing through reverse gear.
    • I agree that turning on the screen while in the reverse gear position is fine.
    • When exiting reverse gear, the screen state should be restored to the state it was before entering reverse.
      • If the screen was off before entering reverse, the screen should be switched off when it exits reverse.
        • IMO, there's no reason the driver should have to use a voice command or press a button to turn off the screen if it was off before passing through the reverse gear position.
  • I'll check this behavior now that firmware 1.1.23ww is installed.

 

[rcg530]

Here are frame grabs from the four dash cameras in one of my vehicles (70mai S500, BlackVue DR970X-2CH Box Plus, BlackVue DR970X Plus, VIOFO A229 Plus). They show a Tesla Cybertruck as it drove past my vehicle. The 70mai S500 frame grab (2592x1944) using the MPC-BE video player was too large for this website, so I had to scale it down a bit to load it.

 

[rcg530]

Here are two 1-minute daytime sample video files from the S500 front and rear cameras with firmware 1.1.23ww installed.

 

[rcg530]

Yesterday, I received an aftermarket 70mai D07/S500 mounting bracket. It arrived one week earlier than the AliExpress predicted date of 16-Apr-2024. I have mounting bracket option "#1" for this unit which connects to the most common metal windshield mounting plate. I found the metal swivel ball socket of the aftermarket bracket was VERY tight. It was so tight, I feared it might pass more force than the windshield mounting plate could withstand (removing it from the glass) when adjusting the S500 mirror position. I inserted a plastic handled nut driver into the center hole of the bracket's swivel ball socket end that mounts to the windshield's metal plate and exercised it a bit. That helped loosen up the metal ball socket a bit which made it require slightly less effort to adjust the S500 when installed using this bracket.



To install this aftermarket bracket, you must expose four screws on the backside of the S500 case which are located under two rubber pads that are attached with adhesive strips. I removed the rubber pads and removed as much of the adhesive residue that I could. I used the foam padding from the S500 box to make sure I didn't scratch the front mirror glass of the S500.



I attached the metal bracket from the mounting kit to the S500 case using the kit provided screws.



I used the kit provided screws to mount the windshield bracket from the kit to the metal plate.



I used a T20 torx screwdriver to remove the center rear view mirror from my car. I installed the S500 with the new mounting bracket on the windshield mounting plate in the car using a phillips screwdriver to tighten the mouting screw.

If found that this aftermarket bracket greatly reduces the amount of visible vibration in the recorded video from the front camera. It reduces the amount of visible vibration in the mirror image from a 10 out 10 to a 2 out of 10. The NVH (noise, vibration, harness) generated by my vehicle is usually very little. The weight of the S500 hanging off the end of this new mounting bracket is just enough to still get some slight vibration in the viewable image in the mirror reflection. I could notice it the most when looking at the rear window's defroster grid lines. I can see a very small mount of up/down vibration in those lines while driving. I'll have to see how noticable this amount of movement is when driving at night.

 

[rcg530]

Today, I gathered some new daytime and nighttime footage from the S500 and a VIOFO A229 Plus so I can compare them to each other since they both have a Sony STARVIS 2 IMX675 image sensor in the front camera. I wanted to make sure the S500 footage was with its latest firmware v1.1.23ww installed. During the daytime, the S500 looks okay. Nighttime S500 footage has a lot of light flares and ghosting. The footage from the A229 Plus looks much better. The S500 lens makes the objects in front my car look much farther away.

Nighttime screenshots from both - both dash cameras have HDR enabled:





Daytime screenshots from both - S500 has HDR enabled all of the time and the A229 Plus had HDR turned off via the HDR Timer feature:

The S500 screenshot has a blue spot on the upper right corner because that is from the windshield's internal blue tint band at the top of the window glass. It dips down a bit around the center rear view mirror mount point which makes it visible to the S500 since the vertical field of view is very tall (2592x1944) and the S500 is mounted on the windshield's rear view mirror mount point using a third party mounting bracket.