A119 Mini - Review / Testing

[Karagandinez]

Here are screenshots from the A119_Mini parking lot. 390 minute videos without failures.

 

[rcg530]

The Google Play store appears to have the updated VIOFO app v3.2.5 which appears to have the fixes in it for the A119 Mini firmware settings screens.

 

[ogzogz]

The Google Play store appears to have the updated VIOFO app v3.2.5 which appears to have the fixes in it for the A119 Mini firmware settings screens.

View attachment 60800

Resolution order does not match with a119 mini and camera freezes if fhd is selected via app

 

[rcg530]

Resolution order does not match with a119 mini and camera freezes if fhd is selected via app

Version 3.2.3 of the Android VIOFO app definitely was out of sync with the A119 Mini firmware menu options.

The 3.2.5 version of the Android VIOFO app appears to be in sync with the A119 Mini firmware menu options.

Here's the A119 Mini firmware video resolution options (over three screens) and the v3.2.5 VIOFO app video resolution options for the A119 Mini. They are in sync.



Android VIOFO v3.2.5 app options (collected from multiple screen shots):

 

[ogzogz]

Version 3.2.3 of the Android VIOFO app definitely was out of sync with the A119 Mini firmware menu options.

The 3.2.5 version of the Android VIOFO app appears to be in sync with the A119 Mini firmware menu options.

Here's the A119 Mini firmware video resolution options (over three screens) and the v3.2.5 VIOFO app video resolution options for the A119 Mini. They are in sync.

View attachment 60801

Android VIOFO v3.2.5 app options (collected from multiple screen shots):

View attachment 60802

When I select 2560x1600 30fps, 2560x1440 60fps recording starts. if I select 1920x1080 30 fps camera freezes.

 

[rcg530]

When I select 2560x1600 30fps, 2560x1440 60fps recording starts. if I select 1920x1080 30 fps camera freezes.

I just completed a test using v3.2.5 of the Android VIOFO app and V1.0.20220519 A119 Mini firmware.

I used the VIOFO app to change the video resolution from 2560x1440 60fps to 1920x1080 30fps twice. After making the resolution selection in the app it would state "Setting success" on the lower/center of the app. I then exited back to the main app screen and clicked on the record button and the recording started successfully whether I was going from 2560x1440 60fps to 1920x1080 30fps or from 1920x1080 30fps to 2560x1440 60fps. The A119 Mini screen showed the correct resolution value in the upper right corner for each video resolution selected.

It's working okay with my A119 Mini.

 

[ogzogz]

I just completed a test using v3.2.5 of the Android VIOFO app and V1.0.20220519 A119 Mini firmware.

I used the VIOFO app to change the video resolution from 2560x1440 60fps to 1920x1080 30fps twice. After making the resolution selection in the app it would state "Setting success" on the lower/center of the app. I then exited back to the main app screen and clicked on the record button and the recording started successfully whether I was going from 2560x1440 60fps to 1920x1080 30fps or from 1920x1080 30fps to 2560x1440 60fps. The A119 Mini screen showed the correct resolution value in the upper right corner for each video resolution selected.

It's working okay with my A119 Mini.

In my example, it may be because the software is old.

 

[rcg530]

My pre-production A119 Mini’s heat and/or rebooting problems are continuing to occur. I purchased another new VIOFO 128GB MLC Industrial microSD card, checked it for errors using h2testw program and formatted with a FAT32 file system. I also purchased another HK4 hardwire kit to use with the A119 Mini. I wanted to make sure HK4 and microSD I used with the A119 Mini during the previous rebooting incident were not the root cause. Since the rebooting occurs with the first and second HK4 and microSD cards, I believe I can eliminate them from the problem.

During my 17-Jun-2022 test, I had the A119 Mini configured for 2560x1440 @ 60fps with a video bitrate of Medium. About three minutes into parking mode session #2 during my weekly shopping trip, the A119 Mini started rebooting (likely it was attempting to power down due to heat?).

The temperature outside was 64F/17C. When I returned to my car and found the A119 Mini rebooting, the passenger compartment temp was 95F/35C. The A119 Mini temps were quite high. The A119 Mini GPS mount was 150F/65C, A119 Mini case by "VIOFO" label on top of screen 152F/67C and at the bottom of the A119 Mini case (below buttons) 125F/52C. The A119 Mini was mounted on the rear window of the vehicle which is AS2 window glass which lets in slightly less light than a front AS1 window glass windshield.

I was only at stop number two of my weekly shopping trip route when the A119 Mini became unhappy / overheated(?).

Normal Mode 1: 09:33:50 => 09:53:13
Parking Mode 1: 09:53:17 => 10:04:43
Normal Mode 2: 10:04:47 => 10:23:52
Parking Mode 2: 10:23:56 => 10:25:24 (rebooting started)

I returned to my car around 10:48 to find the A119 Mini rebooting and that’s when I used my IR thermometer to record the temps noted above. The A229 Duo had a temp reading of 155F/68C (at the top) and 125F/52C at the bottom of the front camera. The A229 Duo and T130 that were also in this car were operating with no problems during the entire trip.

I've reported my findings to VIOFO.

 

[kamkar]

Yes could be the camera, testing the Zenfox T3, many of us took it apart, only to find a quite creative put together cooling solution, though even if some of us thought we mended it problems kept coming.
I am thinking about moving the mini to the hard wire kit, that is when summer like weather arrive here in Denmark.

 

[Panzer Platform]

I've been "heat testing" my A119 Mini in my garage on the workbench.
When ambient temp is 90F, the camera is 143F.
I've been running the camera in normal recording for 16 hours a day since I got it.
I've been checking the recorded files, and they're always there with no malfunctions.
I haven't tested in direct sunlight light yet.
I'd like to build a "beat the heat oven" like BlackboxMyCar so I can control the ambient temp with a heat gun so I can check just how hot I can get the camera before it shuts off, or malfunctions.
But I don't want to sacrifice the little guy. lol
-Chuck

 

[Nigel]

When ambient temp is 90F, the camera is 143F.

For the rest of the world: "When ambient temp is 32°C, the camera is 62°C".

A smaller case = a higher case surface temperature for the same heat output.

So the Mini should have a warmer surface temperature to the standard A119, but that doesn't mean that it overheats sooner, that is hard to know, since the standard A119 never overheats, and so far the Mini hasn't been overheating either!

The northern hemisphere mid-summer is approaching fast, now is the time to test in-car heat performance...

 

[Karagandinez]

Today I was in the parking lot near the mall. The air temperature outside was +34 degrees Celsius. I don't know how hot the interior of the car is. During the stay, Mini recorded 61 video files of one minute each. There were no failures.
After parking, Mini started recording normally and recorded 70 more video files of one minute each.

The same thing happened with the A229.

 

[Dashmellow]

Several years ago I installed a small digital thermometer on my dashboard. As a dash cam user it's been useful to see what the temperature is inside my vehicle's cab when I return to it after leaving it parked.

 

[Karagandinez]

But I still can not deign to install a thermometer in the car.
Without it, it’s not so scary to get into the car in the heat.

 

[Dashmellow]

But I still can not deign to install a thermometer in the car.
Without it, it’s not so scary to get into the car in the heat.

The vehicle I drive is a dark "Midnight Blue", so it's like a solar oven. It's scary to get into on a sunny hot day even without the thermometer!

 

[Kremmen]

Considering cars with climate control read the interior temp to make decisions about which vents, recirc or not, fan speed, etc, but none display the interior temp.

Maybe they are embarrassed about how ineffective modern car aircon is to try and satisfy the mpg comparison tables.

In my last 4 cars since 2007, whatever temp I set in the summer, usually 21C, it stops cooling due to the fan reducing to a trickle at about 5C higher than set. My cars before 2007, whatever temp you selected, it got very close.

Winter heating, no problem, gets to what you set.

 

[Nigel]

In my last 4 cars since 2007, whatever temp I set in the summer, usually 21C, it stops cooling due to the fan reducing to a trickle at about 5C higher than set. My cars before 2007, whatever temp you selected, it got very close.

With global warming, your old cars would no longer succeed either!

UK automotive air conditioners have always been rather low powered, I assume mainly to reduce costs, since there is no point fitting a high power unit when it will be used mainly for demisting windows.

 

[Karagandinez]

Considering cars with climate control read the interior temp to make decisions about which vents, recirc or not, fan speed, etc, but none display the interior temp.

It was about the temperature of the air inside a muffled car in the parking lot.

 

[rcg530]

I reported to VIOFO how the A119 Mini's status line text would shift to the right when the GPS logged speed value went from one digit to two digits. I asked if they would consider updating the printf/sprintf format string being used to have a fixed number of spaces used for the speed value to avoid the left/right shifting. Having the text shifting left/right is (IMO) annoying and totally avoidable in the firmware.

The 20220621 firmware for the A119 Mini did have an update to the font size making the text much smaller and its starting position was shifted by many spaces to the right. The one/two digit speed value issue is still present. I'll follow up with VIOFO on that issue.

The first two lines in this screen shot are from 20220519 firmware and the last two lines are from the 20220621 firmware:



Here's how the A229 Duo presents the status line text (with no left/right shifting of the text based on the current speed):

 

[Panzer Platform]

Right on Robert,
I noticed this too when I updated to 20220621, (text got smaller, and shifted) but I failed to report it because I think I've been emailing them too much asking for silly features like temp sensor info in the text overlay, louder audio volume, and "GPS Connected" voice notification. lol

But now looking at the A229 side by side. WOW, what a difference!
The A119 text looks small, blurry, and scattered.
I hope they can fix the A119 to look like the A229.
-Chuck