A139 - 3 channel dashcam - early impressions/review

[Jeremy Wong]

Rumor has it being a beta tester / product tester is much better!

Keep trying. You'll get there someday

 

[Nigel]

Keep trying. You'll get there someday

Given his name, maybe he should wait for the production versions, then secretly purchase one through the normal channels to make sure he doesn't get an "enhanced" version with precision lens etc. ?

 

[jokiin]

Given his name, maybe he should wait for the production versions, then secretly purchase one through the normal channels to make sure he doesn't get an "enhanced" version with precision lens etc. ?

not sure spending money was part of the plan though

 

[Harsh]

Given his name, maybe he should wait for the production versions, then secretly purchase one through the normal channels to make sure he doesn't get an "enhanced" version with precision lens etc. ?

Is that a thing with Viofo?

 

[Nigel]

Is that a thing with Viofo?

No, typically it is the opposite, early units often have inferior components and can be built by relatively inexperienced people without the normal test facilities, so can have poor focus! Production units seem to be remarkably good on lens focus/quality.

 

[SawMaster]

I see A139 is using the thinner coaxial cables. Can they bend easily and run around corners as the old cables?

Based only on my radio experience with similar-sized coaxial cables, I would recommend a minimum 5" (13 cm) bend radius. Pinching and sharper bends needs to be avoided with coax cabling but this shouldn't be a problem with most installs as long as you're aware of it The upside is that coax should be much better with avoiding the occasional EMI problems we've seen with other cams and there should be less chance of data loss or corruption from longer cable runs that with other wiring types.

Phil

 

[HonestReview]

Given his name, maybe he should wait for the production versions, then secretly purchase one through the normal channels to make sure he doesn't get an "enhanced" version with precision lens etc. ?

I can't imagine a company like Viofo is going to cut corners on their promotional products. There's no incentive to send out units that have inferior parts and will result in negative reviews. I don't see it happening, but I could be wrong.

If anything, you'd give the beta testers the best hardware to garner rave reviews, and cut corners at production.

Still don't see either of these scenarios as likely with Viofo.

 

[kamkar]

Well i have gotten a system, which a few weeks later i had to put another lens in ( sent to me )
That was the mini 0906
A system i also managed to "destroy" pretty fast for the first time, otherwise test samples seem to last fine for me.
With the joovuu X cam my 2 pre production cameras almost also lasted as long as the production sample, though the very first one as i recall was not covered by later firmware upgrades as something had changed inside it.
Even if the mini 0906 died suddenly on me, right up until then it was working well and i was fairly happy about its footage.

My very first SG camera the SG9665GC V1 i also had to adjust the focus on after a little while, but then it also worked fine and it is still working though it is now a backup camera for my friend that run the SG9665GC V3

 

[SawMaster]

The cams testers get can be hand-assembled pre-production units, or can be 'first batch' units from a production line test run. The factory doesn't know if their component and assembly choices are optimized at this point, and these cams can have problems not found in the ones built afterward. Quality of these can vary considerably since the designs aren't meant for building by hand, but are intended to be built machines which can do the work with far more precision and consistency than humans can do.

Our beta-test cams are probably not as good as the later ones going to market, and they're certainly not going to be any better than those. There's not going to be any 'select' cams given out at this stage because there are hardly any cams to choose those from yet. Where one might become suspicious is when cams that are already being sold are given out for review instead of beta-testing, but that's not the case here.

Phil

 

[Nigel]

The cams testers get can be hand-assembled pre-production units, or can be 'first batch' units from a production line test run.

Early units can be 3D printed, never been near a factory!

Not the case with this batch, but you don't sign up for beta testing if you want perfection, the main aim is to find and report the imperfections so that they can be sorted before production.

 

[HonestReview]

Early units can be 3D printed, never been near a factory!

Not the case with this batch, but you don't sign up for beta testing if you want perfection, the main aim is to find and report the imperfections so that they can be sorted before production.

I surmise lesser brands cut corners...We've seen this already. Where known brands like Viofo and Street Guardian have a reputation to uphold and the financing to have things done right. So I would be shocked if these beta cams are not close to or exactly the same as a production model.

 

[Paul Iddon]

Here is a selection of clips showing the front and rear with the interior insert (sorry I'm in them!)...

Paul.

 

[joe384]

That is a true flip, what you wanted is a 180 degree rotate.

Yes, that is what I meant - on the B1W it seemed to know it's orientation automatically, on my 0906 I think it had a 180 degree rotate. With my A129 Duo I believe the connector for the rear camera was on top, so I never had the need to rotate that.

 

[SawMaster]

I'll have to check the function again but "reverse image" is a menu choice for the remote cams. Given that those can rotate 360 degrees it will either require that you mount the units to work within the menu choice parameters or to have firmware added to allow for both mirroring and flipping. Not a big issue unless you did like me and mounted the unit before checking the view orientation but you do get extra sticky pads so that can be rectified

Phil

 

[Paul Iddon]

Night time example.

 

[Paul Iddon]

Just confirming the sensor in the A139 from Novatek is the NTK96687.

Paul.

 

[richx]

Just confirming the sensor in the A139 from Novatek is the NTK96687.

Paul.

Did you teardown the unit? Or saw it somewhere else? I'd love to gawk at interior build photos!

 

[Paul Iddon]

Did you teardown the unit? Or saw it somewhere else? I'd love to gawk at interior build photos!

No - from information received as part of the review process.

Paul.

 

[richx]

Thanks. Not that it matters as Novatek don't seem to like to make their spec sheets publicly available, or am I just looking at the wrong places?

 

[Paul Iddon]

Thanks. Not that it matters as Novatek don't seem to like to make their spec sheets publicly available, or am I just looking at the wrong places?

It wasn't publicly available.

Research was required through channels

Paul.