SPL15
Member
Ignore below. A139 pro has proven faulty where basic functionality is not reliable. Strongly recommend purchasing Thinkware or Blackview instead.
Ordered on March 13th direct from Viofo, received today in Michigan USA from China on March 21st via USPS. Not bad at all for free shipping!
So far, pretty happy w/ build quality & craftsmanship considering the fairly competitive price. Coax cable connectors feel a bit delicate due to their micro-size, but overall not very concerned with durability. Main unit feels solidly constructed, rear camera feels perfectly adequate, cabling is good quality. Heat output is noticeable / present by touch, but not concerning IMO. We’ll see how things go this summer.
Image quality is as expected based on other people’s reviews & commentary. Plate numbers in most lighting conditions are perfectly legible, several orders of magnitude better than a $50 junk dashcam I borrowed 5 years ago. There are instances where it struggles w/ plate numbers, but so would any $300 - $600 consumer photography camera with a 1/1.8 sensor & commodity priced lens. The A139 Pro would probably actually do better due to the fancy Starvis 2 image sensor.
Installation of front & rear cameras, as well as hardwire cable was pretty easy in my BMW F15 X5 Diesel. I routed the cabling down thru the floorboards using the vehicle’s main wiring harness channel that goes from the front passenger floorboard to the tailgate / rear hatch, the same way BMW instructs to route their retrofit “Advanced Car Eye” Dashcam package (which isn’t very good for the $500 it costs). I used the BMW dashcam’s wiring harness components to connect the Viofo HK3-C cable directly to the car’s factory wiring harness & fuse box, using the factory fuse locations for the BMW Dashcam. Simple job, no surprises.
If your car has a factory Dashcam option, I’d highly recommend using the manufacturer’s kit / components to retrofit your aftermarket dashcam’s hardwire cable directly into the fuse box: No fuse taps or any other weirdness that would suggest aftermarket equipment, looks & functions 100% stock, zero chance of fuse taps jostling loose, factory fuse location is even correctly labeled for it on the fuse diagram / placard.
Still playing w/ different settings, but have things pretty nailed down. The only setting I’m confused on is what the “WiFi Station Configuration” is supposed to do, as there’s nothing describing what this is for in the user manual. I set it to my home’s outdoor access point that’s located near the garage, but it doesn’t appear to connect. Would be REALLY cool if this setting allows connection to my home’s network, or a mobile hotspot Wifi network, where I can connect my phone to the Dashcam via a network connection instead of manually connecting directly to the Dashcam.
My only gripe right now is there’s an annoyingly long time that you need to hold the WiFi button down for it to toggle WiFi on/off. It’s the main function of that button, it really should be instant without a need to press & hold. Small gripe, that’s it, which is pretty impressive.
Overall, happy w/ the purchase & with the price. I’ve worked as an electronics engineer & test engineer in consumer products, commercial products, as well as automotive industries for companies that just about everyone in the world has owned, used, or has heard of; I’m rarely ever this content & complaint free with any piece of tech I buy.
Here’s a sample image I grabbed tonight
So far, pretty happy w/ build quality & craftsmanship considering the fairly competitive price. Coax cable connectors feel a bit delicate due to their micro-size, but overall not very concerned with durability. Main unit feels solidly constructed, rear camera feels perfectly adequate, cabling is good quality. Heat output is noticeable / present by touch, but not concerning IMO. We’ll see how things go this summer.
Image quality is as expected based on other people’s reviews & commentary. Plate numbers in most lighting conditions are perfectly legible, several orders of magnitude better than a $50 junk dashcam I borrowed 5 years ago. There are instances where it struggles w/ plate numbers, but so would any $300 - $600 consumer photography camera with a 1/1.8 sensor & commodity priced lens. The A139 Pro would probably actually do better due to the fancy Starvis 2 image sensor.
Installation of front & rear cameras, as well as hardwire cable was pretty easy in my BMW F15 X5 Diesel. I routed the cabling down thru the floorboards using the vehicle’s main wiring harness channel that goes from the front passenger floorboard to the tailgate / rear hatch, the same way BMW instructs to route their retrofit “Advanced Car Eye” Dashcam package (which isn’t very good for the $500 it costs). I used the BMW dashcam’s wiring harness components to connect the Viofo HK3-C cable directly to the car’s factory wiring harness & fuse box, using the factory fuse locations for the BMW Dashcam. Simple job, no surprises.
If your car has a factory Dashcam option, I’d highly recommend using the manufacturer’s kit / components to retrofit your aftermarket dashcam’s hardwire cable directly into the fuse box: No fuse taps or any other weirdness that would suggest aftermarket equipment, looks & functions 100% stock, zero chance of fuse taps jostling loose, factory fuse location is even correctly labeled for it on the fuse diagram / placard.
Still playing w/ different settings, but have things pretty nailed down. The only setting I’m confused on is what the “WiFi Station Configuration” is supposed to do, as there’s nothing describing what this is for in the user manual. I set it to my home’s outdoor access point that’s located near the garage, but it doesn’t appear to connect. Would be REALLY cool if this setting allows connection to my home’s network, or a mobile hotspot Wifi network, where I can connect my phone to the Dashcam via a network connection instead of manually connecting directly to the Dashcam.
My only gripe right now is there’s an annoyingly long time that you need to hold the WiFi button down for it to toggle WiFi on/off. It’s the main function of that button, it really should be instant without a need to press & hold. Small gripe, that’s it, which is pretty impressive.
Overall, happy w/ the purchase & with the price. I’ve worked as an electronics engineer & test engineer in consumer products, commercial products, as well as automotive industries for companies that just about everyone in the world has owned, used, or has heard of; I’m rarely ever this content & complaint free with any piece of tech I buy.
Here’s a sample image I grabbed tonight
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