A229 Duo Test & Review PP

[runtohell121]

I'll confirm that the new Samsung Pro Endurance 256gb is working fine with the Viofo A229. Been using it for about two weeks and haven't had any issues. The other card I didn't have any issues with was the Sandisk 200gb Ultra A1.




Cards that I've tested and does not work well are listed below:

• Samsung Evo Select (green/white; used 256gb version)
• Samsung Evo Select (2021-blue; used 512gb version)
• Sandisk High Endurance (used 128gb version)

 

[Panzer Platform]

I'll confirm that the new Samsung Pro Endurance 256gb is working fine with the Viofo A229. Been using it for about two weeks and haven't had any issues. The other card I didn't have any issues with was the Sandisk 200gb Ultra A1.
View attachment 61204



Cards that I've tested and does not work well are listed below:

• Samsung Evo Select (green/white; used 256gb version)
• Samsung Evo Select (2021-blue; used 512gb version)
• Sandisk High Endurance (used 128gb version)

Right on,
I was wondering about the "NEW" Samsung Pro Endurance because it looks like the old version is being sold out / phased out on Amazon.
-Chuck

 

[Nigel]

Of course these heat measurements are almost meaningless, and direct sunlight testing is needed.
But, I was expecting the A229 to run just as hot as the A119 Mini.
The A229 does not have as many ventilation passages built into the case as the A119 Mini.
However the A229 front camera runs 15°F / 9°C cooler than the A119 Mini.
Maybe the A229’s physically larger case, and components allow it to dissipate heat better than the much smaller A119 Mini.
I think that’s neat.

The dashcams don't have an active cooling system, so can never get cooler than the surrounding air. All they can do is stay close to the surrounding air temperature. So measuring the difference to ambient is a good way to check its heat tolerance, there are other factors, but that is a very good guide. So you have A119 Mini at 32 degrees above ambient and the A229 front at 23 degrees above ambient? That is a big difference, considering heat loss increases exponentially with difference.

Yes, without any fans and with the cameras not tall enough to generate much internal convection, most of the heat is lost through the surface, some through radiation, the rest through conduction into the surrounding air, so surface area is very important. The Mini is sort of the wrong shape for large surface area, the A139 is a better design, although when the sun is shining directly on the camera, the A119 Mini is a good shape to avoid absorbing energy directly from sunlight and the A139 not so good!

Hopefully this is just a firmware/SDK issue that can get corrected at some point, because the SanDisk High Endurance cards have been solid with the older models and can be purchased for a decent price.

The Sandisk High Endurance is rated as V30, so it really should be adequate, if not then these rating systems are useless! Maybe it has a different memory layout to the others, which is what makes it high endurance, in which case the dashcam firmware can be adjusted to work.

The young lady's accent is devoid of any particular region of the country.
So she could be from anywhere.

Her name is Aria if that helps.

That's so funny because I watched a youtube video the other day how there are 20 different British accents in England.
Before I watched the video I was only aware of 3, or 4.
Like the working class ****ney, proper Queen's English Posh style, Michael Caine, and Ali G (Sasha Baron Cohen). lol

There are a lot more than 20 British accents! "over 300 languages are spoken in UK schools", we have about 13 native British languages in use, and then many of those have several dialects, and then we have accents on top of all those.

Not sure Ali G counts though, that is a fictional accent spoken by a fictional person, sounds nothing like Sasha's own accent!

 

[Dadi_T]

Correct. As far as I'm aware, those are the only two that do not like the SanDisk High Endurance cards. Those are the 2 newest models. I don't think they are an issue with the A139, not sure on the T130 yet. Hopefully this is just a firmware/SDK issue that can get corrected at some point, because the SanDisk High Endurance cards have been solid with the older models and can be purchased for a decent price.

Not working with my T130. It's working with A119S though.

 

[Panzer Platform]

There are a lot more than 20 British accents! "over 300 languages are spoken in UK schools", we have about 13 native British languages in use, and then many of those have several dialects, and then we have accents on top of all those.

Not sure Ali G counts though, that is a fictional accent spoken by a fictional person, sounds nothing like Sasha's own accent!

Wow, I had no idea there were so many.
I just noticed your location says Wales.
The only Welch accents I know are Anthony Hopkins, Tom Jones, Bullet Tooth Tony, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Burton.
Now I'm curious what your accent sounds like.
Can you upload a sound clip of your voice?
Maybe from the A229, or A139 using the external mic?
-Chuck

 

[Nigel]

Bullet Tooth Tony

Doesn't he have a London accent?

Anthony Hopkins, Tom Jones, Bullet Tooth Tony, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Burton.

A range of accents from all along the south coast of Wales.

Now I'm curious what your accent sounds like.

I'm from the west coast, where the language/dialect/accent is about as different to those South Wales accents as London English is to USA English, same goes for the genetics!

This is what I think of as the local language, dialect and accent:

The Welsh dialect of Ceredigion | Peoples Collection Wales

An example of the Welsh dialect of Ceredigion. Mrs Elizabeth Evans from Blaenpennal was born in 1900 and was recorded by St Fagans: National History Museum...

www.peoplescollection.wales

If Welsh can seem complex and beautiful, it’s because it’s spent 4,000 years evolving. What’s certain is that it’s Britain’s oldest language. From Indo-European and Brythonic origins, the Romans were the first to commit these words to paper, introducing elements of Latin still present today.
Historians see clues in the prose of the earliest Welsh poets, writing between the fifth and eighth centuries. They pinpoint Early Welsh, Breton and Cornish as being related.

 

[Panzer Platform]

A229 REAR Camera Experiment.
Looking back almost 2 years ago at my review of the A129 Plus Duo, 1 of my 4 “CONS” was the limited adjustability of both camera lens’. I said, “I wished the cameras could be adjusted to show the interior of the car to add further functionality”. Like for example to capture a potential traffic stop.

Well it looks like my dreams have come true with the A229 Duo “REAR” camera. C’mon baby, it’s only a matter of time before the front camera follows suit. Lol

Take a look at this test footage video. It looks like it will almost function as an interior camera at night as long as my interior dome light is illuminated. Of course I won’t be driving around like that, but I would definitely turn it on during a traffic stop to show what’s going on inside the car on camera.

I think I like this application so much I may keep it adjusted to the interior permanently, and use my A119 Mini as a dedicated rear camera. Yeah, maybe I will do that for added redundancy like @kamkar says. Lol
-Chuck

 

[Panzer Platform]

A229 Audio Volume Test.
It appears the A229 has some good audio volume.
Especially when compared to the A119 Mini.
Here's a test video comparing both.

 

[rcg530]

The A229 Duo's audio volume has been good every time I've checked it. The A119 Mini's audio volume has always been too low. The V1.0_20220621 version for the A119 Mini was to have "optimized the audio volume", but it didn't. For my test, I set my car's radio volume to level 10 and I then examined the audio db levels in the video files from each camera.

About a week ago, I was sent a test A119 Mini firmware to test and the A119 Mini's audio volume did increase, but it's still way too low. The audio from the V1.0_20220621 firmware was in the -51db to -57db range while the A229 Duo's audio volume was in the -19db to -27db range. The A119 Mini test firmware increased the audio volume to the -36db to -45db range which is an improvement, but not even close to the A229 Duo's audio volume.

 

[Lothar]

Correct. As far as I'm aware, those are the only two that do not like the SanDisk High Endurance cards. Those are the 2 newest models. I don't think they are an issue with the A139, not sure on the T130 yet. Hopefully this is just a firmware/SDK issue that can get corrected at some point, because the SanDisk High Endurance cards have been solid with the older models and can be purchased for a decent price.

There is only 1 bad report I know of concerning the A139 and that card, but it is from a very experienced user and an official Viofo tester here so I also cannot discount his problem or attribute it to "user" error given how experienced he is.

Sandisk High Endurance - Viofo A139 Help

I have an Sandisk A2 Extreme 256GB in my A129 Duo that has never had issue. I also had a Sandisk High Endurance 256GB in the Zenfox I used and it failed (Developed Bad Sectors) after a very short time in use..I was mailed out a replacement Sandisk High Endurance. I go out to my car today and...

dashcamtalk.com

It seemed to work fine for some other people here though in the A139...
I can also vouch that it works fine in my Street Guardian SG9667DC2K without any issues, and I'm sure that they have tested it with all their products since that is the specific card that they bundle with all their products.


Lothar's musings:
For the longest time, Samsung never had a 256GB PRO Endurance card..only 128GB maximum, so SanDisk was the only option for many of us that had a 2K 2Ch dashcam and record at the maximum bit-rate setting possible.
Samsung finally now has a 256GB Pro endurance card which they released in April earlier this year, and it is also selling at a decent price from Amazon. This changes the dynamics (in the US at least, can't speak about other parts of the world as price/availability issues may persist).

	256GB SanDisk High Endurance	256GB Samsung PRO Endurance	256GB SanDisk MAX Endurance
Read speed	100MB/s	100MB/s	100MB/s
Write speed	40MB/s	40MB/s	40MB/s
Rated hours of video	Up to 20,000 hours	Up to 140,150 hours	Up to 120,000 hours
Warranty	2 years	5 years	15 years
"True" Warranty	20,000 hours or 2 years...Whichever happens 1st.	140,150 hours or 5 years...Whichever happens 1st.	120,000 hours or 15 years..Whichever happens 1st.
Price on Amazon (shipped & sold by Amazon.com)	$34.99	$37.99	$56.49

Based on this table, I would not even consider the SanDisk "High" Endurance model today as long as the Samsung PRO Endurance is readily within the same price range since that is clearly a better rated card for only $3 more which is nothing.

Looking at the specs alone, I would put the Samsung PRO Endurance either equal to the SanDisk MAX Endurance, or maybe just slightly below in quality. It seems better than the SanDisk High Endurance model for sure.
Given how little the difference is between the Samsung PRO Endurance and SanDisk MAX Endurance, I question the utility of paying an extra $20 (which is almost a 50% price increase) for the latter given the diminishing returns...
When it was just SanDisk High Endurance vs MAX Endurance at the 256GB level, paying $20 for a much better card was easy to justify as you are getting at least 6x the performance (whether you decide to use the "rated hours of video recording" metric or "years of warranty" actuary tables as calculated by their engineers/financial/insurance analysts). Now the difference between the Samsung PRO Endurance and SanDisk MAX Endurance is not as clear...

 

[Panzer Platform]

A229 Duo - External Microphone Demo

Ever since I first saw the optional external microphone on the A139 I thought that was pretty neat.
Here is a short demo using the Viofo External Mic with the A229.

 

[Nigel]

A229 Duo - External Microphone Demo

Nice demo.

I don't think it is designed for holding to your mouth, more to catch the rear seat passengers for taxi use and cops at the window, so it should be mounted around your car interior light cluster, or above the front seat headrests. The important thing is to keep it away from the windshield glass which tends to transmit quite a lot of road and wind noise into the internal microphone, or any other hard mounting that might transmit noise from the car body.

Seemed to work quite nicely when clipped to the sun visor.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Right on Nigel,
I had no idea it would sound so terrible so close to my mouth.
I'm glad I found that out. lol

And, yes I think the center of the headliner would be an ideal, equal distance for all occupants, or law officers outside a window.
This thing appears to be really sensitive.
I think ALL dash cams should have an external mic output now. lol
-Chuck

 

[Panzer Platform]

Here’s my first night time test footage of the A229 Duo.
Check out the clouds in the moonless sky illuminated by ambient ground lighting.
Is that due to the sensitivity of the Sony STARVIS image sensor?

Camera Settings:
2K30fps (2560 x 1440)
Bitrate: Maximum
WDR: OFF
CPL Filter: OFF
Moon Phase: Waxing Crescent 3.9%
Microphone: Internal
Test Vehicle: 2004 Ford Crown Victoria, (all original window glass, no tint)

 

[Panzer Platform]

Here’s my first daytime test footage of the A229 Duo.

Camera Settings:
Firmware "0623"
2K30fps (2560 x 1440)
Bitrate: Maximum
WDR: OFF
CPL Filter: ON Front Only
Microphone: Internal
Test Vehicle: 2004 Ford Crown Victoria, (all original window glass, no tint)

-

 

[gse]

Here’s my first daytime test footage of the A229 Duo.

Good evening.
I would advise you to set the correct horizon for the front camera 50% sky 50% road, exposure compensation will work more correctly, at the moment you have 70/30

 

[Panzer Platform]

Good evening.
I would advise you to set the correct horizon for the front camera 50% sky 50% road, exposure compensation will work more correctly, at the moment you have 70/30

Right on GSE,
Thanks for the tip.
-Chuck

 

[Panzer Platform]

So I was just thinking a bit this morning about the differences between the A129 Plus Duo, and the A229 Duo.
Given the two are almost comparable on paper.
Here's some of the main differences & similarities off the top of my head.
What else is there?
(this topic was stolen from Vortex Radar lol).

A129 Plus Duo ($160)

Mama Bear Size
Sony STARVIS IMX335 5MP (front)
Sony STARVIS IMX307 2MP (rear)
2K60fps (2560 x 1440) Front
1080p 30fps Rear
IR (second cam available)
Novatek 96670 (front)
??? (rear processor)
FOV: 140° Front / 160° Rear
Front Camera Adjustment: 90°
Rear Camera Adjustment: 90°
LCD Screen: 2.0”
4 Pin GPS Mount
Max SD Card Size: 256GB
Release Date: Sep 2020
Dual Band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz / 5GHz
Bluetooth Remote
CPL Filter: Square Type (A119 / A129)
CPL Filter available for rear cam
Beep Notifications
Power Cable: USB Mini
Rear Camera Cable: USB Mini?
No External Microphone

----------------------------------------------------------

A229 Duo ($220)

Papa Bear Size
Sony STARVIS IMX335 5MP (front)
Sony STARVIS IMX335 5MP (rear)
2K30fps (2560 x 1440) Front
2K30fps (2560 x 1440) Rear
No IR cam available yet
Novatek 96580 (front only)
No processor for rear cam
FOV: 140° Front / 160° Rear
Front Camera Adjustment: 90°
Rear Camera Adjustment: 360°
LCD Screen: 2.4”
5 Pin GPS Mount
Max SD Card Size: 256GB
Release Date: June 2022
Dual Band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz / 5GHz
Next Gen 5GHz Wi-Fi
Bluetooth Remote
CPL Filter: Round Type (A139 / T130)
No CPL Filter available (rear cam)
Voice Notifications
Power Cable: USB Type-C
Rear Cable: Super Slim Coaxial
External Microphone (optional)

 

[Nigel]

(this topic was stolen from Vortex Radar lol).

I was about to say!

Rear Camera Cable: USB Mini?

Yes, 10 pin version, so not compatible with many, but then it doesn't carry the normal Mini USB signals anyway.

Dual Band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz / 5GHz

Does the A129 Plus have 5GHz Wi-Fi? I thought it doesn't, although mine has!

 

[Panzer Platform]

Does the A129 Plus have 5GHz Wi-Fi? I thought it doesn't, although mine has!

I have two A129 Plus units, and they both have Dual Band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz / 5GHz.