Pro:
1. larger storage capability, maybe up to 2TB
2. I consider that SSD connection was requested by some professional trucks, but I expect 90% of the SSD dashcams to be bought by people who want parking mode. (Buying a SSD dashcam with much storage capacity for Parking mode will make people ask Viofo for a power bank. I asked too more than 2 years ago, but still nothing from Viofo. Regarding Viofo power bank I made a special request to make a switch which will allow the car battery to be used after the power bank is depleted and dashcam to record until car battery reach 12 or 12.2V. This idea was not good received by Viofo even I consider it was great.)
3. working at ambiental temperature, the SSD is not feeling hot when keeping it in the hand. At least the Samsung T7 Shield.
4. I expect to be more durable than SD cards
5. no restriction from Viofo to buy only expensive cards like Viofo or Sandisk max endurance. Of course can be restrictions for SSD brands but the prices are not so different like is for professional cards
6. if you have also a card in the dashcam, if a problem with SSD, the dashcam will record on the card or if you forgot the SSD at home you can record on the card. Based on this idea, Viofo should offer the Viofo 32GB card in the box like they are doing with VS1. Having a recommended card this will stop people buying poor cards which will affect the dashcam behavior when SSD is not used. A Viofo with SSD should be the dashcam with the less returns or RMA. But if people will use windshield sun shaders will kill the Viofo A329 too, no matter the SSD usage or not.
Cons:
a.) you need to install the USB-C to USB-C wire from dashcam to the SSD. With card is more simple
b.) more money to pay because I expect the minimum SSD capacity bought to be 1TB
c.) if not properly designed, the cable will jump out from the SSD in some instals like SSD storage in the glove box and people who will search for something in the glove box will disconnect the cable by mistake. I don't know what will happen in the cable will be lossy in the SSD USB-C connector.
I expect people to not buy a SSD dashcam because of a. and b. But they don't know that the biggest problem for a dashcam is the card and card functionality is influenced also by the heat. Normally I would say that the biggest problem for a dashcam is the heat (and this is why is not acceptable to have 100mbps for a 4K video) but heat will affect also a SSD dashcam. But with a SSD dashcam, at least, that heat will not affect the storage.
Not forget that A229 has two processors, one on main unit and second on rear/telephoto camera.
So, a powerful dashcam should be small or big? Viofo are creating only passive cooling dashcams.
When I saw for the first time A229 I was saying it is big. When I mounted it I discovered that is not big. My personal advantage and for many others is that I have a black dotted area at the top of the windshield and on it I put the mount. What is going out from that zone is only about 1/3 of the dashcam and this is making a wedge dashcam the most hidden out of view solution (except dedicated cameras for each car model).
If I will mount A119 Mini and A229 side by side on that black dotted area you will not see big difference. And when you put a CPL lens on a wedge dashcam it will make it even more hidden. A329 will be the same as A229 but with a better processor and only 1CH or 2CH versions. For example I don't like the A139 for factor, but what I don't like the most from Viofo is that they included the stupid static films and because of them, some people with black dotted areas, instead of mounting the dashcam in a great place, they are using the stupid film mounting the dashcam in the middle of the windshield, making it very visible and overall an ugly install. For me is stupid, for other people that film is great. But do not destroy the dashcam install if you can mount the dashcam on the black dotted area.
Here are two examples (without static film) to understand how to poor mount a wedge dashcam when you car is great for wedge dashcams:
View attachment 73947 View attachment 73946
Yes! Like I wrote above, the biggest enemy of a dashcam is he heat. More than that, Viofo is using higher bitrates than competition and this will add even more stress to the processor. So, they are taking some risks to obtain the best image compared to other dashcams. But after some value the bitrate is obsolete. For a dashcam image the bitrate is correct when no macroblocks.
I think the data cable is special but more important is the cable to be designed in some way to not go out from the SSD when driving the car. Viofo was warned about this.
Again, very good decision from Viofo to not make the telephoto camera as 1K. On this forum was a big thread with FHD telephoto lens made by the users and at some moment Viofo told them that they will not follow that way. Their results were good against any CMOS, except IMX678 which was not released at that time. When IMX678 appeared, FHD telephoto was obsolete for Viofo. Like you said before, the 2K telephoto on IMX675 will be better than zoomed 4K of IMX678.
For an interior camera, when you already have 4K on front and 2K on rear, including HDR support, I don't know why to want more than 1K for interior, thinking that the distance for recording is from few centimeters, mayebe up to 1.5 meters in normal cases.
You know its impossible 2.3 seconds.
But 39 seconds for an 1GB video of 2 minutes at 4K can be OK?
