An interesting point on reliability of these units

m60kaf

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Location
england
Country
United Kingdom
Dash Cam
Ambarella mini 0801; mini 0805 and Nextbase 522GW
I often see "another min 0805 failed again" "got the dreaded red light these are so unreliable"

I have owned 5 of these of probably 3 - 6 years of age

To date only one has failed

I think they are quite a reliable unit that can be relied on to just get on with the job, just forums may make you think otherwise.

Issue I have had is sandisk SD cards becoming read only - but thats a well known issue and why I never buy sandisk
 
I WILL BACK UP THIS VIEW EXCEPT THE SANDISC I HAVE USED THE SAME CARD FOR ABOUT THREE YEARS WITH OUT ANY PROBLEM
 
Same; no issues with reliability here - as long as one sticks with 20160317 firmware. I tried the latest = brick. I hope to recover it. However, in 3 years and 3 cams - no problems to speak of. In fact, I just ordered 4 more...
 
I think many scream fire and brimstone, and really its just their memory card that died.
 
I used my Mini 0805 since October 2015, until January 2020, when was replaced by a Viofo A119S. It was permanently on the car, attached with DualLock. The battery didn't exploded yet, but needs to be replaced because it doesn't power the cam after energy is cut off. I am thinking to use it as rear cam, after i will replace the battery.
As a conclusion, Mini 0805 it was reliable for me
 
I also think some that get problems, well the forget to mention they live a stone throw outside death valley, so they will of course see temperatures much higher and often than users living in a more moderate climate.
And heat have a say with a lot of things.
 
@nei-k When I first starter looking at dashcams I almost went for an 0805. Of the original "Mini" series of cams it's by far the best one, with only the battery being an issue for people in hotter locations. That happens with all battery-equipped cams in hot places so not really a design or quality problem. It's well worth a battery replacement and should make for an excellent rear cam.

Phil
 
My cam survived at outside temperatures ranging from -20ºC to 40ºC. In the summer was exposed to direct sunlight, i think inside the car temperatures were higher than 70ºC. Sometimes i couldn't even touch the steering wheel or the chairs. Moreover, where i live, temperature difference between night and day often rise over 20ºC in just 6 hours. So, i think that reliability is proportional with the quality of the components, which nowadays is decreasing. I would like to mention that my Mini 0805 is still running, but just is closing when i switch off the power
 
That says a lot for the 0805, you have a winner in that cam (y) I never knew that it got that hot in Romania, which is not too much more than I usually see. I'm not sure that component quality is decreasing; there are still some very durable cams being made but in the cheaper cams you are probably correct- those do seem to fail more quickly now than before. Regardless all that- your 0805 is well worth a new battery and being used a a rear cam, and I would expect it to do as well as before if you can source a good quality battery for it.

Phil
 
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