Anker Roav DashCam C1 Video Review

No excuse for that. They can do better and that is what the people expect from Anker.

Phil
 
Some of these comments are kind of harsh considering it's their first try at a dashcam. Also, their pricing is 1/3rd of what Blackvue charges for a similar model with WiFi so expecting the same build quality or functionality as the higher end models is a bit much. A good comparison would be the A119 being sold for around the same price as the Anker and it's reviews are a hit or miss.

What's important is that Anker stands behind the product by offering support and that they learn from their mistakes for future versions.

Seems like they've done this by offering replacements and listening to feedback.

Roav C2 comes out in a few days:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0742DD36K
 
Used to love Anker but they are doing too many things too fast without any research! They released Roav Dashcam but recalled them after about 4 months later due to the battery swelling, popping out and LCD screen popping out which can be very deadly if not noticed in car for long time. I spent over $120 for various SD cards due to constant beeping and files being locked even while driving on smooth road or just by opening the car door. The description says it can withstand heat of up to 149F but this roav dashcam can't even withstand 80 to 90F summer heat for many days when parked and temp inside is only about 100F.. I couldn't use mine & I sent it back after recall was issued. They wanted return first and then replacement to be shipped. You got to wonder why they wnat so many faulty dashcams back? Reuse them? Also turns out, they have NOTHING to ship as replacement & I was given couple of days to, 7 days to 3 weeks. I checked today again and they don't even have this in their warehouse, forget about shipment! I paid $120 extra for hard wired installation of this dashcam and that money is now wasted!


Is there another brand I can buy that has wifi feature & parking minotor and compact?

Thanks
 
I spent over $120 for various SD cards due to constant beeping and files being locked even while driving on smooth road or just by opening the car door.

I don't get it. You purchased brand new SD cards because the dashcam was locking files it thought were possible collisions? or did you buy new SD cards because they wore out from rewrites?

Maybe the wiring for the C2 is the same as the C1. Email Anker and kindly ask if you can be upgraded to the C2 coming out in a few days due to having to wait for the C1 to be fixed.
 
Some of these comments are kind of harsh considering it's their first try at a dashcam.

Maybe so, but maybe it is earned and not just assigned. Garmin is another experienced and accoladed electronics maker who has recently entered the dashcam market, and they have done much better at responding to problems. Their designs were better before they were brought to the market. It can be done better than Anker is doing it :( And they do not understand what they are doing with the batteries- you cannot fix a temperature problem by undercharging a battery like they claim they have done. That's like painting your front door to fix a roof leak :ROFLMAO: The characteristics of LiPo batteries is well-known and if it were this easy to solve their problems every cam maker would have already done that. Experienced cam makers have tried everything with them already and have discovered that there is no solution possible because we've reached the absolute limits of that technology. That's why most new cam designs now use super-caps even though that costs more ;)

In the end I expect that they will have a pretty good cam but the way they are trying to get there makes Anker look like rookies trying to play in a major league game :p

Phil
 
Wow looks like this thread blew up with complaints since the last time I checked.

I have one of their dash cams included in the recall. I have been using their dash cam for the whole summer here in Texas. Interior temps during summer in Texas will easily go past 120F. It can get so hot that you cannot even hold the camera in your hand. I have not had any problems with their dash cam. The screen did not pop out nor did I have issues with the unit not working because of the heat.

Oh I did have a problem with the jittery/shaky videos recently. It seems that over time, the camera does not mount as tight as it was when brand new. I do frequently take it off the mount to get the memory card out, maybe at least 1-2 times in a week. So anyway, it looked like the recordings were now capturing more jitter/shakiness when going over bumps. It didn't use to do this, it used to be very smooth. That said, I was testing a beta firmware at that time, I was on v7.8. So I cannot pinpoint what exactly was causing the jittery/shaky videos.

Btw, the reason they are trying to go with batteries instead of capacitor, is because they want to give you the feature of parking mode without having to hard wire the dash cam. Obviously, if they go the capacitor route, this will not work and you will have to hard wire the dash cam like most other dash cams on the market.

Anyway, I have since returned my dash cam last Saturday. I just got an email saying they shipped the replacement today. For the price that I got it, $69 from Amazon, I still think it is a good buy if you can get it at that price. Their customer support seems decent to me and very responsive. I hope the replacement dash cam works out for me.
 
Wow looks like this thread blew up with complaints since the last time I checked.

I have one of their dash cams included in the recall. I have been using their dash cam for the whole summer here in Texas. Interior temps during summer in Texas will easily go past 120F. It can get so hot that you cannot even hold the camera in your hand. I have not had any problems with their dash cam. The screen did not pop out nor did I have issues with the unit not working because of the heat.

Oh I did have a problem with the jittery/shaky videos recently. It seems that over time, the camera does not mount as tight as it was when brand new. I do frequently take it off the mount to get the memory card out, maybe at least 1-2 times in a week. So anyway, it looked like the recordings were now capturing more jitter/shakiness when going over bumps. It didn't use to do this, it used to be very smooth. That said, I was testing a beta firmware at that time, I was on v7.8. So I cannot pinpoint what exactly was causing the jittery/shaky videos.

Btw, the reason they are trying to go with batteries instead of capacitor, is because they want to give you the feature of parking mode without having to hard wire the dash cam. Obviously, if they go the capacitor route, this will not work and you will have to hard wire the dash cam like most other dash cams on the market.

Anyway, I have since returned my dash cam last Saturday. I just got an email saying they shipped the replacement today. For the price that I got it, $69 from Amazon, I still think it is a good buy if you can get it at that price. Their customer support seems decent to me and very responsive. I hope the replacement dash cam works out for me.
If you park indoor or park in a shade with no direct sunlight, then even 200f won't matter ! The issue with battery swelling, screen detaching is due to heat outside from the sun and this happens even if it is just 90F and parked in sun for hrs daily.
For me, if I buy any dashcam, I 'd always hardwired them and thats what I did with the Roav C1 but besides the burning, swelling and screen coming off, this one has other issues like being over sensitive and locking files for no reasons.
I would wait until they go to capacitor version cos the replacement is a total garbage as well because they told me it is just same thing with little more room to allow the battery to swell and the C2 is still a battery that will not last long in freezing cold or hot temp and it looks like a real camera and not discreet!
 
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Is there any other brand I can look in to that is like the size of the Anker Roav & can record even if the car is turned off? The only thing I don't like about any of the Anker Roav cams are that they are all battery and they don't last long in hot climate. Any capacitor based dashcam that is small, has the screen size of Roav and has parking monitor feature & wifi? I would like to hardwire it!

Except for the battery, I like the roav's parking monitor feature, wifi and its small size with decent screen size and how it can be just glued with the 3m tape. I have my Roav hardwired and can use its cable!
Thanks
 
Is there any other brand I can look in to that is like the size of the Anker Roav & can record even if the car is turned off? The only thing I don't like about any of the Anker Roav cams are that they are all battery and they don't last long in hot climate. Any capacitor based dashcam that is small, has the screen size of Roav and has parking monitor feature & wifi? I would like to hardwire it!

Except for the battery, I like the roav's parking monitor feature, wifi and its small size with decent screen size and how it can be just glued with the 3m tape. I have my Roav hardwired and can use its cable!
Thanks

if your going to hard wire a capacitor camera look at the Viofo A119. It is a similar style as the Roav and it does have a parking feature but needs to be hard wired to work. No wifi, you can pop out the SD card and plug it into PC to playback your videos.
 
if your going to hard wire a capacitor camera look at the Viofo A119. It is a similar style as the Roav and it does have a parking feature but needs to be hard wired to work. No wifi, you can pop out the SD card and plug it into PC to playback your videos.
I believe there are thousand different VIOFO A119 right? Any link to the latest or the best one? I have the A118C in rear hardwired and Anker Roav in front hardwired but looking to replace the Roav for capacitor one that is similar to Roav. Also are you sure what you described has parking monitor? When I asked Anker if they are ever developing capacitor dashcam, they told me they are not because capacitor ones can't have parking monitor and that's why they are focusing only on battery operated dashcams. I just checked review of both A119 and A119s both and both says no parking mode so that means no parking monitor at night while parked?
 
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I got my replacement dash cam last Friday. Installed and used it over the weekend. The issue I have with the loose mount is significantly decreased. It barely wiggles after mounting it now. This means, the mounting plate on the windshield was fine and the issue with rattling was due to something on the dash cam. Maybe because of my weekly dismount of the dash cam, it loosened something up on the mounting plate, I don't know. All I know is that it mounts tighter now.

I have now taken to just using the wifi feature to copy files over to my phone. I previously had to dismount the dash cam because it was hard to pop out the memory card while it was mounted, because of the huge rain/safety sensor housing on my Mazda.

If you park indoor or park in a shade with no direct sunlight, then even 200f won't matter ! The issue with battery swelling, screen detaching is due to heat outside from the sun and this happens even if it is just 90F and parked in sun for hrs daily.
For me, if I buy any dashcam, I 'd always hardwired them and thats what I did with the Roav C1 but besides the burning, swelling and screen coming off, this one has other issues like being over sensitive and locking files for no reasons.
I would wait until they go to capacitor version cos the replacement is a total garbage as well because they told me it is just same thing with little more room to allow the battery to swell and the C2 is still a battery that will not last long in freezing cold or hot temp and it looks like a real camera and not discreet!
Most of the time I parked my car outside without any sort of shade. We don't have covered parking lots at work either. It was also parked outside on the Moody Garden's Hotel parking lot in Galveston for 2-3 days. Summer temps here in Texas are easily 95F and above during the day. 100+F days are not unusual. All I'm saying is, I've subjected the dash cam to intense heat and the screen did not pop out. This does not mean that other users did not have issues with the screen popping out, just that it didn't happen to me. Anyway, I still had the recall done because why not, they were sending me a free replacement anyway.
 
sorry to revive this but i've had issues with the replacement due to mine being under the recall. i actually reached out to them after my LCD screen came unglued. it worked great and video quality was pretty good IMO. since getting the replacement it's been non-stop emailing back and fourth with them. the quality is horrible and looks like an overly sharpened image. has anyone else noticed this on theirs? they've advise to update the firmware (even created a special one for me apparently) and still didn't help.

original dash cam
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nzbBy2qHAS_JPajzd1cFGJYoNWdD6u69/view?usp=sharing

replacement dash cam
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16VI8hClhGS5Qk7L3nQ3ANf-BM7ccO68n/view?usp=sharing

*edit*
i live in Corpus Christi, Texas where it's hot about 364 days out of the year (it actually snowed last Friday!! SNOW! it never snows here. google it, it was bizarre and of course my new dash cam was in route which i wish i had at the time. it last snowed Christmas Eve 2004. i live about 10mins from the gulf of mexico - it's hot and humid down here. it was fun!).

anyways, it survived the summer heat since i purchased it originally in June but the screen popped out mid-November.
 
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you have a lot of reflection which isn't helping things, the original did look better even though they have since increased the bitrate
 
I got my replacement dash cam last Friday. Installed and used it over the weekend. The issue I have with the loose mount is significantly decreased. It barely wiggles after mounting it now. This means, the mounting plate on the windshield was fine and the issue with rattling was due to something on the dash cam. Maybe because of my weekly dismount of the dash cam, it loosened something up on the mounting plate, I don't know. All I know is that it mounts tighter now.

I have now taken to just using the wifi feature to copy files over to my phone. I previously had to dismount the dash cam because it was hard to pop out the memory card while it was mounted, because of the huge rain/safety sensor housing on my Mazda.


Most of the time I parked my car outside without any sort of shade. We don't have covered parking lots at work either. It was also parked outside on the Moody Garden's Hotel parking lot in Galveston for 2-3 days. Summer temps here in Texas are easily 95F and above during the day. 100+F days are not unusual. All I'm saying is, I've subjected the dash cam to intense heat and the screen did not pop out. This does not mean that other users did not have issues with the screen popping out, just that it didn't happen to me. Anyway, I still had the recall done because why not, they were sending me a free replacement anyway.

I just had mine swapped out due to the mount was really loose and would slide off in a turn, and the battery no longer holding a charge. I live in Abilene Texas, and we just went through some of the hottest temps for a week. We were doing 110 degrees for a week straight. And 105 for over a month.
 
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