Azdome, Viofo, Vantrue, What is the best and Hardwire kit ?

[Fabioniq]

Hi all,
First of all, sorry for my english, i hope you will understand what i wrote
I’m new here and I have two subjects or maybe i have to post the subject 2 in another topic.

Subject 1
Which dashcam to choose between these 3 models?
- Azdome M550
- Viofo A139
- Vantrue S2 (features are almost identical to Vantrue N4)

Reliability? customer service? etc...

All three are in three channels.
I am not a taxi or Uber driver, I am interested in the cabin camera in case someone knocks the door of my car.
At the same time, I’m wondering if that’s really helpful.
What do you think?

Subject 2
Hardwire kit, the ultimate question.
What is the best device to prevent premature death of the car battery ? (i have a Hyundai Ioniq 2)

As you know, to be powered, and using parking mode, there are different types of kit.
- An OBD kit, easy to install and in addition to a low voltage protection function. - OBD Hardwire kit by Vantrue
- A kit connected to the fuses and equipped with the same battery discharge prevention function. - Vantrue hardwire kit

It is this point that makes me hesitate to buy a dascham.
The problem is that I have read different testimonies, there are some for whom it works but we do not know if these two options are reliable in time, and other testimonies that specify that it does not work and they have finished with the battery of their car dead or discharged.

For those who have a dashcam with parking mode activated, what is your feedback on one of these two hardwire kit?

I discover the world of the dashcam , thank you very much for your clear explantations and help

 

[Ukraine Visitor]

IMO, choosing a dashcam is like choosing a baseball hat. You buy it and try it and, if you don't like it, you toss it and buy and try a different one until you find one that fits best! Good luck!

 

[Fabioniq]

IMO, choosing a dashcam is like choosing a baseball hat. You buy it and try it and, if you don't like it, you toss it and buy and try a different one until you find one that fits best! Good luck!

You were home alone and had no one to play with?
Use your time smarter
I need some cleverly written advice

 

[Ukraine Visitor]

Everyone gets what they pay for. If you expected something else, then perhaps rewriting the mumble-jumble submission above into a much more focused request with only one, max two, target questions, may yield other results. But starting off with a personal attack is hardly going to motivate the community into giving you the clever advise you long for. Best wishes!

 

[Fabioniq]

I simply expect feedback on one of these 3 brands and hardwire kit and you came with your solution of changing the battery of the car every few months, you know it's not a solution.

Stop looking like the victim who is being attacked when you are the aggressor.

By the way i found someone more comprehensive who explained to me what to do.

Thank you for wasting my time replying to you.

Best wishes.

 

[rgbdct]

Hyundai Ioniq 2

Google tells me this is an upcoming model of car, not one currently released.

Subject 1:
Checking other threads on the forum I saw this and this, which seem to suggest VIOFO as the brand to go with.

Subject 2:
Both OBD hardwiring and fuse box hardwiring provide low voltage protection. The OBD hardwire kit you linked cuts off at 11.6V and the fuse box hardwire kit you linked cuts off at either 11.6V or 12V. A 11.6V cutoff should be fine, but if you're concerned, you can set it at 12V. I'd go for fuse box hardwiring since it's more out of the way. If you go for the A139, you'll probably get the matching hardwire kit, which lets you set your cutoff point from 11.8V to 12.4V. Again, 11.8V here is probably fine, but you can raise it if you're concerned.

 

[Fabioniq]

Google tells me this is an upcoming model of car, not one currently released.

Subject 1:
Checking other threads on the forum I saw this and this, which seem to suggest VIOFO as the brand to go with.

Subject 2:
Both OBD hardwiring and fuse box hardwiring provide low voltage protection. The OBD hardwire kit you linked cuts off at 11.6V and the fuse box hardwire kit you linked cuts off at either 11.6V or 12V. A 11.6V cutoff should be fine, but if you're concerned, you can set it at 12V. I'd go for fuse box hardwiring since it's more out of the way. If you go for the A139, you'll probably get the matching hardwire kit, which lets you set your cutoff point from 11.8V to 12.4V. Again, 11.8V here is probably fine, but you can raise it if you're concerned.

Hi and thank you very much for your time
Sorry i have a Ioniq 2nd gen (2020)

I will read the links your shared and do my choice but i'm pretty sure to buy the A 139.
Your message reassures me that viofo is the brand to go with

Thanks again, i really appreciate.

 

[Nigel]

I will read the links your shared and do my choice but i'm pretty sure to buy the A 139.
Your message reassures me that viofo is the brand to go with

I received a new A139 yesterday, spent today playing with it, really nice camera

Note that 3 channel cameras use a fair amount of power, so don't expect to get 24/7 parking mode coverage unless you drive several hours per day, and have a fairly large battery. Not sure how the A139 compares on that point to the other 3 channel cameras, but it does definitely use more power than 2 and 1 channel cameras. The A139 does have a parking duration timer, which can reduce the battery wear considerably if you only need supermarket carpark coverage, and not overnight coverage. You definitely want the correct Viofo 3 wire hardwire kit for your A139 if you want to use parking mode on it.

Having the interior camera separate is nice if you want to point it at any particular location, such as the driver's door.

 

[Fabioniq]

expand...

Hi Nigel!

Thanks for sharing your impression and nice picture, the quality is very good.

I just posted some questions on the Viofo A139 forum because as you said it's a 3 channels who consume more power.

I have a Hyundai Ioniq and the battery of this car sensitive.
Using the radio without put ignition and few minutes later there is a warning message saying to turn on the vehicule lol so imagine with a dashcam in parking mode

 

[rgbdct]

You can also invest in a dashcam battery pack if you think your car's 12V battery can't handle it.

 

[gphin]

I went back and forth between Viofo and Vantrue when doing my research and ended up with a Vantrue N2S. I wanted an integrated front and interior camera with wide viewing angles and that camera fit the bill and works great. A good parking mode is important to me as my side door was hit recently. The interior camera provides a decent side view as well as rear window for potential rear end hits. I didnt want the drain on my car battery through a hotwire or OBD connection so I simply bought a $25 20k mah cell phone type battery charger which connects to the cam while parked and gives me around 24-30 hours of parking mode coverage. No need to spend $2-300 on a "dashcam" battery pack.

 

[Fabioniq]

I went back and forth between Viofo and Vantrue when doing my research and ended up with a Vantrue N2S. I wanted an integrated front and interior camera with wide viewing angles and that camera fit the bill and works great. A good parking mode is important to me as my side door was hit recently. The interior camera provides a decent side view as well as rear window for potential rear end hits. I didnt want the drain on my car battery through a hotwire or OBD connection so I simply bought a $25 20k mah cell phone type battery charger which connects to the cam while parked and gives me around 24-30 hours of parking mode coverage. No need to spend $2-300 on a "dashcam" battery pack.

There are different experiences on this, those who say it's dangerous because the battery can catch fire because it consumes a lot of energy and in hot weather it's risky and those who use dedicated equipment like what offer blackvue, Cellink Neo and others like you who use a simple external battery.

What is the best way ?

I think it all depends on the ability to be a handyman or not, on the vehicle you have and other criteria (it's just my opinion)

 

[Nigel]

The main difference between the Cellink Neo etc and a simple USB battery pack is that the Cellink is designed to charge from the car during the 40 minutes that you drive every day, while the USB powerbank is designed to charge from a charger over a period of around 10 hours, so you need to take it into the house for charging.

Not everybody drives enough to charge the Cellink with 24 hours of power anyway, for a 3 channel camera you probably need the extension battery to get the full 24/7 coverage, and then it takes 1.5 hours of driving each day to fully charge.

The Cellink etc batteries are a little more safe, never heard of one catching fire. Some of the cheaper USB batteries do melt themselves after a lot of use, but there are still very few reports of serious issues, and most of the "fires" are likely to occur during charging, so if you make sure that you only charge them in a place where fire can't spread, and replace them maybe once a year so that they never get too worn, then I think they are safe enough. I suspect the ones that do suffer some sort of "fire" are probably the result of getting frozen in the winter, which is definitely not good for any lithium battery while it is being charged, the cheaper ones tend not to have any protection built in against being charged while frozen.

There isn't a good solution for 24/7, the cameras use too much power, you have to make your choice of the best. For me, limiting the parking mode to only supermarket carparks is enough, and that is not going to cause any problems using the car battery and standard hardwire kit.

You may be able to get around your discharge alarm by connecting direct to the battery?

 

[Fabioniq]

The battery of the car is in the trunk.

Your point of view on the use an external battery is interesting and I think I will try this option