b2k vs 70mai mini dash cam 2021

ziddey

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Ordered the b2k earlier today, but upon further research, buffered parking mode may not be ideal in terms of battery drain. A solar panel + battery pack setup would be an intriguing future addition but not right now.

I looked through the b2k manual and it doesn't look there's any option to switch to unbuffered parking mode? Can anyone confirm?

If that's the case, the 70mai mini dash cam seems like the next best choice-- 2k OS05A10 sensor, unbuffered parking mode, sleek without screen (I'd love a b1w with b2k specs), same price range. Looks like no additional hardwire kit is needed for the 70mai for parking mode? How long does the battery last in parking mode (unclear if the 24h description is literal or means around-the-clock)?

Car is parallel parked in the city, so obviously buffered mode would be preferred, but longest runtime takes priority for now.

Best

edit: for reference since I don't see the 70mai mini dash cam in the comparison tool or even on 70mai's website:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07J3938JKhmm looks like this model may no longer be in production
 
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What parking mode does the 70mai offer?
hmm I assumed it'd just be unbuffered g-sensor activated, but looking at the description and reviews, I'm not so sure. I guess I should add the b1w into consideration, even if it's only 1080p.
 
Unbuffered parking modes are notorious for capturing everything after the event perfectly well- only without the car who did the damage being shown when they sped away before recording could start :eek: :cry:

Phil
 
Unbuffered parking modes are notorious for capturing everything after the event perfectly well- only without the car who did the damage being shown when they sped away before recording could start :eek: :cry:

Phil
Yeah, that's why I went with the b2k + hardwire kit, which does buffered parking. But power consumption in buffered mode is a concern, and if setting the cutoff at 12.4v would get me less than a day of parking mode, and at the expense of battery longevity, it doesn't really seem worthwhile. Adding a solar panel is intriguing, but the car is parked streetside in the city, so I'm not trying to attract additional attention.

I agree that unbuffered mode would likely not capture anything meaningful. But still it may be better than nothing at all (say I don't drive for a few days, and the low voltage cutoff kills buffered mode..), which is why I'm willing to compromise if unbuffered could have a weeklong+ runtime if left unattended.

End of the day, the main objective is having a dashcam while driving. Parking mode is just a bonus that doesn't seem too feasible in practice without managing supplemental power.
 
With a 12.4V cutoff, no parking mode is going to run very long, certainly not all through a work shift or overnight. There's also not a lot of time difference based on which of these two modes you use (or with low-bitrate recording which many of us now use in other cams).

Historically, sensor-based parking protection has always been "iffy". First the detection scheme has to be tuned well or you get too much or not enough sensitivity (a very common problem and can vary a lot between individual cams), and second the cam needs a rapid boot process or the villain is gone before you get images :( I've seen just over one second and heard of one needing about 30 seconds, with most needing from 2 to 2 1/2 seconds. So what you end up with can range from good to OK to not even worth using at all :rolleyes:

Because of this I used to simply record 24/7, which I could get away with as I drove enough daily to keep my large 80A battery charged :cool: I didn't use any low-voltage protection nor did I measure voltage, but it cost me about 20% of the service life of my battery. Doing the math back then it was about $0.50 per day ($0.75 now) which I feel is acceptable to have the protection it offered. The average car battery may not handle this kind of use and the price will be higher in the end. It may also lead to an early cam death :oops: Darn tough on card life too.

Among the cheaper cams I've tried, my B1W had a near-perfect g-sensor and a fast boot time, so parking mode with it (HWK needed) was quite good. Other B1W owners had less perfect g-sensors. After trialing that I used it for 24/7 recording and it did just fine. As the B1W has the lowest current draw of any dashcam it would be worth considering. I've ran my B2K 24/7 for 2 weeks without problems so it might be up to the job, but this was in cooler weather, not the heat of summer where cams tend to fade and fail. I don't have the HWK for it so I never tried it's parking mode, but I did find the g-sensor capricious and vague. Never had a 70mai cam but they use a battery instead of supercaps which means they probably won't last long where i live. Still, for $40 I might try one as I like everything else about them and a loss wouldn't hurt too much.

So that's about all I can add here. If you want the best parking mode you'll need a cam that does low-bitrate recording; otherwise each case varies and price has nothing to do with it.

Phil
 
With a 12.4V cutoff, no parking mode is going to run very long, certainly not all through a work shift or overnight. There's also not a lot of time difference based on which of these two modes you use (or with low-bitrate recording which many of us now use in other cams).
Ah thanks! I was hoping unbuffered mode would have significantly lower power consumption. In that case, I'll probably keep the b2k but return the hwk for it and forgo parking mode entirely for the time being.
 
In that case, I'll probably keep the b2k but return the hwk for it and forgo parking mode entirely for the time being
You can send it back for a hardwire kit for B1W. Or I send you a power adapter for this Mini USB connector hardwire kit?
 
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