Better dashcams coming?

[libertarian]

I'm looking to install a dashcam in my car and when researching this it seems things narrow down quickly to Blackvue and Thinkware. Both have strengths and weaknesses and I think I'm inclined to hold out until something better comes out. My ideal dash cam would be dual channel, small and without any lose wires dangling around, built in sim card for data plus wifi, solid performance, low power long-term parking mode (that's actually more important to me than the performance while driving).
Anything on the horizon? Are any Western or maybe Japanese manufacturers catching up at all?

 

[kamkar]

In regard to image improvements ( in the better cameras ) then i dont foresee any major improvements on the horizon, it will probably be baby steps like it have been in the previous years.
4K are the biggest deal right now so to say, but the sensors used so far are not that good for low light recordings, but they are also not utter garbage in this regard either.
BUT ! so far the ones that have given it a try seem to have come up short, so while i would like to try it, then i dont really think 4K will happen anytime soon in my case.

I dont see any of the major electronics brands doing anything, then ones that have, are just slapping their brand on a Chinese made camera, and maybe add a little of their own in the firmware.
And Chinese are fine too, as long as you steer clear of all the cheap stuff, cuz no matter where its made if its worthwhile it also have a prize.
There are stuff going on with kickstarter and so on, but really when production kick in they will probably go to China too, which are fine if you bring your specs and standards with you and tell them its this way or the highway.
You do not want to tell a Chinese to cut corners and save on a product, that will be the road to nowhere. But i think thats the case in any country.

 

[libertarian]

In regard to image improvements ( in the better cameras ) then i dont foresee any major improvements on the horizon, it will probably be baby steps like it have been in the previous years.
4K are the biggest deal right now so to say, but the sensors used so far are not that good for low light recordings, but they are also not utter garbage in this regard either.
BUT ! so far the ones that have given it a try seem to have come up short, so while i would like to try it, then i dont really think 4K will happen anytime soon in my case.

I dont see any of the major electronics brands doing anything, then ones that have, are just slapping their brand on a Chinese made camera, and maybe add a little of their own in the firmware.
And Chinese are fine too, as long as you steer clear of all the cheap stuff, cuz no matter where its made if its worthwhile it also have a prize.
There are stuff going on with kickstarter and so on, but really when production kick in they will probably go to China too, which are fine if you bring your specs and standards with you and tell them its this way or the highway.
You do not want to tell a Chinese to cut corners and save on a product, that will be the road to nowhere. But i think thats the case in any country.

Thanks a lot. I agree that image quality seems to be more than good enough. I'm more concerned with form factor, parking features, reliability, web access, etc

 

[DashOto]

You might be interested in Owl Cam or Raven.
They're pretty new, and probably not top tier quality overall but it sounds like they check off most of your boxes.
Might need to get a separate one channel camera for better rear recordings, since both these cameras are more front + cabin cams.

We haven't really had anyone bring their feedback about those cams here though, so day to day use, I'm not sure how they fair.

I just think it's a step in the right direction.

 

[kamkar]

Web access i care little for, its one of those features i call "smart", but i do get most / many people want things that in some way can be accessed or paired to their phone, but i am as much distanced from that as a person can be and still have a "smart"phone.
Though it will mean my dear old mother dying, then i cant wait for the day i can put my phone in electronics trash and be free again, but for now i carry it to make her happy which with her is the very least i can do.

I could also access my home CCTV system on my phone, but that need two things to happen.
1: Me putting the NVR on a router with internet access ( not going to happen )
2: Me installing a app on my phone, when deleting apps already on my phone are more what i am interested in doing.

And besides all my cameras are outward facing so little interest to me when i am not home, and if some one should break into my apartment, then he / she would be mighty surprised by how little worth stealing i have.

 

[dash riposki]

And besides all my cameras are outward facing so little interest to me when i am not home, and if some one should break into my apartment, then he / she would be mighty surprised by how little worth stealing i have.

They'll steal your cameras.

 

[kamkar]

Hehe as long as they dont take the NVR cuz then i have a good chance of making a ID, cuz i have one camera in my front door peep hole, and another camera in the kitchen facing the back door ( this is a old building with wooden stairwells so for fires reasons 2 stairwells are a must )
But both front door and rear door at street level are both locked all the day.

 

[M83]

Hehe as long as they dont take the NVR cuz then i have a good chance of making a ID, cuz i have one camera in my front door peep hole, and another camera in the kitchen facing the back door ( this is a old building with wooden stairwells so for fires reasons 2 stairwells are a must )
But both front door and rear door at street level are both locked all the day.

I have an NVR then a hidden laptop running Blue Iris. They can take the NVR they'll never find the laptop

 

[SawMaster]

@libertarian- Welcome to DCT

Better is always coming in the dashcams game, but it's rarely a game-changer when it arrives. And expected releases are always delayed, sometimes many months. "New" is sometimes "buggy" and that isn't always fixable via firmware upgrades, so in this game at least, new and better don't always coincide. I am not a Blackvue fan- their CS is crap, their video performance isn't cutting edge, and they are overpriced- but they do have the best parking mode so if that's what matters most to you then they are worth considering. They do have a quality product as do several other brands.

On all dashcams, WiFi is best as a user-interface. DLing vid files is slow, and best limited to one or two files versus DLing the whole card. With most cams, when you WiFi in real-time the recording stops, if you see something of interest all you'll get is a view, not a video. Range is very limited too. Things are getting better with WiFi, but very slowly even in dashcam-relative time terms. Size, cost, and the added heat of the WiFi chip limits what can be done here. Dashcams run at the edge of component overheating on the hottest days and there's nothing to be done for that.

Almost all dashcams are made in China or Korea; it's just not profitable to produce them in most other places. How good they are is more a matter of how deeply the buyer is involved than anything else; some very good products come from China and Korea. If the buyer demands cheap, that is what they and you will get. Of Korean cams, one odd issue exists- they place the value of appearance and the number of features above actual cam performance. They also tend to have a lower bitrate more suited to the slower speeds over there. Good enough for them may not be good enough for our highways here, especially in low-light conditions. Korean cams do tend to have better QC and build quality, but if you ever need factory service or assistance that can be as much fun as getting a tooth pulled. CS issues are similar if you buy direct from China which is why we always tell folks to use only recommended sellers from their own country or region.

Our industry insiders haven't spoken of anything spectacular in the works or even on long-range radar so if you are ready to buy this is a good time to do so. When you narrow your choices down, read the forums here on those cams and what their owners have experienced with them. All cams have quirks and issues and you need to know about them before buying in case they matter to you. I always recommend not being an early adopter of a new model as I'd rather wait till any problems are resolved in case they prove insurmountable, which occasionally does happen. Don't expect perfection in these consumer-grade products and then I'm sure you can find a cam you can be happy with.

Phil

 

[Deleted member 37895]

@libertarian

Almost all dashcams are made in China or Korea; it's just not profitable to produce them in most other places. How good they are is more a matter of how deeply the buyer is involved than anything else; some very good products come from China and Korea. If the buyer demands cheap, that is what they and you will get. Of Korean cams, one odd issue exists- they place the value of appearance and the number of features above actual cam performance. They also tend to have a lower bitrate more suited to the slower speeds over there. Good enough for them may not be good enough for our highways here, especially in low-light conditions. Korean cams do tend to have better QC and build quality, but if you ever need factory service or assistance that can be as much fun as getting a tooth pulled. CS issues are similar if you buy direct from China which is why we always tell folks to use only recommended sellers from their own country or region.

Phil

Are any dashcams actually made in Korea? I thought they were Korean companies that manufacture in China. The only ones I've seen labelled anything but "made in China" are Garmin which are made in Taiwan

 

[Nigel]

Our industry insiders haven't spoken of anything spectacular in the works or even on long-range radar so if you are ready to buy this is a good time to do so.

There is definitely stuff on the way, long range, but maybe not soon enough to delay a purchase for.

But there haven't been many spectacular advances for ages, the best cameras are still 1080 resolution, and they still record 8 bit H264 video and mono sound. There have been a lot of small improvements to things like lens quality but nobody has got spectacular (unnecessary) features like collision warnings or lane departure warnings to work properly. Only really big improvements in recent years has been super capacitors instead of batteries - much more reliable, and factory CPL filters instead of having to DIY them. Maybe parking modes count, although most companies are still working on those and you don't necessarily need a new camera to get one - your B1W is about to get a 1fps automatic parking mode in a firmware update, maybe a big step forward from the original, and being about the most power efficient dashcam around maybe matches the OP's spec... although it doesn't have the "built in sim card", which seems unnecessary to me anyway, how can a sim card be necessary for a dashcam do a cost effective job?

...I think I'm inclined to hold out until something better comes out. My ideal dash cam would be dual channel, small and without any lose wires dangling around, built in sim card for data plus wifi, solid performance, low power long-term parking mode (that's actually more important to me than the performance while driving).

What spectacular new features/improvements do people want?

Anything on the horizon? Are any Western or maybe Japanese manufacturers catching up at all?

I think the western and Japanese manufacturers are all concentrating on selling to the car manufacturers, and the car manufacturers don't seem to be interested in dashcams, only in adding spectacular autonomous driving functions that few of their customers know they want, and in some cases don't work reliably!

 

[jokiin]

Are any dashcams actually made in Korea?

some are, some just ship parts from China for assembly in Korea, some make in China and send back to Korea, personally I don't think it matters as much where something is made as it does what kind of service and support you get, I don't see any Korean brand that is outstanding when it comes to service and support though