[Big News]Original Xiaomi Yi 1080P Car WiFi DVR is coming!!!!

[Mtz]

And they have a 2.7" screen on the back of this camera.... why so ignorant?
Btw Mtz, your mini806, is actually bigger in size, has a smaller pixel size sensor, and a smaller screen on it..... in case you didnt check the numbers

1. Mini 0806: 7 x 4 x 4 cm
Yi: 7.4 x 1.94 x 5.24 cm
Because of 0806 rounded shape and black color the camera is less visible compared to a credit card style camera which is gold or grey. No matter if is a little smaller than Yi.
2. What will you say if the already famous 3um pixel is not offering brighter images than cameras with lower specs?

Real life is more important than numbers and if comparing the Yi with suction cup with 0806 quick release mount I think the whole Yi system is more than double size.

My problem with a company with money and power like Xiaomi is that I expect something new or great from them. I see nothing special on Yi the same design idea as the $30 K6000. I saw more interesting features at some unknown companies, like the sliding mount with GPS from Mini, the great wedge idea of A118, the magnetic CPL idea of 0806, the parking mode feature of some korean dashcams, the foldable screen of DVR 207 which for me remain one of the greatest dashcam design ever.
The 3um pixel on paper is not enough for me even the dsahcam name is Yi. But I ordered it just to compare with other dashcams.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[gitup]

About the design, this is mainly for China market, that's what Chinese like.
I take Uber or Didi(similar as Uber) often, I see most of dash cams are similar to Yi design.

As it is related to the Xiaoyi, and good price, so it will sell very well in China.

 

[jokiin]

About the design, this is mainly for China market, that's what Chinese like.
I take Uber or Didi(similar as Uber) often, I see most of dash cams are similar to Yi design.

As it is related to the Xiaoyi, and good price, so it will sell very well in China.

it's a huge market, even ugly products with no name can find customers

 

[Odobo]

1. Mini 0806: 7 x 4 x 4 cm
Yi: 7.4 x 1.94 x 5.24 cm
Because of 0806 rounded shape and black color the camera is less visible compared to a credit card style camera which is gold or grey. No matter if is a little smaller than Yi.
2. What will you say if the already famous 3um pixel is not offering brighter images than cameras with lower specs?

Real life is more important than numbers and if comparing the Yi with suction cup with 0806 quick release mount I think the whole Yi system is more than double size.
enjoy,
Mtz

1) thanks for confirming that the 806 is larger... If you do the math it is almost 50% larger than the yi. No matter what shape it is in that is significant larger than the yi. If your argument about the suction cup will make the yi double it size is true, that will make it about the same size as the 806. Your thought about the color is your personal preference, and I would not add more to it.

2) brighter images is a result of shutter speed and gain settings, and those are directly related to the pixel size and the f stop on the optics. That's physics and unfortunately you can't bend the rules in this universe. Given that the yi has a larger pixel size sensor and larger f stop, it is hard to believe that the lower spec camera can produce a brighter image with the same condition.

I agree that real life performance is more important than numbers. And until we see any raw video footage it will be hard to judge how good or bad the camera is. But the numbers do show that the yi has a good chance to have less motion blur and less noise on the image, which for me is more important than because if I need to capture a frame and look at a license plate number, those 2 factors are going to determine if I will see a sharp image or not.

PS: the gold is really for the Chinese market... They really dig the gold color for some reason....

 

[jokiin]

Physical volume might be less but the design and bracket will make it more intrusive and for more obvious, even if it was black instead of gold

 

[Odobo]

Physical volume might be less but the design and bracket will make it more intrusive and for more obvious, even if it was black instead of gold

You know Jokiin, if you want to keep that argument then I would have to ask more intrusive and more obvious in terms of what?

When you are driving? It is behind the mirror and I don't think anyone would care if it is obvious that one is driving with a dashcam.

When you park? Then I would argue that the suction cup actually let me take out the whole thing and hide the camera from thieves eyes. You cant be less intrusive and less obvious than that.

 

[jokiin]

yes you can remove it when parked, same with most cameras, this one you'd really want to remove it because it will be obvious where other designs can be discrete enough that leaving them in place is no issue, just referring to physical size, not colour

even while driving you'll find this type of camera won't fit behind a lot of vehicle mirrors and will hang down below the mirror or won't even fit behind in a lot of cases and need to go beside the mirror, there's a convenience factor to suction mount cameras but there's negatives as well, require more room to install, easily detach from the window on impact, or just point skyward on impact due to inertia and can miss stuff as a result, there's no one size fits all perfect solution, everything has some sort of compromise for some people

 

[Odobo]

yes you can remove it when parked, same with most cameras, this one you'd really want to remove it because it will be obvious where other designs can be discrete enough that leaving them in place is no issue, just referring to physical size, not colour

even while driving you'll find this type of camera won't fit behind a lot of vehicle mirrors and will hang down below the mirror or won't even fit behind in a lot of cases and need to go beside the mirror, there's a convenience factor to suction mount cameras but there's negatives as well, require more room to install, easily detach from the window on impact, or just point skyward on impact due to inertia and can miss stuff as a result, there's no one size fits all perfect solution, everything has some sort of compromise for some people

Jokiin, you are contradicting yourself again. You say the size not color, will make the yi more obvious than other camera but we just compared the numbers 3 post ago and confirmed it is smaller than the minis. So you are saying the larger the camera the more discreet it is? Sorry I don't understand your logic there.

Also, when driving it doesnt have to be behind the mirror. Most suction mount isn't mount behind the mirror anyway and your argument about the suction cup has a lot of assumption in it. I can counter your argument easily by just pointing you to the reviews on amazon and you will find a lot of people tell you how strong and how sturdy the suction cups are these days.... Even when holding a phone that weight more than double the yi is.

Again, until we can get one and test it out all we can do is compare numbers and videos on YouTube. And so far I fail to see how this camera is inferior than other dashcam performance wise, let alone it actually cost less than most of them.

 

[jokiin]

Jokiin, you are contradicting yourself again. You say the size not color, will make the yi more obvious than other camera but we just compared the numbers 3 post ago and confirmed it is smaller than the minis. So you are saying the larger the camera the more discreet it is? Sorry I don't understand your logic there.

I wasn't bringing colour into it, obviously gold is going to stand out more, I was only referring to size, you are comparing volume, not form factor, design plays more of a part in how discrete it is than physical volume does

apologies if you don't understand the logic behind this, if you see these types of cameras side by side it becomes a lot more obvious

 

[Odobo]

I wasn't bringing colour into it, obviously gold is going to stand out more, I was only referring to size, you are comparing volume, not form factor, design plays more of a part in how discrete it is than physical volume does

apologies if you don't understand the logic behind this, if you see these types of cameras side by side it becomes a lot more obvious

Then again, you are basing your argument with your personal preference instead of fact. I am not into talking you to change your mind so I will leave it at that.

But I will restate my point, people shouldn't trash talk a product that you never seen just by your preference.

 

[jokiin]

Then again, you are basing your argument with your personal preference instead of fact. I am not into talking you to change your mind so I will leave it at that.

But I will restate my point, people shouldn't trash talk a product that you never seen just by your preference.

nothing to do with my preference, nor am I having an argument, we do suction mount cameras as well, they are not as discrete as other designs, that's nothing to do with trash talking anything, just a reality of the designs

Mobius is a tiny camera, far smaller than the Xiaomi, put it on a suction mount though and an 0806 will be less obvious and fit in a tighter space, that comes down to design differences

there are negatives and positives to any design, if this design works for you than that's fine

 

[Mtz]

The only size that not matter, the diameter 4cm vs. 1,74cm, is used for you to argue the 0806 is begger. Is like saying a newspaper watched from front is less visible than a tennis ball because the volume is smaller. A dashcam is not invisible because you are looking at it from the side, the front matters.

When you are driving? It is behind the mirror and I don't think anyone would care if it is obvious that one is driving with a dashcam.

When you park? Then I would argue that the suction cup actually let me take out the whole thing and hide the camera from thieves eyes. You cant be less intrusive and less obvious than that.

As Jokiin wrote, it will not fit behind the rearview mirror because even the suction cup is not some smart type. And if will fit, the camera will hang under the mirror.

If you will take out the whole camera when you park then every time you will need to fix the camera position.
Nobody will break the car to steal the invisible Mini small mount.
The main reason people want invisible dashcams is because they don't want to remove the camera everytime they are leaving the car. They want to forgot about it and most of us prefer to take some risk with a camera which can be visible even a little compared to taking it out everytime they are leaving the car.
Mini series offered the most easy way to take out a camera with only one move , with other cameras you need at least to take out the cable.
My life is too short and complicated to waist the time for removing a dashcam from windshield at least 2 times a day.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[gitup]

The main reason people want invisible dashcams is because they don't want to remove the camera everytime they are leaving the car. They want to forgot about it and most of us prefer to take some risk with a camera which can be visible even a little compared to taking it out everytime they are leaving the car.

enjoy,
Mtz

If in China, it is not totally same, I see some users don't want to hide it, also keep the screen always on.
Most of the time, while I saw a dashcam on a Uber car, I will ask the driver how much he paid, where he bought, how about the video quality.

 

[Rob1990]

Hi everybody.

This is my first post on the forum, i actually just signed.
I've been following the discussion from the sidelines, but i've decided to join in!
Today this video has been uploaded to Youtube:

In that video you can see there will be 2 ways to stick the cam to the screen. With a suction cup and with a 3M sticker. So that would take away the fear of the cam flying through the car in case of an impact, correct?

I have this cam in pre-order, but i must say that i'm not really impressed with the quality. At the end of the video they compare it to another cashcam, and somehow the Yi cam shows alot of 'blur' (edit: in the distance). Can any of you possibly explain why that happens?

Thanks!

 

[jokiin]

At the end of the video they compare it to another cashcam, and somehow the Yi cam shows alot of 'blur' (edit: in the distance). Can any of you possibly explain why that happens?

Thanks!

YouTube is not a great way to judge video quality, that said the windows in that car were filthy which certainly won't do it any favours

 

[Mtz]

Good to see they are using also a fixed mount. I think they are reading this forum.
The image can be improved in a future firmware release and I expect will be. The problem I see regarding image quality is not the sensor, which is good, maybe not the firmware which can be improved, but the chipset. Just think that Ambarella and Novatek have so much experience in video encoding and they are making the chipsets just for this. Encoding a video is not only about the specs of the chipset, is also about the codec used, to know perfect the parameters of video encoding and adapt them to dashcam situation. When making smartphones, battery chargers, routers or any gadget you can print Xiaomi on it, for me is hard to believe that their video will look great from the first time because they are not experienced in video encoding.
Maybe they were not satisfied by Ambarella firmware support or price, they could switch to Novatek for example or any other chipset specialized in video encoding. But maybe their chipset is the cheapest and in this way they can keep lower price, compared to Yi action cam which had no screen which means low price.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[Rob1990]

YouTube is not a great way to judge video quality, that said the windows in that car were filthy which certainly won't do it any favours

Thank your for the message.
I agree with you on that, they should have turned on the AC. Although, the other dashcam seems the focus in the distance just fine, that's why it slightly worries me.

Good to see they are using also a fixed mount. I think they are reading this forum.
The image can be improved in a future firmware release and I expect will be. The problem I see regarding image quality is not the sensor, which is good, maybe not the firmware which can be improved, but the chipset. Just think that Ambarella and Novatek have so much experience in video encoding and they are making the chipsets just for this. Encoding a video is not only about the specs of the chipset, is also about the codec used, to know perfect the parameters of video encoding and adapt them to dashcam situation. When making smartphones, battery chargers, routers or any gadget you can print Xiaomi on it, for me is hard to believe that their video will look great from the first time because they are not experienced in video encoding.
Maybe they were not satisfied by Ambarella firmware support or price, they could switch to Novatek for example or any other chipset specialized in video encoding. But maybe their chipset is the cheapest and in this way they can keep lower price, compared to Yi action cam which had no screen which means low price.

enjoy,
Mtz

Thanks for your reply too!
They might be, it wouldn't surprise me.
Would the cause of the 'blur' or less than optimal focus be in the video encoding then? I have a Yi action cam aswell, and i had to adjust the focus. That's why i was thinking about that instead of the video encoding.
Didn't think of it at all actually, we'll see!

 

[jokiin]

Would the cause of the 'blur' or less than optimal focus be in the video encoding then? I have a Yi action cam aswell, and i had to adjust the focus. That's why i was thinking about that instead of the video encoding.
Didn't think of it at all actually, we'll see!

could be a less than ideal lens, if you build something to a price you have to compromise somewhere

 

[Mtz]

I think the Robs fear is because of reports of few Yi action cam version which were about out of focus lens. When producing so big numbers of cameras but at a lower price, problems with lens can appear and we should not forget that just few people happy with their cameras are writing on forums, but normal people only if have a problem are reporting problems. This is normal.

As Rob, other people will ask or look at videos to see if are out of focus, also this is normal because when you saw a previous product with a problem you will think twice before buy and look carefully for exactly the same problem. We hope Xiaoyi learned from lens experience and people will not report again such problem.

Ouch, right now I am starting to think that also I can have problem with my future Yi focus.
Hey, @Xiaoyi please send a focused lens to me, I will make comparison test so I need a good one. (I know Xiaoyi is reading this thread ).

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[samiluobackagain]

Hi everybody.

This is my first post on the forum, i actually just signed.
I've been following the discussion from the sidelines, but i've decided to join in!
Today this video has been uploaded to Youtube:

In that video you can see there will be 2 ways to stick the cam to the screen. With a suction cup and with a 3M sticker. So that would take away the fear of the cam flying through the car in case of an impact, correct?

I have this cam in pre-order, but i must say that i'm not really impressed with the quality. At the end of the video they compare it to another cashcam, and somehow the Yi cam shows alot of 'blur' (edit: in the distance). Can any of you possibly explain why that happens?

Thanks!

Thanks for posting. The first thing is really the flare light becoz of the windshield not that clean... not joking... the second is when recorded at 2k (from 6:08 of the video) my stupid video editing software can't process so I transform to another format thus lead to big loss of the video quality, 200m files to 30 m... also... Xiaoyi company engineers are still optimising the firmware.. lets see