Elbeau
Member
After months of research and discussion, I decided to get the BlackVue DR770X Box dash cam, with the GPS/Connectivity Module and B-130X battery. While it was a top contender in my decision process since its introduction, it wasn't a slam dunk choice. The main concern I had about it at the time was BlackVue's decision to forego the use of Sony Starvis 2 sensors in favor of its own technology. In that regard, the Viofo 139 Pro had the significant edge, especially after reviewing some comparison videos by a very well-respected contributor to this site. However, the things that led to my ultimate choice were (1) its park mode set-up that is activated by lack of motion (versus ignition cut-off), (2) its alleged special purpose connectivity module (hot spot) incorporating GPS, (3) its cloud/LTE options, (4) three channel operation, and (5) the centralized box. The last item was not a "deal breaker" consideration, but something I found favorable.
The main deciding factors in my decision to go with the DR770X Box (other than a 3 channel requirement) was the Park Mode function and the LTE/Cloud integration. I live in a condo that has one garage space per unit. I have more than one vehicle, however. So, my second vehicle, which is an upscale SUV, must be parked on a secondary street near a small shopping center and which sees a considerable amount of transient (i.e. non-resident) traffic. While actual car theft has been rare, there are often instances of petty vandalism, parking related incidents and, sometimes, break-ins. Here, the DR770X's parking features were top of the list: motion detection, the ability to set motion recording location - and thus limit the excessive record of car driving past, real-time event notification (with LTE), cloud event auto upload, and the motion sensor triggering of the parking mode. With regard to the last point, for a number of reasons, I wanted to avoid the need to hard wire the dashcam. In addition to using the B-130X battery pack, the unit is plugged into a voltage controlled "hot" power port. That is, the port remains powered even when the SUV's ignition is off. However, power to the port is cut should the car's battery drain to lower than 12 volts. The battery pack itself is also set to stop charging if the input voltage drops below 12 volts. In this set-up, while parked, the battery pack will continue to charge (and power the dash cam) unless and until the SUV's battery output drops below 12 volts and then the camera will remain powered by the battery pack until it drains. This considerably extends the amount of time the camera can remain powered while the car is parked.
Installation was surprisingly easy (and I am no pro at it). Wiring was channeled under the molding via the typical routes. I put the box and connectivity module in the glove box, which left plenty of room for the owner's manuals package and other stuff already stored in the glovebox. The cameras were easy to aim and do provide decent quality images.
So, why the "WARNING"?
Well, first, BlackVue was less than clear and less than honest about the LTE and cloud interaction and pricing. It turns out that the box's default setting was to send every recording - not just events - to the cloud. This means the "free" connectivity option is good for about 3 days. In order to make use of any cloud service, one must of course have a connection from the cameras to the internet - i.e. a hotspot. While one does not need to use the BlackVue connectivity module, it suggests that it would not adequately deal with connectivity issues when a third party's hot spot is used. Moreover, in correspondence with BlackVue, it was implied that its experience with the third party SIMs was not as good as with its own.
Okay. I'm willing to pay for the LTE hot spot and Cloud - about $60/month for the highest data allowance. BUT, any plan change does not take effect until the beginning of the month following the change. Seriously? I have never had another company refuse to make an immediate (or almost immediate) service upgrade when no hardware changes are involved. This is especially ridiculous given the camera's default setting to send everything to the cloud.
So, maybe that was a learning curve thing and now all is well. Not quite.
I did upgrade my cloud (and LTE) plan, thus allowing for GPS tracking and timestamping. It worked for one day. In numerous correspondences with BlackVue's customer support, I got conflicting responses. I was told told try numerous things, including reformatting the SD card and redownloading the firmware and "changing" to settings that were already set. Nothing helped. It was clear that some piece of equipment was defective. It was also clear that BlackVue was going to take its time in honoring its warranty. Okay, I understand that any manufacturer is going to have defects. But, I expect them to make them right, especially when marketing themselves as a premium brand, with pricing to match.
So, I turned to BBMC, which is where I purchased all the BV equipment from. Of course, not being aware of all the details of my interactions with BV, BBMC tech support had me repeat a lot of what was already done. I have no problem with that. Turns out that, in the interim, BV had issued a firmware update. But that only slightly solved the problem: the GPS light was now coming on on the box, but GPS still was not functioning.
After going through the above process, BBMC issued an RMA and I returned the box, the connectivity module, the SIM and SD cards.
So, while all of the above was frustrating and, at times, maddening, I completely understand that sometimes one encounters a defective product. All of the above is background to the warning which follows.
BBMC diagnosed the problem and, as I expected, found one of the components was defective. And they seem quite willing to send out the necessary replacements. So, what's the problem?
The only units BBMC has on hand are defective ones that have been returned and they don't know when they will get functional ones from BlackVue because BV is having production problems.
This tells me that the problem I am experiencing is not an anomaly but a widespread issue. It would have been nice if BV had been honest about this up front. Perhaps it was hoping to string me along until it was actually able to provide a functional unit. I doubt that BV sent defective units only to BBMC and I am sure BBMC is not happy about not having functional units to sell (not to mention having to deal with frustrated customers such as myself over a problem not of BBMC's making).
But, bottom line, after spending close to $700 on BV equipment and dealing with absurd LTE/Cloud plan policies, I must urge people to seriously reconsider their plans to buy this particular camera. It's one thing have an occasional defective product. It's quite another to market a product with known defects. On the other hand, I would not hold BBMC responsible for any of this, assuming they do all they can to correct this situation.
Now, if only Viofo, or some other qulity brand, was to put out a 3 channel Starvis 2 equipped camera with motion activated parking mode and integrated cloud/connectivity, I would buy it instead of any BV.
UPDATE: Well, it seems BV won't have functional units for almost a month. I don't know if the problem affects other new BV cameras, but I would certainly think hard before buying any BV product.
If I didn't want to pull out all the cameras and wiring, I would just buy a reliable cam and be done with BV.
November 2023 Update. So, I decided to upgrade my SIM subscription from 1GB to 3GB. Two months ago, I used 400MB and last month I used 1GB in 3 weeks. Well, magically, after upgrading my subscription to 3GB, according to BV, I somehow used 90% of it in 5 days, even though the camera has been off more than the previous months. The app shows I used only 350+MB of data, so I assumed the email warning that I received was an error. However, when I contacted BV, initially I received an largely unintelligible response, apparently written hastily by someone with poor English skills, who did not even bother to look into the issue. Upon following up, I received a more intelligible, but no more helpful, response which simply listed the kinds of items that use data (i.e. live view, uploads, GPS tracking) but no information to verify my alleged usage. I have again asked for that information and am awaiting a response.
In any case, BV charges $23.99/month for 3GB, which it apparently cannot verify the usage for (and $39.99/month for a 5GB plan). Whereas T-Mobile charges $50 (with a number of discounts available) for 50GB of data, with data rollover.
I really can't wait for another 3 channel Starvis II cloud enabled dashcam with decent parking modes to hit the market. Right now, the Thinkware U3000 looks intriguing. But, I've read a lot of complaints about its radar (vs. motion sensing) not working properly. Not to mention its $1000+ price tag.
But, when something else comes along, I'll be dumping this BV. Any masochist interested?
The main deciding factors in my decision to go with the DR770X Box (other than a 3 channel requirement) was the Park Mode function and the LTE/Cloud integration. I live in a condo that has one garage space per unit. I have more than one vehicle, however. So, my second vehicle, which is an upscale SUV, must be parked on a secondary street near a small shopping center and which sees a considerable amount of transient (i.e. non-resident) traffic. While actual car theft has been rare, there are often instances of petty vandalism, parking related incidents and, sometimes, break-ins. Here, the DR770X's parking features were top of the list: motion detection, the ability to set motion recording location - and thus limit the excessive record of car driving past, real-time event notification (with LTE), cloud event auto upload, and the motion sensor triggering of the parking mode. With regard to the last point, for a number of reasons, I wanted to avoid the need to hard wire the dashcam. In addition to using the B-130X battery pack, the unit is plugged into a voltage controlled "hot" power port. That is, the port remains powered even when the SUV's ignition is off. However, power to the port is cut should the car's battery drain to lower than 12 volts. The battery pack itself is also set to stop charging if the input voltage drops below 12 volts. In this set-up, while parked, the battery pack will continue to charge (and power the dash cam) unless and until the SUV's battery output drops below 12 volts and then the camera will remain powered by the battery pack until it drains. This considerably extends the amount of time the camera can remain powered while the car is parked.
Installation was surprisingly easy (and I am no pro at it). Wiring was channeled under the molding via the typical routes. I put the box and connectivity module in the glove box, which left plenty of room for the owner's manuals package and other stuff already stored in the glovebox. The cameras were easy to aim and do provide decent quality images.
So, why the "WARNING"?
Well, first, BlackVue was less than clear and less than honest about the LTE and cloud interaction and pricing. It turns out that the box's default setting was to send every recording - not just events - to the cloud. This means the "free" connectivity option is good for about 3 days. In order to make use of any cloud service, one must of course have a connection from the cameras to the internet - i.e. a hotspot. While one does not need to use the BlackVue connectivity module, it suggests that it would not adequately deal with connectivity issues when a third party's hot spot is used. Moreover, in correspondence with BlackVue, it was implied that its experience with the third party SIMs was not as good as with its own.
Okay. I'm willing to pay for the LTE hot spot and Cloud - about $60/month for the highest data allowance. BUT, any plan change does not take effect until the beginning of the month following the change. Seriously? I have never had another company refuse to make an immediate (or almost immediate) service upgrade when no hardware changes are involved. This is especially ridiculous given the camera's default setting to send everything to the cloud.
So, maybe that was a learning curve thing and now all is well. Not quite.
I did upgrade my cloud (and LTE) plan, thus allowing for GPS tracking and timestamping. It worked for one day. In numerous correspondences with BlackVue's customer support, I got conflicting responses. I was told told try numerous things, including reformatting the SD card and redownloading the firmware and "changing" to settings that were already set. Nothing helped. It was clear that some piece of equipment was defective. It was also clear that BlackVue was going to take its time in honoring its warranty. Okay, I understand that any manufacturer is going to have defects. But, I expect them to make them right, especially when marketing themselves as a premium brand, with pricing to match.
So, I turned to BBMC, which is where I purchased all the BV equipment from. Of course, not being aware of all the details of my interactions with BV, BBMC tech support had me repeat a lot of what was already done. I have no problem with that. Turns out that, in the interim, BV had issued a firmware update. But that only slightly solved the problem: the GPS light was now coming on on the box, but GPS still was not functioning.
After going through the above process, BBMC issued an RMA and I returned the box, the connectivity module, the SIM and SD cards.
So, while all of the above was frustrating and, at times, maddening, I completely understand that sometimes one encounters a defective product. All of the above is background to the warning which follows.
BBMC diagnosed the problem and, as I expected, found one of the components was defective. And they seem quite willing to send out the necessary replacements. So, what's the problem?
The only units BBMC has on hand are defective ones that have been returned and they don't know when they will get functional ones from BlackVue because BV is having production problems.
This tells me that the problem I am experiencing is not an anomaly but a widespread issue. It would have been nice if BV had been honest about this up front. Perhaps it was hoping to string me along until it was actually able to provide a functional unit. I doubt that BV sent defective units only to BBMC and I am sure BBMC is not happy about not having functional units to sell (not to mention having to deal with frustrated customers such as myself over a problem not of BBMC's making).
But, bottom line, after spending close to $700 on BV equipment and dealing with absurd LTE/Cloud plan policies, I must urge people to seriously reconsider their plans to buy this particular camera. It's one thing have an occasional defective product. It's quite another to market a product with known defects. On the other hand, I would not hold BBMC responsible for any of this, assuming they do all they can to correct this situation.
Now, if only Viofo, or some other qulity brand, was to put out a 3 channel Starvis 2 equipped camera with motion activated parking mode and integrated cloud/connectivity, I would buy it instead of any BV.
UPDATE: Well, it seems BV won't have functional units for almost a month. I don't know if the problem affects other new BV cameras, but I would certainly think hard before buying any BV product.
If I didn't want to pull out all the cameras and wiring, I would just buy a reliable cam and be done with BV.
November 2023 Update. So, I decided to upgrade my SIM subscription from 1GB to 3GB. Two months ago, I used 400MB and last month I used 1GB in 3 weeks. Well, magically, after upgrading my subscription to 3GB, according to BV, I somehow used 90% of it in 5 days, even though the camera has been off more than the previous months. The app shows I used only 350+MB of data, so I assumed the email warning that I received was an error. However, when I contacted BV, initially I received an largely unintelligible response, apparently written hastily by someone with poor English skills, who did not even bother to look into the issue. Upon following up, I received a more intelligible, but no more helpful, response which simply listed the kinds of items that use data (i.e. live view, uploads, GPS tracking) but no information to verify my alleged usage. I have again asked for that information and am awaiting a response.
In any case, BV charges $23.99/month for 3GB, which it apparently cannot verify the usage for (and $39.99/month for a 5GB plan). Whereas T-Mobile charges $50 (with a number of discounts available) for 50GB of data, with data rollover.
I really can't wait for another 3 channel Starvis II cloud enabled dashcam with decent parking modes to hit the market. Right now, the Thinkware U3000 looks intriguing. But, I've read a lot of complaints about its radar (vs. motion sensing) not working properly. Not to mention its $1000+ price tag.
But, when something else comes along, I'll be dumping this BV. Any masochist interested?
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