USDashCamera
Well-Known Member
Hey guys, got my review finally of the DR900S-2CH 4K from Blackvue review. This was sent to me for review by Blackvue, as was the Power Magic Ultra battery I show in the review.
As usual the meat of my review will be in the video. This is a long review so I have a table of contents below the videos after my brief write up.
As many regulars around here for the past few years may know, I was always a big blackvue fan. A Blackvue DR550GW-2CH was the first dash cam I ever owned. I loved having 1080p + 720p rear, and the automatic parking mode. As many may already know the DR900 series has 4k front, and 1080p rear. I had doubts when blackvue showed off this new cam at SEMA earlier this year claiming h.265 encoding allowed them high quality 4k at a lower bitrate than their h.264 1080p video. They have really sold me it, and I think the video quality is fantastic. Obviously this comes at a price, the camera starts at around $500 give or take depending on where you buy from, and what bundle you get. Personally I prefer getting the cheapest bundle possible, then buying a larger card separate. @BlackboxMyCar also has provided my audience with a coupon code for $30 off orders over $300, just use the code "USDASH30" when you check out, makes the $500+ a little easier hah.
Another thing I really love about this camera is the cloud. Back when I first reviewed blackvue cloud, it was great but there was no affordable hotspots IMO. I don't want to spend $20 a month just to potentially get smart phone notifications when someone hits my car in a parking lot. For this review, I signed up for FreedomPop's "free" 4g hotspot. I only put the quotes because you do have to pay $10 for the hotspot and activation (I know, a whole TEN dollars) but then after that you need to downgrade to the free plan otherwise you will start getting charged $20-30 a month for their more premium service. The free plan only gives you 200mb a month, but perfect for something I am never going to use other than get a few notifications once in awhile. Whats cool is they do allow 3 hotspots to save now instead of just one like at launch. I am hardwiring my hotspot into my car so its on all the time. Another new feature i like they added is the ability to get alerts that the camera overheated and is shutting off.
Obviously the big issue with this camera is with the 4k sensor, the pixels are smaller and night images are darker. Many users here have demonstrated it, but I honestly would not trade this for the DR750 just because images are darker. I think the 4k h.265 is a bigger pro to me than the 750's brighter night image.
One thing I wish is if blackvue put a thinkware style power button where if you choose to, you can hold the power button down for a few seconds to turn it off, then when you start your car back up it powers back up like normal. This can be useful to save battery if you are using parking mode. Speaking of parking mode, A timelapse option and power saving option such as the F800 pro would be nice, but the fact that the cloud is SO much better than the Thinkware F800 Pro cloud features, it's a nitpick at most.
One feature I am hoping companies will add is to use GPS geofencing to disable parking mode. When I park at home I would rather turn off the camera to save battery. I wish you could set zones where the GPS detects and shuts down the camera instead of going into parking mode. Since the DR900 does not have a power button like the thinkware cams, I do leave it on all the time, but luckily the Power Magic Ultra battery charges super quick and I only ever run out of battery if I dont drive for a few days. The charging speed is incredible. Check out both reviews below:
DR900S-2CH Review
Introduction, Features & Specs: 0:48
Video Samples: 4:18
Unboxing: 6:11
Hardwiring and Battery Solutions: 10:10
Parking Mode: 14:42
Setup & Operation: 16:06
WiFi Android/iOS App Walkthrough: 20:32
How to get FREE mobile hotspot for your car: 28:18
Cloud App Walkthrough: 30:55
Conclusion: 33:41
Power Magic Ultra Battery Review
As usual the meat of my review will be in the video. This is a long review so I have a table of contents below the videos after my brief write up.
As many regulars around here for the past few years may know, I was always a big blackvue fan. A Blackvue DR550GW-2CH was the first dash cam I ever owned. I loved having 1080p + 720p rear, and the automatic parking mode. As many may already know the DR900 series has 4k front, and 1080p rear. I had doubts when blackvue showed off this new cam at SEMA earlier this year claiming h.265 encoding allowed them high quality 4k at a lower bitrate than their h.264 1080p video. They have really sold me it, and I think the video quality is fantastic. Obviously this comes at a price, the camera starts at around $500 give or take depending on where you buy from, and what bundle you get. Personally I prefer getting the cheapest bundle possible, then buying a larger card separate. @BlackboxMyCar also has provided my audience with a coupon code for $30 off orders over $300, just use the code "USDASH30" when you check out, makes the $500+ a little easier hah.
Another thing I really love about this camera is the cloud. Back when I first reviewed blackvue cloud, it was great but there was no affordable hotspots IMO. I don't want to spend $20 a month just to potentially get smart phone notifications when someone hits my car in a parking lot. For this review, I signed up for FreedomPop's "free" 4g hotspot. I only put the quotes because you do have to pay $10 for the hotspot and activation (I know, a whole TEN dollars) but then after that you need to downgrade to the free plan otherwise you will start getting charged $20-30 a month for their more premium service. The free plan only gives you 200mb a month, but perfect for something I am never going to use other than get a few notifications once in awhile. Whats cool is they do allow 3 hotspots to save now instead of just one like at launch. I am hardwiring my hotspot into my car so its on all the time. Another new feature i like they added is the ability to get alerts that the camera overheated and is shutting off.
Obviously the big issue with this camera is with the 4k sensor, the pixels are smaller and night images are darker. Many users here have demonstrated it, but I honestly would not trade this for the DR750 just because images are darker. I think the 4k h.265 is a bigger pro to me than the 750's brighter night image.
One thing I wish is if blackvue put a thinkware style power button where if you choose to, you can hold the power button down for a few seconds to turn it off, then when you start your car back up it powers back up like normal. This can be useful to save battery if you are using parking mode. Speaking of parking mode, A timelapse option and power saving option such as the F800 pro would be nice, but the fact that the cloud is SO much better than the Thinkware F800 Pro cloud features, it's a nitpick at most.
One feature I am hoping companies will add is to use GPS geofencing to disable parking mode. When I park at home I would rather turn off the camera to save battery. I wish you could set zones where the GPS detects and shuts down the camera instead of going into parking mode. Since the DR900 does not have a power button like the thinkware cams, I do leave it on all the time, but luckily the Power Magic Ultra battery charges super quick and I only ever run out of battery if I dont drive for a few days. The charging speed is incredible. Check out both reviews below:
DR900S-2CH Review
Introduction, Features & Specs: 0:48
Video Samples: 4:18
Unboxing: 6:11
Hardwiring and Battery Solutions: 10:10
Parking Mode: 14:42
Setup & Operation: 16:06
WiFi Android/iOS App Walkthrough: 20:32
How to get FREE mobile hotspot for your car: 28:18
Cloud App Walkthrough: 30:55
Conclusion: 33:41
Power Magic Ultra Battery Review
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