BlackVue Elite 10 Dual 4K - Test/Review - RCG

[rcg530]

While I was out fixing my friend's car, DHL delivered the Elite 10 dash camera and the CPL-2 for the front camera.

I'll need to figure out which dash cameras stay/go in the car I already have the Elite 9 dash camera to make room for the Elite 10.

 

[indigo]

the front is full same as elite9?

 

[rcg530]

My understanding is the front camera for the Elite 9 and Elite 10 are almost identical internally. There are some cosmetic differences [different marking for each model and the color of the accent trim pieces are a different color]. Of course, there's a different firmware for each unit [2K rear for the Elite 9 and 4K rear for the Elite 10].

 

[Dashcamuser567]

I am interested if the Elite 10's rear cam would work on the Elite 9 if they are the same internally? It does look like the Elite 10 is a bit bigger.

 

[rcg530]

I am interested if the Elite 10's rear cam would work on the Elite 9 if they are the same internally? It does look like the Elite 10 is a bit bigger.

They're the same size. The overhead camera zoom level was slightly different when I captured the Elite 9 pictures and the Elite 10 pictures. I've not obtained any statement from Pittasoft whether the Elite 10's 4K rear would work with the Elite 9 and Elite 9 firmware.

 

[Dashcamuser567]

They're the same size. The overhead camera zoom level was slightly different when I captured the Elite 9 pictures and the Elite 10 pictures. I've not obtained any statement from Pittasoft whether the Elite 10's 4K rear would work with the Elite 9 and Elite 9 firmware.

Gotcha, can't wait for your full review and sample footage! Since you haven't heard any statement would you be able to test it if it's not too much trouble?

 

[rcg530]

Gotcha, can't wait for your full review and sample footage! Since you haven't heard any statement would you be able to test it if it's not too much trouble?

I'm going to defer that kind of testing until either Pittasoft makes a statement that it might work or I've fully completed my review of the Elite 9/10 dash cameras. I don't want to plug the 4K rear camera into the Elite 9 and mess up something in the front or rear camera. The chance of breaking either camera is small, but I just don't want to risk it [right now].

 

[rcg530]

Unboxing pics.

What's In The Box:

The Elite 10 2-channel box contains:

• Elite 10 4K UHD front camera
• RC3-4K UHD rear camera
• Elite 10 Quick Start Guide
• Memory card
• Replacement adhesive pads
• Cable clips [3 - 1-channel, 5 - 2-channel]
• 3-Wire Hardwiring Cable [no fuse taps - see optional accessory info]
• Dual USB-C car power adapter [1 dedicated USB-C port for the dash camera providing 12V power, 1 other standard USB-C port]
• USB-C power cable to provide power from USB-C car power adapter to the Elite 10
• Pry tool

Power Cables

The Elite 10 box contains two power cables. The 3-wire hardwire cable is provided so you can hardwire the dash camera using your vehicle's fuse box or a dash camera battery pack. The Elite 10 box also contains a USB-C power cable, that when used with the provided cigarette lighter power adapter, it will provide the needed 12V power required by the dash camera. Currently, the Elite 10 does not support motion based entry into / exit from parking mode. Parking mode is only supported when using a 3-wire hardwire cable to power the Elite 10 dash camera.



Rear Camera

The Elite 10 rear camera is a 4K UHD camera capable of recording @ 30 fps using a Sony STARVIS 2 IMX678 image sensor with no HDR support. The Elite 10 box contains a rear camera coaxial cable that looks almost identical to the previous generations of BlackVue rear camera coaxial cables. You are strongly encouraged to use the rear camera cable provided with the Elite 10 instead of re-using an older BlackVue rear camera coaxial cable. The updated cable can be identified since it has a "6" on the front connector.



Front Camera

The Elite 10 front camera is a 4K UHD camera capable of recording @ 30 fps using a Sony STARVIS 2 IMX678 image sensor with HDR support. The Elite 10 front camera is slightly larger than the older DR970X Plus / Plus II series of dash cameras, so you cannot reuse the front camera mount from the older unit with the Elite 10 front camera. The Elite 10 has a new feature - a power button. Instead of a "Format" button [like older models], the Elite 10 now allows you to power it down by long pressing [3-seconds or more] the power button.

 

[rcg530]

Optional Accessories

CPL - CPL-2 for Elite 8/9/10 front camera

If you require the use of a CPL filter to reduce the reflections / glare from your vehicle's front windshield, you will need to purchase the CPL-2 optional accessory. You press the CPL filter onto the front camera's lens outer case. It's a friction fit, so you can remove/install it quite easily. There is an alignment mark on the outer portion of the CPL filter that aligns with a mark on the front lens case.



HWK-5FT Hardwire Kit with Fuse Taps

The 3-wire hardwire cable provided in this kit is very similar to the 3-wire hardwire cable provided in the box with the Elite 10. The difference being that this kit's cable already has connectors on the end of the wires so the constant and accessory power wires can be easily plugged into the fuse taps provided in this kit. The 3-wire cable in this kit and the 3-wire cable provided with the Elite 10 contain 24 AWG wires. The wires used in this kit's cable look thicker, but the wire gauge stated on the outside of the cable is 24 AWG for both cables. This kit provides 5 sets of fuse taps to make it quite easy to install this hardwire kit.

 

[rcg530]

Gotcha, can't wait for your full review and sample footage! Since you haven't heard any statement would you be able to test it if it's not too much trouble?

I received a response from Pittasoft. The Elite 10 will not support the use of the 2K QHD rear camera nor will the Elite 8/9 support the use of the 4K UHD rear camera.

 

[indigo]

My understanding is the front camera for the Elite 9 and Elite 10 are almost identical internally. There are some cosmetic differences [different marking for each model and the color of the accent trim pieces are a different color]. Of course, there's a different firmware for each unit [2K rear for the Elite 9 and 4K rear for the Elite 10].

View attachment 89257View attachment 89258

elite9 have gold colour ：）
beautiful than elite10

 

[G1ml13]

Many thanks for your detailed unboxing. I am in the lookout for this specific dashcam (or Elite 9, undecided at this moment), and I was surprised by the following statement:

Currently, the Elite 10 does not support motion based entry into / exit from parking mode.

I was under the impression that this is something that is already supported. If not, do you know if Elite 9 has it? Is it expected in the near future? I want to combine it ideally with a 4G connection and get notified is someone is approaching the car.

Many thanks once again for your time and the detailed review!

 

[Dashcamuser567]

Many thanks for your detailed unboxing. I am in the lookout for this specific dashcam (or Elite 9, undecided at this moment), and I was surprised by the following statement:

Currently, the Elite 10 does not support motion based entry into / exit from parking mode.

I was under the impression that this is something that is already supported. If not, do you know if Elite 9 has it? Is it expected in the near future? I want to combine it ideally with a 4G connection and get notified is someone is approaching the car.

Many thanks once again for your time and the detailed review!

The cameras have motion based recording in parking mode but not motion based entry/exit parking mode.

I think the older BlackVues had a feature where if the car didnt move for 5 min it would enter parking mode. The elites enter and exit parking mode via the ACC fuse and have motion recording if you walk by it.

 

[Dan-UK1415]

That is correct. None of the Elite series (8, 9 or 10) have that option - it's intentional design from Pittasoft.

 

[G1ml13]

thx guys! I got confused with the "motion based entry/exit parking mode" and the "motion based recording in parking mode".
It's clear now 🙂

 

[Dashcamuser567]

That is correct. None of the Elite series (8, 9 or 10) have that option - it's intentional design from Pittasoft.

Honestly i prefer that. The ACC fuse method seems the most reliable and has worked very well on my U1000 and Elite 9.

 

[rcg530]

Many thanks for your detailed unboxing. I am in the lookout for this specific dashcam (or Elite 9, undecided at this moment), and I was surprised by the following statement:

Currently, the Elite 10 does not support motion based entry into / exit from parking mode.

I was under the impression that this is something that is already supported. If not, do you know if Elite 9 has it? Is it expected in the near future? I want to combine it ideally with a 4G connection and get notified is someone is approaching the car.

Many thanks once again for your time and the detailed review!

Let me clarify that statement a bit. I'm talking about the dash camera entering into and exiting from parking mode based on whether the vehicle it's installed in is moving. The older BlackVue models have two ways of determining when to enter into and exit from parking mode. The older models monitored the vehicle's motion and when the vehicle was stationary for 5-minutes, it would enter parking mode. When the vehicle would start moving and the speed of the vehicle went above 5 mph/8 kph it would exit parking mode. The second method is when the dash camera is powered using the 3-wire hardwiring cable and when the accessory power is turned off/on that will cause the dash camera to enter into and exit from parking mode..

The Elite series [8/9/10] dash cameras only have one method of entering into and exiting parking mode and that's when it's powered by the 3-wire hardwire cable.

Motion based parking mode [monitoring for objects moving when the dash camera is already in parking mode] is one of the three supported parking modes for the Elite series of dash cameras [Power Saving Mode, Motion Based, Time-Lapse].

 

[rcg530]

The Elite 10 dash camera only has HDR support for front camera. The status line text for both the front and rear video footage contain "HDR". I submitted an email to Pittasoft support, but they seem to have misunderstood my email as talking about the rear camera resolution. I'm trying a different approach to get this looked into by Pittasoft.

 

[Dan-UK1415]

Older models used to say HDR / SDR depending on which camera had HDR turned on/off.

 

[rcg530]

Elite 10 Power Consumption Info / Notes - Firmware v1.003 - Updated 13-Jan-2026

The Elite 10 arrived with firmware 1.001 installed and the first step taken was to update it to firmware v1.003 which includes the same connectivity module and SIM card fixes that v1.004 contains for the Elite 9.

The Elite 10 does consume a bit more power with the rear camera being a 4K UHD camera instead of the 2K QHD camera used with the Elite 9. I found that the video bitrate setting only changes the front camera bitrate. The default setting is "High" which created 30 Mbps video for the front and rear 4K cameras. When you increase the bitrate setting to "Extreme", the video bitrate for the front camera increases to 60 Mbps, but the rear remains at 30 Mbps.

Overall, the Elite 10 has very typical BlackVue dash camera behavior with regard to normal/driving recording and parking modes, except for the new "Power Saving Mode" parking mode. When the Elite 10 is powered by a 3-wire hardwire cable, it is capable of entering/exiting any of the three available parking modes. The Elite 10 does not have a motion based parking mode detection system [when to enter and exit parking mode] like older BlackVue dash cameras.

Parking Mode: Power Saving Mode

When the "ACC +" power is turned off, the Elite 10 will enter into a 3-minute recording state as the first operational state for this parking mode. It will record front/rear 1-minute video files [PF/PR] for three (3) minutes. If an impact event occurs during this 3-minute period, it appears to be ignored since it's already recording the PF/PR files. This may be due to it trying to prevent false positives when an impact occurs when closing the vehicle's door/tailgate/trunk lid.

After the initial 3-minute time period has completed, the Elite 10 will switch to a very low power consumption monitoring state drawing only 1 mA [0.01W] of power. The Elite 10 remains in the low power state until an impact event occurs or the "ACC+" power is restored via the 3-wire hardwire cable.

While in the low power monitoring state and an impact event is detected, the Elite 10 will boot and start recording unbuffered 60-second 30fps video files within 1-second of the impact event being detected.

When the unbuffered 60-second videos have finished recording, the Elite 10 goes into a "monitoring" state for four (4) minutes. It is not recording any video files at this time, but it is buffering video/audio in case an another impact event is detected. If an impact event is detected during this 4-minute time period, the Elite 10 will start recording buffered 60-second video files [10-to-12 seconds before the impact event]. Four (4) minutes after the last impact video is finished recording, the Elite 10 will return to the low power monitoring state again.

[click on picture to see] Spreadsheet with power consumption data for all operational modes of the Elite 10 along with info about the video files created.


Elite 10 Parking Mode Time Estimates [Power Saving Mode, Motion Detection, Time-Lapse]

The "100%" time estimates are assuming that 100% of the battery pack's storage capacity can be used to power the dash camera in parking mode. The "90%" time estimate is trying to account for things like the Elite 10 not allowing you to turn off the low voltage cutoff feature. The low voltage cutoff settings only go as low as 11.8V. There may also be some amount of internal parasitic stored charge loss/consumption in the battery pack.

[click on thumbnail image to see full size view]


If you want to see the power consumption test results for the BlackVue Elite 9 dash camera, look at this post in my BlackVue Elite 9 - Testing/Review - RCG - Post 13 thread.