BlackVue Elite 9 - Unboxed & Sample Footage

[Onetenner]

I'm interested in where you got this from in UK - its not listed on Blackvue UK as yet and the US site states "Note: This product is expected to ship from December 17 (KST) on a first-come, first-served basis."

Well it appears Blackvue may have found some stock down the back of the metaphorical sofa.... got a waybill reference from DHL by email this morning.
Still not received the Thinkware ARC 900 due to the ineptness of Parcelforce in UK...

 

[Estoril Sport]

Currently have a Blackvue DR900X Plus and the rear camera quality is very poor, the front camera if OKish. However thinking of upgrading the Elite 9 so this might be the one! Does the Elite 9 Camera still limited to do 1 min film footage? it would be nice if this could be extended for a longer period. The rear footage from the Elite 9 is impressive to the DR900X Plus. Also can you just swap out the DR900X Plus cameras and replace the existing wiring with the Elite 9 or does this require rewiring (currently the cabling is fitted into the cars trim so its hidden.
Thankyou for the original posting.

 

[Dan-UK1415]

Currently have a Blackvue DR900X Plus and the rear camera quality is very poor, the front camera if OKish. However thinking of upgrading the Elite 9 so this might be the one! Does the Elite 9 Camera still limited to do 1 min film footage? it would be nice if this could be extended for a longer period. The rear footage from the Elite 9 is impressive to the DR900X Plus. Also can you just swap out the DR900X Plus cameras and replace the existing wiring with the Elite 9 or does this require rewiring (currently the cabling is fitted into the cars trim so its hidden.
Thankyou for the original posting.

The footage still records at 1 minute maximum.

The Elite 8, 9 and 10 all use the same power cable and rear coax cable as the DR900X Plus - so you can just swap the camera and mounts out.


The Elite series comes with an uprated rear camera cable - but it's not necessary. It just allows higher bandwidth and better interference protection - but the older cables still work.
If you get any rear camera issues (highly unlikely) then swap the rear cable - but otherwise its mainly for new installs.

 

[indigo]

The footage still records at 1 minute maximum.

The Elite 8, 9 and 10 all use the same power cable and rear coax cable as the DR900X Plus - so you can just swap the camera and mounts out.


The Elite series comes with an uprated rear camera cable - but it's not necessary. It just allows higher bandwidth and better interference protection - but the older cables still work.
If you get any rear camera issues (highly unlikely) then swap the rear cable - but otherwise its mainly for new installs.

i check the blackvue website
why the h265 video size is bigger than h264?

 

[Dan-UK1415]

i check the blackvue website
why the h265 video size is bigger than h264?

Front camera;
H264 encoding set to Extreme records at 40Mbits
H265 encoding set to Extreme records at 60Mbits

Rear camera records at 25Mbits at both H264 and H265, so they result in a smaller file size in direct comparison

It formats the SD card every time you change the encoding setting.

This is the reason for the larger file sizes.
If both encoded at 40Mbits then the H265 would have a smaller file size, but BlackVue opted to increase the bitrate on H265 so this is the better option as it encodes at 60Mbits.


BlackVue cameras record at 12bit, then downgrade the recording to 8bit when it saves the file.

This is why the footage doesn't play back with a HDR flag. It's recorded in HDR then saved as SDR.



A lot of things happen in the processing stage - so it's not a simple as looking at technical specs and assuming like for like, as the different settings have different individual recording settings so can't compare like for like.

 

[3rdeye]

morning all

tried placing order for elite 9 this morning with blackvue.com and got rejected saying they don’t ship to GB? have they recently made this decision?

 

[Dan-UK1415]

morning all

tried placing order for elite 9 this morning with blackvue.com and got rejected saying they don’t ship to GB? have they recently made this decision?

Not that I'm aware of.
I've just gone on to check and it allows me to buy from a UK address and deliver to a UK address;

ELITE 9-2CH

Key Features 4K Ultra HD Front and 2K Quad HD Rear Sony STARVIS 2 Sensors with HDR Front and Rear Ultra-low Power Parking Mode Fast 5GHz Wi-Fi Cloud compatibility via optional LTE Connectivity Module or 3rd-Party Wi-Fi hotspot

blackvue.com

 

[3rdeye]

on blackvue.com ?

 

[Dan-UK1415]

on blackvue.com ?

Yes, the link I attached:

ELITE 9-2CH

Key Features 4K Ultra HD Front and 2K Quad HD Rear Sony STARVIS 2 Sensors with HDR Front and Rear Ultra-low Power Parking Mode Fast 5GHz Wi-Fi Cloud compatibility via optional LTE Connectivity Module or 3rd-Party Wi-Fi hotspot

blackvue.com

 

[3rdeye]

I don’t know what to say - tried again and failed again! 🙁

 

[Dan-UK1415]

I don’t know what to say - tried again and failed again! 🙁

I've gone back on to place an order all way through to payment (was going to cancel after just to test it).
Whilst it allows me to get to payment, it now says no shipping options available for my address.

I've reached out to BlackVue for clarification.

I honestly hope they don't stop shipping direct and want us to use their UK authorised dealer instead (BlackVue.co.uk) because they're overpriced and way behind in models. The newest model on BlackVue.co.uk is DR970X Plus (not even the newer second model).

 

[3rdeye]

I was going to get a new dr970x until i came across the elite series.

 

[Dan-UK1415]

Their chat bot still says I can buy from them - so may be a new thing or a temporary issue.
I'll update this when BlackVue get back to me in person.

 

[Dan-UK1415]

Unfortunately BlackVue.com no longer deliver to the United Kingdom.
That's all they have confirmed to me so far, they've not given any reason for this.
They've also updated their website with a list of countries they do deliver to (United Kingdom is no longer listed).

That is very sad news and I will no longer be a customer of theirs.
It's not acceptable to be limited to inflated UK resellers (no offence to other country resellers that offer reasonable prices). UK resellers charge extremely excessive rates and also very delayed releases.

Delivery

Delivery BlackVue Online Shop – Specific conditions The following conditions apply only to Pittasoft products purchased from the BlackVue online shop on this website. The warranty covers only normal uses of the products. Pittasoft shall not be liable under this warranty if any damage or defect...

blackvue.com

 

[3rdeye]

Thanks for confirming - very sad indeed how we are subjected to crap customer service and rip off prices,

 

[Dashcamuser567]

Are there other resellers? I bought mine from one rather than direct but I'm in the US

 

[Dan-UK1415]

Are there other resellers? I bought mine from one rather than direct but I'm in the US

In the UK there is only 1 official reseller which is a poor set up because the prices are 30-40% above BlackVue direct prices.
There is also Amazon UK which also get some models months after direct release at more reasonable prices, but still more than BlackVue themselves.


With the US, there are a few official resellers which allows price competition and more well established companies so some countries have very good resellers - but some countries only have one or sometimes none.

 

[3rdeye]

I may look to source from abroad fed up of paying rip off UK prices. On another point any recommendations for a reputable independent installer within the London area.

 

[Onetenner]

I got a Thinkware from Canada using https://www.shipbymail.com/ all you have to do is either buy it online and use their forwarding address or get them to buy it on your behalf.
It took six days from sending the Amazon.ca link and payment to arriving in UK - than another 'few' days for Parcelfarce to deliver it....

 

[indigo]

I may look to source from abroad fed up of paying rip off UK prices. On another point any recommendations for a reputable independent installer within the London area.

oh i think only chinese reseller sell high price
UK reseller do this things also🙁