Complete Review of G1W-C CAPACITOR based dash camera NT96650 + AR0330 1080p / 30Fps

niko

niko

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Review of C1W-C ( Capacitor based ) Dash Camera


This is a "brother" of well known budget dash camera G1W that got popular this year as a good value for money car dvr, which is based on popular combination of Novatek NT96650 CPU and Aptina AR0330 CMOS sensor with F1.8 lens aperture.

G1W-C (1).webp

G1W-C Mounted in car (1).webp

G1W-C Mounted in car (2).webp

Overall G1W and G1W-C main specifications, performance and video quality recording is the same apart from G1W is uses built-in battery and G1W-C is based on Capacitor ( dual SuperCap ) which allows to save last recorded video clip and keeps time and device settings in the memory.

Till now there are only some Korean high-end dash camera manufacturers used capacitors instead of batteries, but end of 2013y showed more and more high-end dash cam manufacturers realising problems if using batteries inside dash cams, so they now going over to capacitor based dash cams. But we all know that Korean high-end dash cams are quite expensive and not all people can afford them.

G1W-C is the FIRST Chinese dash camera which is based on Capacitor. I haven't even seen yet any mid- and high price-range Chinese dash cameras based on capacitor ( 50-150 usd price range ). So for G1W-C developers being budget dash camera it is well made decision to start producing dash camera that can be affordable and at the same time with good specifications and performance.


Pros / cons of capacitor vs battery in dash camera.

Battery based dash cams has been reported having problems working in hot countries, due to battery overheating or even exploding. Many manufacturers advertise having battery in dash cam as positive thing, - you can record videos even without external power source, - yes thats true, but let's think in real life we all have mobile phones these days, so we can use them to record footage outside the car if needed. Most battery based dash camera will record around 20-30 minutes if fully charged and this is when they are new. ( latest Mobius and Innovv can record about 1h +/- ). After some period batteries lose their memory ( capacity ) and you are lucky if you can record few minutes footage. After some period of use batteries in many cases can die, so you end up in situation where your dash camera will not save last video file which is in most accidences is the most important video footage you want to keep as an evidence.

With Capacitor based dash cameras there are almost no worries with overheating issue, no exploding batteries, no risk of last file not saved. The only drawback with capacitor based dash cameras is that you can not record footage without external power.


Package content of G1W-C is standard as with most budget dash cameras.

- packaging
- dash camera
- suction mount
- miniUSB to USB2.0 lead
- miniUSB cigarette lighter charger / power adaptor
- user manual in English, Russian and Chinese lanugage

Packaging.webp



Menu interface is the same as on G1W


G1W-C (3).webp


Buttons names.webp

Main Features:

· FULL HD 1080P high quality resolution.
· NT96650+AR0330
· 120 degree A+ grade High Resolution Wide Angle Lens.
· Lens aperture F1.8
· Wide Dynamic technology ( firmware enhanced )
· H.264 video compression technology.
· Video recording in MOV
· Video recording bit-rate: average 12Mbps
· G-sensor function.
· Built-in microphone/speaker.
· Supports high capacity TF card up to 64Gb (Fat32 ).
· Seamless looping video.
· Support anti-shake function.
· Motion Detection.
· Support HDMI high quality video transmission.
· support auto ignition boot, turn off shut-down.

ADDED:
G1W-C works with Samsung 64Gb MicroSDXC ( MicroSD, Micro SDXC )


G1W-C (4).webp


Specifications:

Specs.webp
 
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Difference between G1W and G1W-C comes if we look inside.

P.S. - my G1W is from very first bunch that was produced almost 7-8 month ago, it has green colour motherboard and some microchips / IC-s etc are positioned slightly differently than later produced G1W models with black colour motherboard.

Also my G1W did not had LED light, but later versions of G1W already had LED lights and on later versions G1W I saw microphone on the other side of motherboard despite they still were using green colour motherboard.

On G1W microphone being positioned on the other side of the mother-board, on the side close to the microphone hole on the case, so it records better audio than my earlier version of G1W.

a2.webp


As you may see from picture below, there is no RTC battery for real-time-clock or settings memory, but surprisingly it did not lose time or other settings after 5 days of non-use. I have not test longer non-use yet. When will get chance, will update info on longer non-use time.


a3.webp

a4.webp

a5.webp

a6.webp

a7.webp

a8.webp



Below can see older G1W had microphone on inside, but new G1W-C microphone is positioned closer to casing where microphone hole allocated to provide better sound recording.

a9.webp
 
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Night videos


NB!
Not in all cases you can read vital data like car number plates, - it's all depends on light conditions, car speed and other factors. This rule applies not only for particular device, but for ALL other dash cameras as well.

Big factor at night regarding reading car number plate is what type headlights bulbs are used in the car.
I wrote about that here: Reading License Plates at Night. HID / Xenon, standard bulbs

When watching a YouTube videos, please select 1080p from YouTube screen options at the bottom right corner.
P.S. - YouTube compresses files / data, so it does not show real video result.
You may download RAW video files to watch real footage ( check below )


EV ( Exposure Value ) = 0



EV ( Exposure Value ) = 0



EV ( Exposure Value ) +1




EV ( Exposure Value ) +2





RAW video files download links:

Night G1W-C EV0 (1).MOV 281.9 MB
https://mega.co.nz/#!KJphkSzL!dBLjElKa-eACO1BGj1lpn2xTrRNawAdXcM5shd1iijY


Night G1W-C EV0 (3).MOV 282.0 MB
https://mega.co.nz/#!TVhyHSgY!FR4SymdQJ68uL6vovahtrQCyNzJwJiA1Sc7oOvqShg0


Night G1W-C EV1 (1).MOV 282.1 MB
https://mega.co.nz/#!iI5QBAhK!eDYYrnkDKTWaqoX1LGPTkDGj-Y8-2cX1vn2wiXKB5K4


Night G1W-C EV2 (2).MOV 281.8 MB
https://mega.co.nz/#!SJBAGRiT!MgV8ABDEyxsZ4jD-cpYv4RyndD8mAILHfj4tDkYkA94


Night G1W-C EV2 (3).MOV 281.9 MB
https://mega.co.nz/#!iZpkRIRC!V1n-cSPy2TPmO2YiODNSjHXGrtJhNNdPm5Bfn0Qrr50


Night Screenshots:

n1.webp

n10.webp

View attachment 2822

n3.webp

n4.webp

n5.webp

n6.webp

n7.webp

n8.webp

n9.webp


Below I put together 3 longer night recordings from same night where I was changing EV ( Exposure Value ) just to see how it will affect night video recording.


EV = 0



EV +1



EV +2



I didn't find much difference after changing EV value from 0 to +1 to +2. Maybe there was very little improvement, but not significant.
 
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Suggestions / Recommendations on what can be improved

- Sound "waving", high pitch noise on the background, which is typical for most NT96650 based dash cameras", - till now most NT96650 dash cameras still have it and it has not been yet resolved, so I guess just need to get used to it, but of course it would be nice if manufacturer could solve this.

Despite waving sound I must say audio recording quality is better than on earlier version of G1W, due to microphone being positioned on the other side of the mother-board, on the side close to the microphone hole on the case ( see comparison pictures above ). Later versions of G1W with black colour motherboard have microphone mounted on same side as G1W-C.

- Lens housing is attached to the mother-board only with one screw.

Maybe it is only my model, but still manufacturer should pay attention on assembly. Anyway, - this is not a big problem ( for me ) and I have solved it with simple home DIY ( just open case, unscrew 4 screws which holds motherboard to the case, on the opposite side you find place where lens housing attached to the motherboard, add screw to the lens housing, done )

- Silver colour lens surrounding could be painted into black colour for more discrete installation.

- "Fussy" to some memory cards:

There has been reports on some MicroSD memory cards does not work at all having some errors to record video files on G1W.

I did not had any problems with momory cards when was using G1W, but surprisingly with G1W-C I had error recording on very first day of use. Later on I discovered that out of 30 files about 5 files were corrupted. I was using some "no-name" MicroSD card ( which works fine on other dash camers ), but it was fussy on G1W-C. Then I tested wtih SanDisk and still same error in some files.

After I tested with Transcend MicroSD cards and everything was fine, no error, no corrupted video files during few days of test drive recording.

So best way is to avoid Sandisk and Cheap "No-name" branded microsd cards and go with tested Transcend.

You may read feedback on memory cards used on GXX series from this thread: What brand memory card

- Suction mount / bracket could be ball-joint type which is more user-friendly.


Strong points

- Good day-time video recording at 1080p / 30Fps and at a quite high bit-rate of average 12Mbps. Fair night video recording video quality. I can say that video quality recording is same as on old G1W, so from this point of there are no changes.

- Capacitor instead of battery, which makes it more reliable dash cam over older model and most other same price-range dash cameras.

- Fairly cheap price for Capacitor based dash cam ( although no other competitors out there yet with similar solution, so it is hard to compare the price ). Still price difference with battery based G1W is not significant.


Conclusion

Taking into consideration some major facts that most buyers looking at when buying a dash camera: day / night video quality, functionality, size and price, G1W-C at the moment can be a top choice from all NT96650 + AR0330 based dash cameras in budget price-range. Of course video quality recording ( especially at night ) can not compete with 90-150usd price range NT96650 + AR0330 based dash camers like Dod LS330W, Dod LS430W, Shadow GT680W, RX300 or similar, but within budget price-range it performs quite good.


At the moment Foxoffer sells it for 65.90usd including economy shipping.

This price is valid / correct on the day when review was posted ( 21.12.2013 ) and may be changed later.

You may also check other online stores for prices.


There are many manufacturers of G1W out there and I am not sure from which exact factory G1W-C comes from. I am afraid that soon there will be a copies and also copies of the copies G1W-C out there with cheaper price, so it's best to buy from reputable re-seller in order to avoid getting low quality product.

Thank you for your patience in reading my review.
 
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This post here I will reserve for additional info that may accrue in future.
 
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Very nice! Thanks for the great review! One question, which re-seller did you use?
 
Ahhhh, thank you for the link. For some reason my browser did not think that it was a link!

EDIT:Another reason why I could not find it, the title is listed as C1W-C, not G1W-C. :)
 
Yeah I saw it :)
Gotta get used to Niko's posts though, usually many spelling mistakes but he does his best and he's not writing in his native language!
After all I counted "G1W-C" used about 20 times including in the first pic.
 
Gurkha9 said:
Yeah I saw it :)
Gotta get used to Niko's posts though, usually many spelling mistakes but he does his best and he's not writing in his native language!
After all I counted "G1W-C" used about 20 times including in the first pic.
Click to expand...

I really like his reviews as well. It is rare to find an individual that is willing to spend his money and giving an informative review for others. It makes picking a camera that much easier!
 
Yeah, we are all lucky to have him and a few others here like jokiin and MTZ on this board :)
 
on forums all contributors are valuable, that's what keeps them ticking along and growing, they're a really valuable resource for consumers, I started in the automotive trade over 30 years ago but went into the electronics side 20 years ago, back then all you could do was buy magazines about whatever you wanted to learn about or visit a retail outlet and hope to find someone that knew what they were talking about, very often you couldn't so it was very hard to make an informed decision back then, things have changed quite a lot, particularly over the last 10 or so years
 
Of course, the more the merrier. But quite often on forums only a minority of people contribute compared to those who actually visit and gain knowledge and then move on without contributing anything.
 
Gurkha9 said:
Of course, the more the merrier. But quite often on forums only a minority of people contribute compared to those who actually visit and gain knowledge and then move on without contributing anything.
Click to expand...

all forums have gimees that just fly in, want their questions answered and leave never to be heard of again, par for the course on any forum and to be expected, not a big deal

worse are the ones that sign up and message you for the personal support without ever posting in the forum, I generally just ask them politely to post in the forum and I'll answer the question there so that anyone else that comes looking with a similar problem can find the answer
 
Thank you very much for great review.
About the capacitor camera, I think there will be more released next year.
I just heard shadow new ntk96650 mirror also use capacitor, and add the RTC battery.
 
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