DR970X Plus Series - Testing/Review - RCG

[rcg530]

I'm thinking of taking the plunge and just grabbing one of these. Would it be best to pair with the b130x or the cellink neo 8? Cheers

They're both 7500 mAh battery packs. I tend to prefer the Cellink app for monitoring their battery packs compared to the BlackVue app (accessed within the BlackVue app). The Neo 8 also allows you to expand the total capacity of the system if you need more than 7500 mAh while the B-130X does not support additional battery packs. If those feature differences are not important to you then it boils down to price and support/warranty for the battery packs.

 

[daves88]

They're both 7500 mAh battery packs. I tend to prefer the Cellink app for monitoring their battery packs compared to the BlackVue app (accessed within the BlackVue app). The Neo 8 also allows you to expand the total capacity of the system if you need more than 7500 mAh while the B-130X does not support additional battery packs. If those feature differences are not important to you then it boils down to price and support/warranty for the battery packs.

Thanks for the awesome feedback

Is one built better than the other?

For me I don't think I'll personally use the app to monitor unless something is wrong or expand the capacity.

Neo 8 has 1 year warranty and the B130x comes with 2 years. They are currently on sale and $30 difference in price. (Blackvue being dearer)

 

[danlat1415]

Thanks for the awesome feedback

Is one built better than the other?

For me I don't think I'll personally use the app to monitor unless something is wrong or expand the capacity.

Neo 8 has 1 year warranty and the B130x comes with 2 years. They are currently on sale and $30 difference in price. (Blackvue being dearer)

I don't know if this helps you, but the Blackvue B-130X is 350.99 (389.99 before 10% discount)

https://shop.blackvue.com/product/power-magic-ultra-battery-b-130x/

Discount code - LSEATER10

 

[rcg530]

Thanks for the awesome feedback

Is one built better than the other?

For me I don't think I'll personally use the app to monitor unless something is wrong or expand the capacity.

Neo 8 has 1 year warranty and the B130x comes with 2 years. They are currently on sale and $30 difference in price. (Blackvue being dearer)

Both battery packs are built by EGEN and likely share many components inside of the unit. If the B-130X has a two year warranty vs a 1 year warranty for the Cellink Neo 8, that might be the thing that makes it the "better deal".

I just checked the BlackVue website and their dash cameras have a 2 year warranty, but accessories only have a 1 year warranty.

Please refer to your product’s manual for warranty information. As a general rule, BlackVue dash cams bear a two-year warranty and add-on products (Power Magic Pro, Power Magic Battery Pack, etc.) and accessories bear a one-year warranty period. Memory cards are covered by a 6-month warranty. Other consumables such as tapes, cable clips, etc. or tools such as microSD card readers, pry tools, SIM ejector tools, etc. are not covered by a warranty. Even within the warranty period, if the malfunction is due to user’s negligence, repairs may be handled for a fee.
A receipt or any proof of purchase will be required to determine the product warranty period. You must retain your purchase receipt or other proofs of purchase to receive warranty service.

 

[shalamigri]

I'm thinking of taking the plunge and just grabbing one of these. Would it be best to pair with the b130x or the cellink neo 8? Cheers

I have actually have a B124x and a B124e for expansion that I plan on selling for little. The dashcam batteries did not work for me because my daily commute is not long enough to charge them fully. I opted for a deep cycle battery and an isolator which works a lot better for me.

My daily commute was only around 30 minutes a day (15 minutes each way). So if your daily commute is not at least 45 minutes to an hour everyday, you may be disappointed if you opt for a dashcam battery. I had to learn that the hard way.

 

[danlat1415]

I have actually have a B124x and a B124e for expansion that I plan on selling for little. The dashcam batteries did not work for me because my daily commute is not long enough to charge them fully. I opted for a deep cycle battery and an isolator which works a lot better for me.

My daily commute was only around 30 minutes a day (15 minutes each way). So if your daily commute is not at least 45 minutes to an hour everyday, you may be disappointed if you opt for a dashcam battery. I had to learn that the hard way.

That depends how often you use the vehicle.
I have the B-130X and only drive around 10-20 minutes per journey but multiple times/day.
I have it hard wired so it fast charges.
Because it's 25% more capacity than the B-124X but the same charge time, you get more more recording time for the same charge.

I get around 8-10 hours for just 20 minutes charge (16-20 on full charge), so you don't need to have it fully charged every time you use the car, you just need to give it enough charge between your next journey if you want full 24/7 recording.

If you only need it for recording your car whilst you're away from your home security - then a battery is perfect

 

[shalamigri]

I got this from PIttasoft support today: According to our 2nd level support, there will be a newer firmware version for the DR970X Box which will be released probably by Monday or the beginning of next week.

I'm hoping that resolves it.

 

[daves88]

I don't know if this helps you, but the Blackvue B-130X is 350.99 (389.99 before 10% discount)
https://shop.blackvue.com/product/power-magic-ultra-battery-b-130x/ Discount code - LSEATER10

Cheers for that

I'm over in Australia. They are currently $399 AUD

 

[daves88]

Both battery packs are built by EGEN and likely share many components inside of the unit. If the B-130X has a two year warranty vs a 1 year warranty for the Cellink Neo 8, that might be the thing that makes it the "better deal".

Perfect

There are some claims saying the neo 8 may support longer recording times. But not sure how accurate this is based off them having the same battery capacity.

 

[danlat1415]

Cheers for that

I'm over in Australia. They are currently $399 AUD

The ship worldwide. I'm in UK and ordered direct from them.

 

[shalamigri]

That depends how often you use the vehicle.
I have the B-130X and only drive around 10-20 minutes per journey but multiple times/day.
I have it hard wired so it fast charges.
Because it's 25% more capacity than the B-124X but the same charge time, you get more more recording time for the same charge.

I get around 8-10 hours for just 20 minutes charge (16-20 on full charge), so you don't need to have it fully charged every time you use the car, you just need to give it enough charge between your next journey if you want full 24/7 recording.

If you only need it for recording your car whilst you're away from your home security - then a battery is perfect

I totally understand. I honestly just never drive that much. My 2017 Truck doesn't even have 60K miles on it yet.

My setup with a deep cycle battery is better for me though and was more cost effective. The cost of the B-124x at the time I purchased it was more than the cost of the deep cycle battery I went with. I'm also running 2 dashcams now - the DR970x Box Plus IR and the DR900x (main camera only). I also have a wireless hotspot that is powered by the deep cycle battery. With the amount of travelling I do, I don't think the B-130x would give me enough recording time for both cameras.

 

[shalamigri]

If anyone knows how to snoop using the Blackvue Live feature in the app, there is a publicly shared camera in the New York area named BlackVue770XBox-EB5ADE. If you go there now, you'll hear the noise.

 

[Bono]

What’s the latest firmware version for the 970X LTE Plus? I am on 1.001 but I see there is mention of a version 1.003 I saw in the latest blog notes for the cloud battery that has just been released.

 

[rcg530]

What’s the latest firmware version for the 970X LTE Plus? I am on 1.001 but I see there is mention of a version 1.003 I saw in the latest blog notes for the cloud battery that has just been released.

It looks like the firmware version for the DR970X LTE Plus jumped from 1.001 to 1.003. Pittasoft will skip version numbers if there was a release candidate version that did not make it to public release. It looks like 1.002 did not make it to a public release status.

 

[Bono]

It looks like the firmware version for the DR970X LTE Plus jumped from 1.001 to 1.003. Pittasoft will skip version numbers if there was a release candidate version that did not make it to public release. It looks like 1.002 did not make it to a public release status.

View attachment 71666

Wonder when it will be available to update over the air via. the app?

 

[danlat1415]

What’s the latest firmware version for the 970X LTE Plus? I am on 1.001 but I see there is mention of a version 1.003 I saw in the latest blog notes for the cloud battery that has just been released.

What's New:
Version 1.003 (2024-04-01):

Added Cloud Battery support. Pair your B-124X or B-130X with your Cloud-connected BlackVue to view battery levels and receive low-battery alerts.
Bug fixes and stability improvements.
※ Compatible software versions:
BlackVue App: Android v3.56/ iOS v3.51 and up.
BlackVue Viewer: Windows v3.17 / Mac v3.17 and up.
BlackVue Web Viewer (Cloud)

Version 1.002 (internal)

Version 1.001 (2024-02-07):

Bug fixes and stability improvements.
Front camera video quality optimization.

Version 1.000 (2024-01-15):
First public firmware version.

 

[rcg530]

Wonder when it will be available to update over the air via. the app?

It's available via the BlackVue app (I checked in the Android version of the app):

 

[Bono]

Anyone else notice that if you go into “downloaded videos” in the app it crashes? This is on the just released iOS app version 3.51

EDIT: They just released 3.51.1 in the iOS App Store which fixed the issue.

 

[Bono]

It's available via the BlackVue app (I checked in the Android version of the app):

View attachment 71667

Not yet for iOS it seems?. Do you need the new firmware update for the cloud battery facility too I wonder?

 

[danlat1415]

Anyone else notice that if you go into “downloaded videos” in the app it crashes? This is on the just released iOS app version 3.51

EDIT: They just released 3.51.1 in the iOS App Store which fixed the issue.

The new app changed the saved location.
I got this notification on the Android app