Early impressions A119S

[johnf]

Ordered from Amazon. I know it would have been cheaper directly from one of the common China sellers, but I've had enough instances of early failures to want the peace of mind ordering from Amazon. It was sent without the GPS mount I ordered, but the Prime seller answered the phone on first ring, explained what went wrong (Amazon issue), and said he would get the GPS mount in the mail the same day. He is located in Nevada (where I live), so should have it in a couple days. Camera was delivered with firmware version A119S_170622_V1.7, which looks to be the latest? I've been checking it out sans GPS, and have a few comments / questions.

I've installed a few of the newer Mini's with higher resolution, but the 119S's 1080P 60 FPS is really quite good. They did go a little overboard with video gain and sharpness, I wound up setting exposure 1 notch down and it it still very bright both day and night, with slightly fewer gain related artifacts. No focus problems out of the box, it is sharp side to side. I prefer the 135 degree lens over others 170's because of less fish eye distortion. Build quality seems very good, maybe even 'excellent'. Easily approaches much more expensive Korean models. Audio is very impressive, among the best I've used (if audio is important to you).

Wish list:
- Sharpness control - too many sharpness related artifacts.
- Improved parking mode, has been much talked about I know, but difficult to understand why the implementation is so difficult - even the new Mini's with hardware wiring kit have worked well on the ones I've installed recently.

Thats a darn short list, but have not tried the GPS module yet, so the list may grow a little.

Question - what are the 1.5" square flat-black stickers supposed to be used for? 4 of them were in the bag with the string for mount removal, but no mention of them in the manual.

So far so good, am sure I'll have more questions / comments over the next week.

John F
LV NV

 

[DashcamDPR]

The stickers are most likely to attach the cam/GPS mount to the screen, if you remove the original mount it's likely the first sticker will be too damaged to re-use

 

[eezytiger]

I think they will make sure parking mode works properly on the A119 first and then migrate the functions to the A119S. For me it does seem to work according to spec on the A119, if not quite perfect due to over sensitivity to movement creating false triggers and pointless recordings.

 

[johnf]

The stickers are most likely to attach the cam/GPS mount to the screen, if you remove the original mount it's likely the first sticker will be too damaged to re-use

Reading posts can be useful - I just ran across a post regarding these pads. Apparently much less important with the V2, but I'll use if I get any rattles. Thanks.

 

[DashcamDPR]

to be fair... there's a LOT to read through on this forum!

 

[johnf]

to be fair... there's a LOT to read through on this forum!

That doesn't excuse me from being an idiot. I should have read all posts before asking a stupid question.

The best video combo for me so far is -1/3 exposure, WDR enabled. I've got an old Mini laying in front of me in a hundred pieces replacing the 200 mah battery, another form of idiocy is not taking pics of disassembly - while its apart though I'm replacing all wires to the GPS mount connector. I'll be astounded if this cam ever works again, but you never know.

The A119S seems like a nice really solid cam. Hope I don't have it apart for at least a couple years, but with the cap instead of battery (its 47 degrees C right now) I'm hoping it'll last a bit longer than my many past battery based cams. Still using a 4-5 year old Lucas in one of my cars. Replaced the Lion battery twice, but still works and has a great parking mode in that old thing.

John F
LV NV

 

[Mineshaft]

The 4 square 1.5" black pads you refer to are 3M EVA Foam Pads.
Place one between the gps and the dash cam for a snug fit to prevent vibration.
Go to OCD Tronic video first and learn how to install it, see link below:.
Viofo A119S How to apply Foam Pad.

 

[DashcamDPR]

I've got an old Mini laying in front of me in a hundred pieces replacing the 200 mah battery, another form of idiocy is not taking pics of disassembly

YouTube might well have a tutorial for re-assembly if there's bits you get stuck on

 

[Mineshaft]

I bought the latest model Viofo A119S with GPS, CPL filter and all other accessories as an upgrade to replace my older G1W-C.
I installed the A119S Tue. Aug. 29th and took it out for 23 minute test drive. It was late in the day and I drove west into the sunset, south with the sun on my right, east with the sun at my back and finally north with the sun on my left. I’m totally satisfied with the performance of the optics.
The color, clarity in various light settings was excellent.
It is a good upgrade model to meet my needs.
I’m located on the South Shore of Georgian Bay Ontario Canada, 7,200 miles away from China.
I can confidently recommend the seller 2013tranhowe and Kristina on the Order Desk, ePacket delivery was 8 days and Viofo, excellent packing and product.

 

[Mineshaft]

I finally had my first day trip with the A119S yesterday on various types of roads, including train tracks and all went well.
The Recording sound picked up of the directional signals, seat belt click and door locks unlocking and locking.
I was pleased with the performance of the optics system including cutting down reflection from the car dash as well as G Sensor setting.
I had previously formatted my micro sd card before I setup the Menu.
Once that was done I proceeded to set it up thusly:

29 Menu Settings
01 RESOLUTION – 1920 x 1080p 60fps
02 LOOP RECORDING – 5 minutes
03 EXPOSURE – +0.0
04 WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) – ON
05 OFF - Time Lapse
06 OFF - Motion Detection
07 GPS – On
08 SPEED UNITS – kph
09 G SENSOR – Medium
10 OFF - LDWS (Lane Departure Warning System
11 OFF - FCWS (Front Collision Warning System
12 DATE STAMP – ON
13 OFF - GPS STAMP – Coordinates, Speed
14 CAMERA MODEL - ON
15 RECORD AUDIO – ON
16 SCREEN SAVER – 3 minutes
17 OFF - LED
18 DATE & TIME – ON
19 TIME ZONE – -4 Daylight Saving, change to -5 for Standard Time
20 LANGUAGE – English
21 BEEPING SOUND – All
22 FREQUENCY – 60Hz for North America
23 OFF - Image Rotate
24 FORMAT – Manually, once a month or before long trip
25 OFF - Format Warning
26 DEFAULT –
27 CAR NAME – Entered License plate
28 OFF - Custom text
29 FIRMWARE VERSION – 2017.6.22 V1,7

VIOFO A119S, V2, 7G F1.6 Lens (uncoated with plastic base), Sony IMX291 Sensor, GPS, CPL filter.
Micr SD Card, Kingston Gold Model SDCG/32GBCR, 32GB Micro SD Card Class 10 , FAT32,
Performance 90MB/s read and 45MB/s write, UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3), designed to withstand extreme high and low temperatures.

The above worked for me and I couldn’t be more pleased with my A119S. I hope it is useful info for A119S owners.

 

[Mineshaft]

I finally had my first day trip with the A119S yesterday on various types of roads, including train tracks and all went well.
The Recording sound picked up of the directional signals, seat belt click and door locks unlocking and locking.
I was pleased with the performance of the optics system including cutting down reflection from the car dash as well as G Sensor setting.
I had previously formatted my micro sd card before I setup the Menu.
Once that was done I proceeded to set it up thusly:

29 Menu Settings
01 RESOLUTION – 1920 x 1080p 60fps
02 LOOP RECORDING – 5 minutes
03 EXPOSURE – +0.0
04 WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) – ON
05 OFF - Time Lapse
06 OFF - Motion Detection
07 GPS – On
08 SPEED UNITS – kph
09 G SENSOR – Medium
10 OFF - LDWS (Lane Departure Warning System
11 OFF - FCWS (Front Collision Warning System
12 DATE STAMP – ON
13 OFF - GPS STAMP – Coordinates, Speed
14 CAMERA MODEL - ON
15 RECORD AUDIO – ON
16 SCREEN SAVER – 3 minutes
17 OFF - LED
18 DATE & TIME – ON
19 TIME ZONE – -4 Daylight Saving, change to -5 for Standard Time
20 LANGUAGE – English
21 BEEPING SOUND – All
22 FREQUENCY – 60Hz for North America
23 OFF - Image Rotate
24 FORMAT – Manually, once a month or before long trip
25 OFF - Format Warning
26 DEFAULT –
27 CAR NAME – Entered License plate
28 OFF - Custom text
29 FIRMWARE VERSION – 2017.6.22 V1,7

VIOFO A119S, V2, 7G F1.6 Lens (uncoated with plastic base), Sony IMX291 Sensor, GPS, CPL filter.
Micr SD Card, Kingston Gold Model SDCG/32GBCR, 32GB Micro SD Card Class 10 , FAT32,
Performance 90MB/s read and 45MB/s write, UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3), designed to withstand extreme high and low temperatures.

The above worked for me and I couldn’t be more pleased with my A119S. I hope it is useful info for A119S owners.

I thought I would update this forum the performance history of my dash cam.
I'll have had it 3 years next month and not a single problem.
All I did was keep everything clean, rotate the 32GB micro sd card and stayed with ver 4.0 firmware.
If I buy a new car this fall I will replace it at that time.
Viofo certainly makes a good dash cam.

 

[Mineshaft]

I've bought a new car (2020 Elantra) and I'm going to install my 3 year old A119S in it.
I had a challenge to remove the old GPS mount after being stuck to the windshield for 3 years.
However, I was able to remove the GPS mount with a 10" steel fishing leader and pliers on each end of wire.
Now I have to source a new adhesive backing to be able to install in my new car.
I don't do any night driving and my A119S suits my needs perfectly.
Stick with Viofo folks, it's the best.