G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam DVR

[niko]

2 weeks ago I got new G1W
It looks good "on the paper", but I will do full review soon with RAW files

In glance:

Form factor and menu interface is similar to DOD LS300W

- Novatek 96650 CPU
- 1080p / 30fps
- MOV H.264
- F1.6
- WDR
- 120 degree angle
- external GPS antenna socket ? ( edited ), - no gps implemented.
- up to 64Gb microSD card use ( added )

- 5G glass lens ?
- Motion detection recording
- AV and HDMI out

Price around 60usd including standard shipping ( not bad for those specs )

http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale/who ... roupsort=1

 

[susobarral]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

test GW1 from Connie Chen youtube Channel

is the same model?
Suso

 

[Maulhofer]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

2 weeks ago I got new G1W
It looks good "on the paper", but I will do full review soon with RAW files

In glance:

Form factor and menu interface is similar to DOD LS300W

Hi Niko, I'm curious about your test. Maybe she's better than LS300W and even has GPS.

Greeting, Maulhofer

 

[niko]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

2 weeks ago I got new G1W
It looks good "on the paper", but I will do full review soon with RAW files

In glance:

Form factor and menu interface is similar to DOD LS300W

Hi Niko, I'm curious about your test. Maybe she's better than LS300W and even has GPS.

Greeting, Maulhofer

Hi Maulhofer,
It is early to make conclusions. I will try to put together all info I have over the weekend + my own made RAW video files, so people can decide and judge it.

 

[niko]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

Here is probably a manufacturer. Wholesale price 47-57usd


http://szmfine.en.alibaba.com/product/9 ... r_dvr.html

 

[V8Rocks]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

I just received one today. Video quality is the best I ever saw on the dash cam, especially in low light. I do not own any fancy one. So my most expensive one - GS1000 $113 and "Smallest Ambarella Car DVR A2S60" ($110) . A2S60 video is not as goos as G1W, GS1000 not even close at low light (as expected). Video quality is great, but it comes with high bit-rate.

The build quality is not very good, but for $60 it is acceptable. My biggest concern - USB plug is not tight on the camera.

Initial menu was in Chinese, so it took a while to switch it to English.

It is very light camera. The image sensor is held by dual-sided adhesive tape. Although there are screw holes in PCB, you would not dare to use it as screw in one of the holes can easily short PCB. 5min recording ~ 620MB file. Video bit-rate ~ 15.77Mbps - no option to adjust.

 

[Tokai]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

from aliexpress you can find thousands of this kinda of ****, all looks the same but in different model no.,
the quality is ****ty and hardly to get response from the dealers, I hope you're lucky enough to have this unit work longer than 1 month,
because mine got problem in the 1st week and got no damn after service at all.

 

[ShPioN]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

some stores says that it has internal built-in GPS, some other stores says that it has external GPS and third one says that it has no GPS...which is right? there is GPS port in the DVR, then I think it probably has optional external GPS module...

 

[jokiin]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

some stores says that it has internal built-in GPS, some other stores says that it has external GPS and third one says that it has no GPS...which is right? there is GPS port in the DVR, then I think it probably has optional external GPS module...

I think on this one it's optional external, you see the pics above of one opened up you can see two ports next to the USB plug, in the diagram further up the page you can see one of those ports is covered by a QC sticker, I have one identical to that on my desk now, just opened it up and there is a socket on the mainboard, seems to be setup for GPS already but why they don't sell it like that I'm not sure, still has some bugs maybe, don't know

 

[niko]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

I just received one today. Video quality is the best I ever saw on the dash cam, especially in low light. I do not own any fancy one. So my most expensive one - GS1000 $113 and "Smallest Ambarella Car DVR A2S60" ($110) . A2S60 video is not as goos as G1W, GS1000 not even close at low light (as expected). Video quality is great, but it comes with high bit-rate.

The build quality is not very good, but for $60 it is acceptable. My biggest concern - USB plug is not tight on the camera.

Initial menu was in Chinese, so it took a while to switch it to English.

It is very light camera. The image sensor is held by dual-sided adhesive tape. 5min recording ~ 620MB file. Video bit-rate ~ 15.77Mbps - no option to adjust.

I agree with you: price vs what you get - this is the best dash cam and for 60usd you can not complain.
Regarding mini-usb, try to use mini need pliers to slightly ( very slightly ) pry male mini-usb tip outer casing ( hope you know what I mean, sorry for my english ).
Also what I did not like, is minimum video lenghts is 3min and its about 355Mb in size, so I can not upload them to webfile.ru sharing site where I usually upload raw videos ( max allowed is 350Mb there ).
But as mentioned earlier, - for 60usd it's the best purchase !

 

[jokiin]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

I think bang for buck this model represents good value, I'd take one of these over a DVR207 for the same kind of money

 

[niko]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

I think bang for buck this model represents good value, I'd take one of these over a DVR207 for the same kind of money

I also support people who can judge product fairly taking into consideration price per value.
There is also some waving noise on the background of video recording, but it is not coming due to faulty alternator or wiring, it's from firmware. When switch off voice, then there is not waving noise. But for this money this fault can be forgiven.
Also bracket part is not that stiff as on DO LS300W type dash cams despite having same bracket connector type, but again, - this can be solved with adding / wrapping some electrical tape into the bottom of the dash cam bracket socket.
"Loosen" mini-usb thing can be also fixed DIY as I mentioned earlier.
SO overall those small disturbing "things" can be easily fixed quickly by DIY and for 60 usd ( even up to 75-80usd ) I dont see any competitors out there yet.

 

[jokiin]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

I think bang for buck this model represents good value, I'd take one of these over a DVR207 for the same kind of money

I also support people who can judge product fairly taking into consideration price per value.
There is also some waving noise on the background of video recording, but it is not coming due to faulty alternator or wiring, it's from firmware. When switch off voice, then there is not waving noise. But for this money this fault can be forgiven.
Also bracket part is not that stiff as on DO LS300W type dash cams despite having same bracket connector type, but again, - this can be solved with adding / wrapping some electrical tape into the bottom of the dash cam bracket socket.
"Loosen" mini-usb thing can be also fixed DIY as I mentioned earlier.
SO overall those small disturbing "things" can be easily fixed quickly by DIY and for 60 usd ( even up to 75-80usd ) I dont see any competitors out there yet.

that noise is not unique to your unit, I have one here with me now and was reviewing some footage I had taken and had headphones connected to my PC and could notice the wavy noise in the background you're referring to, not a deal breaker based on the price, not sure if it's something that could be addressed in the firmware as it sounds hardware induced, knocking some levels down might help but could impact sensitivity too much, there's a few other things I think could be improved from a firmware aspect before getting to this, as a budget camera though for recording the circumstances of an event it would certainly do the job, video is by far the most important of all things you need to capture and it does that better than any DVR207 I've seen

 

[V8Rocks]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

Regarding mini-usb, try to use mini need pliers to slightly ( very slightly ) pry male mini-usb tip outer casing ( hope you know what I mean, sorry for my english ).

I addressed the USB socket issue. Ironically I was not planning on opening the unit. As I was attempting to bend inward usb outer casing, the case cracked open, so I ventured into opening unit and bending lock leaf on the usb socket casing. It is locking up now, you kind of feel it when inserting the cable connector. The bit rate a little bit too high for my taste. So 32GB only holds 4Hrs 20 mins of video. On positive side, I could not observe any compression artifacts in video and very sharp, so it is great if someone is picky about it.

 

[niko]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

Regarding mini-usb, try to use mini need pliers to slightly ( very slightly ) pry male mini-usb tip outer casing ( hope you know what I mean, sorry for my english ).

I addressed the USB socket issue. Ironically I was not planning on opening the unit. As I was attempting to bend inward usb outer casing, the case cracked open, so I ventured into opening unit and bending lock leaf on the usb socket casing. It is locking up now, you kind of feel it when inserting the cable connector. The bit rate a little bit too high for my taste. So 32GB only holds 4Hrs 20 mins of video. On positive side, I could not observe any compression artifacts in video and very sharp, so it is great if someone is picky about it.

I am glad that you have sorted out a usb connection thing.
yes, they could ad into menu choice of selecting bitrate 10.12.15Mbps and also video 1 and 2 min option. Now its minimum 3 min, over 355Mb data.

 

[niko]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

I think bang for buck this model represents good value, I'd take one of these over a DVR207 for the same kind of money

I also support people who can judge product fairly taking into consideration price per value.
There is also some waving noise on the background of video recording, but it is not coming due to faulty alternator or wiring, it's from firmware. When switch off voice, then there is not waving noise. But for this money this fault can be forgiven.
Also bracket part is not that stiff as on DO LS300W type dash cams despite having same bracket connector type, but again, - this can be solved with adding / wrapping some electrical tape into the bottom of the dash cam bracket socket.
"Loosen" mini-usb thing can be also fixed DIY as I mentioned earlier.
SO overall those small disturbing "things" can be easily fixed quickly by DIY and for 60 usd ( even up to 75-80usd ) I dont see any competitors out there yet.

that noise is not unique to your unit, I have one here with me now and was reviewing some footage I had taken and had headphones connected to my PC and could notice the wavy noise in the background you're referring to, not a deal breaker based on the price, not sure if it's something that could be addressed in the firmware as it sounds hardware induced, knocking some levels down might help but could impact sensitivity too much, there's a few other things I think could be improved from a firmware aspect before getting to this, as a budget camera though for recording the circumstances of an event it would certainly do the job, video is by far the most important of all things you need to capture and it does that better than any DVR207 I've seen

yes, this might be a new budget dash cam bench mark if those small issues will be sorted.

 

[niko]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

This is how it look like mounted in my car.
Could use black plasti dip to paint that silver lens ring and tinting windows, then it would be more discrete. Maybe also change mount bracket to same as used on gs600 model to be able to hide fully behind the mirror.

 

[ShPioN]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

unfortunately, my friend's G1W has died not so long ago. if I try to turn it on, flashlight turns on, but everything else is not. I tried to connect it to PC by USB, but PC doesn't detect it at all. tried to reset many times, tried to unsolder battery, then solder it again, but no luck. how can I bring it to life again?

 

[niko]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

unfortunately, my friend's G1W has died not so long ago. if I try to turn it on, flashlight turns on, but everything else is not. I tried to connect it to PC by USB, but PC doesn't detect it at all. tried to reset many times, tried to unsolder battery, then solder it again, but no luck. how can I bring it to life again?

You might need a new battery. Check Aliexpress. Its 10usd for 2pcs delivered.

 

[ShPioN]

Re: G1W Novatek 96650 WDR F1.6 H.264 MOV 15Mbps GPS Dash Cam

You might need a new battery. Check Aliexpress. Its 10usd for 2pcs delivered.

tried with different battery. no changes. without battery, but with USB cable still the same, only flashlight. what else it might be?