G1WH from Gearbest.com Review... 30fps 1080p.

[Sunny]

This is a concise review of G1WH that I got from Gearbest.com for $39.99.

Shipping took 3 weeks and tracking site is not as good as we are used to here.
Sometimes the status were jumping back and forth like from 'In Transport' to 'Shipment submitted' or something that was initial status.

It does record in 1080p at 30fps so it's using NT96650 chip.
Battery life is great. I had it on for over 5 minutes and still had half battery.
Car mount is sturdy on the windshield but the mount that slides in to the camera doesn't feel too secure, it's not too snug but holds the camera fine.
Car charger has no interference with FM reception.

This is what came in mail:

Car charger (the middle one):

Here are some sample screenshots and videos:

Videos:
Unboxing Gearbest.com G1WH:

G1WH against sunlight:

***************************************
G1WH:

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Firmware upgraded to Seezeus GT300 SC-2.
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G1WH came with 2014.509 firmware.
I noticed menu has WDR option in video and HDR in photo mode.
I thought G1WH didn't have HDR technology.

Then I upgraded to DOD Shadow firmware that is old from 2013 and now it has WDR in both video and photo modes.
It replaced HDR with WDR in photo mode.

Video bit rate and size changed after upgrade:
Filesize for 3 minute clips: G1WH @ 282mb to now @ 346mb.
Total Bit rate: G1WH @ 12389kbps to now @ 15257kbps.
Data rate: G1WH @ 11877kbps to now @ 14745kbps.
Audio bit rate: G1WH @ 512kbps to now @ 512kbps. No change.
Audio Sample rate: G1WH @ 32kHz to now @ 32kHz. No change.

Daytime video after firmware upgrade:

Night videos are after firmware upgrade to Seezeus GT300:

My headlights are not that bright so those with brighter Xenon headlights will get better night videos.

Conclusion:
Overall, this is a very good camera for the price.
It's pretty good even at night and low light conditions.

I do like to point one negative. You may have noticed in the screenshots above, my unit has soft/fuzzy focus in the right corner areas, specially when the Sun is on that side. I don't think it's with every G1WH otherwise there will be a lot of complains.

Still the cheapest for G1WH at Gearbest.com for $39.99.

 

[qwqw]

what difference do you noticed in day and nite with the new firmware?
what improvements?

 

[Sunny]

what difference do you noticed in day and nite with the new firmware?
what improvements?

I didn't get chance to drive at night with original 2014.509 firmware.
There is a day time video of before and after I posted but I couldn't tell if it's significantly better.
The video is slightly more clear but the there were clouds that day so that could have changed it.
It's really hard to compare unless I upgrade firmware within minutes and test.
But theoretically, it should be better as the VBR increased that relates to more data capture.

See if you can see any difference above.

 

[Sunny]

Here is a video on a rainy day.
The soft focus area on the right corner is better than when driving with sunlight on that side.
A driver at 1:25 has his window open. WTH?

 

[Sunny]

I did a hack DIY lens hood from a 35mm film can.
It's not a good job as it's not perfect circle but it should do the job of blocking side stray lights since that's what I think is causing most of the fuzzy focus on that side.

I'll know tomorrow or whenever rain stops if it helps with the soft/fuzzy focus on right corners.
It doesn't block FOV even though it comes out little far from the lens surface.
Doesn't need any other modification as it fits like a glove.

Here are few quick n dirty pics:

 

[Sunny]

I think the film can hood helped little bit.
I need longer one but that may block FOV.

As you can see, right corners are much better under tree shadows so it's definitely the light that makes it worse there.

So the next plan is to get a polarizing filter for G1WH.

 

[Sunny]

Today I placed G1WH on the rear window.
It didn't stick due to the heater strips.
However, there are few places that have heater strips far enough to fit the suction cup in between.
Even that fell after driving for few minutes.
Not sure what's going on.
What mount works there?

Also, G1WH looks like an elephant on the rear window.
Very big and noticeable from everywhere. Not a good choice for rear window.
May be something like Mobius is the only option there.

G1WH in rear window looks huge and noticeable.

 

[Sunny]

I think this is the issue I have with my unit:

Mentioned here: http://dashcamtalk.com/g1w/
Lens Blur on One Side
Some owners have complained about blurry picture quality on one side of the camera (usually the right side). This does not afflict all cameras but has been reported a few times. The following snapshot shows the difference between the sharp image on the left vs the more blurry image on the right.

 

[Sunny]

The G1WH couldn't hold on the rear window and after I spread a dab of Vaseline on the edges, it has held on for 3-days now.

So lubrication helps here as well...

Here is how it looks... be careful though, if you put too much, it'll still hold on to the window but it'll slide down.

 

[Sunny]

Here is how G1WH looks as a rear dashcam:
Bad bumps at 1:28 and 1:37, camera shakes like crazy but the mount managed to hang on the window.

Video is pretty good.

 

[Sunny]

Adding a video of Red Rocks Amphitheatre from 03/17/2015 as rear cam:
These red rocks are ginormous and at 4:10, you see the famous amphitheatre on the left.

Sorry for the missing images in original post.
Looks like this forum has no problem displaying external images but blocks its own hosted images from other threads by adding a proxy.
Those missing images are from my own posting here in DCT in other threads and posts but can't reference them to display here and need to re-upload the same image.

Proxy blocks DCT images but displays external images... Very nice security...

 

[Sunny]

...
Sorry for the missing images in original post.
Looks like this forum has no problem displaying external images but blocks its own hosted images from other threads by adding a proxy.
Those missing images are from my own posting here in DCT in other threads and posts but can't reference them to display here and need to re-upload the same image.

Proxy blocks DCT images but displays external images... Very nice security...

DCT admin has fixed the issue of not displaying linked/referenced images from other threads/posts. (Thanks).

Now all images should be visible.