Help me find the perfect Dashcam

[Ormy]

Hi I'm new to the forum, asking for some advice on what would be the best dashcam for me. I have a quite a specific list of requirements, and also certain features I couldn't care less about.

Background: I'm an experienced driver with a mid-size hatchback in the UK.

Budget: no budget constraints but obviously don't want to spend more than I need to or pay lots for features I won't use. I will be wiring the dashcam into the cars power and ignition myself, I am experienced with car electrics.

MUST HAVE FEATURES:

• Rear camera. By this I mean a separate unit that attaches to rear window, NOT a rear-facing camera on the unit attached to the front screen. Preferably this rear unit would have a WIRED connection to the front unit (there can be separate connections for power, don't mind), and videos from both front and rear units should be recorded on a single microSD card inserted into the front unit.
• Large microSD capacity. I don't care if a microSD is included with the purchase, but the unit must support large capacity cards, definitely 64GB+, preferably 256+GB capacity.
• Automatic recording. The dashcam must start recording automatically as soon as the ignition is turned on (obviously this will require a connection to the ignition circuit as well as constant power, not a problem).
• Parking protection. Camera must auto-activate upon motion or shock while ignition is off (obviously will require constant power source, not a problem). Preferably this would also apply to the rear camera but not an absolute must. OR the unit(s) could just record a continuous time-lapse while parked, that would be fine instead.
• LCD screen. Front unit must have a screen, I don't want to have to use my phone to view videos quickly. Don't care about the size of the screen or if its a touch-screen. Rear unit does not need its own screen but there should be an option to see the view from the rear camera on the screen on the front unit.
• Camera quality. Both cameras must record at minimum 1080p at 30fps (60fps preferred) with HDR and with excellent night viewing quality.
• Viewing angle. Field of view for the front camera MUST be 160 degrees or greater. Ideally 180 degrees.
• Secure attachment to screen. Some dashcams apparently fall off the windscreen often, I want something that is securely attached, method of attachment doesn't matter, once the dashcam is in place it will likely never be removed. Likewise for rear camera.
• Reliability. I need something that will work every time for many years.
• Time/date on video. The time/date must appear on the video, the filename of the video files must also relate to the time/date they were recorded.
• Availability. Must be available from a distributor or reseller within the EU (preferably within the UK).

FEATURES I DON'T CARE ABOUT

• Looks/discreteness/aesthetics: Don't care how it looks or how big or how discrete it is.
• Inbuilt battery capacity: I will be wiring the unit permanently into the cars power so capacity of internal battery not important.
• Internal memory: I will be using microSD cards for storing video so internal memory capacity not important.
• Wifi/cloud storage. I will not use these features, MUST be able to turn them off if the features are included. I do NOT want my footage uploaded to the cloud EVER.
• Lane change warning, close to car in front warning. As above, these will not be used and MUST be possible to disable them.
• GPS. Having the unit stamp the GPS location on each video would be preferred but is not a must. If the speed is added to the video this should come with an option to disable.
• Upcoming speed camera warning. My satnav does this already so not needed.
• Audio recording: Preferably the device will record audio but don't really care about the quality.

OTHER:

• Temperature. I've seen some reviews make a dig deal about temperature ranges. I live in the UK so the possible temperature range inside my car is -10 to +40 degrees celsius.

I realise that is a lot of 'must haves' but if you could suggest something that meets as many of my requirements as possible it would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[jokiin]

there's a number of options that would satisfy all your must haves bar one, the 160° lens, no dashcam that meets all the other requirements has a lens this wide, in fact no decent dashcam has a lens that wide, even the ones that claim that in their spec, very wide lenses may give you more peripheral view but that's at the expense of depth of field and decent focus, the lenses will typically be somewhere between 110° and 125° the wider they are the worse things end up, something you should look into further before making a decision, suggest viewing actual video from anything you shortlist rather than relying purely on advertised spec

 

[Nigel]

VIOFO A129 Duo - DashCamTalk

The VIOFO A129 Duo is a great value for a excellent dual camera with 1080p video quality all around. Consider the improved A129 Plus Duo instead.

dashcamtalk.com

SG9663DC - DashCamTalk

The Street Guardian SG9663DC is one of the best premium dual cams available. Very good video quality and top support.

dashcamtalk.com

"I live in the UK so the possible temperature range inside my car is -10 to +40 degrees Celsius."
Not sure which part of the UK that would be?
-20 to +90 is more like what your rear view mirror will experience, so unless you choose a camera that can be mounted at floor level...

 

[Ormy]

there's a number of options that would satisfy all your must haves bar one, the 160° lens, no dashcam that meets all the other requirements has a lens this wide, in fact no decent dashcam has a lens that wide, even the ones that claim that in their spec, very wide lenses may give you more peripheral view but that's at the expense of depth of field and decent focus, the lenses will typically be somewhere between 110° and 125° the wider they are the worse things end up, something you should look into further before making a decision, suggest viewing actual video from anything you shortlist rather than relying purely on advertised spec

Excellent info, this is the kind of stuff they don't tell you in reviews, thanks so much. In that case I am willing compromise on the viewing angle, I could go down to 120 degrees. Given that concession, could you list some of the options that would fill the remainder of my criteria?

And yes I have been watching actual video, I'm liking the look of the videos from 'Nextbase' products but they have many different models and the website isn't particularly clear on their other features.

VIOFO A129 Duo - DashCamTalk

The VIOFO A129 Duo is a great value for a excellent dual camera with 1080p video quality all around. Consider the improved A129 Plus Duo instead.

dashcamtalk.com

SG9663DC - DashCamTalk

The Street Guardian SG9663DC is one of the best premium dual cams available. Very good video quality and top support.

dashcamtalk.com

"I live in the UK so the possible temperature range inside my car is -10 to +40 degrees Celsius."
Not sure which part of the UK that would be?
-20 to +90 is more like what your rear view mirror will experience, so unless you choose a camera that can be mounted at floor level...

I have a thermometer in my car, sensor is mounted out of direct sunlight but quite high up, maximum temp its ever recorded was 44C, it was around 31C outside that day. My car is a light colour and I put one of those silver folding things in the windscreen on particularly hot days. Maybe the dash cam might see temps as high as 50 or 60C in direct sunlight, but 90C? I'm not so sure about that.

However thank you very much for the product suggestions. The VIOFO A129 looks ideal for my purposes, and unless something better is recommended I may well be buying it.

The SG9663DC lacks any form of parking mode so that's a no-go.

 

[Nigel]

I have a thermometer in my car, sensor is mounted out of direct sunlight but quite high up, maximum temp its ever recorded was 44C, it was around 31C outside that day. My car is a light colour and I put one of those silver folding things in the windscreen on particularly hot days. Maybe the dash cam might see temps as high as 50 or 60C in direct sunlight, but 90C? I'm not so sure about that but thanks for the suggestion anyway.

You don't want the camera trapped between the glass and your silver reflector, then it would see 100C! The camera has to be able to see out, and given that UK midsummer midday sunshine is not overhead like it is in warmer places, it can actually shine directly onto the camera, so unless you are careful to not park facing the sun near midsummer, the camera will get well over 60C.

 

[jokiin]

SG9663DC is an older model, it was replaced by the SG9663DCPRO, both support timelapse and low bitrate parking mode, as does the SGGCX2PRO

 

[Ormy]

You don't want the camera trapped between the glass and your silver reflector, then it would see 100C! The camera has to be able to see out, and given that UK midsummer midday sunshine is not overhead like it is in warmer places, it can actually shine directly onto the camera, so unless you are careful to not park facing the sun near midsummer, the camera will get well over 60C.

Car park at work has plenty of shade and so does my space at my house. I'm not worried about high temps in general.

Keep the suggestions coming!

Thanks again.

 

[jokiin]

Those silver reflective sunshields can be a problem for any dashcam, it is something to keep in mind

 

[Nigel]

SG9663DC is an older model, it was replaced by the SG9663DCPRO, both support timelapse and low bitrate parking mode, as does the SGGCX2PRO

You should get
https://dashcamtalk.com/best-dash-cams-of-2019/ updated - that is where I copied the link from!

 

[Ormy]

SG9663DC is an older model, it was replaced by the SG9663DCPRO, both support timelapse and low bitrate parking mode, as does the SGGCX2PRO

Looks to be similar in features to the VIOFO but much more expensive (especially since you have to buy the rear cam separate, with VIOFO its included) and the image quality is only marginally better than the VIOFO. I was tempted by the 60fps but then I read that its limited to 30fps when using the rear camera. So the VIOFO A129 Duo is still at the top of my list so far.

 

[jokiin]

You should get
https://dashcamtalk.com/best-dash-cams-of-2019/ updated - that is where I copied the link from!

yeah we don't have any input with what gets posted there, would be nice if it had correct model info and the detail was correct though, we're an Australian company, not a Chinese one

 

[Ormy]

Had another near miss on the road last night so went and bought the A129 duo.

The unit itself I got for £115 but it doesn't include the circular polarising filter.
Wiring kit including the 3-wire hardwire + fuse holder + circular polarising filter for £25
Sandisk 256GB Class 10 microSD card was £35
USB3 memory card reader £4

Should arrive next week, I will fit it the week after, then I might report back with a brief review against my original criteria.

After watching a few reviews I have a follow up question for anyone that owns one: Can you either change the wifi password to connect to the device or turn the wifi off altogether? With the default settings it looks like anyone with a smartphone can walk up to my car, connect by guessing default password is 123456 and then download all my dashcam footage. Not very secure.

 

[jokiin]

The WiFi is off by default

 

[Nigel]

Should arrive next week, I will fit it the week after, then I might report back with a brief review against my original criteria.

Always interesting to hear experiences... and you might get some advice back...

After watching a few reviews I have a follow up question for anyone that owns one: Can you either change the wifi password to connect to the device or turn the wifi off altogether? With the default settings it looks like anyone with a smartphone can walk up to my car, connect by guessing default password is 123456 and then download all my dashcam footage. Not very secure.

Most people leave the wifi off, except when they actually want to view/save videos, so security isn't really an issue, but yes, change the password if you are concerned. You also get better image quality with the wifi off!

• Secure attachment to screen. Some dashcams apparently fall off the windscreen often, I want something that is securely attached, method of attachment doesn't matter, once the dashcam is in place it will likely never be removed. Likewise for rear camera.

Make sure you clean the glass properly before attaching, using detergent or alcohol, or both to remove the grease, then it will never fall off.

 

[Ormy]

Most people leave the wifi off, except when they actually want to view/save videos, so security isn't really an issue, but yes, change the password if you are concerned. You also get better image quality with the wifi off!

If there is an option to just turn wifi off that's fine. Why would image quality be better with it off though? Wouldn't wifi comms be handled by a separate CPU?

Make sure you clean the glass properly before attaching, using detergent or alcohol, or both to remove the grease, then it will never fall off.

I will be using white spirit to clean the glass. I will be replacing the windscreen in a few months with an after-market heated screen (with the tiny electric heating elements like some new cars have). I assume Viofo don't sell replacement adhesive pads separately. Can I just get double-sided 3M adhesive pads and cut one to the correct size?

 

[Nigel]

If there is an option to just turn wifi off that's fine. Why would image quality be better with it off though? Wouldn't wifi comms be handled by a separate CPU?

Don't know the actual reason, but it must be something to do with encoding a video stream that will fit through the wifi.

I will be using white spirit to clean the glass. I will be replacing the windscreen in a few months with an after-market heated screen (with the tiny electric heating elements like some new cars have). I assume Viofo don't sell replacement adhesive pads separately. Can I just get double-sided 3M adhesive pads and cut one to the correct size?

I think it comes with a replacement pad, mainly in case you mess up the first one but also in case you want to move it. You will want the right sort of 3M pad, they are not all the same, and not all designed for the UV and heat of the sun when sitting in a windscreen for many years.

I suggest something after the white sprit since it tends to leave some residue, a little vinegar in water (ie window cleaner without the detergents) is often good for removing final residue.

 

[jokiin]

Why would image quality be better with it off though?

they run a lower bitrate when wifi is on, if they ran full bitrate there's more heat and the files are too large to be able to stream realtime to a lot of devices, same reason all the Korean cameras run low bitrate, it's a compromise to allow wifi to work

 

[Ormy]

It arrived. Installation was pretty simple including 3 wire hardwire cable. Installation and setup took approx 2 hours.

It meets all the criteria I laid out in my opening post (except viewing angle is 140 which is more than good enough actually).

I had an issue with the microSD card I bought online being a fake (everything after the first 16GB is corrupted), got a refund easily and bought another 256GB card from a brick & mortar shop near me, £75.

My main issue was regarding the parking mode until I found some information online that wasn't given or even hinted at in the manual. If you have the 3 wire hardwire kit, and connect it to the unit using the port labeled 'power' on the dock that sticks to the glass, then it behaves differently than if you instead connect to the port labeled 'USB' on the side.

If you connect to the 'power' port then the unit waits for 5 minutes after the ignition is turned off before entering parking mode, continuing to record normal full-bitrate video during those 5 mins.

If you connect to the 'USB' port on the side the unit waits only 5 seconds before entering parking mode after ignition is turned off.

I'm using the '3fps timelapse' setting for parking mode, works well, 12hrs worth of timelapse video (playtime is 72 minutes at 3fps) take up approx 18GB.

For more info see here: https://www.viofo.com/blog/detail/a129-parking-mode-v20-introduction.html

 

[Nigel]

I'm using the '3fps timelapse' setting for parking mode, works well, 12hrs worth of timelapse video (playtime is 72 minutes at 3fps) take up approx 18GB.

Give the low bitrate parking mode a try, has the advantage that it will record an impact on the audio even if it it is a side impact, and the culprit will almost certainly appear in the video a second or two later. The timelapse has no audio so even if you have video of them passing, you have no evidence that they impacted the side of your vehicle, it may have been someone else 30 minutes later.

 

[Ormy]

The other day I noticed that I forgot to add the CPL filter to the dashcam. It made a big difference on cutting down reflections. I was so impressed I went online and bought another CPL filter (£15) for the rear camera which fits fine and works very well too.

Give the low bitrate parking mode a try, has the advantage that it will record an impact on the audio even if it it is a side impact, and the culprit will almost certainly appear in the video a second or two later. The timelapse has no audio so even if you have video of them passing, you have no evidence that they impacted the side of your vehicle, it may have been someone else 30 minutes later.

I did give the low bitrate parking a mode a try after your recommendation. It is nice to have audio in parking mode recordings, however after a day or so I realised that the higher current drawn during low bitrate mode drains my battery faster, and I only get a few hours of recording before the 11.8V voltage cut-off kicks in. So I switched back to 3fps time-lapse for parking mode, and then realised even with the lower current drawn it still only last 18-24 hours or so before the voltage cut-off kicks in again. After looking around on the internet, I see this is normal and there is nothing wrong with my battery. I've decided I'd rather have 18 hours of silent recording than 6 hours of recording with audio but nothing at all after that.

So my next job is figuring out how to extend the recording time of the dashcam whilst parked, probably using a separate battery pack. Dashcam battery packs seem ridiculously expensive for what you get (who pays 3-figures for a rechargeable battery pack?), by comparison a similar capacity power bank designed for charging a mobile phone is much cheaper, can anyone explain the difference? Is it just that the dashcam battery packs are 12V and the phone charger ones are 5V? Is it the high-temp tolerance? Is it fast-charging capability?

So I'm considering wiring up my own solution either using 12V or 5V packs of LiPo batteries, a relay for charging on when ignition is on, a charging circuit (will likely buy an off-the-shelf charger, easy to find for 5V but harder for 12V, or building my own charging circuit from scratch is a possibility). Has anyone got any experience with this and might have some advice?

Also, the voltage cut-off switch-box that is part of the hardwire kit, does the step down from 12V to 5V happen in this box? If it does step down to 5V, I'm assuming if I try to draw current for charging a 5V battery AND running the VIOFO through this box will be too much current and damage it? In which case I will need a separate 12V->5V regulator circuit for charging the 5V battery? Or would it just be easier to go with a 12V battery and charger and connect this before the voltage cut-off box? I'm handy with electronics but haven't tried anything quite like this before and there are many possible solutions.

Any information/guidance/advice/links regarding the above would be most appreciated.