Looking for opinion - 70mai A800 or A800S?

[Discreet88]

Hello!

I'm going to buy one of these but still a bit unsure which one to get? Thanks.

 

[Discreet88]

Well I think I'll go for the A800. There seems to be lot of unhappy customers with A800S around the web. Viofo A129 series are also kind of interesting too but super ugly design and higher price compared to 70mai dash cams drives me away from that model/brand to be honest.

 

[kamkar]

Living up there in the cold north, you probably will want to stay clear of cameras with a battery in them, lipo batteries dont go well with extreme hot or cold temperatures.

O and welcome to the forum Discreete88

 

[Discreet88]

Thanks. Yeah I'm aware of battery in this model but it seems to be user replaceable and you can get spares easily and rather cheap from Aliexpress for example. I don't know if super-capacitor is that important feature for me.. My cars jump starter with super-caps is great though.

Also A800 with its big screen is interesting as I could use it as poor mans reverse camera too in addition to regular dash cam usage. Also A800 seems to boot much faster than A800S which makes after collision recording in parking mode more usable...

 

[kamkar]

Yes if you have the skill and will, then swapping the battery now and then are not a big deal, just get a new one the same physical size and off you go ( not 100 % sure you can find a new battery exactly as the old one )
But if its 100 mah smaller it dont matter much, it is more of a size thing so you can reassemble the thing again.

 

[Discreet88]

Yes if you have the skill and will, then swapping the battery now and then are not a big deal, just get a new one the same physical size and off you go ( not 100 % sure you can find a new battery exactly as the old one )
But if its 100 mah smaller it dont matter much, it is more of a size thing so you can reassemble the thing again.

They sell the original type battery. Its model is HMC-1450 or HMC1450. It has three wire connector and small PCB on top as some sort of charging controller. Same battery type is used in some other 70mai dash cams too.

 

[kamkar]

O its round.
Normally dashcam batteries are square.

 

[Discreet88]

Yeah. This is photo from 70mai A500 with same battery. It's nice there is connector so you dont need to solder anything.

 

[EGS]

Looks over performance

 

[Discreet88]

I wonder how many people actually just throw their 70mai away after power errors by bad battery and think their dash cam is broken. Some sources say those batteries last just little over an year in harsh conditions.

 

[EGS]

I wonder how many people actually just throw their 70mai away after power errors by bad battery and think their dash cam is broken. Some sources say those batteries last just little over an year in harsh conditions.

Correct! And that is not people's fault as they should not have to deal with that, that soon. It is not designed with Durability in mind. Replacing the battery is not that hard you may say but the product is not designed in such a manner where you just pull a battery like in an old radio.
The average person wouldn't know the battery is the culprit whitout having to dig in for information in forums like this, since thech support from 70mai is practically not available when you need them.

 

[Discreet88]

And when you look at the design the battery replacement really could be easy as replacing regular AA rechargeable battery, but it is missed opportunity here for some reason.

 

[Discreet88]

Well I ordered the A800 now with rear cam and hardwire kit. I might write review here or at least comment my opinions in 70mai A800 sub-forum once I have some experience with it.