MicroSD card for A129 Pro?

It is working great, no loop yet.
 
So what’s the verdict on 256GB SD cards for the 129 Pro for recording in maximum bitrate?

So far mentioned:
  • Samsung EVO Plus (Samsung states "Limited 10 year warranty. * Warranty does not extend to dashcam, CCTV, surveillance camera and other write-intensive uses.")
  • SanDisk – Not keen on these due to possible problems in dashcams
  • WD Purple – surveillance and dashcam approved / endurance range (model WDD256G1P0A) - warrantied for 2 years or up to 256 terabytes written under dashcam usage.
I like the Samsung Endurance Pro range, been running for 10 months in my A119 Pro without any issues whatsoever however they max out at 128GB (MB-MJ128GA/APC) and I feel I need a minimum of 256GB in a 129 Pro.

From the specs it looks like the WD Purple SD card is a step better again eg. Class U3/V30 vs Samsung Endurance Pro Class 10 (V class not mentioned).
WD claims ‘Sequential Write Performance’ can reach up to 60 MB/s vs Samsung’s 30 MB/s even though this contradicts the class specs where WD is U3/V30 = 30MB/s and Samsung is Class 10 = U1/V10 - 10MB/s. Marketing nonsense at Samsung/WD?

Samsung offers 5 year warranty vs 2 years on the WD card strangely. Both deal with -25°C to 85°C (-13°F to 185°F) operating or -40°C to 85°C (-40°F to 185°F) non-operating.

Looks like for a certified dashcam card the WD Purple is the way to go perhaps at 256GB?

In Australia the 256GB WD Purple (WDD256G1P0A) goes for about $160AUD from reputable online computer stores where as a 512GB Samsung Evo Plus (U3, class 10) goes for $185AUD.

Thoughts?

As always extremely thorough in your research :)
Now looking for a MicroSD to use with my newly purchased A129Pro!

I was wondering, what's the minimal requirement Viofo recommend regarding MIcroSD cards to use on the A129pro?

Also probably a silly question but can someone tell me what's the advantage of buying a large microSD since the cam records in loop? I know 4k footage at 60mbps bitrate will take up more space but as long as the size of the microSD card is enough to save 2h of footage isn't enough? If an accident occurs you will only need like few minutes of footage correct? Am i missing something?
 
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Now looking for a MicroSD to use with my newly purchased A129Pro!

I was wondering, what's the minimal requirement Viofo recommend regarding MIcroSD cards to use on the A129pro?

Also probably a silly question but can someone tell me what's the advantage of buying a large microSD since the cam records in loop? I know 4k footage at 60mbps bitrate will take up more space but as long as the size of the microSD card is enough to save 2h of footage isn't enough? If an accident occurs you will only need like few minutes of footage correct? Am i missing something?
It is good to have a day's normal driving on the card so that if something happens you don't need to stop and save it to make sure it is safe. Of course you can press the lock button, and if it is a bad accident then hopefully the g-sensor locks it, but not everyone does press the lock button in every case and the g-sensor is not 100% reliable, you can't expect it to distinguish between a pothole and someone knocking your wing mirror off, although it will in most cases. A longer loop recording removes the worry of losing anything.

I think most people would find a 2 hour card too short, lock a few files and the remaining space for the loop recording becomes very short. 4 hours is OK for most people, or for people who like to look back at their drives, or who are not good at pressing the lock button, 8 hours.

Then there is parking mode, if you want to leave it recording low bitrate over the weekend then you might want a bigger card.

If you want to use maximum bitrate then you should have a U3 card, otherwise a class 10 or U1 card should be OK. However most U1 cards are actually fast enough, very few are the minimum speed for U1 and thus not fast enough. Best to use a card that others are using successfully.

Note that if you are going for a smaller card and if it will get a fair amount of use, you should be looking for endurance cards to get a good lifespan, a half size card will have half the lifespan in terms of amount of video recorded before it wears out, and at 60 Mb/s it will wear out a lot faster than with a 16 Mb/s dashcam. The Viofo MLC cards are a good choice.
 
I'm using 256GB Samsung Evo Plus in my A129 Pro
 
As always extremely thorough in your research :)
Now looking for a MicroSD to use with my newly purchased A129Pro!

I was wondering, what's the minimal requirement Viofo recommend regarding MIcroSD cards to use on the A129pro?

Also probably a silly question but can someone tell me what's the advantage of buying a large microSD since the cam records in loop? I know 4k footage at 60mbps bitrate will take up more space but as long as the size of the microSD card is enough to save 2h of footage isn't enough? If an accident occurs you will only need like few minutes of footage correct? Am i missing something?

Viofo in the manual recommends "The microSD card must have a Class-10/UHS-1 (or higher) rating and capacity up to 256GB. Others are running 512GB and it works I believe.

My first choice was Samsung Endurance Pro but they top out at 128GB. I wanted at least 256GB (really actually 512GB) due to the 4K footage and parking mode usage. I also wanted a card designed for dashcam usage, a 'high endurance' card. Should last longer overall plus it has warranty if used in dashcams.

I ended up going with a 256GB WD Purple Surveillance card model: WDD256G1P0A - U3 (aka UHS-3) - V30 speeds (30MB/s by standard, claimed by WD 'up to 60MB/s'). This is the next step up from Viofo's minimum rating.

It was expensive based on other solutions but I don't like Sandisk cards. Just a personal choice which has been influenced by personal and other people's negative experiences with Sandisk cards. There doesn't appear to be many high endurance cards over 128GB so far.

The WD works no problem so far but it’s been a couple of days. Time will tell. I am expecting at least 2 years trouble free out of the card. Anything less and I will deem this card a failure. I have had Samsung cards last years and years.

If not wanting over 128GB I fully suggest the Samsung Endurance Pro card. It is rated at U1 speed. Constantly rated one of the best available for dashcams and my experience has been fantastic with them. I ordered one from the same place you ordered your A129 Pro Duo. It costs under $80 from that seller.

Also probably a silly question but can someone tell me what's the advantage of buying a large microSD since the cam records in loop? I know 4k footage at 60mbps bitrate will take up more space but as long as the size of the microSD card is enough to save 2h of footage isn't enough? If an accident occurs you will only need like few minutes of footage correct? Am i missing something?

You might want to review footage a week later, say if you find damage on your car or you get a fine for speeding etc. Sometimes police ask on the news if anyone has dashcam footage from last week due or whatnot due to a crime or something of that nature. Just a few scenarios I can think of. Others above covered it well above, I agree with all that and that’s why I wanted a larger card.
 
It is good to have a day's normal driving on the card so that if something happens you don't need to stop and save it to make sure it is safe. Of course you can press the lock button, and if it is a bad accident then hopefully the g-sensor locks it, but not everyone does press the lock button in every case and the g-sensor is not 100% reliable, you can't expect it to distinguish between a pothole and someone knocking your wing mirror off, although it will in most cases. A longer loop recording removes the worry of losing anything.

I think most people would find a 2 hour card too short, lock a few files and the remaining space for the loop recording becomes very short. 4 hours is OK for most people, or for people who like to look back at their drives, or who are not good at pressing the lock button, 8 hours.

Then there is parking mode, if you want to leave it recording low bitrate over the weekend then you might want a bigger card.

If you want to use maximum bitrate then you should have a U3 card, otherwise a class 10 or U1 card should be OK. However most U1 cards are actually fast enough, very few are the minimum speed for U1 and thus not fast enough. Best to use a card that others are using successfully.

Note that if you are going for a smaller card and if it will get a fair amount of use, you should be looking for endurance cards to get a good lifespan, a half size card will have half the lifespan in terms of amount of video recorded before it wears out, and at 60 Mb/s it will wear out a lot faster than with a 16 Mb/s dashcam. The Viofo MLC cards are a good choice.

Thanks for that, they are all valid/reasonable points and I'd agree with you regarding the advantages to having a large microSD.
How big is 1h of footage recorded in 4k at maximum bitrate approximately?

And thanks for microSD minimum requirements.
 
Viofo in the manual recommends "The microSD card must have a Class-10/UHS-1 (or higher) rating and capacity up to 256GB. Others are running 512GB and it works I believe.

My first choice was Samsung Endurance Pro but they top out at 128GB. I wanted at least 256GB (really actually 512GB) due to the 4K footage and parking mode usage. I also wanted a card designed for dashcam usage, a 'high endurance' card. Should last longer overall plus it has warranty if used in dashcams.

I ended up going with a 256GB WD Purple Surveillance card model: WDD256G1P0A - U3 (aka UHS-3) - V30 speeds (30MB/s by standard, claimed by WD 'up to 60MB/s'). This is the next step up from Viofo's minimum rating.

If not wanting over 128GB I fully suggest the Samsung Endurance Pro card. It is rated at U1 speed. Constantly rated one of the best available for dashcams and my experience has been fantastic with them. I ordered one from the same place you ordered your A129 Pro Duo. It costs under $80 from that seller.

Great thanks I'll look up these 2

EDIT: A quick search turned up:

Samsung Endurance Pro 128GB at $67 delivered
WD Purple 256GB Surveillance at $139 delivered

Looks like a good price for the WD purple as it looks like other retailers are selling it around $170
 
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Thanks for that, they are all valid/reasonable points and I'd agree with you regarding the advantages to having a large microSD.
How big is 1h of footage recorded in 4k at maximum bitrate approximately?

And thanks for microSD minimum requirements.
1 hour uses 32GB approximately.

For small cards, the overhead of putting a few locked files in the RO folder will be more significant.

I'm using a 128GB (4 hours) which works fine, as long as I remember that on a long drive I will lose the beginning, so the lock button (preferably the remote) is more important.

I like to have 8 hours (256GB) to cover long journeys, but on a long journeys I am happy to reduce the bitrate to 30Mb/s to get my 8 hours on a 128GB, the image quality at 30Mb/s on the A129 Pro is remarkably good, just not ideal for my holiday videos/snapshots, but there is the question, why put a cheap card in an expensive camera?, especially when cheap cards wear out faster so in the long run tend to be slightly more expensive than anything but the largest cards which have a price premium because they are the largest available!
 
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I ended up going with a 256GB WD Purple Surveillance card model: WDD256G1P0A - U3 (aka UHS-3) - V30 speeds (30MB/s by standard, claimed by WD 'up to 60MB/s'). This is the next step up from Viofo's minimum rating.

The WD works no problem so far but it’s been a couple of days. Time will tell. I am expecting at least 2 years trouble free out of the card. Anything less and I will deem this card a failure. I have had Samsung cards last years and years.
As i've recommended the WD card, for me, one unit works for 8 months in DR900S (24/7, @Mr. C :kiss:) and about a month in A129-Pro without any issues.

Legit or fakes? Never know with Amazon / eBay cards.
You never know but i have legit ones for about 71$ from local, so the price isn't unreal. :)
 
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As i've recommended the WD card, for me, one unit works for 8 months in DR900S (24/7, @Mr. C :kiss:) and about a month in A129-Pro without any issues.


You never know but i have legit ones for about 71$ from local, so the price isn't unreal. :)

Good to know! Sounds promising. It is designed for dashcams and 24/7 recording so we are using it as intended. It should last, but as with everything made these days who knows. Wish we had better choices on 256GB and larger high endurance cards. Once I saw it was good on the DR900S I thought yeah this card should be fine :D

It's great when you find good cards at low prices. Guess you never know till you test the card if its good or fake.

Seems legit to me.

Time to order and break out H2testw! :)
 
Anyone tried Sandisk Extreme Pro 256gb which offers A2 class 10 U3/V30? I can it from legit supplier. Would appreciate any thoughts about this range. I cant really find WD in my area and afraid of counterfeit products.

saw some suggestions as to Sandisk High endurance. So i did some search and noticed some sellers putting up the image as U3/V30 but in it states U1 in the description. 128gb capacity only while price is lower compare to Sandisk Extreme Pro series at the same capacity.

Would opt for Viofo MLC 128gb (slightly cheaper than Sandisk extreme pro 256gb) if i can get it but not many suppliers offer it in my area.
 
Anyone tried Sandisk Extreme Pro 256gb which offers A2 class 10 U3/V30? I can it from legit supplier. Would appreciate any thoughts about this range. I cant really find WD in my area and afraid of counterfeit products.

saw some suggestions as to Sandisk High endurance. So i did some search and noticed some sellers putting up the image as U3/V30 but in it states U1 in the description. 128gb capacity only while price is lower compare to Sandisk Extreme Pro series at the same capacity.

Would opt for Viofo MLC 128gb (slightly cheaper than Sandisk extreme pro 256gb) if i can get it but not many suppliers offer it in my area.

I am using Sandisk Extreme Pro 256GB on the A129 Pro Duo now, it looks alright so far.
 
thanks for the clarification, in this case i might opt for Sandisk Extreme Pro for the double capacity.
 
It is working great, no loop yet.
Hi there, has your 512gb looped? I am aiming at 400 / 512gb now but have no idea how will it be for long term.

EDIT:- Anyone any idea about Lexar 633x? Compatible with our pros? I noticed that the write speed was quoted as up to 70MB/s while Samsung evo plus at 90MB/s. Lexar priced at 20% cheaper.
 
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Hi there, has your 512gb looped? I am aiming at 400 / 512gb now but have no idea how will it be for long term.

EDIT:- Anyone any idea about Lexar 633x? Compatible with our pros? I noticed that the write speed was quoted as up to 70MB/s while Samsung evo plus at 90MB/s. Lexar priced at 20% cheaper.
Better to use Sandisk, not many users use Lexar, and some user report issue with Lexar before.
 
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