Mid-range camera with parking mode, front and rear recording

[camerarec]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a recommendation for a mid-range camera with decent parking mode support. There's a small twist: I'd like to avoid Viofo because I'm replacing a Viofo camera that I've had a very poor experience with. This has made it really hard to find a good camera, because no matter where I look, almost all of the recommended mid-range models are Viofo.

Must haves:

• 2-channel front/rear recording
• Automatic parking mode (my fusebox already has taps)
• High-quality front camera sensor (e.g. STARVIS or STARVIS2)
• Supercapacitor, not battery
• Ideally not Viofo

Nice-to-have:

• HDR
• STARVIS/STARVIS2 rear camera
• GPS
• 4k resolution
• WiFi connectivity / app video download / "cloud" features
• h.265 codec

Don't need:

• Interior recording
• Cellular connectivity
• Included SD card (I already have a 128GB high endurance card I'd like to reuse)
• Lane departure warning, collision warning, etc.
• LCD screen - if the app is good

I've been considering some of these:

• BlackVue DR770X-2CH: Unfortunately they don't seem to sell these without the SD card, and they're fairly pricey. Also, the app has terrible reviews for such an expensive camera.
• Thinkware Q850: Same as the BlackVue.
• Vantrue S1: This one seems to check all of the boxes, but I don't often see recommendations for Vantrue.

Let me know what you think of any of the above, or if there's a model I should really consider. Thanks!

 

[Nigel]

There's a small twist: I'd like to avoid Viofo because I'm replacing a Viofo camera that I've had a very poor experience with.

It is difficult at the moment because the cameras with Starvis 2 sensors plus DOL-HDR have a big advantage over anything else, which limits recommendations to Viofo, Vantrue, and 70mai. I was going to suggest 70mai, but you are in California and they use a battery.

What was the problem with your Viofo? Maybe the new ones have that problem sorted, most people are very happy with them...

 

[camerarec]

which limits recommendations to Viofo, Vantrue, and 70mai

Which Vantrue models would you recommend? From what I've found, they seem pretty solid. I agree that 70mai isn't a good fit due to the battery.

What was the problem with your Viofo?

I bought a A129 Plus Duo w/HK3 hardwire kit about 2.5 years ago. I had a lot of issues with hardware quality. When the camera was new, I couldn't get parking mode to work (it would freeze up when entering parking mode). I had to spend a few weeks testing multiple hardwire kits, bought some diagnostic tools, etc., and Viofo support eventually RMA'd the camera itself, which finally fixed the issue. However, about a year later my car's 12V battery started repeatedly dying, sometimes reading as low as 8V. I assumed it was an issue with the car, but when I took it in they traced the parasitic draw to the camera. After removing the battery lead from the hardwire kit, the battery drain issue resolved immediately. Apparently the low-voltage cutoff was not working at all. I've been using it without parking mode since, because I really don't want to wire in yet another HK3 kit. Recently, the camera has started unexpectedly rebooting while driving. A few days ago it got into a boot loop (it would play half of the boot sound, then reboot again). Even without the SD card inserted, the video feed on the screen flickered and the connection to the rear camera was not stable. I assume this means it's finally completely dead.

Given that I've now sunk about twice the original cost into debugging, car maintenance, etc.; I wish I had bought a different, nicer brand originally to save myself from this entire headache saga. It has been an all-around terrible experience.