Nextbase 512: wrong advice in the manual can cause SD card failure

Peek

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See my old thread re all the hassle I had with excessive firing on my 512 at the end of 2018 and Nextbase's somewhat chaotic response. Tiffany at Nextbase was eventually able to resolve this to my satisfaction. I don't know what Nextbase would do without her coming to the rescue with her customer-care skills.

A new issue: my 512 plus rear has frozen twice in the last two weeks. The only way to unfreeze it was to un-power it completely. On the first occasion, I only noticed the freezing five days after it occured, thus leaving me unwittingly driving whilst unprotected. I emailed Nextbase. No sign of Tiffany (Holiday? Quit?). I was asked to send them photos of my SD card, the rationale for this request being that they wanted "to ensure its the correct type and is genuine". I obeyed. The card is a 64gb San Disk Ultra Class 10 U1 (aka UHS1).

Nextbase replied to say that San Disk Ultra SD cards are not designed to be used with dash cams and they recommend using Nextbase branded or San Disk High Endurance (U3) SD cards. They told me that using a Class 10 U1 (UHS1) card was the likely cause of the freezing, as U1 cards cannot cope with repeated over-writing.

I replied to say that I have looked again at the 512 manual and there is nothing there to say we should be using High Endurance SD cards or U/UHS3 cards. I can find evidence on the internet that this has been best practice since at least 2015, if not earlier. I can find four specific statements in the manual about the choice of SD cards:
"SD Card (Recommended Type): 8-128GB MicroSD Card, Class 10 (48mb/s), for best results use a recognized brand" (page 10); "Insert a suitable MicroSD card (Class 10 48/Mbps) in to the Dash Cam" (page 18); "Use a good quality branded SD card between 8GB and 128GB (Class 10 or UHS type 1)" (page 45); "For best recording use a quality branded class 10 type (48MB/s) or UHS type 1 micro SD card of 8 to 128GB recommended size" (page 46).

I followed the instructions in the manual by using "a good quality branded SD card between 8GB and 128GB (Class 10 or UHS type 1)", which Nextbase now tell me is incompatible, even though the manual specifically states that UHS1 cards are suitable. The instructions in the manual are therefore wrong, so it is therefore reasonable to hold Nextbase liable for the malfunction of my dashcam, the remedy for which, Nextbase suggested, is buying and inserting a different kind of card. I pointed out to Nextbase that my wife also has a 512 in her car with the same SD card, as per the same instructions. I asked Nextbase to send me free like-for-like (64gb) replacements (plural). They sent me ONE 32gb card. I emailed back to ask for TWO cards for TWO cameras both sized 64gb, on a like-for-like basis. They refused to do so.

What do readers think about Nextbase’s attitude? What about the instructions in the manual? What do you think about my request to them?
 
An update: In the absence of any meaningful help from Nextbase (they did eventually send me ONE 16gb card, which was a useless replacement, as 16gb is way too small to be of any use, and they refused to give me any more help), I followed their line of argument and shelled out another £20+ on buying two SanDisk 64gb High Endurance SD cards, one each for my wife's and my 512s. I should add that since my post above, my wife's 512 plus rear developed the same problem with regular freezing, if anything more frequent than mine. On the positive side, since using the new 64gb High Endurance card in my dashcam, I have had no further episodes of the camera in my car freezing. However, following Nextbase's instructions, and putting the High Endurance card in my wife's camera made no difference at all: her camera has continued to freeze regularly. I went into my local Halfords to see if there are any alternatives to the wretched Nextbase (other than Halfords' own brand, no). However, I described all my troubles with Nextbase to the very helpful assistant manager and she said "we will replace your 512". I thought the 512s were no longer stocked, but she managed to get one. One of the assistants there told me he had been an IT technician for 30 years, and "no way" was the camera freezing due to the SD card: "the camera is faulty". So, we swapped the cameras, and, lo and behold, no further problems with my wife's camera freezing for two weeks now, thereby providing compelling evidence that (1) Nextbase's diagnosis was wrong (2) Nextbase's products are rubbish (3) Nextbase's technical team give wrong advice (4) Nextbase's customer care, notwithstanding Tiffany, is abysmal.

I would strongly urge people not to buy Nextbase dashcams as my experience has been nothing but frustration. I know that Nextbase staff read this messageboard, so I will challenge them to respond to this.
 
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