Problems with the A118-C from Gearbest

I think the included cigarette lighter on mine is unstable as well. Doesn't start recording until 30 minutes into my drive on cold days
 
Seems like about 3 or 4 people on here have problems with the cigarette lighter so far...

As for the video quality, is it true that the A118/C is this terrible at night time? I thought it was a bit better from what I've seen before... and at least more in focused compared to mine.
 
You could potentially improve the focus on yours if you're happy to strip the camera down - it will still be dark at night time though with the artefacts etc.
 
Any other options besides stripping the camera down and messing with it? As I rather not since I'm unfamiliar with taking things apart. Do any other A118-C have similar problems compared to mine?
 
It is pretty easy to fix, and you only need to remove 4 screws and the cover.
It is easy to make the sd card stay in place after removing CAREFULLY the glue on sd slot.
Just push the card in place, and press on the L shaped metal piece, then release pressure, the card will stay inside.
 
Chris-s, tried this on mine, regardless what we did - we were unable to make the SDcard stay :(
 
chris-s said:
It is pretty easy to fix, and you only need to remove 4 screws and the cover.
It is easy to make the sd card stay in place after removing CAREFULLY the glue on sd slot.
Just push the card in place, and press on the L shaped metal piece, then release pressure, the card will stay inside.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the SD Card issue was simple (though never tried ejecting the car once it stayed in). I actually meant the focusing issue besides stripping it down.
 
Mine seems not to have any focus issue.
I have to test more
 
wing0 said:
I've posted in the other thread of about SD card not locking in.

Well, I somehow got the SD card to stay in for a bit(it popped out 3-4 times in a row while I kept moving the L latch to get it to lock in the card). I put black electrical tape over the slot in case it flies out of the dashcam while I'm driving.

I put it side by side with my G1W-C and have to say, the picture quality is crap for what novatek nt96650 is known for.
Here are a screenshot of the same moment on both dashcam.

G1W-C:
View attachment 11739

A118C:
View attachment 11740

After driving for 30 mins(45 mins to get to work).
I started to hear the A118C start up sound and realized, it began rebooting.
So I got curious and switched the power cable between G1W-C and A118C.
A118C was then recording fine again while G1W-C didn't start up anymore.

I regret quite a bit getting this A118C after G1W-C has been stable for such a long time.
What won me over was the form factor and seeing that it's one of the newer capacitor dashcam.
However, I can't say it's build as good or as reliable as the G1W-C at this point.

I've spent more time fixing this A118C than actually using it so far.
List of issues:
1. SD card got stuck due to glue on speaker
2. SD card won't lock in anymore after glue is peeled off
3. Power adapter seems unstable at times
4. Don't know when the SD card will fly out(hopefully not at my eye again).
5. Video quality seems subpar vs other dashcam that uses same chipsets
Click to expand...

Gearbest wants me to send the camera back for a new one(mine is already a new one).
It will cost me close to $50 to send it to them and wait another month for a new one.

I don't feel like paying over $130 for a dashcam(not even knowing if second one has any issues).
Will never buy a new dashcam on the market until it's at least 6 months to 1 year old. I would've thought all the problems are ironed out with the original A118 version.
 
wing0 said:
...
Will never buy a new dashcam on the market until it's at least 6 months to 1 year old. I would've thought all the problems are ironed out with the original A118 version.
Click to expand...

The problem is likely not the design but the manufacturing. When they make a product that can be bought cheap you end up with a cheap product.
 
Well they changed the design(placement of things) internally and didn't do a thorough test with it.
As long as it turns on, it's considered good. If only they added an additional test by inserting a SD card into a couple of them, they would've realized this sd card issue since it seems to be quite frequent occurrence.
 
Seems like people who bought this dash cam is their tester... using consumer's own money to buy it and find out problems. I have yet to contact @GearBest or them contacting me about the issues I have listed on this thread.

Buying the item isn't a problem, but sending it back to them if there's some issue is the problem as shipping back to China is expensive, almost worth at least half the camera or even more. And the ridiculous wait time for shipping is also annoying.
 
I took a look at the night time video again and I see artifacts and pixelation too.
This is after the dashcam has turned on beyond 30 mins. HDR is off.

nightvid.jpg
 
My assumption is overheating the chipset... because at first, it isn't that pixelated. Did the A118 do that also or just the A118-C? I don't think this is normal for a dash cam to get more pixelated as it is being used longer than 30 minute... I know for sure my old VF300W wasn't like this.
 
Dear all,

Thank you for very much for your orders and also for kindly bringing the issues to our attention. We wish to apologize for the difficulties you have been experiencing regarding the functionality of your device. We've never expected all those issues, as well as regard your guys as our tester. It's our fault being not able to find out problems, as we've cooperate with the manufacture for a while and have been cooperated smoothly. For the SD card slot issue, they are some kind guys already shared how they fixed that, maybe you can also fix your according to their post if your camera has that problem. As for the focus and video quality problems, you may try setting it a little bit, like turn off the HDR. For other functioning problems, you may try to update the firmware.

Also I would like to apologize for the later reply. It's better to contact me directly by PM me or sunny@gearbest.com if you need any help, as I am really too busy to check all the post recently.

Thank you for your kind support and patience.

Best,
Sunny
 
GearBest said:
Dear all,

Thank you for very much for your orders and also for kindly bringing the issues to our attention. We wish to apologize for the difficulties you have been experiencing regarding the functionality of your device. We've never expected all those issues, as well as regard your guys as our tester. It's our fault being not able to find out problems, as we've cooperate with the manufacture for a while and have been cooperated smoothly. For the SD card slot issue, they are some kind guys already shared how they fixed that, maybe you can also fix your according to their post if your camera has that problem. As for the focus and video quality problems, you may try setting it a little bit, like turn off the HDR. For other functioning problems, you may try to update the firmware.

Also I would like to apologize for the later reply. It's better to contact me directly by PM me or sunny@gearbest.com if you need any help, as I am really too busy to check all the post recently.

Thank you for your kind support and patience.

Best,
Sunny
Click to expand...

There isn't much setting on a dash cam.... And probably no firmware update also as far as I can tell at this moment.
 
Sorry, I have to rant more on this testing from the manufacturing line which was not done thoroughly. The end users are the ones that suffer the consequence. Shouldn't the factory be taking up the blame and provide compensation back to the end users?

To ask buyers to open a brand new out of box dash cam to fix:
1. SD card slot(it's not 100% success rate even following friendly guides here)
2. Focus issue(anybody have a guide on opening up the lens?)
3. Night video issue(I also start to think this could be overheating issue if it only happens after the cam is on for a while)

Imagine you buy a brand new car:
1. Door can't be opened due to alignment, dealership tells you to adjust the door with screwdriver.
2. Headlight is not pointing at the ground, they tell you to open hood and adjust it till you like it.
3. Engine overheats after driving for a while, they tell you to wait for new firmware to correct issue.

Why not sell the dashcam in pieces and create a DIY kit? We can almost assemble the whole thing from scratch after the fiasco of disassembling it down to the lens.
Who is responsible for the damage when seller encourage buyer to open up the product to fix the issue, and it breaks the product further?
Isn't this the reason why manufacturers have warranty void stickers to cover up screw holes to prevent consumers from opening the products themselves?

Trusting a factory due to long working relationship is one thing, but to have a successful business model, you always need to lean on the cautious side by applying the advice of "Trust, but verify". In the end, it's your company name that's advertised along with this product and the issues that comes with it.
 
Completely agree with @wing0

The factory and/or seller of the item should take responsibility and at least back up the users of the product. There's no way this is acceptable and on this forum, it's just a small sample size of how many people might have actually bought the camera and have similar issues, yet the seller doesn't seem to willing to address the issues, besides telling you to open up your own dash cam to fix the SD Card issue, where as the other issues aren't really fixable at this moment by the user. The user that buys the product shouldn't have to do all the fixing themselves.

I don't think I can trust sellers that don't stand behind the product they are selling.
 
Now I'm nervous as hell and kicking myself for not going with the Street Guardian. I couldn't justify the $100 difference in price at this time, so I went ahead and bought the A118-C from @GearBest on 12 March. It seems like @jokiin & @Pier28 would handle any issues like these in a MUCH better way. Guess I'll keep my fingers crossed that I will get one that doesn't have the SD slot issue, the power cable issue, the focus issue and/or the overheating issue! Live and learn and buy Street Guardian next time.
 
toddled said:
Now I'm nervous as hell and kicking myself for not going with the Street Guardian. I couldn't justify the $100 difference in price at this time, so I went ahead and bought the A118-C from @GearBest on 12 March. It seems like @jokiin & @Pier28 would handle any issues like these in a MUCH better way. Guess I'll keep my fingers crossed that I will get one that doesn't have the SD slot issue, the power cable issue, the focus issue and/or the overheating issue! Live and learn and buy Street Guardian next time.
Click to expand...

Thanks, for anyone still researching, here is a side by side video Niko put together so you can see for yourself. The SG9665GC might "look" like the B40/A118 from the outside but it's totally different inside. Instead of the weaker budget sensor the SG9665GC uses the Sony IMX322 CMOS sensor which results in superior night performance. The all glass medium wide perfectly focused high quality lens is also much sharper edge to edge resulting in a crystal clear image. (all metal lens housing as well) 32GB microSD card pre-installed, microSD keychain USB card reader, miroFiber bag, spare thicker mount for vertical windows, 3M static sticker for temp rental car installs, and more) Street Guardian is all about quality

 
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