Reliable & Captures Plates - Viofo/Thinkware?

tac62

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Hello All,

New membership today, but have read on the forums this one as well as others for a while now on and off, as well as watched tons of reviews and comparisons on YouTube. I do have some experience with cams, running a Viofo A119 previously in my vehicle. I didn't have the best experience with it unfortunately as it corrupted 2 SD cards, and seemed to constantly have issues with actually recording. Sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't. I did work with their customer service and it was ok, just frustrating. I did find the video clarity was lacking though overall for license plates. When I pulled video back I could read plates if the car was passing me but if it was directly in front of me I couldn't regularly. I do know there are limitations and don't expect to always read plates at night (though that would be nice) or in all circumstances during that day.
I've looked at the "Best Dash Cams of 2020" page as well as on this forum and others. 6+ months ago everywhere I was looking was saying the Blackvue 900s for a dual camera (which I am looking for). However the more I dug I found a lot of complaints of shutting off when the temperature was above 85F out, as well as problems connecting to the camera via Wifi. For the cost of the camera I decided to wait and see how things were in a few months. Now what I am seeing seems to push to either the Viofo A129 Pro Duo or Thinkware U1000.

So I guess I'm looking for a recommendation based on the following wants to push me to make a purchase:
1. Both front facing and rear facing cameras, could honestly not be connected, but connected is good and the A129 and U1000 both are.
2. Reliability in heat. I live in the Midwest, the hottest days we see are around 110 degrees, but those are rare. Usually we are closer to 95-100F in heat of summer and 0-10F in winter.
3. Ability to download video immediately is nice (for example if I witness a vehicle accident or am in one), but not a requirement.
4. Parking recording is a plus, my A119 I had powered all the time with regular recording all the time, but I don't think that is a need.

I don't care about any of the lane assist/collision avoidance etc features. I don't need to be able to "live view" the camera remotely via Wifi.

Or if I missed the boat completely and should be looking at something else I am happy to consider it. I did look at the Street Guardian SG9663DC as well. Hard to tell based on the videos how the clarity is with it and if I would be able to make out license plates any better than the A119...
 
High-performance cams do not like high heat. To use them then requires that you set the resolution and bitrates lower so the cam doesn't overheat, which kind of defeats the purpose. Both the A129 Pro Duo and the U1000 are under-develooped and having some issues right now so you need to research that and decide if you can live with them or work around them. The Viofo will almost certainly be fixed well when the next SDK comes from the chipmaker. Thinkware isn't known for fixing problems quickly or well.

Best high-heat reliability will be found with Street Guardian. They are based in Australia and specifically design their cams to handle the high heats found there. Not top-level hardware specs, but they do better with their hardware than anyone else using it, and they take a "no BS" approach to features: what they offer will work most excellently, and nobody makes the rest of those things work correctly anyway so you're really not missing anything. Best customer support in the world.

The A129 Duo Pro will give the best vids when you can use those settings, but do know that no dashcam can capture plates with great reliability in daytime, and night-time is a highest- odds gamble with them all. Do not have high expectations on plate capture, but up close with little speed differential in the daytime you'll likely be able to get what you need even if you have to examine numerous frames to read the plate. U1000 and SG can't beat the Viofo for this.

But before you choose, you really need to read the forums on the cams you are considering because every cam has issues, and you want to be sure that the known issues are not going to impact you in how you want to use the cam. Both the A129 Duo Pro and U1000 are relatively new and need further development. The SG will pretty much do everything they say it will do reliably right now. None of these are bad cams, only aimed for different types of buyers wanting different things.

Pjhi
 
we are pretty much looking for the same camera.. except it sounds like i may want parking mode a bit more than you @tac62

from my research, it unfortunately doesnt exist right now.. there are a few contenders, and you have mentioned them all, viofo, thinkware, blackvue.. they have all the features we want, but they evidently, cant execute all the features properly. every single one of them has heat issues in hot weather. if a cam isnt reliable, then whats the point of it?

i can see it now, need some critical footage of an event that happened, only to find out it was too warm outside for the camera to record. when that situation happens, the camera is a waste of money, time, and effort.
 
If parking mode is important to you forget about 4k cameras
i also see reports of 2k cameras failing in cars on the hottest days.. *shrugs*

i still havent convinced myself if 1080p is enough detail to be worth it..
 
Thank you all, I appreciate the feedback. I have looked at the Street Guardians as well and may end up going that way for reliability. Just wasn't super impressed with the clarity on the Viofo 119 and am concerned I may need something more 4k. However if 4k is really far off I guess 1080 thats reliable is way more useful than nothing while waiting.
 
Thank you all, I appreciate the feedback. I have looked at the Street Guardians as well and may end up going that way for reliability. Just wasn't super impressed with the clarity on the Viofo 119 and am concerned I may need something more 4k. However if 4k is really far off I guess 1080 thats reliable is way more useful than nothing while waiting.
Which A119 was it?

The latest V3 is a lot better than the original for clarity.

There will be the A129+ arriving soonish, a 2K version of the A129 which may be a good option for a dual camera with significantly better heat resistance to the 4K version.
 
It was probably 2 years ago, so I'm sure not the latest version. The A129+ might be a good option, I will have to keep an eye out for it as well. Thanks!
 
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