Review - Aukey DR01

[TonyM]

@Sunny has already done an in-depth review including an unboxing video HERE

These are my own observations after buying the DR01 in an Amazon UK lightning deal for £34 (usual price £42). I use a SG9665GC as the primary dashcam in my car. We had a Mobius 1 in my partner's car, which I intended to replace with the DR01. I have created a separate thread to compare the three cameras.

Likes
- Very good day and night video - almost identical to the GC
- Excellent performance considering the budget price
- Capacitor design
- Almost entirely black housing
- Time-lapse 10fps option - good for manual 'parking mode' using 1/3 memory space
- Bundled accessories
- Suction cup AND sticky mount, can transfer dashcam between two cars easily
- Adhesive cable clips to tidy up the installation
- 4m long USB cable to reach a variety of 12v socket locations
- 12v-to-USB adapter separate from USB cable

Dislikes
- Dashcam to mount connection is not secure. Noticeable camera movement on uneven road surface.
- Startup chime cannot be turned off
- Switching microphone on/off requires entering the menu to find the setting - not practical whilst driving
- Suction cup is very visible from outside the car
- No image adjustment options (EV, WB etc.), although it is already good out-of-the-box
- No evidence of firmware updates etc from manufacturer
- Green status LED is on left side of housing - cannot be seen by driver of right-hand-drive vehicle as in the UK
- MicroSD card slot is on top of DR01. Difficult to insert & eject card without upsetting the camera alignment.

 

[TonyM]

DR01 installed with suction cup


Suction cup easily visible from outside


DR01 connection to mount bracket can be loose


MicroSD card slot on top of DR01

 

[TonyM]

Sample videos, taken at default 1080p 30fps.

Daytime driving

Night driving

10fps time lapse video used as manual 'parking mode'

 

[TonyM]

Frame captures from DR01 video

High contrast daytime


Overcast daytime


Night scene 1


Night scene 2

 

[Dashmellow]

Can the Aukey Dr01 screen stamp be turned off?

 

[Dashmellow]

Frame captures from DR01 video

High contrast daytime
View attachment 34060

Overcast daytime
View attachment 34061

Night scene 1
View attachment 34062

Night scene 2
View attachment 34063

Aside from your helpful screen captures I appreciate your excellent installation photos.

 

[TonyM]

Can the Aukey Dr01 screen stamp be turned off?

Yes, the date & time & "AUKEY DR01" stamp can be turned off. No option to edit the text.

 

[TonyM]

Aside from your helpful screen captures I appreciate your excellent installation photos.

Thanks. I've spent far more time on this review than I originally intended.

 

[Dashmellow]

Thanks. I've spent far more time on this review than I originally intended.

Isn't that how it always goes?

And it ain't over, even when you think it is.

Happy to know you can turn off the embedded logo. Some early cameras I've owned stick you with it, like it or not. One even included a welcome audio with the company's name on start-up using a young Chinese woman's voice.

 

[TonyM]

Isn't that how it always goes?

And it ain't over, even when you think it is.

Happy to know you can turn off the embedded logo. Some early cameras I've owned stick you with it, like it or not. One even included a welcome audio with the company's name on start-up using a young Chinese woman's voice.

"DDPai"?

 

[Dashmellow]

"DDPai"?

Shadow GT series dash cams from SeeZeus. Audio said, "Welcome to SeeZeus driving recorder". At least the start-up robotic sounding Chinese voice audio could be turned off even if the logo stamp could not be.

 

[M Basta]

Nice work on the review.

The DR-02 solves some of the concerns, like the mounting issues and sd card location. The chime doesn’t bother me personally, but it would be good to have the option to turn it off. I do wish the green light was bolder/bigger/brighter.