Review: AUSDOM A261 HDR UHD 2K 1296P Dashcam Car DVR Built in GPS-Gearbest.com

Sunny

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 31, 2014
Messages
5,095
Reaction score
1,739
Location
Colorado
Country
United States
Dash Cam
More than I can review. ;)
Thank you @GearBest for providing review sample.
It is available @ Gearbest for $83.99: *********************************
Quick links to review sections:
Daytime Screenshots
Daytime Videos
Night Screenshots
Night Videos

*********************************
Conclusion:
PROS:
Build quality is very good. Mount is pretty short, locks good and rotates all around.
As expected from A7 based dashcam, video quality is very good and haven't seen heat related focus shift so looks like well made dashcam.
All areas are in sharp focus and colors are natural, maybe a tad vivid.
Sound also is very good. There is slight bass (low frequency) rumble but probably the best in A7 based cameras I have so far.
Best of all, I like how the GPS is built inside the body itself so no extra hanging GPS hardware and GPS works very good.
CONS: One thing I don't like is the micro USB port.
I wish it had mini USB port instead of micro USB as I consider mini USB to have better hold on the camera but not a big deal.
Night videos have slight yellow tone.
***********************************
This maybe one of my choices to keep long term.
Highly recommended!
*********************************
Description:
This dashcam has Ambarella A7LA50 chip and OV4689 sensor.
This is my first dash camera that has built in GPS in the body.
Comes with 250mAh battery so should work for few minutes outside the car if needed and the mount is very easy to slide out off.

Before I forget, this dashcam has few features I always wanted in Ambarella based dashcams:
1. EV exposure setting. I always wanted this on Dome dashcams based on Ambarella due to darker than normal footage at night.
2. Button to turn HDR. There is a hardware button so no need to go through pages of settings to change to HDR at night or whenever needed.
3. Automatic restore of corrupted files: In few Ambarella based dashcams, when the camera didn't have enough charge to save last file, it prompted user to restore or delete when it turned on next time. They won't record until user selects one option. I had this happen and since the camera was partially behind rv mirror, I didn't see it and it didn't record anything.
This camera automatically restores that last file when it gets power next time. I haven't tested it but this is very good feature.

*********************************
Unboxing video:

*********************************
Package contents:
The product box is specifically printed for this model with its image and specifications on the box.
1. AUSDOM A261 dashcam.
2. Suction cup car mount.
3. micro USB to USB PC cable.
4. 5v 1.5A car micro USB charger.
5. right angled micro USB charging cable.
6. Product manual. It's pretty thick and in 6 languages.
7. Software CD.

DSC03032-AUSDOM-A261.jpg

*********************************
The camera feels very well made.

201508261707103229.jpg

201508261414263679.jpg


The suction cup locks with a twist and it rotates all around that is great if needed to point it to window or inside. Here is a picture from product site on how to mount it.

201508261707102554.jpg


*********************************
Front: Front has quite a few labels. GPS label is where the built in GPS is.
There is mic hole as well as speaker and vent holes on the bottom.
Ausdom A261 side-by-side with Firefly 5S, SJ7000 and Git1.
dsc03033-ausdom-firefly-sj7000-git1-jpg.17853


Top:
Suction cup mount slot.
dsc03034-ausdom-firefly-sj7000-git1-jpg.17854


Bottom:
dsc03035-ausdom-firefly-sj7000-git1-jpg.17855


Left from back: microUSB slot and power button.
dsc03036-ausdom-firefly-sj7000-git1-jpg.17856


Right from back: micro USB, micro HDMI and reset button.
dsc03037-ausdom-firefly-sj7000-git1-jpg.17857


Back: Top right corner has two status LEDs. Red for charging, blue for on and blinking blue when recording.
2" LCD screen and menu, up/down and OK buttons below the screen.
dsc03038-ausdom-firefly-sj7000-git1-jpg.17858


*********************************
Few Menu settings:
EV bias:20151012_072150-small.jpg

The top right corner has red and blue LED status lights:
20151012_072432-small.jpg

And if you notice, the GPS icon is green above.
This is the 1st camera that locked on GPS inside the house. Very good!
The GPS automatically changes time which is not the local time.
I have to check if I can change time zone to sync it.
Here is satellite information:
20151012_072459-gps.jpg

The AUSDOM A261 came with firmware version CAR DV 50 ARAK150718A.
20151012_072747-version.jpg

The UP button works as mute was well as HDR.
If you short press up button, it turns off/on the mic.
If you long press up button, it changes resolution to 1920x1080p HDR mode that is very nice to switch easily.
20151012_075028-mic-hdr.jpg

*********************************
Video samples to follow...
 
Last edited:
AUSDOM A261 Dashcam Folders and Files:
Folder and files are of the same format as most other A7 based dashcams.
Root folder has EVENT and NORMAL folders for the respective videos.
File names are named with date and time so very easy to find particular file except the time is set by GPS so it's not the actual local time.
5 minute file is around 720mb in size or 737mb if calculating at 1k byte instead of 1024.

Ausdom A261 Folder and Files-LOGO.png

Bit rate and video file properties:
Overall bit rate is 20.1 mbps.
File properties using mediainfo:
General
Complete name : F:\NORMAL\2015-10-12-21-31-26.MOV
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : QuickTime
Codec ID : qt
File size : 720 MiB
Duration : 5mn 0s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 20.1 Mbps

Encoded date : UTC 2015-10-12 21:31:26
Tagged date : UTC 2015-10-12 21:31:26
AMBA :

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L5.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Format settings, GOP : M=1, N=15
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 5mn 0s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 20.0 Mbps
Width : 2 560 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.241
Stream size : 716 MiB (99%)
Title : Ambarella AVC / Ambarella AVC
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2015-10-12 21:31:26
Tagged date : UTC 2015-10-12 21:31:26
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
Color range : Full

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 5mn 0s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 64.0 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Channel positions : Front: C
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 2.29 MiB (0%)
Title : Ambarella AAC / Ambarella AAC
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2015-10-12 21:31:26
Tagged date : UTC 2015-10-12 21:31:26

Text
ID : 3
Format : Timed Text
Codec ID : text
Duration : 5mn 0s
Source duration : 5mn 0s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 595 bps
Stream size : 21.8 KiB (0%)
Source stream size : 21.8 KiB (0%)
Title : Ambarella EXT / Ambarella EXT
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2015-10-12 21:31:26
Tagged date : UTC 2015-10-12 21:31:26
---------------------------------------------
[Note: Text information is for GPS]

I used Registrator viewer and works great to display GPS data:
Dang! I was driving pretty fast in a 65mph zone.
Reg viewer gps.jpg
 
Last edited:
AUSDOM A261 Menu Settings and Time Zone setup for GPS date time sync:
Here is a video of menu settings.
I was confused on setting time zone.
Time zone is the first field in the Time Setup menu.
Set it correctly or GPS will overwrite manually set time.
Also, DST is not available so need to set Time Zone 1 hour ahead.

 
Last edited:
Looking forward to the test on the car:)
 
I'm interested in seeing the footage from this camera and its performance.
 
I'm interested in seeing the footage from this camera and its performance.
As expected from A7 based dashcam, video quality is very good and haven't seen heat related focus shift so looks like well made dashcam.
All areas are in sharp focus and colors are natural, maybe a tad vivid.
100% crop will show grains but that's with all Ambarella based cameras.

Audio also is very good.

Few daytime screenshots @ 2560x1080p:
Fall colors: Very clear and clean footage.
2015-10-12-21-29-28.MOV_20151012_221957.000.jpg

2015-10-12-21-29-28.MOV_20151012_191532.828.jpg

2015-10-12-21-31-26.MOV_20151012_191554.828.jpg

2015-10-12-21-39-26.MOV_20151012_191649.921.jpg

2015-10-12-21-39-26.MOV_20151012_191730.046.jpg

2015-10-12-21-44-27.MOV_20151012_191809.093.jpg

Evening yellow sunlight:
2015-10-13-06-53-35.MOV_20151012_225808.062.jpg

2015-10-13-06-53-35.MOV_20151012_230008.062.jpg

2015-10-13-06-53-35.MOV_20151012_225826.171.jpg

2015-10-13-06-58-35.MOV_20151012_225744.515.jpg

continued...





 
AUSDOM A261 Daytime videos:
Video is very good.
GPS is extremely good. Locks on very fast.
Audio is also very good and loud but has some heavy bass frequencies.
Time is off as the GPS syncs time 12 hours ahead that I need to fix.

1. Beautiful Fall Morning:

2. Driving alongside mountains:

3. Driving alongside mountains:

4. Sunshine to lighted underground parking garage:

5. Afternoon rush hour traffic:
@ 2:45, one dumb/smart driver is stopped on right only lane to merge back.
I honked and he flipped me even though he was the guilty party.
Audio muted at the end...

6. Afternoon against Sun briefly followed by nice sunshine and fall colors:
@Gibson99, here are the two roundabouts next to each other, one @ 1:25 and another @ 2:00.

If you'd like to compare these same videos against other dashcams, click below:
LUKAS LK-9370 and more LUKAS LK-9370
Firefly 5s

Will test at night soon...
 
Last edited:
Will test at night soon...
I keep meaning to do more on this one as well.
I really like this camera so far.

Here are some of my night clips to hold everyone over until you can record a few.
No HDR on.

Also from my post just want to mention.
Like you posted ealier thought it was a nice touch that the HDR has a button.
 
AUSDOM A261 night screenshots with high/low beam test:
This is @ 2560x1080p so no HDR.
Night video is pretty good. Roads have slight yellow tone but overall captures good footage.

2015-10-14-08-59-19.MOV_20151013_231020.765.jpg

Very good detail:
2015-10-14-08-59-19.MOV_20151013_231024.265.jpg
2015-10-14-08-59-19.MOV_20151013_231028.687.jpg
2015-10-14-08-59-19.MOV_20151013_231038.937.jpg
2015-10-14-10-36-55.MOV_20151013_231840.515.jpg
2015-10-14-10-36-55.MOV_20151013_231851.343.jpg
2015-10-14-10-41-56.MOV_20151013_231922.531.jpg
2015-10-14-10-41-56.MOV_20151013_231932.578.jpg

High beam:
2015-10-14-10-41-56.MOV_20151013_231944.156.jpg
Low beam:
2015-10-14-10-41-56.MOV_20151013_231947.109.jpg

Night videos to follow...
 
AUSDOM A261 night videos with high/low beam test:
I switched headlights to high/low back and forth in residential areas to see the difference.
From residential area to traffic intersections.
Audio replaced.


Night video quality is pretty good.
There is slight yellow tone on color so it doesn't look natural.

If you'd like to compare these same night videos against other dashcams, click below:
Firefly 5S
LUKAS LK-9370WD
SJ7000
 
Last edited:
Overall impressions:
PROS
: Build quality is very good. Mount is pretty short, locks good and rotates all around.
As expected from A7 based dashcam, video quality is very good and haven't seen heat related focus shift so looks like well made dashcam.
All areas are in sharp focus and colors are natural, maybe a tad vivid.
Sound also is very good. There is slight bass (low frequency) rumble but probably the best in A7 based cameras I have so far.
Best of all, I like how the GPS is built inside the body itself so no extra hanging GPS hardware and GPS works very good.
CONS: One thing I don't like is the micro USB port.
I wish it had mini USB port instead of micro USB as I consider mini USB to have better hold on the camera but not a big deal.
Night videos have slight yellow tone.
***********************************
This maybe one of my choices to keep long term.
Highly recommended!
 
There is a flash sale on the Ausdom A261 for $70.99.


Few pieces left.
 
I used Registrator viewer and works great to display GPS data:
Dang! I was driving pretty fast in a 65mph zone.
View attachment 17951[/QUOTE]

It seems to be a bug from Registrator Viewer in the way it reads this movLogDVR format. The track can be viewed as subtitle in VLC or MPC and contains the right speed.
try exporting the GPS track from Registrator Viewer, then attach it back. It reads the right speed after that.
2015-10-09-15-38-43%2B%25289%2529%2B%2B%2B%2Btoday%2B08_39%2B%2B%2B%2B13.3km%2B%2B%2B%2B40.6km_h%2B%2B-%2B%2BDATAKAM%2BPLAYER%2B-10-38-18.jpg
 
Here's a nice clean video on a rainy and low cloud afternoon:

AUSDOM A261 HDR UHD 2K 1296P GPS Dashcam Rainy Day Video-09
2015-10-21-17-39-45.MOV

Low hanging clouds specially over 'Green Mountain' at 1:25 and 2:39.
At 1:10 and 2:20, clouds on the mountains in front/right.
Pretty and clean scene.



I used Registrator viewer and works great to display GPS data:
Dang! I was driving pretty fast in a 65mph zone.
View attachment 17951

It seems to be a bug from Registrator Viewer in the way it reads this movLogDVR format. The track can be viewed as subtitle in VLC or MPC and contains the right speed.
try exporting the GPS track from Registrator Viewer, then attach it back. It reads the right speed after that.
2015-10-09-15-38-43%2B%25289%2529%2B%2B%2B%2Btoday%2B08_39%2B%2B%2B%2B13.3km%2B%2B%2B%2B40.6km_h%2B%2B-%2B%2BDATAKAM%2BPLAYER%2B-10-38-18.jpg
[/QUOTE]

Hmm...
The top bar says it's 102 kph but the dial on the bottom has 137 kph.
So it's either 63 mph or 85 mph.
I don't recall going 85 though, maybe slightly over 75 at times.

So the top bar maybe accurate.
 
How do you see the speed information with the media player? here

K Lite Codec Pack + Media Player


@GearBest
 
If you use Potplayer, it automatically displays all that information as subtitle track.
 
Back
Top