Review: CHUPAD D501 Wedge Dashcam, WiFi (NT96658+IMX322) (Gearbest)

Sunny

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Dash Cam
More than I can review. ;)
Thank you @GearBest for providing CHUPAD D501 WiFi Dashcam for review.
Gearbest product link: *****************************************
Description & Features: Wedge shape dashcam with WiFi. No fish-eye effect, usually this feature is on Ambarella based dashcams.
CHUPAD D501 is a wedge shaped WiFi dashcam based on Novatek NT96658 chipset and Sony IMX 322 sensor.
It has 2.45" LCD and max resolution is 1080p.
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Summary: will be updated as I review and test but will note things as I go on.
PROS: Very discrete all black slim wedge design. Well it has chrome mid section on the housing but not visible from the front.
Video quality is very good both at daytime and at night.
Audio is also very good.
Cons: no option to turn the LCD off
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Unboxing and sample videos:
Daytime Videos @ 1:20, night videos @ 6:25:

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Package Contents: Very minimal contents.
1 x Car DVR, 1 x Car Charger, 1 x Operational Manual ( English ), 1 x Chinese Manual
DSC05106-chupad.jpg

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CHUPAD D501 Images:
The lens moves up/down but not sideways.
Chupad-flt.jpg

The right most button triggers event. Up/down buttons zoom in/out.
Chupad-rb.jpg


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Chupad D501 Folders and VBR:
CARDV>MOVIE: It has normal video files.
>>RO: It has event files. Entire clip is locked.

Variable Bit Rate: Overall Bit Rate is 13.1 mbps with video @ 11.9 mbps and audio @ 512 kbps.
Chupad D501 Dashcam Folders and Bit Rate.jpg

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More details coming soon...
 
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Daytime Video screenshots: Very good quality. Against the Sun washes sky out but roads/vehicles are still good. No fish-eye effect.

Almost like a DSLR photo quality from video screenshot: ;)
2016_0826_171930_021A.MOV_20160827_080335.822-chupad.jpg

2016_0826_083450_012A.MOV_20160827_080945.151-chupad.jpg
2016_0826_175830_034A.MOV_20160827_080507.413-chupad.jpg
2016_0826_084350_015A.MOV_20160827_080059.134-chupad.jpg
2016_0826_084350_015A.MOV_20160827_080036.904-chupad.jpg
2016_0826_084350_015A.MOV_20160827_080008.893-chupad.jpg


Against the Sun:

2016_0826_085250_018A.MOV_20160827_080257.432-chupad.jpg
2016_0826_085250_018A.MOV_20160827_080244.268-chupad.jpg
2016_0826_084950_017A.MOV_20160827_080149.068-chupad.jpg
 
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Night Video Screenshots: Night quality is very good and bright.

2016_0825_224425_004A.MOV_20160827_095831.502-chupad.jpg

2016_0825_224425_004A.MOV_20160827_095822.688-chupad.jpg

2016_0825_224125_003A.MOV_20160827_074518.120-chupad.jpg

2016_0825_224125_003A.MOV_20160827_074513.234-chupad.jpg

2016_0825_224125_003A.MOV_20160827_074502.211-chupad.jpg

2016_0825_224125_003A.MOV_20160827_074446.613-chupad.jpg
 
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Wow great price, and samples videos look great. How come the Gearbest link only says 1080P? Don't like the battery and chrome ring around the lens.
 
How come the Gearbest link only says 1080P?

In many cases specs are just copy-paste from other listings or in this particular case it might be typo ?
 
Don't like the battery and chrome ring around the lens.

I still don't get the logic of so called "designers" of this unit. They made relatively hidden ( stealthy ) looking dascham, but left lens housing / ring shiny chrome. Also main body side frame is silver chrome which attracts attention. Where is the logic ? :confused:
 
Wow great price, and samples videos look great. How come the Gearbest link only says 1080P? Don't like the battery and chrome ring around the lens.
You must be looking at the phone that redirects to mobile site.
Full site has more information but also a mistake that mentions it is a touch screen and it's not.
Oh, I had wrong resolution in the 1st post. I fixed it. It is 1080p only.
 
Would be my choice of camera if only it had that capacitor. Picture quality for this price is unseen as far as I'm aware.

Can't believe that adding a capacitor instead of battery would add much to the cost.
 
Pictures from inside and outside the vehicle:

img_20160829_085116875_hdr-chupad-viofo-vantrue-jpg.25686


img_20160829_085149322-vantrue-viofo-chupad-jpg.25687


Better picture on cloudy day:
img_20160830_084959310-vantrue-viofo-chupad-hyundai-jpg.25703
 
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Astounding pic quality for the price day and night. Hard to best that at twice the price. Are you going to do any long term testing Sunny? This could quickly become "King of the Economy Cams" if it holds up in constant use.

Phil
 
You must be looking at the phone that redirects to mobile site.
Full site has more information but also a mistake that mentions it is a touch screen and it's not.
Oh, I had wrong resolution in the 1st post. I fixed it. It is 1080p only.

Thanks for correct this mistake. I asked my colleague to edit it.
 
Astounding pic quality for the price day and night. Hard to best that at twice the price. Are you going to do any long term testing Sunny? This could quickly become "King of the Economy Cams" if it holds up in constant use.

Phil
Yes, dashcams with Sony IMX322 sensor that gives great night quality don't come in the $60 range.
On top of that, this is wedge shape for discrete install plus wifi.
Not sure how it'll hold in the long run. If it had capacitor, it'd give a run for brand name ones that cost few hundred.

This needs little bit higher VBR than 13.1 mbps and should have option to turn LCD off both of which could easily be added with FW update but not sure if there's any FW support for this model.
 
CHUPAD D501 Daytime Videos: As shown in the unboxing sample videos and screenshots above, daytime video is very good.
Here are few more clips:



 
Firmware support for domestic market product is not too common, most is get what you get as the market moves too fast
 
Ha ha CHUPAD :) that sound like some accessory to some extreme sport.

But all in all it don't look so bad i must say, if it can last and make good footage for a couple of years then it would be a excellent entry level dashcam.

The use of the crome is unfortunate, but there is easy fixes for that.
 
it has some but not too severe, it's just the lens that is responsible, there is no dewarp being used
To me it looks like the normal fish-eye effect for the width of the lens' angle. Even if it's less than normal, it's very different from saying no fish-eye effect at all.
The dewarp function is good if one doesn't like to see everything bending inwards at the edges of the picture but it "bloats" the road (for a lack of a better word). ;)
 
Okay okay you win. ;)
It has much less fisheye effect compared to other novatek based cameras.
You can see it on the poles at edges but still not that much.
 
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