Review: Vantrue N4 DashCam 3-Channel - 1440P Front & 1080P Inside cabin & 1080P Rear

[Sunny]

Thank you @JIVAN for sending Vantrue N4 3-channel dashcam for review.
This is my first three channel camera.
For more details, visit product link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B083V6K8RH****************************************
Summary: 3-channels - 1440p front + 1080p in cabin with Infrared + 1080p rear.
-Parking mode and Time lapse. -Super Capacitor -Supports up to 256GB microSD cards
-Sony STARVIS CMOS sensor
Pros:
-3-channels to cover front, inside and rear with one dash camera.
-Great video quality in all three cameras.
Cons:
-Requires large size SD card due to three files for each video.
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Vantrue N4 3-Channel Dashcam with Day and Night Sample Videos:
Day front videos @ 0:04, Day inside cabin videos @ 1:00, Day rear videos @ 1:25'
Night front videos @ 2:20, Night inside cabin videos @ 3:40,and Night rear videos @ 4:30.

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Package contents: 1x Dash Cam with Suction Cup Mount; 1x Rear Camera with 20ft Extension Cable; 1x Car Charger with 11.4ft Type C USB Cable;
1x Type C USB Data Cable 3ft; 1x Adhesive Sticker; 1x User Manual; 1x Quick Guide

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71SS-C9TKbL._AC_SL1500_.jpg

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Vantrue N4 pictures:





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Vantrue N4 folders, files, bit rate:
Root has Protect and Video folders.
Front camera videos have _A at the end, inside cabin files have _B and rear camera files have _C at the end with date and time .

Overall bit rate is around 15.3 mbps for front camera, inside cabin bit rate is around 6.7 mbps and rear camera bit rate is around 8.3 mbps.


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Vantrue N4 from inside and outside the vehicle: All three videos are displayed on the screen and can switch among the video displays.



Rear camera:

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continued...
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[Sunny]

Day and Night Screenshots from videos:





Inside cabin - day:


Rear Camera - day:



Front camera - Night:




Inside cabin - Night:


Rear Camera - Night:

 

[Sunny]

Day front videos:

Day rear videos:

Night front videos:

Night rear video:

 

[SawMaster]

An excellent review as always @Sunny Wondering which card you used?

The vids look like what I'd expect given the bitrates used; pretty good but not in the same league as most current mid-range single-channel cams because of that. I think the bitrate allocation percentages are well-selected overall, just too bad that we're stuck at ~30mbps maximum due to the technology all dashcams use. Lens quality looks nice.

Not happy with the suction mount being all that you receive with the cam; it's bulky and while the design sticks well, many (most?) people want a 3-M sticky mount these days. Seems like the same (or a similar) cam/mount interface they've been using for awhile which has been reported as loosening up if frequently detached. I doubt that anyone doing a 3-channel cam install will see much validity in using a removable suction mount though it may have merit for a single-channel cam.

Liking the angled USB/C power cable which can be turned either way as the install requires- wish this became an 'industry standard' approach. At this price level and with this type of cam I'd think a HWK instead of a ciggie plug PS would be more in order as nobody is likely to be swapping a 3-channel cam around to different cars.

Rear cam form factor and size is OK, but nowhere near as small or sleek as the K2S cam modules which IMHO are the best current design. Again the inherent bitrate limitation hurts. Very much liking the 20 ft cabling; long enough to reach for almost any vehicle, even my extended full size dinosaur-van.

Even though I'm not a VanTrue fan for other reasons, I must give them credit for good build quality and for bringing new concepts to the market far ahead of most cam manufacturers, and I think that a 3-channel cam like this will find many people wanting it.

Phil

 

[Sunny]

Thanks for comments @SawMaster
I'm using Vantrue 128GB U3 V30 Class 10 micro sd card:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07WXH12TC

 

[runtohell121]

How is (or how does it work) the parking mode?

 

[Sunny]

How is (or how does it work) the parking mode?

Haven't tried the parking mode yet.
I'll update if I try it.

 

[speculatrix]

A very useful review, thanks. I had been hoping that the interior camera would be even wider angle, so that it could see out of the side windows and thus give you almost the effect of 360 coverage.

 

[PhoenixEyes]

Its just a shame these companies don't realize that if the video quality, bit rate and FPS is not good enough to clearly identify a license plate #, it is simply useless that knows what they need or others that find out the hard way and now are super anal on what they want.

 

[speculatrix]

I was wondering why they use 16:9 sensors, rather than, say, 21:9 (or at least don't bother to record the top and bottom quarters of the frame, because all it does is increase the size of the video to capture the sky and the hood/bonnet. Then you could have what would be a 4k or higher res sensor without the penalty of high data rates and huge file sizes, but still have enough resolution to be able to read numberplates.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah you at least need to have a fighting chance of plate capture on a ideal day, and most dashcams will also do that just fine.
But of course if you live in the US where for some reason car registration plates are not really for identification purpose, and cars just have 1 plate, then your chance dwindle fast.

 

[smithdean]

Can you install it on top right of the windshield using 3m tape ? is it a discreet and small? can you just use the front and back only when not driving for uber/lyft? Thanks

 

[kamkar]

I am not sure you can leave out the one channel like that, i think the dual channel systems you have to unplug the camera, but then you can most often run 1080 / 60 FPS on the front camera.
But i dont think there is a "mute" this or that camera option in the menus,,,, at least not the 2 channel systems i know off.
So you have to do something manual to block the cabin camera ( it will still record of course ) with a shape like this vantrue a piece of pipe should do the trick.

I would not call this camera stealthy, not from its actual size, but also in regard where you probably have to install it to get any footage of the cabin. ( low on the windscreen )
Most of the 2 in 1 models ( forward and cabin ) or 3 in 1 ( forward + cabin + remote rear camera ) are not really stealthy.
IMHO the best are the viofo A129 duo IR as it have its cabin camera on a wire so you can place it anywhere on the windscreen or mirror / overhead compartment. but that leave you with no rear camera so you have to get a single camera for that.

I am hoping someone will make a single channel dedicated cabin camera with all such a camera need ( active IT filter and IR light ) that would be more easy to install stealthy, and to remove if you dont want that in day 2 day driving.

PS. it do have a suction cup i see, so when not doing uber you could move it higher to have the mirror block the view of the cabin camera.
BUT ! the suction cup probably do not work on the dotted area you might have on top of your windscreen, or your may have a layout that do so you cant put things in front of the mirror ( mirror mount of windscreen or sensor array on windscreen )