Review: Vantrue OnDash N2 Pro Taxi Cam

[jokiin]

VPN isn't needed to access this site so they could visit here anytime without it on, VPN use is common in the business community though so quite often they will have it on

 

[dash riposki]

Mine just showed up, and it was not via the 'Purchase at Amazon and refund' process. It was directly shipped from Vantrue in Kentucky. (Drop shipper, ???)
I haven't had a chance to start using the cam, yet, but have stuck a card in it, formatted it, played with it a bit. It overall looks better than I expected, but it's still kind of a 'niche' cam. Many of the commercial systems for trucks have internal recording to record what the driver was doing during 'incidents'.
(I suffered through 2 years with one of these in my truck. The third party monitoring the footage used it to try to enhance the viability of the product, and that more or less resulted in harassment of the driver.. 'You were picking your nose at the redlight, and distracted', 'you were drinking coffee while driving and distracted'.

I do see the value of having internal recording in passenger type vehicles, and in a truck environment if there is serious incident. What I am worried about is having hours of unrelated internal recording available if you hand over a card. (Primarily in lawsuits) I'll use this initially in my truck, but not have a huge card in it IF there is no way to limit the amount of internal recordings that I can find yet. (Example, X hours forward cam files, 1 hour internal cam files)

 

[SawMaster]

It IS a "specialty cam", and that is it's biggest merit because there are so few like it, and the need is great in that specialty community of ride-share drivers. Same as Taxi drivers, they get drunks and hooligans sometimes, and that needs to be documented. It could be used to monitor company drivers, but it is not ideal for that as anyone can unplug it or pull the card or let something block it's view "by accident". It could serve well as a normal dashcam if you don't mind the interior recording- sometimes that might work in your favor to prove that you did signal a turn, or that you did check your mirror before changing lanes, or anything like that. I was unaware that Amazon had any rules against refunding a buyer after a sale but I know now. And like I said several times already, that did not happen with me even if it was offered.

Regardless of anything else, I am going to be as honest as I can as I believe that is the proper way to be. (I can get away with that being single; those having wives would do well to alter that policy as needed with their spouse to maintain the peace ) You can still be honest elsewhere and you should. I had planned to get the cam in today but ran out of time, so tomorrow will see that happen and I will get some pics posted of the install. There will be some "special honesty" with those install pics, for I have noticed something interesting which I am going to share then

I'll end this post with a request that there be no more comments regarding who sent me this cam and how I got it, as this has all been clearly stated with full honesty and regardless of what may have happened elsewhere, there has been no wrong done intentionally here on my end. Please allow me some peace in doing this review without having to address non-related issues- there will be plenty to discuss about this cam without any of that

Phil

 

[SawMaster]

I've updated the Installation post here: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/review-vantrue-ondash-n2-pro-taxi-cam.36075/post-428772
Pkase have a look!

Phil

 

[SawMaster]

Added "Update-1" to the OP and a couple inside pics to the 3rd post in this thread comparing the IR and daylight performance of the interior cam.

 

[Nigel]

Added "Update-1" to the OP and a couple inside pics to the 3rd post in this thread comparing the IR and daylight performance of the interior cam.

That looks rather good for a work van!

Does the motion detect parking mode work if someone opens the back of your van and starts stealing the contents? Maybe it is only on the front camera?
Is the inside camera monochrome, or only monochrome at night?

 

[dash riposki]

(Monochrome when IR lights activated, can switch on or off via the power button, but default is 'On'.)

I'm curious how motion detection is working the van? (If trying it)

 

[SawMaster]

All the current settings are factory default except audio, which I turned off. I wanted to begin like a 'newbie' would, then this weekend In will play with the settings. So I honestly don't know if MD is on or off. I do have some locked files, maybe due to G-sensor? Dunno. Going to be getting serious with the settings and tests this weekend, I just haven't had time and energy for that. Going to upload some driving vids tonight to YouTube, and if anyone asks I'll see about raw vids, but I can't remember my MegaNZ info so that might be delayed till this weekend too.

@dash riposki - Hey neighbor- saw your own MD review, and I am going to check that extensively this weekend. Agree that it does need to get people walking close-by to be useful. Seems you're ahead of me with this cam at this point but I'll try to catch up Will tag you again once I see what I can do with MD.

@Nigel - See above on MD, definitely want to test that to see if it does work with the interior cam. I did a quick-clean early on the van, which is a weekly thing for me. Have to keep it organized to find things since its essentially a rolling ironmongers shop. Almost any portable tool you could want is in there, and many are corded/cordless both. A little bit of every kind of hardware too, you never know what you're going to uncover in remodeling work. At least I did get the generator out. Been making my own power at work for a week, GRRRR Adding the fuel cost to the customer's bill tomorrow but it's a hassle regardless.

Of course I will add to the OP with what I find this weekend and I am going to add some comments on what I've found to like and not like as well One thing I will say here and now: my big starting battery does not like powering this cam overnight as it is set up now. Something has to give because I need that coverage, so I'm hoping to find settings that will make MD and G-sensor work adequately or better. Thanks to all for following along, and things are about to get interesting so stay tuned!

Phil

 

[SawMaster]

Sorry folks, but I fell asleep last night before getting the vids posted. Uploading one to YT now, and another daytime interior screenshot. YT doesn't like the way these vids are encoded so it's at least 1 1/2 hours to upload one 3 minute vid and one screenshot. Never had that problem with UL's for any other cam, they are in more YT-friendly formats.

Update 2 in second post, vids and pics in 3rd post this thread
Phil

 

[SawMaster]

Nighttime video added to third post including interior!
Phil

 

[SawMaster]

Update 3 just added to second post in this thread.

 

[SawMaster]

Update 4 added to the second post, and my final thoughts on this cam have been added to the first post.

My testing will continue with this cam, including trying different exposure settings, but I don't expect to find much more to tell you about. Because of how well it handles certain features, this would be a good choice for a "Taxi" cam but for those driving personal cars it has issues you will need to consider. I'm sending suggestions to Vantrue in hopes that they wil make some improvements, as this cam has the potential to be a very good choice for anyone, just not as it is right now.

Phil

 

[Red_Star]

Don't understand why but for some reason they don't want to project the fact that they're a Chinese company

That’s very obvious!
Just to conceal very poor quality behind that.
Here is my experience with this cam:

Instantly after I bought this, many issues started popping-up.
Everything started from the mount(s): the very first one got loose, had to replace it; the second one had a GPS malfunction after 2 weeks of use; the third one came with a dead GPS right out of the box; the fourth mount had a GPS that randomly got stuck.

After that the internal battery inside the cam died, which resulted a constant reset of all the settings of the camera after turning off the ignition of the car.

After so copies number of issues had to return the device back.

Very poor quality of the components.

The video quality is pretty satisfactory though, but this the only credit should go onto Sony’s account.

 

[SawMaster]

Added a final update to the first post. @dash riposki I could not get parking mode to work after numerous attempts so I am going to cease trying. I am going to use this as my primary front cam till summer comes again, when the heat becomes such that no battery cam can survive it. I'll post pics of that when I get it done, and report anything new which I find with it.

Thanks to everyone for following along with my review. If you're looking for a"Taxi cam" without parking mode this one is worth considering.

Phil

 

[dash riposki]

I don't see 'parking/motion detection' working well enough to bother with, but it's not doing much harm in my situation, so will leave it on for now.
(Have another cam running 24/7 next to it.)
@SawMaster Do you have an infrared thermometer gun type thing? (Whatever they are called)

Might be interesting to get cam body surface temps.

 

[SawMaster]

Wish I did, but like you I can gauge things by feel and experience. My cam never feels very warm compared to some others, but poor heat sinking inside will get you the same feel, so it's not foolproof.

Phil

 

[dash riposki]

Eventually they'll drop to $5.99 at harbor tools.

I didn't know if you had one for work. One electrician friend has one, but his wife usually uses it in the kitchen.

 

[Nigel]

Eventually they'll drop to $5.99 at harbor tools.

I didn't know if you had one for work. One electrician friend has one, but his wife usually uses it in the kitchen.

They are not far off that already.

But I find them useless in the kitchen, they always measure the temperature of the steam instead of the food, and since steam is condensed water vapour you can never get near 100°C! The other problem is that my pans are stainless steel, and if you point an IR thermometer at stainless steel it measures the temperature of your reflection and reads body temperature even if the stainless steel pan is 200°C!

I think for a dashcam it is useful to know how much power it uses, because the amount of power used is the same as the amount of heat it produces and is closely linked to how hot they get. It also tells us how long it will run in parking mode before the car battery is flat. Seeing the Vantrue T2 use 0.00 watts in parking mode when most use around 2 watts was good to know, and a USB power meter costs a little less than an IR thermometer.

 

[SawMaster]

Will dig up my USB Doctor tomorrow and test normal recording, but someone whose cam works properly in parking mode will have to test that. Based on how my ammeter acts in the van after overnight parking, it does draw more than a single Mobius or G1Wx, but since the N2 Pro is 2 cams that should be expected. Going to spend some time tomorrow thinking the mount through so I'll test then.

Phil

 

[crabu2]

I should have looked for this forum when the lens on my N2 Pro cracked like a year ago. I can't believe they ignored my emails to them about trying to source a new lens, but they were giving away this dash cam....

Makes me feel like they're marketing dept is up to snuff, but customer service is dead..