Stay away from the A139 and Viofo!

faroutxxx

faroutxxx

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The A139 has many features I wanted and at a great price point. On paper this is a great camera but in reality its a bag of snakes.
I was sent two directly from Viofo and at my own expense I returned both.
At home I tested every feature/setting and each time the camera had numerous issues. It would go into reboot cycle where you would have to reload the firmware again.
I work in the IT sector and familiar with Hardware/Software. In some scenarios/settings on the A139 its obvious very little testing was done. I would not trust this camera to behave correctly in an accident.
First try I was told it was my SSD. So I bought a different make model the new A2 Samsung Select directly from Amazon and still had numerous issues.
Everyone keeps recommending Viofo and I understand why, in a market that is frankly bad Viofo seems on paper at least to be good.
I dealt directly with Viofo. Support is not even worth contacting. Both A139 I received were clearly opened and used. I suspect there are a large number of these getting sent back.
I tried to give the A139 a chance because of the reviews on this site and others. Im now stuck with no camera (probably have to pay $500+ for a decent camera) and hours wasted with Viofo.
Stay away from the A139 and Viofo!
 
So what exactly were the issues?
 
Double post.
 
IAmATeaf said:
So what exactly were the issues?
Click to expand...
Everything. Change every setting and test. It happened with 2 different units and different SD cards.
Im sure if you just use it out of the box it works I doubt many people would have reason to change most settings.
Like I said I wouldn't trust it if it got into an accident.
 
faroutxxx said:
Lucky you im sure Viofo will send you more free units to review
Click to expand...

Irrelevant comment. I'm sure if you were able to check (without bias) how many working units there were of (any or) this model, it would be a ratio of thousands to one.

Unsurprisingly though you have joined a forum to refute a manufacturer. I would hazard a guess that had you got a perfectly working A139 you wouldn't have signed up to the forum and began singing their praises.

Have a nice day.
 
Last edited:
Your issue.

I'm am actually sorry that you've got a problem, but truthfully, venting in a public arena is not the way to go.

When (if) you do get a resolution that is satisfactory, please update us - even if it means with a different camera.

You will find this forum is a 99% positive in its content and help from members. Reaching out and asking is much better than warning against a company just because it hasn't worked personally.

I bought a TV a few years back that when delivered had a crack in the panel and within days it started to show some sort of screen bleed. I didn't find a place to slag off LG. I just dealt with it via the supplier and now I have a great telly.

Paul.
 
Paul Iddon said:
Irrelevant comment. I'm sure if you were able to check (without bias) how many working units there were of (any or) this model, it would be a ratio of thousands to one.

Unsurprisingly though you have joined a former to refute a manufacturer. I would hazard a guess that had you got a perfectly working A139 you wouldn't have signed up to the forum and began singing their praises.

Have a nice day.
Click to expand...
I joined to ask about the initial issues i had with it and was persuaded to stick with it. Its why i requested another camera to test at my own expense.
If you research all the historic issues people reporting on this forum and others you can clearly see a pattern of issues that i kept coming across.
Honestly funny how you talk about bias while asking Viofo for free stuff.
 
OK. Go have a :coffee: m8.
 
Paul Iddon said:
Your issue.

I'm am actually sorry that you've got a problem, but truthfully, venting in a public arena is not the way to go.

When (if) you do get a resolution that is satisfactory, please update us - even if it means with a different camera.

You will find this forum is a 99% positive in its content and help from members. Reaching out and asking is much better than warning against a company just because it hasn't worked personally.

I bought a TV a few years back that when delivered had a crack in the panel and within days it started to show some sort of screen bleed. I didn't find a place to slag off LG. I just dealt with it via the supplier and now I have a great telly.

Paul.
Click to expand...
You can see my post history. Ive asked and was persuaded to stick with the camera I bought and even requested another one at my own expense.
This is not bad experience with a single product.
I also really didnt like the way Viofo behaved. They sent used products on two occasions and support was non existent.
Its worth reporting this to people searching for cameras and not waste hours and money as i did.
The other issue is that it seems there are people on this forum such as yourself who seem to be asking for free products from manufacturers to review.
 
We don't go and ask. They offer.

Still, I hope all works out for you.

Stay safe.
 
It is not uncommon that some will open the box and make sure you have the latest firmware before shipping the camera off.
It is also unusual to have a camera be off, get a new one and it be off too. That is like haviung a flat tire, go to get it fixed, drive a few 100 M down the road to have the same tire deflate again.

Sound a little to me like cases we have had thru time, where it turned out that a creative way of powering the system was used ( like a car build in USB plug or some cheap multi port USB charger )

I am fairly new to testing / using viofo products, but i have not had one go bad on me yet, the current test samples i / we have have had some issues that have been fixed or are in the process of getting fixed.
But of course this are also the very latest models that hardly sell yet.
In regard to the A139 and the T130 they both functioned well in my car and after that static testing in my window sill.

The A139 did break, but that was done by a thief breaking into my car and ripping off my mirror with the cabin camera, and ripping out the wires in the camera itself,,,,,, and he must have been a hater cuz the other cameras beside the A139 on the windscreen was not touched.
 
kamkar said:
It is not uncommon that some will open the box and make sure you have the latest firmware before shipping the camera off.
It is also unusual to have a camera be off, get a new one and it be off too. That is like haviung a flat tire, go to get it fixed, drive a few 100 M down the road to have the same tire deflate again.

Sound a little to me like cases we have had thru time, where it turned out that a creative way of powering the system was used ( like a car build in USB plug or some cheap multi port USB charger )

I am fairly new to testing / using viofo products, but i have not had one go bad on me yet, the current test samples i / we have have had some issues that have been fixed or are in the process of getting fixed.
But of course this are also the very latest models that hardly sell yet.
In regard to the A139 and the T130 they both functioned well in my car and after that static testing in my window sill.

The A139 did break, but that was done by a thief breaking into my car and ripping off my mirror with the cabin camera, and ripping out the wires in the camera itself,,,,,, and he must have been a hater cuz the other cameras beside the A139 on the windscreen was not touched.
Click to expand...
This wasnt just an open box. There were signs of use.
Like I said if you used it out of the box im sure it would work fine (until of course there was perhaps an accident). Actually change settings and do some tests which im guessing not many people would bother doing and youll clearly see some issues.
 
I've been running Viofo dashcams for just over 4 years now without any issue.

I've had a A119 V2, now in storage and 2 x V3 that I rotate to keep the internals charged.

So. I don't think berating a company based on one dashcam is fair.
 
well i cant say i have tested every possible setting combination, that would at least need a spreadsheet of sorts to check off tested combinations.
I cant do much more than do real world testing.
But i will of course agree that is you have the option to change things, then the changes should also take effect and work

In general i run very basic settings just making sure my time zone are correct, and i will experiment a little with the segment size and so deviate from my preferred 3 minutes, same go for parking guard if i have the option to test that, i will try longer duration's than the 1 hour i prefer to use in that case.
I do not mess with the EV settings as i dont have any tint in my car. I dont mess with the G - sensor much, i prefer to have it off for driving, but some times i am forced to just use low, but i have not tried to flick the camera to see if it actually work, and fortunately my driving and the roads here dont seem to trigger the G-sensor.
I do of course also not check other time zones aside for the 2 relevant ones for Denmark ( +1 / +2 ). Also i generally do not test if the camera can register speed in MPH and also not check if lesser bitrate / image quality work, i always up that to the MAX setting, though some times i have forgotten after a firmware change.

Maybe i should test more things, i do think that all the companies i have worked with they do not take full advantage of the people testing for them, while i do not get paid then i still feel that they at least have some rights they should take advantage off.
If i had a dashcam brand, and people testing for me, i would make sure that i got a good return on my investment with them, it should speed up things nicely, allowing me to get to a perfect functioning system faster.
So i would make sure they all got new firmware's at the same time, make sure they know what to look for ( current known errors / fixed errors ) maybe have a report chart the tester could fill out when reporting a error, or at least have the same person oversee tester reports so he / she can forward that to the engineers.

Of course i could be off, i do have a thendency to think things are more simple than they really are.
 
Is your cam hardwired or running off the 12v?
 
Kremmen said:
I've been running Viofo dashcams for just over 4 years now without any issue.

I've had a A119 V2, now in storage and 2 x V3 that I rotate to keep the internals charged.

So. I don't think berating a company based on one dashcam is fair.
Click to expand...
Its wasnt one dashcam it was two. I paid out of my own pocket to get a replacement dashcam with recommendations from this forum.
Its not just the technical issues either. Like i said i was sent used dashcams. The support was also bad.
Its also not fair to dismiss my complaint based on your experiences of an old well tested model.
These cameras are for safety and security. People should be warned of possible issues and the manufacturers should be held accountable.
 
faroutxxx said:
This wasnt just an open box. There were signs of use.
Like I said if you used it out of the box im sure it would work fine (until of course there was perhaps an accident). Actually change settings and do some tests which im guessing not many people would bother doing and youll clearly see some issues.
Click to expand...
I tried all the settings with mine, and I've found this to be as reliable and trouble-free cam as I've ever had. I'm not on the latest FW, and I do recall there being some 'bugs' found with certain FW versions but those were quickly fixed- and faster than Microsoft does with their buggy updates. Which as someone in IT I'd suppose you know about. Faulty units do happen with everything mas-produced, and that's why you get a warranty. My very first cam (a G1W/c) was bad, the replacement too, and it took a third cam before (I got one which worked correctly; all of this is on these forums. Weird things do happen.

New people show up on these and other dashcam forums mostly when they are having problems, and rarely when their new cam functions properly. Given that, and the fact that we've seen very few people coming here having problems with their A139 compared to all other cams leads me to believe that just the same as my own experiences indicate that this is a good cam. Yours may not have been, but almost everyone else's is. This would be a lot different if it was not a good cam, and we see numerous and continuous complaints about some brands and models here to exemplify this. For me, the A139 is the best cam I've ever had, doing everything I want of it in every condition and if it were the only cam I had, I would not be worried at all. YMMV.

Phil
 
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