The OWL Cam - developed by engineers from Apple, Drop Cam and Microsoft

You're in the US, I'm in the UK. Having the very latest high end smartphone is still a status symbol in the UK, as is having certain brands of watch or car.

We have that too but on the whole it is a relatively small demographic in the scheme of things when compared to the broader population. Remember, practically everyone has a mobile phone these days. Owning one is not "trendy" even if there is a desire among some for the latest bells and whistles or a fancier car. As for the OWL cam, obviously it will appeal to people who can afford them, even some who don't necessarily own the latest, most expensive smartphones. The OWL cam is more or less in a similar price range to other allegedly "high end" cameras such as the SG9663DC and several other brands that seem to be quite popular. People who justify the cost of an expensive dash cam may be using a different metric than the one they use for their mobile device.
 
The OWL cam is more or less in a similar price range to other allegedly "high end" cameras such as the SG9663DC and several other brands that seem to be quite popular.
If the OWL cam becomes popular, I'm sure it won't take long for a more modestly priced option to be turned out by one of the other brands, perhaps with a few less bells or whistles.
 
If the OWL cam becomes popular, I'm sure it won't take long for a more modestly priced option to be turned out by one of the other brands, perhaps with a few less bells or whistles.

Yeah, Street Guardian, for example already seems to have offerings in various price ranges. Of course, the question of whether the highest priced dash cams on the market really do offer two, three or even four times the value of lower priced models available nowadays remains an interesting question.

So far the OWL cam is it's own category however.
 
We have that too but on the whole it is a relatively small demographic in the scheme of things when compared to the broader population. Remember, practically everyone has a mobile phone these days. Owning one is not "trendy" even if there is a desire among some for the latest bells and whistles or a fancier car. As for the OWL cam, obviously it will appeal to people who can afford them, even some who don't necessarily own the latest, most expensive smartphones. The OWL cam is more or less in a similar price range to other allegedly "high end" cameras such as the SG9663DC and several other brands that seem to be quite popular. People who justify the cost of an expensive dash cam may be using a different metric than the one they use for their mobile device.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not against the OWL cam by any means. I just felt they were missing a trick by not supporting Android, (soon to be rectified as you pointed out), and had a little way to go on quality tuning.
 
Don't misunderstand me, I'm not against the OWL cam by any means. I just felt they were missing a trick by not supporting Android, (soon to be rectified as you pointed out), and had a little way to go on quality tuning.

I think we agree that OWL cam needs to put more effort into refining the IQ and other basic refinements we all look for in quality dash cams. The smart phone connectivity and parking mode alert features are unique and generally worthwhile but alone don't make for the sort of dash cam most members here are looking for in terms of capturing actionable evidence in the event of a traffic accident, including date and time and the preservation of hard evidence. I'm also of the opinion the camera needs removable memory card capability as well as connectivity, cloud storage and modest internal memory .
 
Another questionable thing about this camera is the flashing LED warning beacon facing the front of the vehicle.
Nothing says "steal me" like a blinking camera on your dash board either. :rolleyes:

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I've read about this on another site from someone who owns one. He said the blinking light attracts attention. Perhaps too much attention. I would think you would also need a regular car alarm system so the noise could make a theif run before he got anything.
 
It's a pity if they see the need to retain an LED not to put an option in the settings menus like GoPro do on their action cameras to turn the LED's off. That would resolve the issue whilst retaining advantage to some users of having the LED present.
 
I've read about this on another site from someone who owns one. He said the blinking light attracts attention. Perhaps too much attention. I would think you would also need a regular car alarm system so the noise could make a theif run before he got anything.

I agree with you that both would be better but I think the concept of a regular car alarm conflicts with the way this camera is being marketed. OWL cam probably doesn't want to plant the idea that a different product altogether might be useful or even do a good enough job protecting a car on its own.

It's a pity if they see the need to retain an LED not to put an option in the settings menus like GoPro do on their action cameras to turn the LED's off. That would resolve the issue whilst retaining advantage to some users of having the LED present.

Thus far we don't know if the OWL cam LED does or doesn't already have the functionality to turn the LED off but certainly it's something they might add to the firmware of this very new product.
 
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Here's an update. I've tried both the Owl and the Raven Dash Cams. The Raven gave me all kinds of alerts, vehicle speed, aggressive driving and stopping, unit turned off or unplugged, plus you get a web page that give you access to your cars GPS map locations and video from the unit, it's heavily tied into the ODB2 ports diagnostic systems, so it's great for monitoring young drivers or whoever you loan your vehicle to as it gives you lots of feedback on what's happening. The Owl just uses the ODB2 port for power. The Owl connects with a magnet that has not jumped off from it's base but makes it really easy to remove and take with you. The Raven clips into it's base and can be removed also.

Owl works really good with the iPhone and pretty good with an Android phone, can't use both phones, as you can only link it to one phone. The flashing led does make it look more like a car alarm. I live in what I consider a low crime areas and so far have had no problems with theft and have used both units for about three months. Both survived high summer temperatures in my car but I learned a long time ago to keep both rear passenger windows open by about an inch to help control heat buildup. I once had a cellphone holder melt because I was closing all the windows during hot summer weather. I like the image quality of the Owl better and it was really easy to retrieve video from any location with my cell and took under a min. to do so. The Raven took a little longer to download videos, perhaps a little over a min. Owl makes it really easy to access and share videos. With both units sometimes cloud access may not be available and the units upload when service is connected again. This means there may be a chance that if you part in an area with no cell reception there may be no alerts or video if the unit is taken. So far I've noticed this to be very rare living in a big city.

I decided to go with the Owl as it's really easy to setup and has that Apple style plug and play working for it. Will have to see how the cold weather effects them. Raven has better night vision, Owl has bright LED lights to light up the inside of the passenger compartment when unauthorized entry is detected, works great with the iPhone but not so great with my Android phone, as I often get mistaken as an intruder. The parking alerts work well for both phones as I get alerts of people walking to close to the car, both have a low, medium, and high setting, so I don't get a lot of false alerts. Owl turns itself off after 24 hours if you don't drive your car during that time, or if your battery is low.

I do believe using the cloud and being able to use your cellphone to instantly see what's going on inside and in front of your vehicle from any location and at anytime is the future, Tesla has cameras all around it's cars and have started developing the front camera for use as a dash cam. I'm not a professional reviewer or affiliated with any of these companies, all this stuff is just off the top of my head as there are probably lots of additional features I've left out. Owl has uploaded Youtube videos directly from Owl owners which allow you to see what they captured including a few of them capturing people breaking into their car and one or two of them stealing the dash cam. Strangely some thieves left the dash cam. I'm currently looking for adapter cables to see if I can hook them up to a battery pack. As someone who's really into gadgets, I've enjoyed playing around with these and a few other dash cams.
 
I like the idea of a CCTV camera in my car i can access from my phone from anywhere, this are the main reason for me wanting a larger unlimited phone data plan and #2 sim card i could use for sharing data in a hot spot in the car.
But i think i would prefer such a camera to be on its own or maybe as part of a alarm package, and i would like that camera to be a cabin camera and leave the approach of crooks / thieves to my dash cameras, that might be on their way to get stolen.
So i would prefer a good head shot from up close to be my evidence that get saved to the cloud.
And with the up and coming dashcams with remote cameras detached from the main unit with the storage, i feel there are a strong chance of the main unit stashed somewhere in the car will not get stolen.
 
A hidden system would be great. Plus you wouldn't have to worry about getting a ticket for obstruction of drivers view, not that it's happened and I see lots of cars with cell phones placed in such a position.
 
I like the image quality of the Owl better (...) Raven has better night vision.
Yeah, lots of "tricks" but for most potential buyers what really matters is the image quality and you have to agree that the information you provided on that isn't going to make anyone go buy one.
 
I'll take it for now. It does what I need it to do. So I no longer look at different types of cams and have stayed with this one.
 
I'll take it for now. It does what I need it to do. So I no longer look at different types of cams and have stayed with this one.
But this forum is not about "you", it's about sharing your experiences/impressions/tests so that others can make their own choices. A dashcam's main function is to record good video and audio. The rest of the "gimmicks" are secondary for the majority of people.
 
A dashcam's main function is to record good video and audio. The rest of the "gimmicks" are secondary for the majority of people.

I fully agree, but some folks just see things differently until they personally have an experience which shows them that their perspective wasn't the best one. I recall a conversation with a seller of Korean cams who said that in their home market, a lot of people bought dashcams based heavily on their form-factor and appearance o_O I too like a good looking cam, but if the video isn't usable what's the point in having it?

The Owl and Raven are OK but need to be better in the video department. I've noticed that dashcams built by 'techies' like these, Garmin, and Anker, are often lacking in something basic which is frequently video-related. They seem focused on their 'pet features' so tightly that they see nothing else :( Dashcams built by folks with a cam background are often the reverse, with good video but features which sometimes don't work well :rolleyes: It seems that both kinds just don't want to admit to and fix the problems and issues which they do not understand as well as their primary background. It's like that they fear their inadequacies :cautious: There is nothing wrong with being stupid about something as long as you correct that- everyone starts out from stupid, then rises from there ;)

It's rare indeed when a dashcam maker has a good handle on both of these aspects. We'd have a plethora of crazy-good cams if more manufacturers would understand the need to have everything working the best that is possible instead of only parts of that. In my mind, the highest level of stupid is those who can but won't admit to and fix their self-caused problems when it is within the realm of possible. Maybe we should call products like that "Ostrich Cams" :ROFLMAO:

Phil
 
But this forum is not about "you", it's about sharing your experiences/impressions/tests so that others can make their own choices. A dashcam's main function is to record good video and audio. The rest of the "gimmicks" are secondary for the majority of people.
I thought I was sharing my experiences. I never said I like it so everyone should go out and buy one. Of course people should go out and do their own research.
 
But this forum is not about "you", it's about sharing your experiences/impressions/tests so that others can make their own choices. A dashcam's main function is to record good video and audio. The rest of the "gimmicks" are secondary for the majority of people.

seems to me that he's sharing his experience and letting us know why he values his purchase. that's all a good thing for others to read as far as I'm concerned. and the "gimmicks" will likely become standard at some point if third-party dashcams remain a growing market. I like the owl but will not purchase it in it's current state but I do hope they keep developing it. I will consider a connected camera in the future so I like the direction that they're going.
 
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