Upgrade for Joovuu X dashcam

[technoviewer]

I purchased two Joovuu X dashcams a long while back for front and rear dashcams for my car. They've been largely okay but around upon car start up, they fail to start up properly about 1 in 5 times. This is usually rectified by turning the car off and back on again, once they start up properly, they are usually okay for the entire journey. However, occasionally, the some recordings get corrupted (usually it is the last recording where the car is shutdown). I've gritted my teeth and carried on but recently tried to pull down footage of an incident and the front camera file was corrupted and rear camera footage was corrupted so I have no video of the event. Additionally, the night quality is very poor. I'm thus looking to replace the dashcams with something much better and reliable. The wiring for the Joovuus have mini USB, so I'm hoping I can re-purpose the wiring if the new dashcams also have mini USB connection (or if I can use an adaptor for what it needs).

There are so many dashcams out there at the moment, I'm lost in all the options. I've heard a lot about Nextbase and they seem good value but even Nextbase have loads of camera lines. Things I'm looking for in rough priority:

1. Front and rear cameras
2. Must function with very reliable recording and camera must be from a reputable company
3. Must have good quality recording (1080p is fine) with good night time recording too
4. Must accept at least 64GB memory cards (more is better though)
5. Ideally something that can take mini USB (or convertible from mini USB)
6. Would be good if I can pull footage off without taking out the SD card (e.g. being able to view and download footage via mobile phone app connected to the camera via WiFi or Bluetooth)
7. Good value for money (max budget is £200)
8. Parking recording mode would be good but not essential

Any help would be great. Thank you in advance

 

[TonyM]

One good option to consider is the Viofo A129 Duo (~£150). It has IMX291 front and rear cameras, and is very reliable. I use mine on FW V1.5 with low bitrate parking mode.

Although you can re-purpose the existing camera wiring, it can lead to reliability problems. Ideally you would use the 12v adapter and cabling provided with whatever camera you buy. If you really don't want to change the wiring, at least use the supplied adapter or a good quality adapter rated to 2A.

 

[Dashmellow]

Tony's advice is spot on. Viofo cameras usually ship with 22 AWG cables. If the existing power cable that was used with the Joovuu cams was of a thinner wire gauge such as 28 AWG or even 24 AWG you will likely experience problems even with a new 12V adapter. Most older cams back in the day, especially small matchbox style cams like the Joovuu usually shipped with 28 AWG cables.

Typical problems from using too thin cables might be a flickering screen and/or noisy audio. (buzzing sounds)

 

[kamkar]

Any dashcam issues with a new camera, especially if powered creative, you should immediately test with the provided power source.
But it is possible to mix match with USB powered cameras power source, just have to keep in mind the old stuff might not be able to do the job. x cam power source are tailored for 1 camera, so it will probably not be able to handle a 2 camera system.

Some buy a multi port USB charger for the dash socket so they can power their camera and charge phone ASO, and this is fine if the USB charger deliver enough power for the thing connected to it.
Using the in car USB outlets have also given some people problems as these are often very weak and would take a day to charge a phone, so not really sure why they are there in the first place.

Going creative with USB power as mentioned, it is paramount to use quality cables ( and power source ), i lost footage of me getting rear ended due to my rear camera was on a too long and too cheap USB wire from a power source in the front of my little car.
So lesson learned the hard way, even if the accident did not require any video as the idiot confessed his wrong doing, and i was #1 car and there was a car behind me that got shunted into me by the 4x4 that did not see us stop for pedestrians.

The power cable from a joovuu x cam will not be able to make a viofo or any other camera do parking guard, to do that you need the dedicated hard wire kit for that model / brand camera.
with a dual camera you want 128 GB at least, if you are going to use parking guard a lot 256GB is best. i just use parking guard for 1 hour to cover my shopping, at home i have CCTV on the parked car and i do rarely park in suspect places / out on the town for long.
This way i conserve the little battery in my little car.

 

[TonyM]

The power cable from a joovuu x cam will not be able to make a viofo or any other camera do parking guard, to do that you need the dedicated hard wire kit for that model / brand camera.

The regular A129 will go into parking mode after a set time period of not moving, without requiring a hardwire kit. I'm not sure if it uses the GPS or motion sensor to do this.