Upgrading to a more "mainstream" camera

[Scott_R]

I've had a Z-Edge Z3 Plus since October 2017. I've had some issues with the camera since then, but the company was always very helpful--emailing me firmware flashes to fix some things, and a new camera if that didn't work.
For a while now the internal battery has mostly stopped working, so that the camera time/date resets to 2017 very frequently, and the camera is now out of warranty. I've been looking for a replacement, and hadn't ruled out another Z-Edge product, but then I came across this site, and from what I'm reading those dash cams aren't held in wide regard here.

Here's what I'm looking for:
Powered by the 12v adapter. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I believe in Murphy's Law, which means not having something drawing power while the car is off. I know there are low-power shut offs with the cameras, but if something goes wrong with that and it keeps draining, or if power get low and something else is on (e.g., I left an inside light on, too), well. Not worth it to me

Great video quality and low light performance, of course, but who doesn't want that?

Not sure about a rear cam. I never bothered to get one, and I'm not sure I want to gingerly wire around the various side airbags.

Easy access to the recorded videos while on the road. One thing I didn't like about the Z-Edge was that it wasn't easy to access the videos, especially if I need to scrub to a specific point in one (had a frustrating moment some time back getting to the right segment of a video after an accident, though when I did i was able to prove to the cop on the scene that I was right and the other driver was lying). I'm supposing this is best accomplished via wi-fi and a well-designed app on the phone.

That's off the top of my head; I'm sure more will occur to me at an inconvenient time. So I'm looking at some of the VIOFO cams, though I've just started and am puzzled at why the lower-end A119 V3 is getting better recommendations than the A139. Is it just a matter of the A119 having been out longer?

I'm also debating a splurge on the Thinkware, though I'm again puzzled at the higher rating for the F800 PRO over the U1000.

What am I missing? Any further considerations I should give?

 

[estore009]

Any further considerations I should give?

Have a look at our BlueSkySea dash cams also? B2K should be a choice due to that cheap price!

 

[Scott_R]

Why in particular would I choose the BlueSkySea? Cheapness wasn't one of the criteria I'd mentioned--I'd mentioned that I was also considering one of the more expensive dash cams.

 

[DT MI]

Any further considerations I should give?

Reliability should be the #1 priority, everything else should be ranked in order of importance to you.

why the lower-end A119 V3 is getting better recommendations than the A139. Is it just a matter of the A119 having been out longer?

Likely because the A139 has more 'features' thus more that can go wrong. Simplicity has it's benefits. Same may apply to the Thinkware cameras but I'm not familiar with them so just a matter of speculation on my part.

Not sure about a rear cam.

The vast majority of the benefit of a dash cam will come from a front facing unit. It will generally show what you were doing at the time of an incident, and if you did nothing wrong the other person must have.

 

[kamkar]

Regarding A119 V1, that camera are pretty much the same as the front camera is the A139 system, so have the 1440p Sony IMX 335 sensor, but the A119 V3 was out first so it is more developed / matured, where as the A139 is the latest and have 3 cameras so more that can go wrong i recon.
I am a official tester of the A139 ( first time i have tested viofo cameras ) and it is working fine for me in regard to just record when driving, i do have some problems with the parking guard side of the system but if you are not going to use that then everything is dandy.

PS: The A139 is also available in a 2 channel configuration so thats without the interior camera, it also have another shape than the traditional wedge shaped viofo cameras, but it is still use able, sort of a hybrid between wedge and barrel shape cameras.
As you are American i will recommend you look at 2 channel systems as often cars in your country just have one plate in the rear, and then for oncoming traffic you at least stand a chance of a plate capture on your rear camera.

Regarding powering dashcams, then traditionally it is done from the in dash socket, but this entail a wire draped over your dashboard or console, and also often people want to keep that free for powering / charging other things.
In that case a hard wire kit can be useful to draw power from a fuse, it will also allow for parking guard of course but its not like you are forced to use it, just dont turn it on in the camera and you are good.

Brands,,,, well one brand, like Street Guardian, they have the 12 V -> 5 V converter a few feet up the wire from the 12 V plug, this mean you can snip off the 12 V plug, and use it to tap into a fuse too, but that will not make parking guard available, but it is nice if you want to keep the 12 V socket in your dash free for other stuff, so a nice freebee from SG, all you have to do is get a fuse adapter that fit your car and a 5 A fuse and you are good to go.
Alternative with the brands that have the 12V -> 5V converter in the plug itself, you can wire a female 12 V socket into the fuse box on a ACC fuse and then plug into that under the dash, again letting you have the in dash socket available for other stuff.

I have never heard of a hard wire kit forgetting to turn off at the set voltage, but some / most do have a inaccuracy for the cut off voltage of + / - 0.1 volts, your cut off voltage should not be below 12.2 volts.
Dut if you do not use parking guard the cut off voltage part is never in use anyway, then the hard wire kit is just a "expensive" way of keeping your in dash socket free for other stuff.

Dont have too much fate on user ratings on things on Amazon / e bay and so on, there is a whole industry catering high praise reviews.

And for the love of what ever deity you might be a fan off, dont get blinded by the smart cameras, out there, its just more things to go wrong.

 

[Nigel]

puzzled at why the lower-end A119 V3 is getting better recommendations than the A139. Is it just a matter of the A119 having been out longer?

That is probably the main reason, a lot more people have the A119 V3, but there are a few differences:

1. The A119 is 1 channel only, the A139 can be up to 3 synchronised channels recorded onto one memory card.
2. If using 3 channels then the A139 can overheat easier in hot weather which can be a disadvantage in hotter climates if you want to use parking mode.
3. The A119 V3 has a narrower field of view, which some people prefer and can make it easier to read plates, but only if they are in the image, while the A139 with the wider field of view is more likely to have the plate in the image. Personally I think the A139 has the better compromise, but it does depend a bit on the size of the writing on your plates.
4. The A119 has an LCD screen for information, while the A139 uses voice for information, and a phone app for when voice isn't enough. Personally I prefer the voice, if I am driving then I know what it said without having to take my eyes off the road, put my reading glasses on and look at the message on the LCD screen hidden behind the rear view mirror, which by now has timed out and disappeared! And for viewing recorded video, the A139 can use a phone/tablet screen which is much better. The A119 doesn't have wifi so can't have an app.
5. The A139 also has Bluetooth, so can use the remote lock button, not essential but nice to have, again easy to press without needing to take your eyes off the road.
6. The A119 V3 can manage higher bitrate, in some modes, especially with aftermarket modified firmwares, which may explain some people saying it has a better image quality. Unless you want movie quality video this isn't a very significant difference, and if you do want movie quality, look at the A129 Pro 4K instead.

The current A139 was the first A139 released, it did have some issues to solve, so there are some issue reports about. The A119 V3 was version 3, it was released with almost no problems. Don't concentrate too much on initial release issues, just make sure that the current version does what you want.

Why in particular would I choose the BlueSkySea? Cheapness wasn't one of the criteria I'd mentioned--I'd mentioned that I was also considering one of the more expensive dash cams.

The Blueskysea cameras are quite good, but they are lower end cameras with a few features and some image quality missing, while the Viofo are mid-range with good image quality, and Thinkware are high end with more features, but not necessarily better image quality, in fact Viofo is best on most aspects of image quality. You do get what you pay for in general, although it is hard to justify the extra cost of the Thinkware cameras, for most people a Viofo is perfectly adequate unless you want cloud connectivity, or maybe that should be need cloud connectivity, since I suspect most people that want it don't need it, and probably don't make much use of it if they have it.

 

[Scott_R]

Thanks for the replies. Interesting bit about voice vs visual alerts. I usually dislike voice alerts (it conflicts with what I'm listening to), but then again I know my current dash cam has displayed some sort of alert on its LCD that I've almost never actually been able to read.

I'm in the US, so plates are rather small--and I'm in New York, so NY (and the surrounding New Jersey and Connecticut) have front/rear plates.

I was looking through the A139 manual, and there's one detail I couldn't catch: my current camera has a pass-through USB connection in the cigarette lighter so that I can plug in a second device (I use a vent-mounted Qi phone charger). Does this charger have that? In the manual it looks like the cable is hard-wired to the plug, but the A139's product page says it uses a reversible USB-C charging cable, which would imply it's NOT like the one in the manual. If the latter, I could use a two-port 12v socket, but not if hardwired.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah you Americans sure do have additional challenges on the plate capture front, we EU boys are more fortunate on that and even so it is still a challenge to a degree i would not rely on it.

Most of the dashcams that have the 12 V to 5V converter in the plug itself also have a spare USB plug, but it is probably a very weak charge you can get from it ( like it also is from many modern cars build in USB charge plug )
Using my granted old 7" tablet for navigation on rare occasions, it need at least a 2 A port to not slowly discharge as i drive to my destination even if it is plugged in and charging.
Also i pretty much only charge my phone in the car, and a 2.4 A port make this fairly fast though not as fast as the fast charge wall charger that came with the phone.

As i tester i need to be able to power a lot of things so in my glove box,,, now named my power station i have:

6 X 2.4 A USB ports / 2 X 2 A USB ports / 2 X 1 A USB ports / 6 12 V sockets ( two 3 port adapters ) and then i also have my in dash 12 V socket free.
I would like to get at least one QC 3.0 charger for my phone to charge even faster as i am not driving a lot, on average only 15 - 20 min or so daily, that would be good for my twice a week longer drive to visit my dear old mother to do some shopping for her.

This is a highway ( 80 kmh ) plate capture test on a rainy day using the A139 camera front and rear cameras, a tiny bit less light and i would have been SOL i think.

It is easy to see that the cluster of trees along the road effect metering and exposure, so right there plates are problematic, but then out in the open it get better again.
Thats actually also the case on a clear skies summer day if you drive into a deep shaded area.

 

[kamkar]

Good thing i checked the A139 plug do NOT have a USB A outlet on the plug.


SO in that case you can get the 12 V female socket and wire into a ACC fuse with a fuse adapter.

In that case as you will have this stashed under the dash somewhere i would recommend you tape the female plug and the A139 plug together so they do not wiggle loose.

OR ! you could get the viofo hardwire kit that is compatible with the A139 and then just not use parking guard, but then i think you have to wire in two 12 V wires to the fuse box, and of course the -12 V / GND wire to something grounded.

 

[Nigel]

Good thing i checked the A139 plug do NOT have a USB A outlet on the plug

VIOFO ones normally do, but the 3 channel cameras use a bit too much power to also fast change a tablet/phone at the same time.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah thats also my understanding ( never owned any of the previous models from Viofo )
Also not sure if it might be different with the 2 channel model, but i assume it come with the same power supply as the 3 channel as older power supplies have other plugs for the camera side of things so cant be used to save a penny.
They could of course have new models made of older PSU with the USB C plug, but i think that will just complicate things, though still a possibility i assume if you knew the future product lineup.

 

[Nigel]

but i assume it come with the same power supply as the 3 channel

The 2 channel cameras used to have a very similar adapter but it had a rotatable top with a USB A socket hidden underneath, don’t know if they still have that or if they have changed to match the 3 channel. They have to be different though since they are mini USB instead of USB C.

 

[Scott_R]

I emailed Viofo yesterday to ask.

 

[Scott_R]

Well, I received a reply from Viofo that had absolutely nothing to do with the question I asked.

 

[Scott_R]

Finally got another, clearer, reply. No pass-through with the charger, so it competing for the outlet is a problem.