IAmATeaf
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- Dash Cam
- Viofo A119 v3
Please find here my review of the Vantrue E1 dashcam which was kindly sent over to me by Vantrue.
Let me start by saying I’m not a professional reviewer, in fact this will be my first so will welcome comments and maybe even some mild criticism
In terms of dashcam history, I’ve had a few cheapo Amazon specials before finally deciding to get something ‘half decent’ a while back, so I’ll be comparing the E1 to my existing Viofo A119 V3.
In terms of the type of user I am, I fall into the set it up and then forget all about it. With the A119 V3 the only things I changed from default was to enable GPS and I increased the recording bitrate to maximum, thinking here is why not! I don’t tend to update the firmware unless there is a real need to do so, my A119 V3 is still running the v1.03 firmware it came with.
Onto the review.
What do you get in the box?
The E1 comes in what I would regard as a ‘premium’ feeling box. The main camera unit and remote control unit are held securely in a foam insert with the rest of the accessories in a small box. Both the camera and the remote control do feel like quality items, the cameras form factor is approximately a 4.5cm cube which attaches to the mount with a magnetic with a reassuring clunk.
In terms of accessories, you get the following:
The camera has an orange power on/off and emergency clip save button on the side and 3 button on the underside below the screen. I have to admit I did have initial reservations about using these buttons to navigate the menus but these where unfounded as although there is only a down button the layout makes it really easy. In fact, I found the E1 easier to navigate than the A119 V3 where it’s actually the lower buttons that are used, I sometimes found myself pressing the upper buttons. These are trivial annoyances as in reality due to the type of user I am once everything has been setup I hardly ever then need to go back into the menu system.
I initially powered up the E1 in the house, stuck a 128Gb V30 micro SD card and formatted it, it came with the firmware version E1_VT-EBJ131 which I confirmed on the Vantrue website as being the latest.
One advantage the E1 has over my A119 V3 is being able to access the dashcam over WiFi. When I got the A119 V3 I considered this a feature that I didn’t really need but as you start using it I really wished that it had WiFi connectivity. Touch wood, I’ve never needed a recording to date but having WiFi adds a new level of convenience. For example having a larger view on a phone makes the initial mounting of the dashcam so much easier than the gawping at the small screen to work out the best placement. I have been thinking about getting the Viofo A119 Mini which in terms of features is probably more comparable to the E1?
Both dashcams were powered using the supplied module plugged into the cigar lighter, I don’t have them hard wired so can’t really test the parking mode features although I have toyed with the idea, if I decide to pursue this then I’ll make sure to update my findings.
Neither of the dashcams have a CPL filter, so both are running bareback For testing I mounted the E1 to the left of my existing A11 V3, not the ideal placement but it’s the best that could be done as I wanted to capture a similar field of view from both dashcams. I did notice that under certain conditions there was more glare from the inside of the windscreen on the recorded footage from the E1. The mounting mechanism on the E1 means that the lens is further away from the inside of the windscreen so the camera can pick up these internal reflections, no doubt that adding a CPL would help to reduce the glare.
The Vantrue mobile app can be used to both view and download video clips to your phone which I tested on my iPhone. Overall, I found the mobile app really easy to use and it also has the ability to view and configure the dashcam over WiFi, another convenience, although in reality configuration is not something that would be done on a frequent basis.
In terms of video clips, they are in H265 format with an average bitrate hovering around the 16Mb mark. I did ask Vantrue if it were possible to change the format or the bitrate but was told that these settings couldn’t be changed. I’m not a pro video producer or editor so did have initial reservations about being able to both play and edit the recorded clips on my old desktop computer but a quick update of VLC and the clips played fine. For editing, I’ve limited it to simply trimming and joining as my current old desktop doesn’t have the oomph for properly editing or re-encoding clips.
Recorded audio on the E1 is louder than the A119 V3 but with both you can hear the indicators when they are turned on. I did conduct the testing with the radio/music switched off so am left wondering if when I do have the music turned on if with the A119 V3 it will be able to pick up the sound of the indicators?
One thing that shows what an average user I am is that I’ve never bothered to look at recorded night time footage until doing this review and I have to say what a complete and utter disappointment the night time clips from both dashcams are. It’s almost impossible to make out a registration plate at night and although the E1 does look way worse with excessive flaring and haloing of lights than the A119 V3 in some of the clips produced by the E1 I was able to make out more of the plate than the A119 V3. I think I really do need to do more reading and maybe also invest in a CPL for both as reading other test reports suggests that a CPL helps to reduce the light glare/flare/halo so should produce clearer night time footage?
Onto the recorded video clips, I’ve kept them to a few minutes and have uploaded the same clips from both dashcams for both day and night so that you can compare. I’ve seen other videos with the recorded footage stacked in a single video but I’ll be honest that’s outside of the area of my knowledge and expertise, if anybody wants to do this for me that I’d be appreciative If anybody also wants to examine the raw unaltered files then please let me know and I’ll upload them to Dropbox or something similar. I did have to reduce the G-sensor sensitivity from the default of 3 to 2 for all settings else in my car road imperfections would result in clips being marked as protected.
What I liked about the E1:
What I wish was different about the E1:
Final thoughts
I am more than happy with the E1, it’s a great little unobtrusive dashcam that works well. I’ve now had it fitted for well over a week with no issues whatsoever, it always starts up and locks onto GPS pretty quick.
Would I recommend the E1? As I said at the start, I’m by no means an expert on dashcams but there’s nothing that I’ve seen about the E1 which puts me off so I’d happily recommend it and in fact I have to my brother in-law who asked me about dashcams recently.
Pretty strange review some might say in that I’ve probably asked more questions along the way than answered! A biggie for me are night-time recordings so will follow this up, my stance of leaving things set to default really does need to be reviewed and changed
Let me start by saying I’m not a professional reviewer, in fact this will be my first so will welcome comments and maybe even some mild criticism
In terms of dashcam history, I’ve had a few cheapo Amazon specials before finally deciding to get something ‘half decent’ a while back, so I’ll be comparing the E1 to my existing Viofo A119 V3.
In terms of the type of user I am, I fall into the set it up and then forget all about it. With the A119 V3 the only things I changed from default was to enable GPS and I increased the recording bitrate to maximum, thinking here is why not! I don’t tend to update the firmware unless there is a real need to do so, my A119 V3 is still running the v1.03 firmware it came with.
Onto the review.
What do you get in the box?
The E1 comes in what I would regard as a ‘premium’ feeling box. The main camera unit and remote control unit are held securely in a foam insert with the rest of the accessories in a small box. Both the camera and the remote control do feel like quality items, the cameras form factor is approximately a 4.5cm cube which attaches to the mount with a magnetic with a reassuring clunk.
In terms of accessories, you get the following:
- Windscreen magnetic mount
- 5m power cable with right angle USB-C connector
- USB A to USB-C data/power cable
- Spudger
- 2 electrostatic pads
- Spare set of sticky mounting pads 1 of each for the dashcam and the remote control
- 2 Vantrue security stickers
The camera has an orange power on/off and emergency clip save button on the side and 3 button on the underside below the screen. I have to admit I did have initial reservations about using these buttons to navigate the menus but these where unfounded as although there is only a down button the layout makes it really easy. In fact, I found the E1 easier to navigate than the A119 V3 where it’s actually the lower buttons that are used, I sometimes found myself pressing the upper buttons. These are trivial annoyances as in reality due to the type of user I am once everything has been setup I hardly ever then need to go back into the menu system.
I initially powered up the E1 in the house, stuck a 128Gb V30 micro SD card and formatted it, it came with the firmware version E1_VT-EBJ131 which I confirmed on the Vantrue website as being the latest.
One advantage the E1 has over my A119 V3 is being able to access the dashcam over WiFi. When I got the A119 V3 I considered this a feature that I didn’t really need but as you start using it I really wished that it had WiFi connectivity. Touch wood, I’ve never needed a recording to date but having WiFi adds a new level of convenience. For example having a larger view on a phone makes the initial mounting of the dashcam so much easier than the gawping at the small screen to work out the best placement. I have been thinking about getting the Viofo A119 Mini which in terms of features is probably more comparable to the E1?
Both dashcams were powered using the supplied module plugged into the cigar lighter, I don’t have them hard wired so can’t really test the parking mode features although I have toyed with the idea, if I decide to pursue this then I’ll make sure to update my findings.
Neither of the dashcams have a CPL filter, so both are running bareback
For testing I mounted the E1 to the left of my existing A11 V3, not the ideal placement but it’s the best that could be done as I wanted to capture a similar field of view from both dashcams. I did notice that under certain conditions there was more glare from the inside of the windscreen on the recorded footage from the E1. The mounting mechanism on the E1 means that the lens is further away from the inside of the windscreen so the camera can pick up these internal reflections, no doubt that adding a CPL would help to reduce the glare.The Vantrue mobile app can be used to both view and download video clips to your phone which I tested on my iPhone. Overall, I found the mobile app really easy to use and it also has the ability to view and configure the dashcam over WiFi, another convenience, although in reality configuration is not something that would be done on a frequent basis.
In terms of video clips, they are in H265 format with an average bitrate hovering around the 16Mb mark. I did ask Vantrue if it were possible to change the format or the bitrate but was told that these settings couldn’t be changed. I’m not a pro video producer or editor so did have initial reservations about being able to both play and edit the recorded clips on my old desktop computer but a quick update of VLC and the clips played fine. For editing, I’ve limited it to simply trimming and joining as my current old desktop doesn’t have the oomph for properly editing or re-encoding clips.
Recorded audio on the E1 is louder than the A119 V3 but with both you can hear the indicators when they are turned on. I did conduct the testing with the radio/music switched off so am left wondering if when I do have the music turned on if with the A119 V3 it will be able to pick up the sound of the indicators?
One thing that shows what an average user I am is that I’ve never bothered to look at recorded night time footage until doing this review and I have to say what a complete and utter disappointment the night time clips from both dashcams are. It’s almost impossible to make out a registration plate at night and although the E1 does look way worse with excessive flaring and haloing of lights than the A119 V3 in some of the clips produced by the E1 I was able to make out more of the plate than the A119 V3. I think I really do need to do more reading and maybe also invest in a CPL for both as reading other test reports suggests that a CPL helps to reduce the light glare/flare/halo so should produce clearer night time footage?
Onto the recorded video clips, I’ve kept them to a few minutes and have uploaded the same clips from both dashcams for both day and night so that you can compare. I’ve seen other videos with the recorded footage stacked in a single video but I’ll be honest that’s outside of the area of my knowledge and expertise, if anybody wants to do this for me that I’d be appreciative
If anybody also wants to examine the raw unaltered files then please let me know and I’ll upload them to Dropbox or something similar. I did have to reduce the G-sensor sensitivity from the default of 3 to 2 for all settings else in my car road imperfections would result in clips being marked as protected. What I liked about the E1:
- I love the quality feel and the diminutive size, it really is a great little dashcam, hell my wife who couldn’t care less about anything tech commented how “cute” it looked
- I love the magnetic mount, it is so easy to remove and re-attach the dashcam. I’ve seen other reports of camera shake with the mount but I’ve not really noticed this
- The remote control is handy and can be positioned where it’s easily accessible
- I love the WiFi feature, as I said before I don’t think I’d consider another dashcam without it
- GPS is enabled by default on the E1, with my A119 V3 using the v1.03 firmware (I’ve read that newer firmware versions resolve this) if the dashcam resets then GPS defaults to Off which then also has a knock-on effect of the date and time then also being incorrect, which is really annoying!
- The supplied cigar lighter adapter, I wish it wasn’t hard wired! Would much rather have preferred a 12v USB cigar lighter adapter and a standard USB-A/USB-C to USB-C cable
What I wish was different about the E1:
- I’m still not sure about the H265 recording format, maybe that’s because I’m old and it’s new to me so would much prefer to have the option of being able to use H264?
Final thoughts
I am more than happy with the E1, it’s a great little unobtrusive dashcam that works well. I’ve now had it fitted for well over a week with no issues whatsoever, it always starts up and locks onto GPS pretty quick.
Would I recommend the E1? As I said at the start, I’m by no means an expert on dashcams but there’s nothing that I’ve seen about the E1 which puts me off so I’d happily recommend it and in fact I have to my brother in-law who asked me about dashcams recently.
Pretty strange review some might say in that I’ve probably asked more questions along the way than answered! A biggie for me are night-time recordings so will follow this up, my stance of leaving things set to default really does need to be reviewed and changed
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