Vantrue S1 Pro Max - Dual STARVIS 2 IMX678 with Waterproof 4K Rear camera - Unboxing & First Impressions Europe

[Julian23]

Vantrue is currently releasing unit after unit. Next up is the new S1 Pro Max, a dual-channel 4K front and rear STARVIS 2 dashcam. Vantrue sent me the S1 Pro Max to check out. Many thanks again to the Vantrue team! This model upgrades the 2-year-old S1 Pro (which was 2.5K+1080p) to dual 4K, putting it on par with the latest dual-4K dashcams from other brands, and it adds AI safety features.

Features:

• Dual 4K HDR recording (front & rear)
• Dual Sony STARVIS 2 IMX678 sensors
• Vantrue Intelligence for smarter driving (AI-based collision, lane, blind-spot alerts)
• Exclusive PlatePix™ Technology
• Compatible with LTE Module (LT01)
• IP67 Water-resistance for the rear camera
• 5 GHz high-speed WiFi
• Smart voice control
• 24/7 parking mode
• Supports up to 1 TB microSD

Recording Resolutions:

• Front only: 3840×2160P (4K) @30 FPS
• Front + Rear: 3840×2160P + 3840×2160P @30 FPS

Given these specs, the S1 Pro Max should perform very similarly to the excellent Vantrue E1 Pro (which also used the IMX678 sensor), but now with two channels. You get ultra-clear 4K HDR video on both front and rear simultaneously. Added to that are new AI driving alerts: on the front, you have Forward Collision Warning, Pedestrian Alerts, and Lane Departure Warning. On the rear, there’s Lane Change Assist and Rear Collision Warning. In the past, these ADAS features were more of a marketing feature. The S1 Pro Max will have to prove how well the ADAS features work.
The S1 Pro Max supports microSD cards up to 1 TB and is also compatible with Vantrue’s optional LTE module, LT01, for cloud features (live view, alerts, etc.).
Like other Vantrue cams, the S1 Pro Max uses a supercapacitor (not a battery), so it can safely survive heat and provides a few seconds of runtime after power is cut.
The S1 Pro Max has a 155° wide viewing angle for both the front and rear cameras.


Unboxing the S1 Pro Max, you’ll find a high-quality presentation box.

Opening the box will greet you with the manual and also with information that the warranty can be extended to 18 months.

Inside, the main 4K dashcam unit, a waterproof rear camera module (new RC11), mounting accessories, and documentation are all neatly organized in cardboard cutouts. Everything feels solidly protected.
Accessories include: spare adhesives for the front and rear units, a single hinge mount for the rear camera, a power supply, a plastic pry tool, and quick-start guides.

The new power supply with 3A output for the camera.

Single hinge mount for the rear camera and spare sticky pad

The rear RC11 camera has a fully-waterproof design. Its mount uses two metal side plates with hinges, allowing you to tighten screws to hold the angle. Vantrue also includes an alternate single-plate hinge mount as well. These metal mounts, along with adhesive tape, give you flexibility to mount the rear cam on a horizontal or vertical surface. You can also screw it down for extra security.

Because the rear cam is sealed, it has no open cooling vents. Its backplate is metal and does get hot when recording. The camera has a built-in 40 cm USB-C pigtail (to stay waterproof) that connects to the 20 ft extension cable to reach the front unit.
Currently, there’s no CPL filter available for the rear camera.

More in the next post!

 

[Julian23]

On the front unit, Vantrue retained the same 2.0″ IPS screen and control layout as the old S1 Pro. The buttons are a circular, rubber ring around an orange center button. This ring is easy to press and doesn’t rattle.
The screen itself looks great with very sharp colors. The small orange button flashes a green triangle when recording, but it can be hard to spot in bright light. I would also prefer if it would light up solid while recording to be less distracting at night.

The S1 Pro Max’s front camera lens can tilt up/down and swivel left/right. This gives a good angle range for steep or shallow windshields.
It also supports the optional CPL filter, which can help reduce windshield glare.

From the unboxing, the S1 Pro Max seems like an exciting upgrade. Dual 4K recording with STARVIS 2, plus built-in AI driving alerts, puts it at the top end of Vantrue’s lineup. The build quality feels very solid, with a robust chassis and secure mount. I’ll be testing its video quality next (especially how sharp those license plates look in 4K!), but the initial impression is that the S1 Pro Max delivers on its promise of high-end performance.

 

[Julian23]

My initial one-week heat testing with up to 35°C showed no heat-related issues. The camera was baking for several hours in direct sunlight and started like nothing ever happened.
No shutdown, no heat-related focus shift either.

The G sensor seems rather sensitive.
I had to turn it down to Up/Down 1, Left/Right 2, Front/Rear 2 to avoid potholes or bumps from locking videos.

 

[Julian23]

PlatePix is always on. HDR from sunset to sunrise.
Here are some screenshots to show the plate capture:

4 different plates visible on video

No good capture right here

 

[Julian23]

PlatePix is always on. HDR from sunset to sunrise.
Here are some screenshots to show the plate capture:

Rear camera:

Nice capture but visible reflections. Unfortunately no CPL filter available.

Nighttime

Rear camera

 

[Julian23]

The daytime front and rear quality is looking good and as expected for the IMX678. The colors are nice and plates are easily visible.
With the nighttime, this changes. The color look more dull and we get a good amount of noise in the video.
Plate capture at night is possible with the big European plates. Smaller Italian plates are hard to capture.

This was just the initial test. The windshield was sometimes rather dirty which didn't help of course.

 

[EricSan]

European plates are definitely easier to capture than ones in the United States with smaller lettering. The rear window/dash in my car produces a lot of reflections and glare. I did find some success in adding a polarizing lens to the rear camera, but it's from Viofo rather than Vantrue.

 

[Julian23]

European plates are definitely easier to capture than ones in the United States with smaller lettering. The rear window/dash in my car produces a lot of reflections and glare. I did find some success in adding a polarizing lens to the rear camera, but it's from Viofo rather than Vantrue.

They are!
I can also see a difference between the big European plates and the smaller Swiss and Italian front plates. It's definitely harder to capture them.

I might need to check for a rear CPL as well. Sometimes it's not ideal.

 

[Julian23]

The bitrates I saw are the following:
Front: 24,64 Mbit/s
Rear: 23,9 Mbit/s

 

[Julian23]

For anyone who has too many files locked because of the very sensitive G sensor, here are my settings.

Front/Rear: 2
Left/Right: 2
Up/Down: 1

With these settings, the S1 Pro Max calms down and doesn't lock videos with every bump.

 

[EricSan]

I backed all of mine down to 1 and I'm still getting fairly frequent locked files. It's a game in the car now to count the number of "accidents" we have along the way 😉

 

[Julian23]

I backed all of mine down to 1 and I'm still getting fairly frequent locked files. It's a game in the car now to count the number of "accidents" we have along the way 😉

Oh wow. I didn't need to go that low yet. It will also depend on the car and the suspension.
But overall, the G-sensor could be a bit less sensitive.

 

[EricSan]

And how crappy the roads are. Here in the US, most everyone likes to gripe about paying taxes, so we have some pretty poor infrastructure. Local roads can be even worse 🙄.

 

[kamkar]

Danes LOVE to pay taxes, the deepest pothole i have seen this year i think was over 1/2 foot, and as it was a foot wide and about 2 long it was a right old rim cracker.
I dont get people here, clearly we do NOT get what we are promised in our so called social contract.

 

[EricSan]

OK, totally NOT an apples-to-apples comparison, but it makes a fun contrast. In December 2024, a 40 foot x 40 foot sinkhole opened on Route 80 in New Jersey that forced them to close the ENTIRE highway (3 lanes in each direction). Turns out, there are abandoned copper mines all throughout the region that started to collapse. The mining companies all went out of business a long time ago. Oops...

I suspect this would definitely trip the g-force sensor 🤣

More than 130,000 vehicles a day traveled on this highway back in 2022.

 

[indigo]

my god

 

[Julian23]

Here is some more nighttime plate capture.
PlatePix ON, HDR ON, CPL ON

Cool license plate:

British plates:

Romanian plate:

The S1 Pro Max continues to perform very well. Maybe Vantrue can reduce the noise a bit more when PlatePix is enabled.
Other than that, it has been very solid.

 

[EricSan]

Nice captures! I find the S1PM camera to be a very competent, all around performer. My one wish for a tweak would be for a bit less image compression for more detail preservation. I made some footage to compare the S1PM and the E1 Pro that I haven't yet had time to examine in detail.

I just finished about 400 miles with the g-force impact sensors all turned down to 1 and this greatly reduces the "false positives" that it reports. My daughter is used to me making derogatory comments about the quality of Pennsylvania highways (I grew up in another state) and then she went to college for an environment engineering degree and one of her textbooks cited Pennsylvania as among the worst in the nation for highway quality. She seemed surprised to learn that it wasn't just her dad complaining... 😎

 

[Julian23]

The duplicated frames have not appeared after the firmware from a few weeks ago.
However, I did notice that the front and rear cam are out of sync when recording for a longer time. Has anyone else noticed this?

Also, the new power supply does not hold on as tight as the previous one. I had once case were the S1 Pro Max wasn't recording anymore because the plug came loose.

This was the weather we had the last few weeks:

Slow middle lane hogger with a Ferarri SF90. (Unrestricted Autobahn)

 

[kamkar]

Here is some more nighttime plate capture.

Donnerwetter 😎 that’s some nice captures with CPL ON

PS: That is not where i would expect to see a F90 on a autobahn.
Arnt you guys killing off the autobahns or at least the unrestricted parts, i keep telling that to Danish fast & furry boys that glorify them., saying we Danes should also have that on our little " autobahns "

I also think, if you are going fast on one of those, if something happen it will have outside of normal repercussions for you the fast going driver ?