Vasens 902 Dashcam (Novatek NT96650, Aptina AR0330) [GearBest.com]

[Agie]

Happy new year to everyone, and hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas with their friends and loved ones. Once again, a massive thankyou to @GearBest for providing a review sample. You can purchase the Vasens 902 directly here:
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Specifications: Aptina AR0330 CMOS sensor (speculated) w/142 degree field of view, Novatek NT96650 chipset, 2.0 inch TFT LCD display, 160mAh battery (no capacitor). Full HD 1080p video recorded at 11.8MBps bitrate with a 512KBps audio recording bitrate (mono at 32KHz). Recording modes of 1080p at 30fps and 720p video at 60fps.
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Box Contents: Vasens 902 dashcam, instruction leaflet, car charger (with USB port), audio video out cable, microUSB cable, OBD connector, 3.45m power cable (proprietary), two adhesive mounting stickers (one spare).
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The final verdict: Apart from a baffling decision to include a proprietary power cable instead of mini/microUSB cabling, the Vasens 902 is a well-built and nicely performing dash camera. Commendation should be awarded to Vasens for executing the OBDII port operation well. I am very much looking forward to seeing what Vasens can come up with next in the dash camera space.


Unboxing video:

My nitpickings:

The Vasens 902 comes with the tried and true Novatek NT96650 chipset, a staple of many cameras including the popular A118. The firmware version loaded on the device is dated April 21, 2016. This is a smaller company so they do not include firmware updates on their website, and I couldn't locate any updates anywhere else on the Internet. Other gripes:

• The biggest issue I have by and far is the fact the dash camera uses it's own proprietary power cable. If it's reliability holds up, then obviously this is a non-issue, but for others that want a multi-dashcam setup or need to replace broken cables this can present problems.
• I believe Vasens would have done better having a matte finish to the LCD display. Driving away from the sun, the screen is fine for legibility and makes text readability noticeably sharper but when driving into the sun, readability is quite poor.
• Don't say it's a 3M sticker when it isn't, and becomes very bubblegum-like in the adhesive application process.
• Where is the emergency record button?
• The dashcam does run a little hot in operation.

The positive:

• The narrower field of view compared to other dash cameras didn't cause any issues at all, in fact it allowed me to get a bit closer to the action and pick up details a bit better. I prefer this over too wide a field of view.
• The start-up and shut-down animations, design and durability of the device leave me impressed. While others like the Chupad D501 are a little flimsy, the Vasens 902 exudes solidity and a very nice feel in hand. Small blue LED status blinking light does add to the nice aesthetics.
• Having to press the lock button down to lift up the dashcam adds peace of mind to the removal process.
• Buttons easily reachable and the screen and audio can be turned off quite easily, respectively with separate buttons.
• OBDII port connection works very well, recording minutes of footage without issue and any skipped frames. I would still be a little worried about the voltage of the car dropping to dangerous levels, but if manufacturers can jump on this and provide an alternative to fuse-box installations, then why not?
• microUSB connection to PC is flawless and transfer speeds very fast.
• Audio capture does well in all noise environments.
• Image quality is very good in daytime footage: details are crisp with only slight over-processing.
• Exposure changes are handled extremely well by the Vasens 902 - no blown-out highlights and the changes are extremely fast. Details are still very visible even when there is fading sunlight.
• Night-time footage drops clarity and smearing is apparent but does much better than I expected for the hardware specifications on board. The sensor still manages to take in a lot of light.

Close-up photos of the Vasens 902 dashcam:

 

[Agie]

Vasens 902 Dashcam sample footage:


Daytime footage, 1080p, WDR/HDR off:

Sunset footage, 1080p, WDR/HDR turned off:

Sunset footage, 1080p, WDR/HDR turned on:

Night-time footage, 1080p, WDR/HDR turned off:

Night-time footage, 1080p, WDR/HDR turned on:

 

[Agie]

Some screengrabs:

 

[SawMaster]

You might want to add a couple details in the review- battery or supercaps? And will it run larger cards? The battery info is on the sales page but I like seeing those things in a review so I don't have to dig around on a sales page Otherwise a nice and comprehensive review- especially the vids under many lighting conditions just like real life Many reviews are lacking there.

The NT96650/AR0330 combo is rather dated now and given the price there are several equally good choices out there. I bought G1W-HC on sale at about half this price with equal performance, and I've seen similar pricing with other cams using this hardware giving apparently equal results. It's a tough market at this level these days with newer and better cams which will outperform this not costing much more. If the build quality is high it could be a good choice- that's one area where the direct competition is questionable.

Phil

 

[Agie]

You might want to add a couple details in the review- battery or supercaps? And will it run larger cards? The battery info is on the sales page but I like seeing those things in a review so I don't have to dig around on a sales page Otherwise a nice and comprehensive review- especially the vids under many lighting conditions just like real life Many reviews are lacking there.

The NT96650/AR0330 combo is rather dated now and given the price there are several equally good choices out there. I bought G1W-HC on sale at about half this price with equal performance, and I've seen similar pricing with other cams using this hardware giving apparently equal results. It's a tough market at this level these days with newer and better cams which will outperform this not costing much more. If the build quality is high it could be a good choice- that's one area where the direct competition is questionable.

Phil

Thanks for feedback mate I did try a 64gb card and it worked ok. I did have the battery info written in where I said no capacitor (check the specs section).

Very true bout the hardware combination and the competition - I haven't seen much of the competition but it could be a bit of a head turner if done right in future.

 

[jokiin]

I think the biggest issue they need to fix is the lack of adjustment on the lens, it does limit things a bit

 

[Agie]

I think the biggest issue they need to fix is the lack of adjustment on the lens, it does limit things a bit

I have been finding that in general, low light image quality and exposure shift change response times are the biggest blips on dashcams. I will need to gain more of an appreciation though.