Viofo A129 Pro Dual Dashcam - 4K Front + 1080 Rear

[Nigel]

The truth is, I've only received the A129 Pro front cam only. No GPS mount. No accessories.

Bit unfortunate, the sort of thing that happens when you test prototypes rather than production ready stuff that arrives in the retail box.
Turning the GPS off might be a solution to the beeping issue if it reoccurs. Getting the correct base would be a better solution.
Or it might be something different, not connected with the base. Memory card is a possibility.

 

[Nath]

But where one can get the correct base when it’s prototype..?

 

[TonyM]

I asked Viofo to send a new mount when they sent the A129 Pro, only because that would allow me to run both the Duo and Pro side by side for comparison testing. I would have assumed they would send a new mount to all testers if the new camera is not compatible with the old mount.

On my first test run, I took the simple approach of removing the Duo and putting the Pro on the existing mount. Later I found that I was having problems that appeared to be related to GPS or power supply. Since installing the correct mount for the Pro I have not had a repeat of those problems.

From the outside I cannot see any difference between the mounts, but there must be something different inside. Unlike the original mount, I think the new mount is HK3 compatible, although I cannot verify this yet.

 

[Paul Iddon]

Here are two videos, from about the same time point, showing the recording in the first in H264 and the second in H265.

The second one needs a CPL fitting (will do that shortly) to remove reflections off the interior of the car.

I'm a bit fortunate to have 2 front facing A129 Pro's...

Here is a rear facing video - I'm not sure this is as clear and sharp as I expected it to be. I noticed at times it seemed a bit dark on other clips too. Need to check these out.

.

 

[JamesC85]

Got my A129 Pro tester kit and ran the cam yesterday. Front cam is very impressive, I can definitely notice resolution improvement over my regular A129 front cam.

Though two issues I noticed:

(1) CPL makes night footage much darker on the Pro version. With my regular A129, I left CPL on all the time (on both front & rear) and night footage was not too noticeably hindered. I would like to use CPL for its benefits during day use, but I would probably stop using CPL all together on the Pro version because of the hassle of removing them everytime I would drive at night.

(2) Rear camera is somewhat disappointing. The footage is darker both day/night. Hopefully this can be fixed with a software update.

At work right now, will try and post footage later.

 

[gabilondo77]

Here are two videos, from about the same time point, showing the recording in the first in H264 and the second in H265.

The second one needs a CPL fitting (will do that shortly) to remove reflections off the interior of the car.

I'm a bit fortunate to have 2 front facing A129 Pro's...

Here is a rear facing video - I'm not sure this is as clear and sharp as I expected it to be. I noticed at times it seemed a bit dark on other clips too. Need to check these out.

.

These footages are relaxing my eyes,only couple of duplicates detected with naked eye...

 

[Paul Iddon]

The following clips are night videos.

The rear camera seemed dark in the daylight, so I have set it to +EV2/3 but this may be a an increment too much:

The front 2 cameras are at normal EV. The first video is with WDR turned on, and the 2nd with WDR off. The third is a side by side video so that you can compare both together.

WDR On: (1 minute)

WDR Off: (2 minutes)

WDR On & Off Side by Side: (1 minute)

 

[HonestReview]

Got my A129 Pro tester kit and ran the cam yesterday. Front cam is very impressive, I can definitely notice resolution improvement over my regular A129 front cam.

Though two issues I noticed:

(1) CPL makes night footage much darker on the Pro version. With my regular A129, I left CPL on all the time (on both front & rear) and night footage was not too noticeably hindered. I would like to use CPL for its benefits during day use, but I would probably stop using CPL all together on the Pro version because of the hassle of removing them everytime I would drive at night.

(2) Rear camera is somewhat disappointing. For me it seems significantly worse than the rear footage on the regular A129 rear camera. The footage is darker both day/night and the resolution is grainier and I find it doesn't make out plate numbers as good as the regular rear cam. Overall the rear cam seems to be a downgrade. Hopefully this can be fixed with a software update.

At work right now, will try and post footage later.

4K = smaller pixel size. Better daytime HD. But smaller pixels equate to worse nighttime video. So using the CPL filter probably exacerbates the problem.

1080p = Larger pictures and better night video.

 

[JamesC85]

A129 Pro Test Front

A129 Pro Test Rear

No CPLs used, bitrate set to high.

Front cam is very impressive, rear cam not so much. Even in daylight, I find the rear camera has surprisingly dark footage. Not sure why this is as clearly the front cam does not have this issue nor did the rear cam on the regular A129.

 

[Nigel]

Front cam is very impressive, rear cam not so much. Even in daylight, I find the rear camera has surprisingly dark footage. Not sure why this is as clearly the front cam does not have this issue nor did the rear cam on the regular A129.

After watching a bit of the A129 Pro 4K front video, all 1080 video looks disappointing! I think the hardware in the rear camera is the same as the Duo, so if it doesn't look as good, maybe your brain is comparing it with the front 4K camera instead of comparing it with the old Duo rear camera?

The video you posted from the rear has all the plates in shadow with a strong sun, so difficult conditions, really need a side by side comparison with the A129 Duo before you can say that it is worse in difficult conditions like that.

Tilting the camera down one step so that the horizon is in the same position as on the front camera would brighten it a little.

For the lighting conditions the video looks OK to me, remember we do want it to cope with very bright reflective plates as well as everything else, so we don't want the exposure too bright. The bits in shadow are a bit dark, but they are in strong shadow, if you can't see the shadows then maybe check your monitor settings and have a look on another device/screen just to check that your monitor isn't too dark in the shadows.

Also, make sure you have up to date firmware, these early units are often being sent out with out of date firmware, and there have been some big improvements in recent versions.

Welcome to testing
(And we are still testing rather than reviewing, there are improvements still coming.)

 

[Jeremy Wong]

Here's mine during a wet evening

 

[Rhody401]

What kind of cards are you testers using for the new A129 PRO (4k) prototype?

Is the SanDisk 256gb A2 Extreme up for the task? (SanDisk 256gb Extreme microSDXC UHS-I Memory Card with Adapter - C10, U3, V30, 4K, A2, Micro SD - SDSQXA1-256G-GN6MA)

Or should I be ordering something better?

Currently use Sandisk 256gb A1 with regular A129, but figured that may not be fast enough.

Thx in advance

 

[TonyM]

What kind of cards are you testers using for the new A129 PRO (4k) prototype?

Is the SanDisk 256gb A2 Extreme up for the task? (SanDisk 256gb Extreme microSDXC UHS-I Memory Card with Adapter - C10, U3, V30, 4K, A2, Micro SD - SDSQXA1-256G-GN6MA)

Or should I be ordering something better?

Currently use Sandisk 256gb A1 with regular A129, but figured that may not be fast enough.

Thx in advance

I bought a Viofo MLC U3 card for the A129 Pro. So far it's doing well, as expected!

 

[TonyM]

After watching a bit of the A129 Pro 4K front video, all 1080 video looks disappointing!

(And we are still testing rather than reviewing, there are improvements still coming.)

I agree with you. I've been disappointed by most 1080 video ever since I started using the GitUp F1 4K camera two years ago.

This week I'm planning to compare rear camera video from the A129 and the A129 Pro, to see if the new processor and firmware make any difference.

 

[Nigel]

What kind of cards are you testers using for the new A129 PRO (4k) prototype?

Is the SanDisk 256gb A2 Extreme up for the task? (SanDisk 256gb Extreme microSDXC UHS-I Memory Card with Adapter - C10, U3, V30, 4K, A2, Micro SD - SDSQXA1-256G-GN6MA)

Or should I be ordering something better?

Currently use Sandisk 256gb A1 with regular A129, but figured that may not be fast enough.

Thx in advance

Give the Sandisk A1 a test, will be interesting to see the result. It appears to be U1 rated, and for the speed they just say "Up to 100MB/s read speed; write speed lower. " which is fairly useless for knowing if it will work or not! You might have to compromise and not use maximum bitrate.

A class U1 card should be just about fast enough, but until we have some experience it is wiser to choose a U3 rated card, or V30 since we are recording video. But if you have a spare of anything it is worth a try.

Like Tony, I've been using a Viofo MLC U3 card most of the time, completely reliable.

 

[HonestReview]

What kind of cards are you testers using for the new A129 PRO (4k) prototype?

Is the SanDisk 256gb A2 Extreme up for the task? (SanDisk 256gb Extreme microSDXC UHS-I Memory Card with Adapter - C10, U3, V30, 4K, A2, Micro SD - SDSQXA1-256G-GN6MA)

Or should I be ordering something better?

Currently use Sandisk 256gb A1 with regular A129, but figured that may not be fast enough.

Thx in advance

I use it on the regular 129 Duo without issue. Can't imagine why it'd have problems with the A129 PRO.

 

[Paul Iddon]

4k files are gonna need a better faster card surely, especially at high bitrates?

 

[TonyM]

I use it on the regular 129 Duo without issue. Can't imagine why it'd have problems with the A129 PRO.

Maximum bitrate on the current test firmware is 59+15Mbps. A U1 card may be ok for write speed alone, but a U3 card gives extra headroom for the lookahead and file deletion required for loop recording on dual channels.

 

[Paul Iddon]

This is what happened on Tuesday, recorded on the 4K front camera.

 

[HonestReview]

Maximum bitrate on the current test firmware is 59+15Mbps. A U1 card may be ok for write speed alone, but a U3 card gives extra headroom for the lookahead and file deletion required for loop recording on dual channels.

You are mistaken. the Sandisk A2 Extreme is U3 + V30 rated. 160MB/S read and 90MB/S write. More than sufficient.

https://www.sandisk.com/home/memory-cards

Are you a human?

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