Viofo A129 Pro expected lifespan?

[Arese]

Just had my A129 Pro for a few days and I realized the dashcam would get really hot when running recording in 4k or even in parking mode.
Since it's hardwired it will basically be running non-stop continuously so I was wondering what kind of life expectancy we can expect out of a 4k dashcam?
Fully aware it will widely differ from one region to another but still was curious to hear what the community thought about it

 

[reverend]

With these being so new the honest answer would be that it's currently unproven in the field - that's one of the joys of buying a new product.

It does have a heatsink whereas a lot of cameras didn't used too, so in theory that should help longevity.

Due to the amount of data it writes out at the higher bitrates you'll probably find the microSD cards will die before the camera.

I guess as you folks in Australia are hitting your summer that will be a real test which will give more of an indication.

 

[Arese]

What about 4k dashcam that have been around for longer like the blackvue or thinkware? What are the the feedback?
Unsure these 4k dashcam came out but have we heard reports from users of dashcam suddenly dying for no apparent reasons?

 

[Nigel]

What about 4k dashcam that have been around for longer like the blackvue or thinkware? What are the the feedback?
Unsure these 4k dashcam came out but have we heard reports from users of dashcam suddenly dying for no apparent reasons?

I don't think those other 4K cameras are a good guide to the A129 Pro lifespan, none of them can manage decent bitrates without overheating while the Viofo does without issue!

I think the standard a129 is a better guide, and so far that seems to be doing OK. The Pro does feel hotter, but that is partly due to use of a more thermally conductive plastic to keep it cool. I don't think it actually gets too hot inside, and if it does because it is sitting inside an oven then it will shut itself down for protection so might actually be safer than the older cameras.

The memory card may suffer a bit from the heat, there is a lot of data being written so it does get hot and will probably wear faster as a result, and maybe after a few years the super capacitors will need replacing, but the rest is probably good for 10 years plus.

 

[OzAdam]

What about 4k dashcam that have been around for longer like the blackvue or thinkware? What are the the feedback?
Unsure these 4k dashcam came out but have we heard reports from users of dashcam suddenly dying for no apparent reasons?

Was reading this the other day in the Blackvue forums:

Out of the many deaths of my blackvue cams, my last one, the 650S refused to take any cards. It would restart so much that it couldn't even record a 3 minute video. This could certainly be the case. I've had rear camera chanel failure, Date and time failure, Gps failure and refusal to work with any SD card failure. Those are what I can recall. Expect 1-2 years from these cameras. I say this from my experience with these in the Mild Southern California weather.

A friend of mine who gave me his 4K DR900S to test out before I settled on the A129 Pro had 3 replacements in 2 years. Random failures and heat issues was the causes for his problems.

Thinkware has only just released its first 4K unit the U1000. Again, its also unproven like the A129 Pro for longevity. Interestingly I saw a video clip I think was on here about a guy's VW that caught fire due to a turbo issue. He had a Viofo cam and even though it was melted from the heat of the car fire it still worked and he got the footage out of it. Lets hope the A129 Pro is as hardy!

But in reality, running any electronics in high heat situations will reduce its lifetime even if designed for it. That’s why server rooms are kept at precise and constant temperatures . This is to reduce heat stress on components which is the biggest enemy. Even wide temperature changes stresses electronics.

I have an over temperature cut-out on my dashcam power management system - that’s by using the Vico Power Plus. On hot days I will disable the dashcam and even remove it from the windscreen on the really hot days. On those 35c+ days it will roast in the sun. Look after it if you want the best life - that goes with anything.

I also went with one of those high endurance SD cards which is rated for extreme heat and adverse conditions – so the manufacturer claims at least. Being all new tech who really knows but I am expecting a good life from these cameras. I often say look at the warranty period as a baseline guide however.

Road vibration also kills gear in cars. I’ve seen many aftermarket car stereo systems give up after 5 or so years due to heat and the constant vibration of the road. Eventually everything gets shaken to bits in cars.

I guess as you folks in Australia are hitting your summer that will be a real test which will give more of an indication.

It is not uncommon for the city I live in to reach 40 - 46c during the real hot days in summer. That isn’t even good the life of a car!

 

[Nath]

A friend of mine who gave me his 4K DR900S to test out before I settled on the A129 Pro had 3 replacements in 2 years. Random failures and heat issues was the causes for his problems.
...

HA! what a noob, i replaced three DR900S units in 10 months. (4th unit is on the way)


I think A129-Pro has better future:

 

[Nigel]

HA! what a noob, i replaced three DR900S units in 10 months. (4th unit is on the way)


I think A129-Pro has better future:

You found some heavy metal inside - looks like the internals are made from cast iron in that picture, apart from the big super capacitors!

 

[Arese]

I don't think those other 4K cameras are a good guide to the A129 Pro lifespan, none of them can manage decent bitrates without overheating while the Viofo does without issue

A friend of mine who gave me his 4K DR900S to test out before I settled on the A129 Pro had 3 replacements in 2 years. Random failures and heat issues was the causes for his problems.

HA! what a noob, i replaced three DR900S units in 10 months. (4th unit is on the way)

Man looks like I so dodged a bullet not buying the blackvue! Paying twice more than a Viofo and ending up with an inferior product.

Thanks all for all of your feedback. Really interesting read as usual

Luckily my car sleep in an underground car park so that will help and I will do like OzAdam and disconnect the cam during those days of extreme heat down under. Will definitely look after it to get the best out of it.
Also curious to see how those high endurance microSD will do over time

 

[Nigel]

Also curious to see how those high endurance microSD will do over time

For high temperatures, I have a bit more faith in Viofo's MLC cards than some of the more recent V-NAND based cards (SanDisk etc). Possibly the Samsung Pro Endurance is also good, that is probably MLC memory too.

Only way to find out is to wait and see, but then having found out we won't be interested in the answer because there will be something new and untested available!

 

[kamkar]

Well the other 4K cameras also have their set of problems, one of which are also heat, and to a degree people are strapping heat sinks to them and even fans.
For parking mode you will be screwed in the AU summer if you park in the sun, no camera can endure that kind of punishment, but as far as regular recording while driving go, you should be good.

There is a slight chance dashcams with remote lens / lenses will stand a better chance at doing parking mode in a car placed in the sun, cuz with those you don't have to have the heat generating parts hanging there in the sun on the windscreen, and if they wanted to they could make the main unit larger with room for a more beefy cooling solution,,,, maybe even a fan to create airflow over the heat sink when parked.
CUZ a passive heat sink only relying on heat rising off it, well its not able to handle much after all, you will not see many mid or performance computers with passive cooling on CPU or GFX card.
You can do it, my new GFX card have 3 fans that do not rotate at all now when i sit here and just browse the internet, but if i launch a game they do spin up, and they have to or i would get a thermal shut down in seconds after launching a game.

 

[OzAdam]

HA! what a noob, i replaced three DR900S units in 10 months. (4th unit is on the way)

I think A129-Pro has better future:

Three in ten months? Seriously? Wow. Do you know what going wrong with them? Sounds like you are making the best of the warranty!
I see your latest one has developed coloured artifact lines across the picture now. Will this be the fourth replacement now?

Are you able to see what the temperature rating is / part number of those caps are on the A129 Pro?

From your photo they look like these: https://www.vina.co.kr/eng/product/edlc.html - "Hy-Cap NEO supercapacitor ", Temperature range -40~65℃ (extended to 85℃ when de-rated), 500,000 cycle life and possibly Korean made.

Man looks like I so dodged a bullet not buying the blackvue! Paying twice more than a Viofo and ending up with an inferior product.

Thanks all for all of your feedback. Really interesting read as usual

Yeah I am thinking the same more and more myself. I was at a car dealership yesterday. They had a wall poster - buy a new car and for $1200 they will fit a premium front Blackvue DR750S for $1200 - "Best video quality on the market" it said. The DR750s isn’t even the top end premium Blackvue model ! I feel sorry for those who pay for that and get ripped off.

Luckily my car sleep in an underground car park so that will help and I will do like OzAdam and disconnect the cam during those days of extreme heat down under. Will definitely look after it to get the best out of it.
Also curious to see how those high endurance microSD will do over time

That will help with lifespan for sure not being in direct sun when parked.

For high temperatures, I have a bit more faith in Viofo's MLC cards than some of the more recent V-NAND based cards (SanDisk etc). Possibly the Samsung Pro Endurance is also good, that is probably MLC memory too.

Only way to find out is to wait and see, but then having found out we won't be interested in the answer because there will be something new and untested available!

Shame about the lack of 256GB and higher cards available from both Viofo and Samsung in the MLC high endurance ranges.
I keep seeing Samsung Pro Endurance rated number 1 for dashcam usage around the web. I have a few - flawless even a year later in constant dashcam usage. Price is good also.

 

[SR14626]

My BlackVue 900S is going strong after purchasing it in April 2018. I use the below sunscreen on the outside of my car that keeps the temps inside to a manageable level In Florida weather. I don’t use parking mode for my camera so those that do this sunscreen will not work for you. Once the black deal goes south on me I will be purchasing the Viofo A129 Pro, which seems like a very good camera at a more reasonable cost.

 

[Nigel]

Shame about the lack of 256GB and higher cards available from both Viofo and Samsung in the MLC high endurance ranges.

It is because they both use MLC, while none of the others do these days, even Sandisk's endurance card is only rated at TLC lifespan, "endurance" only seems to mean that it is designed for video rather than random access, while the Viofo and Samsung Pro cards do actually have 2-3x the write cycle lifetime because they are MLC. Not sure why the Samsung is only U1 rated, MLC is supposed to be fast, but it does seem to be fast enough for an A129 Pro.

 

[Rhody401]

I have had 2 sets of A129 duos running since about December 15th of last year with no problems, and I have had a duo pro A129 running for 2 months now with no problems.

I have more than a dozen of their older models also in service for several years each and I have never had one fail. The Viofo products seem to be made to last. That wasn't the case for some other brands that I tested previously.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[viofo]

There will be some less heating 4K coming out soon, for just 4K front only, the heating is acceptable. No necessary to use so powerful chipset for just 4K front only.
The main challenge is for dual-channel 4K + full HD.

 

[Deleted member 64174]

After nearly buying and wisely turning down the BV DR900s and then doing a pass on the Thinkware U1000 I have decided on the Viofo A129 Pro Duo. I am not in a hurry and this new offering that will run cooler is interesting. Is there an approximate time frame for its release?

thanks

 

[relive]

After nearly buying and wisely turning down the BV DR900s and then doing a pass on the Thinkware U1000 I have decided on the Viofo A129 Pro Duo. I am not in a hurry and this new offering that will run cooler is interesting. Is there an approximate time frame for its release?

thanks

The A129 Pro has been available for more than two months now.

 

[EGS]

After nearly buying and wisely turning down the BV DR900s and then doing a pass on the Thinkware U1000 I have decided on the Viofo A129 Pro Duo. I am not in a hurry and this new offering that will run cooler is interesting. Is there an approximate time frame for its release?

thanks

The A129 Pro Duo has been on the market for several weeks already.

 

[Deleted member 64174]

Ahhh....OK, I see now. I misread post #15 as Viofo was working on a newer/cooler running 4k to the A129 Pro DUO.

Old, addle minded and confused. I will catch on eventually.

 

[Nigel]

Ahhh....OK, I see now. I misread post #15 as Viofo was working on a newer/cooler running 4k to the A129 Pro DUO.

Old, addle minded and confused. I will catch on eventually.

Maybe you read it correctly, Viofo didn't say if Viofo is working on such a camera or not, only that there are now chipset/sensor combinations available that will allow for cool running 4K single channel dash cameras.

Maybe Viofo is working on an A119 V4 with 4K? But the main point he was making appears to be that for a dual channel 4K camera, heat is still an issue for every brand.