Viofo A129 Pro vs Blackvue DR900X Plus

[datasci]

Buying my first dashcam. Considering these two and have a question.

I haven't decided whether to pay for the wifi hotspot in my new vehicle. If I don't get that, does that negate a lot of the Blackvue's added value with their cloud features? The installer I'm talking to said these two cameras are basically the same if I don't take advantage of the cloud features.

 

[datasci]

More info if it helps:

- I will be doing two-channel with a rear cam
- I will be having it wired so I can use the parking mode

 

[EdSM]

Well, I have the Viofo model and I'm pretty happy with it. I can't say much about the Blackvue alternative. I use an alternative to the cloud service which I wouldnt be able to access anyway in most national parks in the US or some parking garages. That's because I lose cell reception there. So I use an app that connects my phone to the viofo, records its video stream on my private device and detects the people that get too close to the car. It notifies me when that happens or I can choose to have an alarm triggered. The app is called Birds ai view and I got it off google app store for free: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.unicordia.dc_free. However, it works over wifi and with the viofo a 129 model you get a Wifi range of about 30ft. Will go up to the 3rd level of a building but not further when you park on the street next to the building. So if you wish to stay connected over a larger parking lot it is better to go with the Viofo 139 model which can connect to your home network so you can extend its wifi range as needed.

 

[Nath]

Buying my first dashcam. Considering these two and have a question.

I haven't decided whether to pay for the wifi hotspot in my new vehicle. If I don't get that, does that negate a lot of the Blackvue's added value with their cloud features?

Wifi hotspot in cars, in most cases, are active only while drive so you lose 50% usability - not possible to get notified or being able to connect in parked mode.

The installer I'm talking to said these two cameras are basically the same if I don't take advantage of the cloud features.

I'm sorry to say that but then he's an idiot. Blackvue lacks behind with their "4k" in terms of IQ but I have to admit that their Plus version performs better than their previous DR900S/X at night. Also A129Pro has some issues with overheating during summer which causes it to turn off and either power cycle is needed or user needs to manualy turn it back on again, Blackvue on the other hand is able to turn off, cool down and turn on all by itself.

Blackvue can have Wifi set to always on to connect to hotspot or use USB LTE modem, A129Pro Wifi needs to be turned on on every power cycle or change of mode.

A129Pro's USB cable for the rear camera is pain in the butt, Blackvue uses thinner and less prone to fail coaxial cable.

 

[Nigel]

The installer I'm talking to said these two cameras are basically the same if I don't take advantage of the cloud features.

Only if video quality doesn't matter!

 

[datasci]

OK, so what I'm hearing is that the Blackvue is a higher quality camera, period. Correct?

Any advantages to the Viofo other than price?

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[datasci]

Appreciate all the feedback.

After reading a lot of other threads, it appears I need to be concerned with heat sensitivity since I live in Texas and will be using the parking mode.

It seems the A129 Pro is known to have heat issues. What about the Blackvue? Nath mentioned in his reply above that it can turn itself odd, cool down, then power back on. Am I understanding that correctly? Anyone have experience using it it hot environments?

 

[Nigel]

Do you really, really, need to be connected to your car while you have dinner somewhere?

If the car gets attacked while I am having dinner, the car can wait! The problem that needs to be sorted will take the same effort to sort whether I enjoy my dinner first and then find out, or if my dinner is interrupted and not enjoyed. Of course if the car was parked close enough then there would be a chance that I could interrupt my dinner and go out and attack the thieves/vandals and avoid some of the trouble, or maybe more likely that I could go and try to attack the thieves/vandals and end up with even more problems!

 

[Nigel]

After reading a lot of other threads, it appears I need to be concerned with heat sensitivity since I live in Texas and will be using the parking mode.

You should consider using one of the lesser resolution dashcams, such as a Viofo A229 or A139. These have significantly less heat issues, especially for parking mode use, and the image quality is still decent for dashcam use.

Most of the heat issues with the A129 Pro were sorted, but if you really want a 4K dashcam with heat resistance and top quality video, then currently I would wait a week and see what turns up with a Starvis 2 image sensor, these generate less heat and produce top quality 4K images. Only issue is that they are still very very new, so actual reliability is still unknown, and there may be a few teething issues, but the image quality improvement is definitely worth a short wait!

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[Deleted member 64174]

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[Nath]

Actually same as @Lufo I don't see Blackvue as higher quality camera, it's actually quite a sh¡tshow for such price BUT if you would like to also monitor your car, Blackvue has probably the best ("In the country of the blind the one-eyed is king") implementation of cloud so far. If you don't need cloud, go for Viofo and, as @Nigel suggested, something with 1440p (native) - I use A139 myself.

Do you really, really, need to be connected to your car while you have dinner somewhere? Do you really need that expense and connection to the Cloud? I just could not justify it...

Out of curiosity, what car do you have?

... some cams have a heating issue for various reasons. My VIOFO A129 Pro has not so far... I don't use parking mode ...

And that's the reason.

It seems the A129 Pro is known to have heat issues. What about the Blackvue? Nath mentioned in his reply above that it can turn itself odd, cool down, then power back on. Am I understanding that correctly? Anyone have experience using it it hot environments?

That's one of the downsides of Viofo cams, when it shuts down it simply stays off. Blackvue drived me crazy by the contant notifications about shut downs but at least it was recording sometimes.

Most of the heat issues with the A129 Pro were sorted,

I don't know man, do you still using it? Because I do and the overheating is still there, downing resolution in parking mode was just a half baked solution to extend the time before turning off.

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[Nath]

It's probably about priorities and price of a car. When I found out that one of my side mirrors costs 3000$ (after a truck smashed it into 5th dimension) I would definitely want to know when somebody scratched my car tbh (that's the main reason for cloud). Funny thing is that car is now protected by two A139 (no Blackvue whatsoever).

I seem to recall that someone here, from California I think, did a "hotbox" test of the VIOFO A129 or one of their cameras and it continued to run past the max temp specified by VIOFO.

@BlackboxMyCar has joined the group

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[Nigel]

I don't know man, do you still using it? Because I do and the overheating is still there, downing resolution in parking mode was just a half baked solution to extend the time before turning off.

I don't really live somewhere hot enough to have trouble!

But, the number of overheating complaints we see on this forum dropped considerably after they downed the resolution in parking mode, don't know if the resolution was the cause of the drop or if they changed other things too, but we rarely see reports of problems these days.

I was still using mine until recently, but it doesn't compete very well with Starvis-2, so I suspect it isn't going to get a lot more use!

 

[Nath]

Confused about your post. I am not with BBMC or VIOFO, I live in Virginia. BBMC as far as I know is Canadian; there is a California member here that has done reviews, he is not with BBMC as far as I know and is who I am thinking of.

The OP is from Texas and appears to have a local shop doing the work and is purchasing the camera from. Any link I post to BBMC, BV or anyone is simply to provide knowledge. Who the OP buys from is immaterial to me...I just want him to be informed about his decision.

Ok, sorry, it seemed like you only recall "somebody" with the hotbox so I assumed you are referring to this video and I added the user (I think USA and Canada "branches" are quite connected):

But, the number of overheating complaints we see on this forum dropped considerably after they downed the resolution in parking mode, ...

Yeah, true.

 

[datasci]

Thanks to everyone for all the feedback. I think I'm going to save some money and get an A129 Plus right now, then maybe upgrade later when new cameras with the new sensor are available.

 

[Nigel]

then maybe upgrade later when new cameras with the new sensor are available.

That is going to be soon.