VIOFO A229 Plus - Testing / Review - RCG

[rcg530]

A229 Plus Unboxing

The VIOFO A229 Plus will be sold in two configurations. A three-channel configuration with front, rear and interior cameras and a two-channel configuration with a front and rear camera. I was provided a 3-channel A229 Plus dash camera by VIOFO free of charge for my testing / review.

The A229 Plus will operate in any of the following configurations:

• 3CH - Front + Rear + Interior
• 2CH - Front + Rear
• 2CH - Front + Interior
• 1CH - Front

Accessories for the A229 Plus

• Front Camera CPL
  • This is an optional accessory that must be purchased separately.
• Bluetooth Remote
• HK3-C / HK4 3-Wire Hardwire Kit
• No Option For An External Microphone
  • The location on the side of the A229 front camera for an external microphone has been repurposed for the 3.5mm connector for the interior camera.
  • There is no way to connect an external microphone with the A229 Plus dash camera.
• Up to 512 GB MicroSD Cards
  • The A229 Plus will support microSD cards with a storage capacity of up to 512 GB.

Changes / Additions From The A229 Duo

• Image Sensors
  • Front and rear cameras now have a Sony STARVIS 2 image sensor.
    • Front - Sony STARVIS 2 IMX675 1/2.8" 5MP Image Sensor
    • Rear - Sony STARVIS 2 IMX675 1/2.8" 5MP Image Sensor
  • Interior camera - Sony STARVIS IMX307 2MP Image Sensor
• HDR (High Dynamic Range) For All Three Cameras
  • The A229 Duo offered WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) for the front camera.
  • The HDR feature in the A229 Plus is functional for all three cameras.
• Quad-Mode GPS Receiver
  • The GPS receiver provided with the A229 Pro / Plus is a new quad-mode unit.
  • It should deliver more precise GPS data.
  • Note: The GPS windshield mount from the older A229 Duo is similar in shape and size, but the GPS mount from the A229 Duo is not compatible with the A229 Pro / Plus dash cameras.
• Voice Commands
  • You can now control the A229 Plus dash cameras by simply using voice commands.
    • Take Photo
    • Turn On Audio
    • Turn Off Audio
    • Turn On Screen
    • Turn Off Screen
    • Show Front Camera
    • Show Both Cameras
    • Show Rear Camera
    • Video Start
    • Turn On Wi-Fi
    • Turn Off Wi-Fi
    • Lock The Video

 

[rcg530]

Feature Comparison Chart - A229 Pro / A229 Plus / A229 Duo



Additional A229 Plus Pictures



A229 Plus - Weight

The front camera weight has increased from 143 grams for the A229 Duo to 169 grams for the A229 Plus.

 

[rcg530]

Power Consumption Test Data

3-Channel Front + Rear + Interior



2-Channel Front + Rear



2-Channel Front + Interior



1-Channel Front



Summary Of Video Bitrate Data

 

[rcg530]

Reserved

 

[rcg530]

I attempted to perform my power consumption test suite for the A229 Plus 3-channel dash camera, but I ran into what appears to be a bug with the v1.0_230922 front camera firmware that was provided by VIOFO.

I run all dash cameras that I review/test in normal recording mode (Wi-Fi off, LCD screen off in each of the available resolution settings) to see how much power that dash camera configuration consumes. This is the power level the dash camera will place on the vehicle or the dash camera battery pack while driving.

I run the same test, but I turn on the dash camera Wi-Fi, establish a connection and I have the VIOFO app display the "Live View". This adds the extra load of powering the Wi-Fi subsystem of the camera and it places the extra load on the front camera processor of streaming the video content to the VIOFO app. I do this to stress test the dash camera and to see how much additional power it will consume. This will usually give a good indication of the max power load that will be required to operate the dash camera. This is helpful in determining if the hardwire kit is capable of providing the amount of power required at the dash camera's peak power load.

Video Contents Incorrect – Front and Interior Videos – During Active Wi-Fi Live View Session

I ran my power consumption tests for the 3-channel configuration with a resolution setting of 1440p (F) + 1440p (R) + 1080p (I). The files created during the test with Wi-Fi off rotated correctly which means they rotated at a similar time (down to the second) and the video file contents were correct. After I use the voice command to turn on Wi-Fi, I connect the VIOFO app to have an active “Live View” over that Wi-Fi connection. This is when I found the file rotations began to get out of sync.

In the screenshot of the files from the A229 Plus (see below), the files up to the files with time 231140 were in sync. I turned on the Wi-Fi near the very end of those files’ 1-minute time period.

Configuration – A229 Plus 3-Channel

• Firmware: v1.0_230922 (front), v1.0_230901 (rear)
• Resolution: 1440p (F) + 1440p (R) + 1080p (I) 30 fps
• Bitrate: Maximum
• Memory Card: VIOFO 128 GB formatted using format function in the A229 Plus firmware
• Power: VIOFO HK4

When the file rotation took place from the 231140 files to the next ones, the time stamps in the filenames started to slide forward and get out of sync amongst the three cameras’ files.

• Front + Rear + Interior
• 231140 + 231140 + 231140
• 231238 + 231238 + 231243
• 231343 + 231338 + 231346
• 231445 + 231438 + 231448
• 231547 + 231538 + 231551
• 231649 + 231638 + 231654

The front video files’ timestamps are occurring every 62 seconds. The interior video files’ timestamps are occurring every 63 seconds. The rear video files’ timestamps are staying relatively steady at every 60 seconds.

When I checked the contents of the rear video files, they look correct. After the Wi-Fi and Live View are started, the front and interior video file contents are incorrect. The metadata shows a length of 60 seconds, but the video content stalls/freezes during the last two to three seconds of those video files and the time clock in the status line shows more than 60 seconds in the video.

It appears that the front camera firmware cannot multi-task well enough to handle an active live view session over a Wi-Fi connection and handle the proper encoding of the video for the front/interior cameras at the end of each 60 second file rotation period.

 

[Panzer Platform]

It appears that the front camera firmware cannot multi-task well enough to handle an active live view session over a Wi-Fi connection and handle the proper encoding of the video for the front/interior cameras at the end of each 60 second file rotation period.

I have noticed similar issues with my A229 Plus when operating in 3-CH configuration.
Sometimes the recorded video files are out of order.
Sometimes it’s F + R + I, other times it’s F + I + R.
Not sure it that’s a big deal, or even what it means.

I have also noticed the out of sync issue during 1 minute test loop recordings.
I have the A229 Pro side by side to gather test footage simultaneously with the Wi-Fi on controlling each camera.
I can visibly see on the LCD screen that I start recordings at the same time, but after the A229 Plus gets past the 1 Minute mark it becomes out of sync with the A229 Pro.

I have also noticed the A229 Plus is slow to respond to commands from the APP, and button presses navigating the settings menu on the LCD screen.
I have a sneaking suspension the Novatek 96580 processor in the A229 Plus is not powerful enough to operate the additional work load a 3 camera system.
I haven’t noticed these issues with the A229 Pro’s Novatek 96529 processor.

 

[VVondervvall]

Same processor as the A229 duo but running an additional third channel 1080p, it is indeed at risk. Might be the achilles heel of the model. Hopefully fw can make it a bit better.
Does the sluggishness reduce when not recording?

 

[Agie]

Same processor as the A229 duo but running an additional third channel 1080p, it is indeed at risk. Might be the achilles heel of the model. Hopefully fw can make it a bit better.
Does the sluggishness reduce when not recording?

Not good what we're seeing and it's backed up by both the boys. **** , hopefully can be fixed by firmware optimisations

 

[Panzer Platform]

Does the sluggishness reduce when not recording?

No.
When changing settings with the APP some settings are instantaneous.
Changing the resolution, and setting HDR On/Off/Auto is like waiting for water to boil. lol

 

[VVondervvall]

@viofo wrote here: Post in thread 'VIOFO A229 Pro - Testing / Review - RCG' https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/viofo-a229-pro-testing-review-rcg.49777/post-603305

So apparently it's not a big difference in processors (assuming talking about Pro vs Plus/Duo/Mini2 processors), which gives hope for a fw fix for the sluggish Plus.

 

[kamkar]

like waiting for water to boil

In Denmark wee say " waiting for paint to dry " or "watching paint dry"
It is generally what best describe all employed by government.

 

[rcg530]

With regards to the A229 Plus 3CH issue I mentioned in an earlier post, I ran some additional configuration combination tests today. This is the last I will test this until VIOFO returns from their holiday break. I wanted to see what exactly is triggering the problem.

Configuration – A229 Plus 3-Channel

• Firmware: v1.0_230922 (front), v1.0_230901 (rear)
• Resolution: 1440p (F) + 1440p (R) + 1080p (I) 30 fps
• Bitrate: Maximum
• Memory Card: VIOFO 128 GB formatted using format function in the A229 Plus firmware
• Power: VIOFO HK4

I tested: "Yes" = Problem Occurred / "No" = No Problems Encountered

• 3CH / Bitrate Maximum / HDR On / IR LEDs On / Live View Yes = Yes
• 3CH / Bitrate Maximum / HDR Off / IR LEDs On / Live View Yes = No
• 3CH / Bitrate Maximum / HDR On / IR LEDs Off / Live View Yes = Yes
• 3CH / Bitrate Maximum / HDR On / IR LEDs Off / Live View No = No

Having a “Live View” active by itself with HDR off is not enough to cause the problem. The combination of having HDR enabled and a “Live View” active over a Wi-Fi connection is the configuration that recreates the problem.

The front and interior video files metadata shows a length of 60 seconds in the Windows file explorer, but once the problem shows up, the front/interior video files contain 3 to 4 seconds of audio beyond the 60 second point in the video file with no video updates during the final 3 to 4 seconds. There’s no update to the video from the camera and no update of the status line text (time value does not change).

File listing shows that after the first couple of file rotations, the front and interior files start having their file timestamp values creep forwards 3 to 4 seconds each rotation. Each of those front/interior files have only 60 seconds of video, but 60+ seconds of audio.


Looking at the bottom line of the MPC-BE video player, you can see the "_I" (interior) video file has a length detected by the player of 64 seconds. The Windows 11 "Movie Player", MPC-BE video player, VLC player all playback the video/audio in the same manner. Audio is longer than video.

MPC-BE Player


VLC


The Windows File Explorer shows a length of 1:00 as does the ffprobe program:

 

[Panzer Platform]

Having a “Live View” active by itself with HDR off is not enough to cause the problem. The combination of having HDR enabled and a “Live View” active over a Wi-Fi connection is the configuration that recreates the problem.

I am experiencing the same malfunction under these circumstances, (A229 Plus 3-CH)
Normal recording, HDR On, Wi-Fi On, Active Live View in APP.
I’m noticing the recorded files are intermittently out of order Front, Rear, Interior.
Also, I noticed the text overlay at the bottom of the screen on the Rear & Interior cameras is intermittently missing for the first 1 second of the video.
I’m using 1-Minute Loop Recording.

 

[rcg530]

Also, I noticed the text overlay at the bottom of the screen on the Rear & Interior cameras is intermittently missing for the first 1 second of the video.

That is one symptom I'm need seeing in my tests. Are you experiencing the 3 to 4 seconds of extra audio (beyond 60 seconds) with no video updates during those last 3 to 4 seconds?

When I import the front/rear/interior videos into Adobe Premiere Pro, it seems to truncate the audio at the 60 time mark. It seems to be reading the metadata from the video files and making the imported video/audio no longer than 60 seconds. When I use any video player on my Windows 11 laptop (as mentioned before), the video stops moving at the 60 second mark and the audio continues for 2 to 4 seconds.

To help illustrate the shifting of the front and interior video files while the rear video files remain constant (same second within the minute, no stalled video and the audio is only 60 seconds long), I imported three files after this problem started occurring. I used the Adobe Premiere Pro feature to synchronize the videos based on the audio track contents. The video status line timestamps are within a 1 to 5 frames of each of the other video files using the audio syncing method. You can see the start of the front (_F) and interior (_I) files are shifted away from the start of the rear video file. The rear camera with its own processor is isolated from this issue. The load on the front camera processor with HDR enabled and a Wi-Fi live view session slows down the video/audio processing causing the delayed rotations for the front/interior video files and the odd video/audio metadata issue.



When I imported the three video files just after the three in the first screenshot, you can see a gap in the audio about the size of the time delay between the two front video files and between the two interior video files. The rear video files have no such gap. Let's just say there's a lot of things out of sync at the end of each 1-minute video file segment.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Are you experiencing the 3 to 4 seconds of extra audio (beyond 60 seconds) with no video updates during those last 3 to 4 seconds?

I haven't noticed it, but that's not to say it's not happening, just I haven't been looking for it.
But I will be on look out, and document it when I find it.

 

[rcg530]

I received access to a test firmware for the front unit v1.0_231009. I installed that an restarted my power consumption testing. The problems of staggered file rotations and invalid video/audio content when an active "Live View" connection was present has been resolved (3-channel mode). I did find a bug in 2-channel mode 1440p 60fps (front) + 1440p 30fps (rear). I include that info below.

I was able to fully complete my 3-channel power consumption test suite with the v1.0_231009 firmware installed.




I reconfigured the A229 Plus to a 2-channel configuration (Front + Rear). I selected the first resolution setting in the list of 1440p 60fps + 1440p 30fps. I completed the timed test for that resolution with Wi-Fi off. I moved onto the test with 5 GHz Wi-Fi being on and using the Android VIOFO app to show an active “Live View”. The first issue was the “Live View” screen was blank. It was showing a blinking red recording dot on the screen, but no video content. I returned the VIOFO app to the top-level screen and then exited the app. On my Android tablet, I disconnected from the 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection with the A229 Plus. I then used the voice command “Turn Off WiFi”. This is the point the A229 Plus rebooted. Looking at the recorded video, it stops recording while trying to get the “Live View” connected.

• Boot A229 Plus in a 2-channel configuration (Front + Rear)
• Resolution set to 1440p 60fps + 1440p 30fps
• Use voice command to turn on 5 GHz
• Use Android VIOFO app to connect and show “Live View”
• “Live View” screen is blank except for the red blinking dot in the upper right corner
• Reviewing the footage, the videos stop recording
• Exit VIOFO app
• Disconnect WiFi connection on Android device
• Shortly after, the A229 Plus reboots

I've sent this info to VIOFO. This issue prevents me from completing my full 2-channel (front + rear) configuration power consumption test suite. I'll see what VIOFO says about this issue next week.

 

[rcg530]

I'm still waiting on VIOFO to produce a fix for the 1440p60 (front) + 1440p30 (rear) configuration when I run a test of the app being connected over WiFi and the A229 Plus locks up and/or reboots. I can't complete my power consumption tests until there's a fix for this issue.

I have a demonstration video of this behavior in case you want to see the issue first hand. https://drive.google.com/file/d/14cASePSCx89ZG5v9biwvKhAS2Vv997Sp/view?usp=sharing

 

[Agie]

I'm still waiting on VIOFO to produce a fix for the 1440p60 (front) + 1440p30 (rear) configuration when I run a test of the app being connected over WiFi and the A229 Plus locks up and/or reboots. I can't complete my power consumption tests until there's a fix for this issue.

I have a demonstration video of this behavior in case you want to see the issue first hand. https://drive.google.com/file/d/14cASePSCx89ZG5v9biwvKhAS2Vv997Sp/view?usp=sharing

I know not exactly the same but this is what's been happening to me with stock power supply on A229 Pro on 230928 firmware. Camera has to be recording in 3-CH mode first, turn on wifi, connect to camera via app and then the dash cam reboots.

Haven't been able to replicate it reliably enough to catch it on camera but it happens. Couple of other people have reported it here on DCT too, one with A119 Mini2 ...

 

[rcg530]

I know not exactly the same but this is what's been happening to me with stock power supply on A229 Pro on 230928 firmware. Camera has to be recording in 3-CH mode first, turn on wifi, connect to camera via app and then the dash cam reboots.

Haven't been able to replicate it reliably enough to catch it on camera but it happens. Couple of other people have reported it here on DCT too, one with A119 Mini2 ...

I ran three tests with an A229 Pro 3CH configuration. First test was with v1.0_231009 front firmware and v1.0_230928 rear firmware. I used an Android 10 client device to establish a WiFi connection and then I ran the VIOFO app with the Live View screen showing the video for all three channels. After running that test for 12 minutes, I stopped the test. I downgraded the front firmware to v1.0_230928, reset to default settings and then reset all of the test settings to their test values. Another 15 minute test was run and no problems were found. I then ran a third test with an iPhone 6S Plus running the VIOFO app and the test ran successfully.

At this time, I cannot replicate the problem you reported with the A229 Pro 3CH.

 

[Agie]

I ran three tests with an A229 Pro 3CH configuration. First test was with v1.0_231009 front firmware and v1.0_230928 rear firmware. I used an Android 10 client device to establish a WiFi connection and then I ran the VIOFO app with the Live View screen showing the video for all three channels. After running that test for 12 minutes, I stopped the test. I downgraded the front firmware to v1.0_230928, reset to default settings and then reset all of the test settings to their test values. Another 15 minute test was run and no problems were found. I then ran a third test with an iPhone 6S Plus running the VIOFO app and the test ran successfully.

At this time, I cannot replicate the problem you reported with the A229 Pro 3CH.

Thank you for having a try to replicate mate