Viofo A329 Dash Camera Dual-Channel review, the new king of flagship dashcams?

Flyer888 said:
Hello, thank you for the thorough review. I’m in the market of a new dashcam and the A329 looks promising. I’m planning to use SSD/external microSD mainly to reduce the unit’s heat. Your review indicates there’s something wrong with the official Viofo’s cable. But in other threads I see Viofo says only to use their official cable. Wondering what’s the difference, would you suggest to buy something like this instead of the official cable?
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Thanks for the kind words of my review. Viofo did say shortly after release that their cable was stated at usb 3.0/3.1, but others have determined the speed to be usb 2.0 only.

The video that's being recorded is still sufficient to use a usb 2.0 cable, but for peace of mind there is absolutely nothing wrong with using the cable you have linked there either. I use a similar cable of shorter length to transfer the video files off the Kingston SSD to my laptop.

edit: I would ignore Nigel's advice below. The cable was determined to be writing at usb 2.0 speeds so it's a usb 2.0 not usb 3.0 cable, yes there is some degradation in speed the longer a cable gets but nowhere near that extent. I've tried other solutions like microSD card readers and other usb c cables and there was something faulty with the Viofo. I may have got a dud, but you should have no issues with a third party cable you are using.
 
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Flyer888 said:
Your review indicates there’s something wrong with the official Viofo’s cable.
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I don't think there is anything wrong with the Viofo cable, it is just slower than expected for a USB 3 cable, but that will be deliberate, maybe to avoid causing interference in other cables such as radio antennas. I don't know the actual reason, but I suggest you stick to the Viofo cable unless you have good reason to try something else. The Viofo cable is the best tested for working with the camera, and for recording purposes, it is plenty fast enough.
 
Nigel said:
I don't think there is anything wrong with the Viofo cable, it is just slower than expected for a USB 3 cable, but that will be deliberate, maybe to avoid causing interference in other cables such as radio antennas. I don't know the actual reason, but I suggest you stick to the Viofo cable unless you have good reason to try something else. The Viofo cable is the best tested for working with the camera, and for recording purposes, it is plenty fast enough.
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It isn't a usb 3.x cable, it's a usb 2.0 cable obviously. The user asking the question will have no issues using a usb 3.x cable as the braiding in most cables these days is of a pretty good standard. Choice is up to them but they shouldn't have any issues either way they decide.
 
Just to add, looks like other folks are starting to pop up now who are also having issues with their SSDs with the A329. Can't pin it to the dashcam or cable it seems, but nonetheless:

Z

Thread 'SSD doesn't worked - solved'

Updated and solved : after back and forth with Viofo team, they really can’t help my case much and suggest me change to portable SSD and remove the info that A329 support Enclosure on thier homepage.

Key take away to get thing done
1/ A329 have very picky with usb cable, you should buy from Viofo due to normal usb cable will high chance make signal gps noise, I have test 6 non-viofo cable from high reputation brand but only 1 xiaomi c to c cable work well, and i am not sure model ( apple iPhone 15pro c-c, belkin 100w c-c, belkin playa, belkin 60w, orico usb c, xiaomi c to c cable )

2/...
  • Like
 
Augustus said:
Just to add, looks like other folks are starting to pop up now who are also having issues with their SSDs with the A329. Can't pin it to the dashcam or cable it seems, but nonetheless:

Z

Thread 'SSD doesn't worked - solved'

Updated and solved : after back and forth with Viofo team, they really can’t help my case much and suggest me change to portable SSD and remove the info that A329 support Enclosure on thier homepage.

Key take away to get thing done
1/ A329 have very picky with usb cable, you should buy from Viofo due to normal usb cable will high chance make signal gps noise, I have test 6 non-viofo cable from high reputation brand but only 1 xiaomi c to c cable work well, and i am not sure model ( apple iPhone 15pro c-c, belkin 100w c-c, belkin playa, belkin 60w, orico usb c, xiaomi c to c cable )

2/...
  • Like
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Looks like the references to SSD enclosures have now been removed from the Viofo website, as per the screenshot below, as compatibility cannot be guaranteed:

IMG_20250317_231322.webp
 
Looks like the new three-channel version of the A329 will be released in the very near future.

It will be named the A329S, featuring a third channel of a new fish-eye lens interior cabin camera (increased field of view and a new improved sensor?). The A329T (with the 2K telephoto making a comeback!) and A329SW (waterproof rear camera) will also be making an appearance. This means bye-bye to the hdmi port and hello to a second coaxial port connection.

All the information you need is right here: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/viofo-a329s-a329sw-a329t-coming-soon.52827/
 
Augustus said:
After spending time with the A329 (Viofo's flagship of 2024/2025), I have some thoughts on this beast of a dashcam. The first to market with a new Novatek processor (NT98530), 4K60fps recording, Wi-Fi 6, and SSD support, does the A329 have what it takes to blow the competition away? Let's find out. @viofo @VIOFO-Support




Viofo A329 (Sony Starvis 2 IMX678/IMX675, Wi-Fi 6, SSD, USB 3.0) Review

View attachment 77410


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Firmware: V1.1_250120. The firmware version loaded from the factory onto the device was V1.0_241006, and during the testing period I loaded first the stable V1.0_241029 version. During the testing period there was an update to V1.1 which I updated the device during the latter part of testing.

App for testing: Android version 3.2.19, obtained from Google Play Store.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------




The verdict:

After a few hiccups at launch, Viofo had an absolute winner on their hands last year with the A229 Pro. Viofo continues this success with the A329, a model that while on the surface seems iterative, does bring some welcome upgrades. While there may not be much here for A229 Pro users to necessitate an upgrade, for others (new and from other dashcams), the A329 is a screamer.

Viofo once again demonstrates why they are the best in the game, by packaging top-tier specs in a reliable no-frills package. The A329 gets an A+++ rating from me.




My nitpickings:
  • Users need a cable longer than 1.8m/2.5m external SSD cable sold by Viofo, as it barely fits into a glovebox on a mid-sized sedan
  • The Viofo app while functional, still needs some polish (more detailed progress display for operations such as microSD/SSD backup)
  • Still no OTA firmware updates, Viofo? (been more than a year already)
  • Niggly firmware bugs (namely SSD compatibility) - SSD compatibility fixed but switching between microSD and SSD randomly is not fixed (in V1.1 firmware)


The positive:

  • Viofo once again has durability and build quality down-pat
  • Stunning proven video quality from the Sony Starvis 2 IM678/IMX675 pairing, 4K60fps footage looks AMAZING
  • HDR performance and licence plate identification is reliable as always with Viofo
  • More settings in the app and on the dashcam itself than you can shake a stick at
  • The A329 takes the crown of fastest start-up/shut-down, resume/stop recording and menu operation in a dashcam yet
  • WiFi-6 makes downloading footage off the SSD/microSD memory card much faster and an absolute breeze
  • External SSD support is a game-changer, removing a potential point of failure and aiding in heat dissipation
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I'm curious, do you have to have the sdcard insalled if using an external ssd?
 
BeerMonster said:
I'm curious, do you have to have the sdcard insalled if using an external ssd?
Click to expand...
No, you can have the SSD connected without a microSD card in the front camera. I operate my A329 in this mode all of the time.
 
BeerMonster said:
I'm curious, do you have to have the sdcard insalled if using an external ssd?
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No you don't. You can have a microSD card installed or not, it will fall back to microSD if it cannot detect the external SSD that's connected. Though this doesn't always happen.
 
Another update to the SSD situation on the A329. I was provided a new 2.5m official Viofo cable and the SSD issues persist, even though it doesn't happen as often with my Kingston XS1000 1TB model.

Viofo have typically been picky with their microSD memory card compatibility, for better or worse, compared to other brands such as Vantrue or 70mai. One has to wonder if they have taken the same approach here, or is it a case of what should be straightforward support not happening (either Novatek or Viofo's side).

Will be interesting to see if competitors such as 70mai and Vantrue provide support for external memory, using the Novatek NT98530 chipset that has support for such. It appears to be a typically low-volume market so I would presume that it wouldn't be a priority for them as such.

Overall, it's disappointing to see something that should be so easily implemented have issues with SSD enclosures and external SSDs themselves.



IMG_20250323_074322.webp
 
Augustus said:
Another update to the SSD situation on the A329. I was provided a new 2.5m official Viofo cable and the SSD issues persist, even though it doesn't happen as often with my Kingston XS1000 1TB model.

Viofo have typically been picky with their microSD memory card compatibility, for better or worse, compared to other brands such as Vantrue or 70mai. One has to wonder if they have taken the same approach here, or is it a case of what should be straightforward support not happening (either Novatek or Viofo's side).

Will be interesting to see if competitors such as 70mai and Vantrue provide support for external memory, using the Novatek NT98530 chipset that has support for such. It appears to be a typically low-volume market so I would presume that it wouldn't be a priority for them as such.

Overall, it's disappointing to see something that should be so easily implemented have issues with SSD enclosures and external SSDs themselves.



View attachment 78800
Click to expand...

What type of enclosure are you using for your SSD? Are you using an M.2 SSD?

Dont know about Viofo Capability as I don't have A329 but I've never had issue with this enclosure https://www.amazon.se/-/en/Sabrent-Type-C-Tool-free-Enclosure-EC-SNVE/dp/B08RVC6F9Y?th=1

Not sure if it'd work with the Viofo
 
Augustus said:
Another update to the SSD situation on the A329. I was provided a new 2.5m official Viofo cable and the SSD issues persist, even though it doesn't happen as often with my Kingston XS1000 1TB model.

Viofo have typically been picky with their microSD memory card compatibility, for better or worse, compared to other brands such as Vantrue or 70mai. One has to wonder if they have taken the same approach here, or is it a case of what should be straightforward support not happening (either Novatek or Viofo's side).

Will be interesting to see if competitors such as 70mai and Vantrue provide support for external memory, using the Novatek NT98530 chipset that has support for such. It appears to be a typically low-volume market so I would presume that it wouldn't be a priority for them as such.

Overall, it's disappointing to see something that should be so easily implemented have issues with SSD enclosures and external SSDs themselves.
Click to expand...
You have written this as though the A329 doesn't work with any SSDs, but I thought it was fine with the SSDs recommended by Viofo. Having not read every post about this, I'm not sure what the situation currently is?

Can you clarify the current situation please, which SSDs work fine, and which don't?

On the memory cards, the main problem is that some cards are not fast enough 100% of the time, some slow down when they get warm, some slow down when they get hot, some slow down when they need to perform garbage collection. SSDs are also flash memory, and it is reasonable to expect that they have similar problems, so I don't that it is a surprise to see some issues with some devices, or that we need a list of recommended SSDs, and recommended USB sticks, as well as the recommended list of memory cards.

Dashcams do have time limits for storing the data; on my PC, I don't mind if saving a file sticks it in a queue which doesn't physically have it in the flash memory until 10 seconds later, as long as the file is still accessible without delay, but on a dashcam, the video of a car approaching at 100Km/h and smashing into my car, causing the dashcam to become disconnected from power, and possibly disconnected from the SSD, must be saved before the super capacitor runs out of power, and before the SSD becomes disconnected, so a write operation has to be completed, with the data transferred from the image sensor into the SSD within ? milliseconds. If some of these SSD enclosures are occasionally taking seconds to store the data then we don't want to be using them, we do want to use the ones that can keep up!

If the Viofo recommended SSDs are being successful, then I think the problems are more likely to be related to the SSDs being used, and not caused by Viofo or Novatek, and the reason Viofo dashcams are more picky about which memory cards and SSDs they work with is that they are higher performance than any other brand. They have the best image quality because they write the most data to the flash memory, and we don't want to throttle them so that they can work with any memory card or any SSD, because we are buying Viofo dashcams because they have the best image quality, and we are prepared to accept that they need a good memory card/SSD, with good not meaning fastest write speed specification, but meaning most consistent, never slowing down because they are warm, or because their garbage pool has filled up.
 
Nigel said:
You have written this as though the A329 doesn't work with any SSDs, but I thought it was fine with the SSDs recommended by Viofo. Having not read every post about this, I'm not sure what the situation currently is?

Can you clarify the current situation please, which SSDs work fine, and which don't?

On the memory cards, the main problem is that some cards are not fast enough 100% of the time, some slow down when they get warm, some slow down when they get hot, some slow down when they need to perform garbage collection. SSDs are also flash memory, and it is reasonable to expect that they have similar problems, so I don't that it is a surprise to see some issues with some devices, or that we need a list of recommended SSDs, and recommended USB sticks, as well as the recommended list of memory cards.

Dashcams do have time limits for storing the data; on my PC, I don't mind if saving a file sticks it in a queue which doesn't physically have it in the flash memory until 10 seconds later, as long as the file is still accessible without delay, but on a dashcam, the video of a car approaching at 100Km/h and smashing into my car, causing the dashcam to become disconnected from power, and possibly disconnected from the SSD, must be saved before the super capacitor runs out of power, and before the SSD becomes disconnected, so a write operation has to be completed, with the data transferred from the image sensor into the SSD within ? milliseconds. If some of these SSD enclosures are occasionally taking seconds to store the data then we don't want to be using them, we do want to use the ones that can keep up!

If the Viofo recommended SSDs are being successful, then I think the problems are more likely to be related to the SSDs being used, and not caused by Viofo or Novatek, and the reason Viofo dashcams are more picky about which memory cards and SSDs they work with is that they are higher performance than any other brand. They have the best image quality because they write the most data to the flash memory, and we don't want to throttle them so that they can work with any memory card or any SSD, because we are buying Viofo dashcams because they have the best image quality, and we are prepared to accept that they need a good memory card/SSD, with good not meaning fastest write speed specification, but meaning most consistent, never slowing down because they are warm, or because their garbage pool has filled up.
Click to expand...

Shouldn't the manufacturer be responsible for compiling a list of compatible devices? I'm not suggesting manufacturers test every piece of hardware, but at least compile a list of known devices that work.

The amount of hardware out there is exorbitant and spending money to "guess" shouldn't be the consumer's responsibility.
 
Nigel said:
You have written this as though the A329 doesn't work with any SSDs, but I thought it was fine with the SSDs recommended by Viofo. Having not read every post about this, I'm not sure what the situation currently is?

Can you clarify the current situation please, which SSDs work fine, and which don't?

On the memory cards, the main problem is that some cards are not fast enough 100% of the time, some slow down when they get warm, some slow down when they get hot, some slow down when they need to perform garbage collection. SSDs are also flash memory, and it is reasonable to expect that they have similar problems, so I don't that it is a surprise to see some issues with some devices, or that we need a list of recommended SSDs, and recommended USB sticks, as well as the recommended list of memory cards.

Dashcams do have time limits for storing the data; on my PC, I don't mind if saving a file sticks it in a queue which doesn't physically have it in the flash memory until 10 seconds later, as long as the file is still accessible without delay, but on a dashcam, the video of a car approaching at 100Km/h and smashing into my car, causing the dashcam to become disconnected from power, and possibly disconnected from the SSD, must be saved before the super capacitor runs out of power, and before the SSD becomes disconnected, so a write operation has to be completed, with the data transferred from the image sensor into the SSD within ? milliseconds. If some of these SSD enclosures are occasionally taking seconds to store the data then we don't want to be using them, we do want to use the ones that can keep up!

If the Viofo recommended SSDs are being successful, then I think the problems are more likely to be related to the SSDs being used, and not caused by Viofo or Novatek, and the reason Viofo dashcams are more picky about which memory cards and SSDs they work with is that they are higher performance than any other brand. They have the best image quality because they write the most data to the flash memory, and we don't want to throttle them so that they can work with any memory card or any SSD, because we are buying Viofo dashcams because they have the best image quality, and we are prepared to accept that they need a good memory card/SSD, with good not meaning fastest write speed specification, but meaning most consistent, never slowing down because they are warm, or because their garbage pool has filled up.
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I think you should read the earlier posts of this thread and what I've linked to what others have said.

Others have gone into more technical detail about the issues, but there seems to be no issues with USB memory sticks, only SSDs. Folks keep making these poor excuses that should only use recommended SSDs , but you don't see this for laptops or cameras or other devices because SSD and usb are universal drivers at this point. The issues are happening with SSDs in enclosures or external SSDs without enclosures.

I know it's difficult for you to understand this, but Viofo has already had to backtrack on their support for enclosures and they may have to on SSDs too. It is also difficult for others here on these forums that do not have a grounding in both their working lives in IT and how these things should work. Cc @lufa6977
 
jsmith said:
Shouldn't the manufacturer be responsible for compiling a list of compatible devices? I'm not suggesting manufacturers test every piece of hardware, but at least compile a list of known devices that work.

The amount of hardware out there is exorbitant and spending money to "guess" shouldn't be the consumer's responsibility.
Click to expand...
Tell that to anyone that buys a laptop or another device that will accept external SSDs, and it doesn't work with it. Universal drivers and microcontrollers for SSDs, so this shouldn't be an issue with recommended SSDs.

SSDs should work across the board full stop.
 
As a consumer any device, whether it's a phone, pc, action camera or a dashcam, should support any memory device that meets the required read and write speeds.

If this is not the case then the manufacturer should have a list of recommended brands and models.

Just my opinion on this.
We have a list of SD cards to avoid and which ones can be used.
 
Augustus said:
Tell that to anyone that buys a laptop or another device that will accept external SSDs, and it doesn't work with it. Universal drivers and microcontrollers for SSDs, so this shouldn't be an issue with recommended SSDs.

SSDs should work across the board full stop.
Click to expand...

Your argument here is incorrect. I can go to the laptop manufacturer's website to download all the necessary drivers and software. The manufacturer has vetted this software to work. On occasion, you do run into an issue.

Generally, I can buy any brand SSD, hard drive, etc and it will work flawlessly with the laptop. No need to make an "Approved List".

Memory is where Manufactures create an "Approved List". Not all ram will work with every laptop.

In Viofo's case, the SD card is a critical component. It's Viofo's (or any manufacturer of a dashcam) to create a list of Approved Cards / SSD's that work with their product. The same as a laptop manufacturer does with Drivers + Manufacturer Software + Ram.
 
jsmith said:
Your argument here is incorrect. I can go to the laptop manufacturer's website to download all the necessary drivers and software. The manufacturer has vetted this software to work. On occasion, you do run into an issue.

Generally, I can buy any brand SSD, hard drive, etc and it will work flawlessly with the laptop. No need to make an "Approved List".

Memory is where Manufactures create an "Approved List". Not all ram will work with every laptop.

In Viofo's case, the SD card is a critical component. It's Viofo's (or any manufacturer of a dashcam) to create a list of Approved Cards / SSD's that work with their product. The same as a laptop manufacturer does with Drivers + Manufacturer Software + Ram.
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RAM is a poor example because of course certain ones won't work because of typed and frequencies. But in general if it falls within the general specification it will work.

Same with Laptop manufacturers have their own graphics card drivers that are often times out of date because maybe they were release ones with the laptop - sure, optimised for the laptop but even the generic ones from the graphics card will still work and in some instances work better.

SSDs as you correctly say will work with pretty much flawlessly because that's generic drivers in Windows / Linux / whatever that will work with it. Gone are the days 15 or 20 years ago where specific drivers had to be made otherwise incompatibilities would exist. The world has moved on in the same reasons for cell phones too with drivers etc. Firmware updates for SSDs are few and far between, and mainly just optimise things a tad further. They're not essential for the drive to work.

So if the usb 3.0 port appears to work with other mountable devices such as usb memory sticks and microSD memory card readers, why can't it work with SSDs? Should be one and done deal.
 
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