Viofo A329 Review

[safedrivesolutions]

Your videos and testing are generally good and informative but testing HDR on/off with two different models show nothing. What you have done in this video is simply test two different models with a feature set disabled on one model. A test of the A329 only, with HDR on and off would have given a better example of HDR on a particular model.

Noted: have recieved lots of feedback of customers that they love this video. But for some reason this community does not like it.

Showing a video with HDR ON/OFF which educates consumers is great value. Having 2 A329 and 2 A229 pro installed in my vehicle at same time is not in the budget for our small business.

Just goes to show the seperation from what consumers are looking to know and what this community is looking for.

Our goal is to educate on technology and how things work as well as differences between units.

 

[Nigel]

A test of the A329 only, with HDR on and off would have given a better example of HDR on a particular model.

That would have required two A329s, Since to show the difference, it is necessary to have the same vehicles at the same distance using the same viewing angles. With only one A329, it was much better to compare it with the A229 simultaneously than to use two different clips from different times.

This video does show the actual difference between HDR and no HDR very effectively, exactly as it claims.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Our goal is to educate on technology and how things work as well as differences between units.

You make some of the best dash cam videos on YouTube to inform first time consumers who have been mislead by false & misleading manufacturer advertised claims, and fake reviews by what I call the QVC / Home Shopping Network folks on Amazon / YouTube.
I just wish you would have used a U3000 to show why HDR is necessary if you want to capture license plates at night.
Or any other dash cam that does not support HDR.

 

[safedrivesolutions]

You make some of the best dash cam videos on YouTube to inform first time consumers who have been mislead by false & misleading manufacturer advertised claims, and fake reviews by what I call the QVC / Home Shopping Network folks on Amazon / YouTube.
I just wish you would have used a U3000 to show why HDR is necessary if you want to capture license plates at night.
Or any other dash cam that does not support HDR.

I removed all posts related to this hdr video as it is not relevant to A329 review. I would also ask anyone else with posts not relevant to A329 review to also remove their posts so the general public who is looking to learn is find info related to the subject.

Maybe that will be another video is U3000 vs A329

 

[SocialsFinest]

I didn't know that parking geo-fencing was an option before A139.
For what reason did @viofo dropped parking geo-fencing?

Geo-fencing can help many customers with parking-driving(charging) balance, by reducing overall daily parking time.
Of course, we can manually turn off the dash cam in the garage, but being humans, we quite often forget about it, and then in my case it records an extra 6 hours in my dark garage for no reason.
Geo-fencing will make it "set it and forget it"

A139 has geo fencing? Or products before it did, like A129?

 

[SocialsFinest]

I’m looking for a quality dash cam, will be my first dashcam. I dont mind buying external ssd’s and running a 10ft cord in my headliner to hide it somewhere, incase of the event of a theft.

Was someone mentioning wireless download of videos? Or is that only via cloud.

Which i agree, cloud is a risk, with most companies using third party sharing once you use cloud, like thinkware and Garmin i believe. Your videos are their videos.

Anyways,
Geo fencing and wireless download would be nice. If not recommended, that’s fine. I’ll probably hardwire, but i am open to batterypack ideas.

Looking for Front & Rear cam.
I dont care right now about interior cam.

I’m in Midwest, it gets very cold and quite warm in the summers.
I do night and daytime driving.

I dont mind learning how to rethermalpaste after a few years if needed.
I have a computer if wired down is what needs to happen.


Lots of deer and drunk drivers in the midwest,
clearly capturing license plates and faces if possible is a common seek for most buyers i assume.

Best recommendations? I’ve read quite a few of yalls pages of A139, A229 Plus&Pro,
But mot sure entirely what the telephoto RTC300 is right now, is it a rear cam that is compatible for some front cams?

Just curious if some of yall would be able to unite and recommend the best overall cam.

I understand the A339 is 60fps and slightly better night vision and stuff.

But for overall compatibility and lifespan for a front/rear cam is what im seeking.

Hope everyone is doing well, take care

 

[Panzer Platform]

I’m looking for a quality dash cam,

Hello, and welcome to the club.
First things first, you kind of need to post in the corresponding thread.
This thread is for Ben’s Review of the A329 @safedrivesolutions
Please copy & past your post in this category;
“WHAT SHOULD I BUY?”
Once you post over there you will be flooded with answers to all your questions.
-Chuck

 

[LateralNW]

I’m looking for a quality dash cam, will be my first dashcam. I dont mind buying external ssd’s and running a 10ft cord in my headliner to hide it somewhere, incase of the event of a theft.

Was someone mentioning wireless download of videos? Or is that only via cloud.

Which i agree, cloud is a risk, with most companies using third party sharing once you use cloud, like thinkware and Garmin i believe. Your videos are their videos.

Anyways,
Geo fencing and wireless download would be nice. If not recommended, that’s fine. I’ll probably hardwire, but i am open to batterypack ideas.

Looking for Front & Rear cam.
I dont care right now about interior cam.

I’m in Midwest, it gets very cold and quite warm in the summers.
I do night and daytime driving.

I dont mind learning how to rethermalpaste after a few years if needed.
I have a computer if wired down is what needs to happen.


Lots of deer and drunk drivers in the midwest,
clearly capturing license plates and faces if possible is a common seek for most buyers i assume.

Best recommendations? I’ve read quite a few of yalls pages of A139, A229 Plus&Pro,
But mot sure entirely what the telephoto RTC300 is right now, is it a rear cam that is compatible for some front cams?

Just curious if some of yall would be able to unite and recommend the best overall cam.

I understand the A339 is 60fps and slightly better night vision and stuff.

But for overall compatibility and lifespan for a front/rear cam is what im seeking.

Hope everyone is doing well, take care

For a very short point in time Viofo had geofencing on their A139 Pro I believe.
For reasons I'm not involved in it seems it was only a test. Other May be able to clarify.

I'd recommend a Viofo dashcam but with a caveat. Heat can cause problems for the 4K units as they run hot normally.
However it seems the latest Viofo dashcam the A329 May be able to handle heat better.

A couple of reasons like the changed case design that has more air slots, the ability to use external memory which should reduce heat which is in part caused by the micro sdcard in other models (still available in the A329) and I think a better processor which runs a little cooler than previous units.

It is possible to transfer files via the phone app to your phone and the A329 is claiming increased transfer feeds (I can't personally confirm this but others who have tested the unit claim this. )

Currently it doesn't support the zoom feature that is offered on the A229 Pro but remember this ability comes at the cost of losing the rear facing camera as it uses its port.

The thermal paste issue raised is interesting. I'm surprised that this might be an issue given the amount of computers that use thermal past for years. Granted a car is a hostile place for electronics.

Hope that helps

 

[LateralNW]

Hello, and welcome to the club.
First things first, you kind of need to post in the corresponding thread.
This thread is for Ben’s Review of the A329 @safedrive
Please copy & past your post in this category;
“WHAT SHOULD I BUY?”
Once you post over there you will be flooded with answers to all your questions.
-Chuck

View attachment 74675

Good point!

 

[Karagandinez]

Of course, we can manually turn off the dash cam in the garage, but being humans, we quite often forget about it, and then in my case it records an extra 6 hours in my dark garage for no reason.

If you do this constantly, then everything comes to automatism and is not forgotten.
Checked!

 

[GPak]

If you do this constantly, then everything comes to automatism and is not forgotten.
Checked!

I understand the concept, but I prefer "set it and forget it".

Let alone asking my wife to turn on/off anything on the dashcam, she'll ask me to take it off completely and throw it in the trash.

 

[GPak]

A139 has geo fencing? Or products before it did, like A129?

Apparently at some point A139 did have geo-fencing option, but it was later removed by Viofo.
Here is Viofo's reasoning:
"So sorry that all our cameras cannot support this feature at present. We have added this feature to another model before, but the consequence is not so ideal. So we cancel it again in the newer firmware. Maybe this will be applied when the technology is more mature."
This leaves hope that it might come back.

 

[GPak]

I’m looking for a quality dash cam, will be my first dashcam. I dont mind buying external ssd’s and running a 10ft cord in my headliner to hide it somewhere, incase of the event of a theft.

Was someone mentioning wireless download of videos? Or is that only via cloud.

Which i agree, cloud is a risk, with most companies using third party sharing once you use cloud, like thinkware and Garmin i believe. Your videos are their videos.

Anyways,
Geo fencing and wireless download would be nice. If not recommended, that’s fine. I’ll probably hardwire, but i am open to batterypack ideas.

Looking for Front & Rear cam.
I dont care right now about interior cam.

I’m in Midwest, it gets very cold and quite warm in the summers.
I do night and daytime driving.

I dont mind learning how to rethermalpaste after a few years if needed.
I have a computer if wired down is what needs to happen.


Lots of deer and drunk drivers in the midwest,
clearly capturing license plates and faces if possible is a common seek for most buyers i assume.

Best recommendations? I’ve read quite a few of yalls pages of A139, A229 Plus&Pro,
But mot sure entirely what the telephoto RTC300 is right now, is it a rear cam that is compatible for some front cams?

Just curious if some of yall would be able to unite and recommend the best overall cam.

I understand the A339 is 60fps and slightly better night vision and stuff.

But for overall compatibility and lifespan for a front/rear cam is what im seeking.

Hope everyone is doing well, take care

Rarely does a single dash cam provide all the features we want.
So some prioritization and choices are inevitable.
Depending on what is most important to you?

If the best possible license plate reading and close up details (faces as you mentioned) are the most important for you then A229 Pro/Plus + RTC300 telephoto is the best and only options.
You will have to use interior camera port for the rear camera and downgrade to 1K (1080HD) resolution, or use a separate 2K rear camera, like VS1 Mini or A119 Mini2.

If smooth 4K, 60fps video with good plate reading, remote SSD/SD storage, the fastest WiFi file transfer, and a cooler running dashcam are the most important for you, then A329 is the best and only option.

For my use case, the A329 is more suitable.

 

[SocialsFinest]

Hello, and welcome to the club.
First things first, you kind of need to post in the corresponding thread.
This thread is for Ben’s Review of the A329 @safedrivesolutions
Please copy & past your post in this category;
“WHAT SHOULD I BUY?”
Once you post over there you will be flooded with answers to all your questions.
-Chuck

View attachment 74675

I’ve checked a few of those out. Seems like it was a meeting of the knowledgable in this group thread.
Made me wanna ask here since some were busy talking about Sema car show anyways. assumed a quick question of recommendation would be okay to ask from the smart ones instead of 1,000 suggestions from a “what should i buy” thread. Hope u understand my viewpoint on it. On how i respected the research of the view of the few in this chatroom, vs a bunch of people stating why they like “Kenwood cams because they look cool” or whatever. Anyhow, it’s crazy how much time yall have put into all this and i deeply admire your dedication to it all.

 

[lufa6977]

Apparently at some point A139 did have geo-fencing option, but it was later removed by Viofo.
Here is Viofo's reasoning:
"So sorry that all our cameras cannot support this feature at present. We have added this feature to another model before, but the consequence is not so ideal. So we cancel it again in the newer firmware. Maybe this will be applied when the technology is more mature."
This leaves hope that it might come back.

When did VIOFO post that statement? Geofencing is quite mature and is used in farming drones, military drones, private drones, and more. If I can program a drone to fly a pattern and spray my field, and return to home when the tank is empty, I would think that dash cam manufactures could easily implement geofencing. Of course, it may well mean a change in dash cam body style and design but that probably should be expected.

 

[Mtz]

I understand the concept, but I prefer "set it and forget it".

Let alone asking my wife to turn on/off anything on the dashcam, she'll ask me to take it off completely and throw it in the trash.

A little less work can be the new bluetooth remote which can have a button assigned to Power Off the camera. When arrive at home just turn off the camera.
Another idea can be the use of Voice Command as Video Stop. But the firmware must have some setting that it will turn off automatically the camera if video is stopped for about 2 minutes.
A modded firmware of Viofo can assign the bluetooth function of Parking Mode, but this mode is not supported officially by Viofo and I don't know why. Maybe because of the same reason as in the modded firmware.

I think @Panzer Platform asked me somewhere about some battery pack and OBD charger. Here are the answers: 1. no battery pack for me because shipping of batteries is very complicated. 2. OBD charger is not working like people are expecting, it is different compared to hardwire kits because reading the car battery voltage is complicated and also the EV cars make this even more complicated. I had one OBD charger and I was not satisfied about it, reported the things I don't like and I will receive a new version of OBD with firmware updated. Unfortunately the OBD charger firmware can be applied only at the factory, it is not possible to update its firmware at home. But no matter the firmwares updates, I will not be a fan of OBD charger I will remain a fan of hardwire kits because they are very precise: engine off = instant parking mode on; engine on = instant driving mode on. With OBD chargers will be always a delay. And because the 4K files are big or because the camera can be up to 3 channels, a delay of 15 minutes for example of normal recording instead of parking mode recording will cost a lot of space. Also when you will start the car can be some delay and for example you can drive for 5 minutes in parking mode because the battery voltage is not enough for the OBD charger. Of course, for the people who can not install a hardwire kit this solution is the only to achieve parking mode and they must to understand the delays if they will read the manuals.

 

[Nigel]

If I can program a drone to fly a pattern and spray my field, and return to home when the tank is empty, I would think that dash cam manufactures could easily implement geofencing.

It does seem an easy feature to implement, but I think there were a few problems, such as when you park in an underground carpark - your agricultural drone would have difficulty there.
There is also the issue that the GPS receiver is turned off when parked on the newer cameras, to save power and increase recording time.
I'm sure it could be implemented, and it did work for some people, but they did run into problems with reliable operation.

 

[Panzer Platform]

I think @Panzer Platform asked me somewhere about some battery pack and OBD charger. Here are the answer: 1. no battery pack for me because shipping of batteries is very complicated. 2. OBD charger is not working like people are expecting, it is different compared to hardwire kits because reading the car battery voltage is complicated and also the EV cars make this even more complicated. I had one OBD charger and I was not satisfied about it, reported the things I don't like and I will receive a new version of OBD with firmware updated. Unfortunately the OBD charger firmware can be applied only at the factory, it is not possible to update its firmware at home. But no matter the firmwares updates, I will not be a fan of OBD charger I will remain a fan of hardwire kits because they are very precise: engine off = instant parking mode on; engine on = instant driving mode on. With OBD chargers will be always a delay. And because the 4K files are big or because the camera can be up to 3 channels, a delay of 15 minutes for example of normal recording instead of parking mode recording will cost a lot of space. Also when you will start the car can be some delay and for example you can drive for 5 minutes in parking mode because the battery voltage is not enough for the OBD charger. Of course, for the people who can not install a hardwire kit this solution is the only to achieve parking mode and they must to understand the delays if they will read the manuals.

Thank you for the update.
I'm not a fan at all of OBD2 Power Cables, but I see consumers asking for them like crazy because they are unwilling / unable to install the HK4 hardwire kit.
The only OBD2 Power Cable that reliably enables parking mode is the one from IROAD.
That's why Ben @safedrivesolutions makes custom OBD2 Parking Mode cables for Viofo cameras using the IROAD OBD2 Power Cable.
The only reason I want Viofo to make their own version is because once they figure out how to enable parking mode based on battery voltage they can transfer the technology to a CLA version.
How nice would it be if they made an optional CLA charger that is capable of parking mode operation?
Of course it will only work with CLA Outlets that are constant / always on but, it will be yet another parking mode option without the HK4 hardwire kit.

 

[lufa6977]

It does seem an easy feature to implement, but I think there were a few problems, such as when you park in an underground carpark - your agricultural drone would have difficulty there.
There is also the issue that the GPS receiver is turned off when parked on the newer cameras, to save power and increase recording time.
I'm sure it could be implemented, and it did work for some people, but they did run into problems with reliable operation.

If customers wanted 24 hour GPS Geo-fencing then there would be problems for certain, based on power requirements and as you mentioned sub-ground locations. I do not have a need for personal or consumer level Geo-fencing on a dash cam, but if VIOFO customers expect a commercial level of Geo-fencing, then I think that first, VIOFO will have to do hardware and software enhancements and second, I think it would add a hefty price increase to the dash cam. Geo-fencing seems to be a niche requirement at best, some will want it but I suspect that mostly it would not be used by the average consumer.

 

[Nigel]

How nice would it be if they made an optional CLA charger that is capable of parking mode operation?
Of course it will only work with CLA Outlets that are constant / always on but, it will be yet another parking mode option without the HK4 hardwire kit.

CLA sockets are obsolete, they will soon only be found on older cars...