Viofo A329S Review

[Chuck McCoy]

just make fw a229 pro quality license plate same as 329

If you want better quality viofo cant do much with the fw

Novatek 96529: A229 Pro
Novatek 98530: A329

 

[lufa6977]

Novatek 96529: A229 Pro
Novatek 98530: A329

Can you tell us the difference between these two products and why one give quality license plate images and the other one does not?

 

[SafeDriveSolutions]

Can you tell us the difference between these two products and why one give quality license plate images and the other one does not?

@viofo maybe you can explain limitations of Novatek chips?

 

[phhaily125]

Can you tell us the difference between these two products and why one give quality license plate images and the other one does not?

In same conditions, 4K30 HDR either on/off
329 have less license motion blurred, numbers and letters have more clarity and contrast compare 229Pro
329 lens focus for license plate numbers, letters catch closer 1-2fps if you compare side to side 229pro( the distance is very short cant say how many centermeters). In short, if you have 2 videos of 329,229pro, same license plate you will see the 329 focus faster than 229 1-2 secs.

To my eyes, 229pro is just like 119V3, overall quality is okay for our eyes to watch but the whole video is a bit soft- focused feelings if you watch both video 229pro and 329
329 is like 119Mini, they put more clarity in the total video

Just adjust in the fw the first one is OK

 

[Karagandinez]

In same conditions, 4K30 HDR either on/off
329 have less license motion blurred, numbers and letters have more clarity and contrast compare 229Pro

I haven't noticed this on my copies.
Have you considered the possibility of incorrect lens adjustment on your A229 Pro?

 

[Mtz]

I don't think that guy have both dashcams and doing side-by-side comparisons on the same car and carefully analysing snapshots.

Why the text .is 329t？ Not 329s

329T means the firmware is for A329T. There will be two firmwares:
FWA329T.bin and FWA329S.bin
It is normal to have two firmwares because on the A326T version there is no infrared light on the telephoto camera. Also in the camera menu will be a name like Telephoto camera or Interior camera.
Another reason is the video filenames which will have different ending for telephoto or interior camera, like:
2025_0229_121314_781374T
or
2025_0229_121314_781374I

For sure both firmwares will offer the same image quality, only the names used in the menu will be different.
In theory should be also a different setting for the image of infrared camera compared to the telephoto camera.
My advice is to not switch firmwares because you will not obtain any advantage, but some errors can occur.

Right now the best news showed in this thread is that the interior camera is very wide maybe something like 200 degrees. But also quality!

 

[SafeDriveSolutions]

I don't think that guy have both dashcams and doing side-by-side comparisons on the same car and carefully analysing snapshots.


329T means the firmware is for A329T. There will be two firmwares:
FWA329T.bin and FWA329S.bin
It is normal to have two firmwares because on the A326T version there is no infrared light on the telephoto camera. Also in the camera menu will be a name like Telephoto camera or Interior camera.
Another reason is the video filenames which will have different ending for telephoto or interior camera, like:
2025_0229_121314_781374T
or
2025_0229_121314_781374I

For sure both firmwares will offer the same image quality, only the names used in the menu will be different.
In theory should be also a different setting for the image of infrared camera compared to the telephoto camera.
My advice is to not switch firmwares because you will not obtain any advantage, but some errors can occur.

Right now the best news showed in this thread is that the interior camera is very wide maybe something like 200 degrees. But also quality!

so currently we are getting all firmwares with T on the end of it. Even with interior camera setting they are sending it to us with a T on end of it. I do not know what the final verdict will be on how the firmware will be rolled out so that is why I have not commented on that yet.

Thanks for sharing

 

[lufa6977]

I don't think that guy have both dashcams and doing side-by-side comparisons on the same car and carefully analysing snapshots.


329T means the firmware is for A329T. There will be two firmwares:
FWA329T.bin and FWA329S.bin
It is normal to have two firmwares because on the A326T version there is no infrared light on the telephoto camera. Also in the camera menu will be a name like Telephoto camera or Interior camera.
Another reason is the video filenames which will have different ending for telephoto or interior camera, like:
2025_0229_121314_781374T
or
2025_0229_121314_781374I
.
.

Glad to see that VIOFO has corrected one of their coding errors, or at least lack of foresight about file names reflecting camera type. I did make this suggestion to VIOFO either via DM or support ticket, don't recall which. Still, it is good to see they are listening.

 

[lufa6977]

In same conditions, 4K30 HDR either on/off
329 have less license motion blurred, numbers and letters have more clarity and contrast compare 229Pro
329 lens focus for license plate numbers, letters catch closer 1-2fps if you compare side to side 229pro( the distance is very short cant say how many centermeters). In short, if you have 2 videos of 329,229pro, same license plate you will see the 329 focus faster than 229 1-2 secs.

To my eyes, 229pro is just like 119V3, overall quality is okay for our eyes to watch but the whole video is a bit soft- focused feelings if you watch both video 229pro and 329
329 is like 119Mini, they put more clarity in the total video

Just adjust in the fw the first one is OK

Thank you. I was hoping Chuck McCoy could explain in more technical details, as he posted the two chip types, I presumed he knew the difference.

 

[Mtz]

so currently we are getting all firmwares with T on the end of it. Even with interior camera setting they are sending it to us with a T on end of it.

Right now it is not important the file name. At the right time you will just rename the file from T to S and use it for update according to your testing model.

In a firmware it is written somewhere what filename to search to start the update. If it will not find the correct name, it will not update. So when you will receive the final firmware version for your sample, it will end with S, you will change it with T for the last time and in the future any firmware received with S at the end must not be renamed. Maybe will be possible to receive also a loader .bin file but I think it is not necessary in this case.

Wrong renaming a Novatek firmware will not kill a Novatek dashcam. Novatek was smarter than Ambarella few years ago and they used a loader for the firmware update. Ambarella was not using a loader and if using a wrong firmware on an Ambarella dashcam, it will brick it. Only cable update could un-brick it but this was complicated for average Joe. Many years ago I un-bricked some Ambarella cameras I had because I was testing before release also the SJCam brand.
This loader feature was one of the main factor why Novatek won the race against Ambarella because the manufacturers were tired about bricked dashcams in the warranty period. The second reason was the lower bitrate used by Novatek: less stress for the chipset and card, less heat than Ambarella. And at that time the max resolution was Full HD. By the way, a big reason for Ambarella to sell was because GoPro was using their chipset and this was free advertising for them. But also GoPro got tired about them and abandoned Ambarella. The biggest problem with Ambarella was they were not implementing requests but maybe only from big companies like GoPro. Some companies like Street Guardian had their own firmware engineers and could do some things on Ambarella firmware but they were limited compared to Ambarella engineers. Ambarella was feeling to high ranked to listen poor customers. Finally some justice was done, thanks to Novatek.
But also with Novatek some things are not OK, like Viofo engineers to work on some new features & ideas and then Novatek to offer those features to almost anybody (you will see later this year), but I don't know details about this behavior, I am not so deep in the Novatek firmware things. I was more in the Mediatek chipsets area many years ago when I was hacking their DivX players chipsets (see my avatar).

Maybe @Chuck McCoy is some MAGA (Make Ambarella Great Again) fan from their good old times when all dashcams were with Ambarella chipsets and high bitrates and this is why he is always asking for a 100mbps when a new Viofo dashcam is launched. If Viofo will switch ever to Ambarella, maybe his dream will be implemented, but until then I consider it is impossible to have 100mbs for one 4K video from a Novatek dashcam. 😊 😉

 

[indigo]

hi what about this a229ultra

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Maybe @Chuck McCoy is some MAGA (Make Ambarella Great Again)

I am not, nor have I ever been a member of the Make Ambarella Great Again Party.
You give me too much credit MTZ, my first cam was A129 Pro (2018).

I consider it is impossible to have 100mbs for one 4K video from a Novatek dashcam.

We already have it.
A329 1-CH configuration 4K60fps is 97.6 Mbps, (1 Minute file is 700MB).
That’s why I keep asking for Viofo Brand 1TB SD Cards.
Vanture, and Rove have 1TB SD Cards, (why not Viofo).
When we get AV1, I kindly request 200 Mbps Bitrate. lol

 

[Mtz]

The things are much more complicated when it is about 2 or 3 CH dashcams even now, in 2025. Asking for higher bitrate for such models is creating only frustrations and is not helping anybody.
I am sure that if will be possible that someday the bitrate to be increased without destabilizing the dashcam, it will be increased. Right now I consider that maximum bitrate used in the firmware is at a dangerous level.
In their chamber tests can be OK but in real life many unknowns factors will destabilize the camera if it is already at its limits. This is why you see random people with random problems with a dashcam that most of us we have no problem.
Why just some users have some problems with their dashcams but the majority not? Because in their car something not expected by us, the people with working cameras, is happening.
As SDS said in his video, Viofo is manually checking all dashcams before packing them. So it is excluded some DOA or even a RMA.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Right now I consider that maximum bitrate used in the firmware is at a dangerous level.

I agree.
However, the answer is NOT to reduce Bitrate.
In drag racing there is a saying;
“If you’re not breaking parts, you're not making enough horsepower”
And if something breaks we need to make the transmission, drive shaft, axle etc stronger.
In this example Bitrate = Horsepower.
The Bitrate is so high it’s causing malfunctions.
That means we need more efficient processors, better heat dissipation, more efficient Codec, etc.

Viofo is manually checking all dashcams before packing them. So it is excluded some DOA or even a RMA.

My very first Viofo dash cam (A129 Pro Duo) died on the 21st day of operation.
The speaker exploded with a loud POP, and there was no more audio beeps.
The GPS Module also fried, (I opened it up and it was burned).
I was lucky to witness the malfunction in person, I was able to see the smoke escape the camera.
I was running the camera in my garage for 24 hours, rest 8 hours, then 24 hours again.
After 3 weeks kaput!
I was lucky to be able to return to Amazon for a full refund, (within 30 day return policy).

 

[SafeDriveSolutions]

Here ya go sneak peek unlisted video of Viofo A329 vs Viofo A229 pro interior IR camera
FYI - i forgot to flip the interior IR camera.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Here ya go sneak peek unlisted video of Viofo A329 vs Viofo A229 pro interior IR camera

You are spilling all the beans. lol

 

[Augustus]

Here ya go sneak peek unlisted video of Viofo A329 vs Viofo A229 pro interior IR camera
FYI - i forgot to flip the interior IR camera.

Music sucks but you look like Ali G innit 😂

 

[Augustus]

You are spilling all the beans. lol

It already said on the retail packaging box it was 2K

 

[KR_OGU]

A329T 기대합니다.

 

[SafeDriveSolutions]

Music sucks but you look like Ali G innit 😂

I was going for a weird mix of old school music to me just being weird. Ha ha.