Viofo, let’s go! A229 Pro 3-Channel Dash Camera review (+ Vantrue Nexus 4 Pro shoot-out!)

[Agie]

Thank you for those comparison videos! Very helpful.

Looking at the front cams, the Viofo looks to have better clarity and detail including sign and license plate capture. It does look like there's way more windshield reflections on the Vantrue though. Could you doublecheck to ensure it's oriented correctly? It might need a little bit of rotation to knock out those reflections.

The rear cam also looks way better on the Viofo. The focus looks better on the Viofo which can impact things, but it also has a higher bitrate and I prefer its white balance too.

With the interior cams, nothing really jumps out much in the daytime, but at night the Viofo looks to have better contrast and flare management. Do you see similar results from the Vantrue when running it solo, without a second set of IR LED's next to it?

With the single channel comparison, looks like the Viofo again does better at plate capture with the traffic going the opposite direction. Not sure if it's due to the lens or the Viofo recording at nearly 2x the bitrate. At night, both cams are able to grab plates, but again I'm seeing a slight edge in clarity with the Viofo.

Overall to my eye after watching the videos, it's a solid W for Viofo.

Thanks for your kind words mate and having a squiz at the videos

The reflections are definitely there and I'm aware of, just haven't got around to re-doing the wiring again cos of the placement of the Vantrue (it picks up my car's lane guidance cameras to the right, and then there's Frank the Horse's brown reflection on the dashboard LoL)

I see similar results for the Vantrue's cabin camera when running it solo, and I noticed that on my standalone cabin Vantrue footage from weeks back (where I had no other cameras put up in my car). There is some reflections there so something isn't right in the hardware perhaps...

Also for the cabin quality, I think the processing is way better on the Viofo even though it may appear too sharpened for some folks. Would much rather have oversharpening than the muddiness which seems to affect the Vantrue.

As you said, it's a total win for the Viofo here it's almost no contest.

 

[Panzer Platform]

It is not easy to only read the feedback and can't verify or test it.

Agree.

As I wrote before, I don't feel that is OK when I see tests and comparisons with dashcams not aligned properly, not exactly at the same video frame, windows not clean, or strange settings.

Agree.

I deleted a lot of work when I made mistakes. Hours of work. I know it is not easy to just delete a half day driving and work just because of a mistake. But I prefer to work again and do my best even I am not good at video editing. I like to offer videos with less post production processing to preserve the original quality as much I can.

Agree.

The A229 Pro is the first time I received a pre-production Viofo camera for testing.
All other cameras have been retail / production.
I told Alex I only want to test retail / production versions because I'm not qualified to find bugs, and offer good feedback like rcg530, and you guys.

 

[Agie]

Someone has some old flickery light bulbs!
I drove through town last night, just one shop had flickery lamps, the shop most likely to have the cheapest/oldest lamps, everything else was completely solid.

I'm gonna burn down all these businesses for messing with my testing driving runs LoL

 

[kamkar]

I got flat rate car wash, 100 DKkr A month and i can wash my car as many times a day as i like, and some times i do 2 runs just CUZ i can.
Normally a single small car wash will cost you 69 Dkkr, so i think its a damn good deal i have, and i get the premium wash

 

[Agie]

I got flat rate car wash, 100 DKkr A month and i can wash my car as many times a day as i like, and some times i do 2 runs just CUZ i can.
Normally a single small car wash will cost you 69 Dkkr, so i think its a damn good deal i have, and i get the premium wash

It costs that much for your monthly rate as it does for a single car wash here. And we don't get unlimited washes either. Inflation haha.

 

[kamkar]

Some times being the little guy, is a good thing.

In your favor, you guys have dirt cheap gasoline compared to here, at least i think so, right now we pay +7 dollars for a gallon here

 

[Agie]

Some times being the little guy, is a good thing.

In your favor, you guys have dirt cheap gasoline compared to here, at least i think so, right now we pay +7 dollars for a gallon here

I think it's actually the same. Apparently 3.7 litres is a gallon and our petrol is either under or just over $2 AUD a litre. So about the same

Cost of living pressures hit everywhere unfortunately, you think it can't get any worse after COVID. Nope lol.

 

[safedrivesolutions]

Someone has some old flickery light bulbs!
I drove through town last night, just one shop had flickery lamps, the shop most likely to have the cheapest/oldest lamps, everything else was completely solid.

I have an A229 Pro and they got some tweaking to do with night vision. In my opinion. Hence why my review has been delayed.

 

[safedrivesolutions]

All videos with HDR enabled will have flicker. If you will remove the flicker in firmware you will lose the ability to read car license plates. The more flicker you have the better will be read the car license plates.
Vantrue also has lots of flicker. But is more evident on Viofo. There is no light which is flickering on Viofo and on Vantrue is not.

Regarding interior camera I like more the day image from Vantrue, but this is the only situation where Vantrue wins. During night, the Viofo is better and the Vantrue image have some strange light reflections in the middle of the image. I think this is a hardware issue.

Regarding front and rear camera I expect Viofo to add a little more brightness because when doing comparisons most of the average people are judging only the brightness and not the details.

Regarding car windows, Agie should to a better work for cleaning inside and outside if he is doing comparisons with pre-production samples.

The flicker will depend on how dark it is. There is something different happening with A229Pro. I do think they will make it better soon.

 

[Agie]

I have an A229 Pro and they got some tweaking to do with night vision. In my opinion. Hence why my review has been delayed.

Waiting for yours and @Vortex Radar thoughts on these new Viofo puppies. Still early days so I'm sure the optimisations will come thick and fast

 

[safedrivesolutions]

Waiting for yours and @Vortex Radar thoughts on these new Viofo puppies. Still early days so I'm sure the optimisations will come thick and fast

Daytime video is fantastic. I got some great comparison video. Night Time I need to put new firmware on it that I received yesterday.

 

[Agie]

I only found these two vague articles, and I know for a fact that you can still buy some halogen light bulbs in the supermarkets / trade stores / shopping outlets: https://www.wa.gov.au/government/announcements/household-energy-efficiency-scheme https://www.energy.gov.au/households/lighting

As such, there is no scheme to specifically outlaw the sale of them or to force older halogen's to upgrade to LED which is quite stupid. I remember buying LED's ten years ago because I was looking at my electricity bills, and went stir-crazy replacing everything I could with LEDs. This should be mandatory in all countries to be honest.

 

[Agie]

My conclusions (and more endless blabbing) on the quality coming from the two dashcams has been updated here: https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...ntrue-nexus-4-pro-shoot-out.49838/post-604661

 

[Agie]

Just saw The Gadgeteer throw up a written review of the Nexus 4 Pro, and seems his cabin videos have the same IR reflections as well. As well as him looking like he's wounded himself and he's driving to the nearest ER:

Shouldn't be happening at all. Tbh I like the screen and colour scheme on the Vantrue, over the A229 Pro, but there's just too many deficiencies popping up @Jeff_Vantrue

 

[J Ward]

My only gripe w/ viofo is that it is such freaking large. I wish they would come out with a dashcam like DDPAI mini 5 or Blackvue that has all the great abilities Viofo is known for without the screen & buttons attached to it.
Something sleek and minimalistic.
@viofo please

 

[VIOFO-Support]

My only gripe w/ viofo is that it is such freaking large. I wish they would come out with a dashcam like DDPAI mini 5 or Blackvue that has all the great abilities Viofo is known for without the screen & buttons attached to it.
Something sleek and minimalistic.
@viofo please

We will release a new model called VS1 that may meet part of your desires, stay tuned.

 

[Dashmellow]

My only gripe w/ viofo is that it is such freaking large. I wish they would come out with a dashcam like DDPAI mini 5 or Blackvue that has all the great abilities Viofo is known for without the screen & buttons attached to it.
Something sleek and minimalistic.
@viofo please

Well, there's the Viofo WM1 for a single channel 2K cam.

 

[speedingcheetah]

My only gripe w/ viofo is that it is such freaking large. I wish they would come out with a dashcam like DDPAI mini 5 or Blackvue that has all the great abilities Viofo is known for without the screen & buttons attached to it.
Something sleek and minimalistic.
@viofo please

I always found the VIOFO A119 to be tiny... Have had the V1 tucked behind my rear view mirror since 2016, and no one has ever spotted it, even when sitting in passenger seat and it makes a noise.

That being said, the wedge shape is a bit more "bulky" in another aspect, than the cylinder style of my old Mini0826, but these cams mount very different, so it is not a Apples to Apples compare.

Recent upgrade, i got the VIOFO A119 Mini 2. It just as compact as the A119 V1, but a tad thicker in the lower wedge design. It stands out more than the V1.
BUT, i was considering getting the A229 Pro, cause it was 4K, but then i seen comparison vids with the A119 Mini 2 next to it, and the other higher models, and those other models are HUGE!
Would stand out way to much for my tastes, and block some of my view out the windshield.

 

[Agie]

I always found the VIOFO A119 to be tiny... Have had the V1 tucked behind my rear view mirror since 2016, and no one has ever spotted it, even when sitting in passenger seat and it makes a noise.

That being said, the wedge shape is a bit more "bulky" in another aspect, than the cylinder style of my old Mini0826, but these cams mount very different, so it is not a Apples to Apples compare.

Recent upgrade, i got the VIOFO A119 Mini 2. It just as compact as the A119 V1, but a tad thicker in the lower wedge design. It stands out more than the V1.
BUT, i was considering getting the A229 Pro, cause it was 4K, but then i seen comparison vids with the A119 Mini 2 next to it, and the other higher models, and those other models are HUGE!
Would stand out way to much for my tastes, and block some of my view out the windshield.

That's it, depends on your tastes the bigness don't bother me but the A229 Pro is a thick Boi!

 

[Dashmellow]

The A229 Pro's size is really all about adequate cooling (along with its big heat sink).