VIOFO WM1 PURCHASE

[Boattail]

Well, one of my two over 6 year old A119 units is acting up and I'm thinking it's about to fail... I ordered a VM1 for replacement. Hoping it will perform and well (maybe better) as these 2 units have. I looking forward to the smaller unit and the WiFi viewing. The A119s have survived and performed well in several severe North Dakota below zero winters!!

 

[OldEastSider]

Any updates to share?

I'm also testing the WM1 and find the best settings are 2560 x 1440 @30fps, bitrate at maximum, WDR off, audio off, loop interval either 5 or 10 minutes.

I love the small form factor and absence of a screen. The Viofo app works very well. But the overall image quality is not as good as the A119 V3 regardless of the settings used on the V3.

 

[batman_]

Would you recommend this over a119v3?

 

[OldEastSider]

Would you recommend this over a119v3?

The beauty of the WM1 is its very small horizontal form factor. I have a WM1 in an old Subaru Forester and from the driver's seat it is completely concealed by the basic rear view mirror. I've since bought a second WM1 to use in a new Mazda CX-5 which has a large rear view mirror housing and a lot of frit at the top of the windshield (the black and white dot matrix in the glass). Combined with the sweep pattern of the wipers a surprising amount of windshield "real estate" can't be used for camera placement. So I've placed it just below the mirror housing in the center of the windshield. It's a much neater installation than the A119 which I had to place quite a bit off-center and found I was including the A-pillar and some of the mirror housing in the videos.

So, for me it is more of an aesthetic choice. For $99 you can't go wrong with either camera. I've had no issues with them - even at temperatures of well over 100 degrees inside the car this last week. The A119v3 is an older design but it has been well refined over the years. My ageing eyesight can barely see the screen though, and I prefer to set up a camera via WiFi, as with the WM1. The capture seems to be sharper with the WM1 and I have no trouble reading license plates on playback on a 55" TV. The color is a little washed-out though, and color appears more natural with the A119v3. Audio is good on both cameras.

I think the A119v3 is a more accomplished camera, but you have to like the wedge design (which many people do). Aesthetically, I prefer the WM1.