Vortex Radar
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Update: Video review is now live.
So the DR970X Plus is now available for sale on Blackvue's website. I had a chance to preview it at SEMA. For the past few weeks I've had one in my car running alongside some other dashcams and while I prepare for my full video review, I figured I'd start compiling and sharing my thoughts so far.
On paper, this is a dashcam that I've been looking forward to as an upgrade to the DR970X which, video quality-wise, felt really lackluster. I love that they're stepping it up to a Starvis 2 sensor, larger aperture lens, faster shutter speeds, and higher bitrates, all of which work together to help capture more details like license plates.
Video quality has improved with the Plus model, but it's still not as good as the competition. I do find that it does a better job at capturing plates than the regular 970X, but still lags behind dashcams like the Viofo A229 Pro. I'm working on a video now comparing different models, but here's a few screenshots in the meantime.
Here's a car slowly passing me on the highway. Since there's a small speed differential, both dashcams do fine.
Here I'm passing cars with a faster speed differential and you can start to notice more of the difference between models:
It's certainly not perfect, but it is better. Here's another with a car passing me quickly on the highway:
The video quality from the DR970X Plus does seem a bit grainy. The Viofo footage looks much more clear and crisp. I'll post some video samples later on so you can see.
As far as HDR, Blackvue didn't include it and while the faster shutter speeds help to stop motion, I feel like it's not enough to capture plates at night.
I've still got a bunch more clips to go through, but so far the Plus looks better than the original, though not as good as the competition.
The lens itself is much larger than before and so previous circular polarizers don't fit. Hopefully Blackvue creates a new one for the Plus models.
One issue @rcg530 and I have experienced is lens focus / alignment issues, just like with previous model Blackvues. For that reason Blackvue has sent over a second copy of both models and some of those have had issues too, both front and rear, and so the left or right side of the image may be a little soft and blurry. I'm not sure why they're having a hard time nailing the lens alignment. I was hoping the updated lenses would help with this, but I guess not.
The rear cam has the same model number as before, but it has a slightly different lens too, though they're both still f/2. Instead of a wider 139 degree viewing angle, it's now a slightly tighter 131 degrees. I also noticed that the white balance can vary. Some of the rear cams are more magenta while others are more green. The drop from 4K to 1080p for the rear cam is painfully obvious and I'm not impressed with the rear video quality. That said if you're upgrading from a DR970X, you can always get a DR970X Plus 1CH and plug in your existing rear cam. I wish Blackvue had updated the model numbers between old and new rear cams to avoid confusion.
At SEMA Blackvue mentioned that their dashcams will finally add support for one standalone Blackvue connecting to the cloud via another standalone Blackvue. I got super excited about this feature since I run a 4CH setup with two separate 2CH systems for front/rear/left/right coverage and using a dedicated WiFi hotspot has been kinda problematic. For that reason, it should be much easier to have one dashcam connected to the cloud via a CM100GLTE or by using the LTE model and then have the other dashcam connect to it. However, at this time that feature is unavailable. I'm not sure when it will be added. That said, while I haven't tested it, you should still be able to connect other non-Blackvue devices, like phones and tablets, to a Blackvue hotspot.
One feature I really miss is one removed between the DR900X Plus and the DR970X, and it's still gone with the DR970X Plus. It's the ability to adjust individual voice options. I used to LOVE that you could start your car and only have the dashcam speak if it detects any impacts. Unfortunately it's now all or nothing, like Thinkware and Viofo, and so you have to choose between a chatty startup or missing out on important notifications when you get back in your car. Come on Blackvue! Please bring that feature back!
So far I feel like this is a much needed improvement over the original DR970X, but it still has room to go in terms of both features and video quality.
So the DR970X Plus is now available for sale on Blackvue's website. I had a chance to preview it at SEMA. For the past few weeks I've had one in my car running alongside some other dashcams and while I prepare for my full video review, I figured I'd start compiling and sharing my thoughts so far.
On paper, this is a dashcam that I've been looking forward to as an upgrade to the DR970X which, video quality-wise, felt really lackluster. I love that they're stepping it up to a Starvis 2 sensor, larger aperture lens, faster shutter speeds, and higher bitrates, all of which work together to help capture more details like license plates.
Video quality has improved with the Plus model, but it's still not as good as the competition. I do find that it does a better job at capturing plates than the regular 970X, but still lags behind dashcams like the Viofo A229 Pro. I'm working on a video now comparing different models, but here's a few screenshots in the meantime.
Here's a car slowly passing me on the highway. Since there's a small speed differential, both dashcams do fine.
Here I'm passing cars with a faster speed differential and you can start to notice more of the difference between models:
It's certainly not perfect, but it is better. Here's another with a car passing me quickly on the highway:
The video quality from the DR970X Plus does seem a bit grainy. The Viofo footage looks much more clear and crisp. I'll post some video samples later on so you can see.
As far as HDR, Blackvue didn't include it and while the faster shutter speeds help to stop motion, I feel like it's not enough to capture plates at night.
I've still got a bunch more clips to go through, but so far the Plus looks better than the original, though not as good as the competition.
The lens itself is much larger than before and so previous circular polarizers don't fit. Hopefully Blackvue creates a new one for the Plus models.
One issue @rcg530 and I have experienced is lens focus / alignment issues, just like with previous model Blackvues. For that reason Blackvue has sent over a second copy of both models and some of those have had issues too, both front and rear, and so the left or right side of the image may be a little soft and blurry. I'm not sure why they're having a hard time nailing the lens alignment. I was hoping the updated lenses would help with this, but I guess not.
The rear cam has the same model number as before, but it has a slightly different lens too, though they're both still f/2. Instead of a wider 139 degree viewing angle, it's now a slightly tighter 131 degrees. I also noticed that the white balance can vary. Some of the rear cams are more magenta while others are more green. The drop from 4K to 1080p for the rear cam is painfully obvious and I'm not impressed with the rear video quality. That said if you're upgrading from a DR970X, you can always get a DR970X Plus 1CH and plug in your existing rear cam. I wish Blackvue had updated the model numbers between old and new rear cams to avoid confusion.
At SEMA Blackvue mentioned that their dashcams will finally add support for one standalone Blackvue connecting to the cloud via another standalone Blackvue. I got super excited about this feature since I run a 4CH setup with two separate 2CH systems for front/rear/left/right coverage and using a dedicated WiFi hotspot has been kinda problematic. For that reason, it should be much easier to have one dashcam connected to the cloud via a CM100GLTE or by using the LTE model and then have the other dashcam connect to it. However, at this time that feature is unavailable. I'm not sure when it will be added. That said, while I haven't tested it, you should still be able to connect other non-Blackvue devices, like phones and tablets, to a Blackvue hotspot.
One feature I really miss is one removed between the DR900X Plus and the DR970X, and it's still gone with the DR970X Plus. It's the ability to adjust individual voice options. I used to LOVE that you could start your car and only have the dashcam speak if it detects any impacts. Unfortunately it's now all or nothing, like Thinkware and Viofo, and so you have to choose between a chatty startup or missing out on important notifications when you get back in your car. Come on Blackvue! Please bring that feature back!
So far I feel like this is a much needed improvement over the original DR970X, but it still has room to go in terms of both features and video quality.
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