Waylens Secure360 Review

[Vortex Radar]

I've been driving with the Waylens Secure360 for the past month or so and just finished my review video of the dashcam.

In short, it's got some really unique and cool ideas. I like its 360 degree views, especially the fact that I can also record the side views which are blind spots for normal 2-channel dashcams, and I also like its extremely long parked recording times. However, I'm not a fan of its poor video quality, propensity to flare in sunny weather, non-functional motion detection, lack of computer editing software, or its parked alerts notifications. In the video I compare it with my Blackvue DR900S-2CH/B-124 and Viofo A119s. The Secure360 is a retail unit I purchased myself direct from Waylens' website.

Update: It turns out the dashcam that I had was defective. The lens was out of focus, causing blurry images and reduced image quality. Waylens sent me a second one. The lens was definitely better here and the images were sharper, but the video quality still isn't up to par with what I'd expect/want/hope for. Here's an update video on the topic.

 

[kamkar]

I see cameras like this catering to the phone generation that literally will do anything with their phone, and dont care how awkward it might be or how low the image standard is.
And thats just fine, and one can probably make a good living on such a product, but personally i am going to stay away from things like that, and my phone that make me feel more stupid every time i touch it.

 

[jokiin]

propensity to flare in sunny weather

that lens looking straight up and all around must be a big challenge, it's going to catch the sun a lot easier than any traditional camera

 

[k9x9]

I assumed VQ would be poor when I came across this cam on Buydig, but thought I would do a little research before condemning it. Thanks to your comprehensive review I have my answer.

 

[Vortex Radar]

So Waylens contacted me after publishing my review and said that my camera wasn't representative of how the quality should look. Apparently my lens was out of focus which is why the video looked softer than it should. They've since sent me a replacement camera and the new one does indeed have better video quality. I'm going through the video clips now to put together a video on it. It's not sensational quality, but it is better than what I was seeing before.

that lens looking straight up and all around must be a big challenge, it's going to catch the sun a lot easier than any traditional camera

For sure. I had a lot of people suggesting that we could simply flip the camera upside down. Now that I've got another Secure360, I tried it and did a quick video on it. In short, it does help with the flare issue, but it introduces other issues such as not being able to see as much of the road ahead, recording tons of the dash unnecessarily, and not being able to see up as a security camera to record when someone is peering into your car.

 

[SawMaster]

360 is more a gimmick to keep people's interest while they play around with it. In a dashcam it's inherently flawed without the possibility of fixes even if you've got a Cray CX1000 in your trunk running the OS. The cam can't see through roof pillars and people's heads. It can't adjust ideally to different light conditions front and rear, or inside and outside. Most of the image will be things useless to dashcam purposes so half your memory space and processing is wasted. It can't be done well at an affordable level but could be done well enough with an unlimited budget.

Even in Storm-chasing vids where it's really interesting to see all around, the 360 cams have poor video quality making it hard to discern what is easily seen with a mid-grade action cam rather ruining the experience. A nice toy for the noobs but serious viewers want and expect better details. And TBH I think it's going to be a very long time before any good 360 system reaches consumer-grade prices.

Phil