What's best small (no LCD) dashcam?

[kamkar]

Yes the B1W are not the super low light performer that's for sure, but for the money it can be fine with a few fixes.

There are the frame drop as i mentioned.
There are the oversensitive microphone in first batch cameras.
I dont have high hopes for the mount, at least not if you are going to use it often. But if you just put in the camera and leave it there it will be fine, but it have so far been hard to judge mount performance as that's often revealed by the microphone, and now that is way too sensitive to judge anything.

I am hoping some of the new Aprina sensors will be the AR0330 of the future, it also took Mobius some years to wrestle every little bit of performance out of the AR0330.

 

[SjConnor]

The B1W would be near-perfect if it had better IQ, but that would come with a higher price. It's a simple basic cam designed for the masses and IMHO is already adequate or better in every regard save for audio (I'm still not caught up with the latest there). When you consider it against similar-priced cams it's a clear winner If you want more or better you'll have to spend more to get it- nothing new about that There is some trade-off in day/night IQ with the IMX322/323 sensor many cams now use but I think its worth it considering how poorly the older cams did in low-light. Other than Mobius I'm done with AR0330 cams now because of that one thing alone

As always the perfect cam isn't out there and never will be. You can still get most of what you want in one cam or another though, and that's a good thing

Phil

Thanks for all the insight, sounds like there is no true and tested cylindrical non-LCD cam that is worth the money.
I would gladly pay double for improved B1W, because at $50 honestly it's a bargain even with eye scratching artificial sharpness it has to its picture quality. There is something off, sure it will show the main details you need in case of an accident, but it just doesn't give the confidence, especially with things like you mentioned dropped frames, etc. I always thought Blackvue cams were the best there is considering how popular they are with the high end car owners, but we also covered you don't always get what you pay for (both on positive and negative end of spectrums)

I will go with 119 V2 (Non S version) with Power Magic Pro and Wiring Kit with built-in Fuse on my car.
What is the best & most reputable place to buy it in the United States? I heard even Amazon can be selling counterfeit ones. I also want to be able to use my credit card that can give me add'l year of coverage instead of going through warrany replacements, etc.

 

[jokiin]

@OCD Tronic and @CaptureYourAction are both authorised sellers of the A119 with great customer service, they are both members here also

 

[OCD Tronic]

What is the best & most reputable place to buy it in the United States? I heard even Amazon can be selling counterfeit ones. I also want to be able to use my credit card that can give me add'l year of coverage instead of going through warrany replacements, etc.

We can take care of you, always happy to help.
We have the latest 2018 stock (just arrived)

 

[magistrfet]

there's links already on the forum for video samples, the B1W is too new to know about defective rate and warranty issues but the video is far superior to the Thinkware F50, video performance is something people judge you on straight away, things like warranty they don't think about unless it becomes a problem

Like pro, u know - correct compare - only direct compare in one moment with both dashcams in one car. I don't see any direct compare video so no any reason says who is better.
And u are right about defective rate - and this is problem also for b1w
...and also u know - thinkware defective rate more low when any china oem low budget dashcam.

Not agree with u about video quality - its not the main reason for all people when they choose dashcam. Its not true for standard non-pro customer. Every people's have individual main character for choosing dvr. Someone little size, someone local full warranty, someone low defective rate, someone video quality and someone functions...screen or wifi and etc. Also design, type of mount and price. Many peoples who choose blackbox from high class pay not only for video quality but pay for complex...

 

[jokiin]

Like pro, u know - correct compare - only direct compare in one moment with both dashcams in one car. I don't see any direct compare video so no any reason says who is better.

yes you are correct that a side by side comparison is the best way to say which is better, however I have never seen a good video from the Thinkware F50, it is a very poor performer when it comes to video quality, maybe that is acceptable performance in the Korean domestic market

 

[SawMaster]

When most people see the difference between decent vid quality and great vid quality, they will choose the better-looking video if it comes in a form they can use Almost everyone who buys a dashcam does it for the video- there is hardly any other reason to have one. A perfect parking mode is useless if you can't identify the culprit with good video Viewing a white Toyota in a hit-and-run review without details is meaningless if you can't identify that one from the thousand other white Toyota's in that city A basic level of video quality is mandatory in a dashcam- it is useless without at least that much It's not easy to design a cam with excellent video quality under all circumstances, and almost all manufacturers who put that much effort into their product will also make a good quality product, so if you see really good vids it's probably a good dashcam.

Phil

 

[jokiin]

When most people see the difference between decent vid quality and great vid quality, they will choose the better-looking video if it comes in a form they can use Almost everyone who buys a dashcam does it for the video- there is hardly any other reason to have one. A perfect parking mode is useless if you can't identify the culprit with good video Viewing a white Toyota in a hit-and-run review without details is meaningless if you can't identify that one from the thousand other white Toyota's in that city A basic level of video quality is mandatory in a dashcam- it is useless without at least that much It's not easy to design a cam with excellent video quality under all circumstances, and almost all manufacturers who put that much effort into their product will also make a good quality product, so if you see really good vids it's probably a good dashcam.

Phil

unfortunately there are a lot of people that buy a product based on appearance or brand recognition and find out that it doesn't measure up to expectation, a second time purchaser is more likely to buy based on video quality though

there are some people that have low expectations and don't know any better and are quite happy with sub par video, the amount of positive Amazon reviews for products like the DVR207 are testament to that, even after you get past all the fake/paid reviews that are prolific on Amazon you do still find reviews from people that genuinely think the product is fine

I understand the need to have different price points to appeal to different segments of the market but I don't believe that price point is a valid excuse to deliver a product with crap video, it's such a fundamental part of what the product is meant to be all about

 

[SjConnor]

It seems like recently there has been a push for capacitor dashcams instead of ones with battery. I guess I understand why people might want that but I think we should still have the option of both.
For example, I used Abee V50 (https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/abee-v50-release.1968/) for about 3+ years in my old car, sadly after about 1,5 year it stopped holding charge, everytime I turned off the car, it would lose data and beep and keep the LCD on until I hit back or OK.
The picture quality was actually very good, clear and smooth, no problems with footage, eventually it stopped recording sound but still it was pretty good.

I think anything in $50 range can do the same, but the reason why more and more of the recent dashcams fail is because they try to cram so much features into basic $50 webcam, and they up being unreliable. That seems to be the main trouble. For $50, people want basic dashcam that has good picture quality and be able to record on impact and save the recording with advance buffer maybe 5-10 seconds before and after. No fancy functions needed.


@OCD Tronic I can't get to your Amazon page, is it still working or do you sell only on ebay now?

 

[OCD Tronic]

@OCD Tronic I can't get to your Amazon page, is it still working or do you sell only on ebay now?

Amazon store is alive and well.

Click the “shop now” button at:
Https://Facebook.com/OCDtronic
to see all our Amazon listings

 

[SjConnor]

Thanks OCD.

Now that we're settled with A119 V2 (I suppose there is no A120 or something like that on the way?) I'd like to know if a lot of people use Power Magic Pro for hardwiring? I thought it was the best but reviews say otherwise, I have no idea what's a reliable low voltage protector. I don't know why these things can't have an option of having external battery back up option or built in low voltage protection of some sort. How do manufacturers expect vehicle to record while parked with no built-in battery?

I am thinking of getting this for hard-wiring: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B01LXC2329

 

[OCD Tronic]

There are always new products in development but no ETA. Like anything else you can always wait forever for “latest”. (Never ending cycle of fun)

The Vico-Power Plus is the recommended hardwire kit with low voltage cut off, timer cut off, and high heat cutoff.

 

[SjConnor]

Thanks, I was about to purchase it, while the listing shows:

VIOFO A119 2-Inch Car Dash Cam with 1440P 30fps, 1296P 30fps and 1080P 60fps HD Video and Audio Recording

When I got my cart, checkout shows:

VIOFO Compact A119 V2 (New 2018 Stock) + EVA Foam, 1440p DashCam (V2 GPS Mount Included! Quick Eject) Optional A11CPL (CPL) not included. (OCD Tronic Certified)

Does this mean it's refurbished?

 

[OCD Tronic]

Thanks, I was about to purchase it, while the listing shows:

VIOFO A119 2-Inch Car Dash Cam with 1440P 30fps, 1296P 30fps and 1080P 60fps HD Video and Audio Recording

When I got my cart, checkout shows:

VIOFO Compact A119 V2 (New 2018 Stock) + EVA Foam, 1440p DashCam (V2 GPS Mount Included! Quick Eject) Optional A11CPL (CPL) not included. (OCD Tronic Certified)

Does this mean it's refurbished?

It's brand new stock, we are currently having problem with other unauthorized grey market sellers trying to take over our Amazon listing. (title keeps changing)
"(OCD Tronic Certified)" means you have authentic NEW OCD Tronic stock. (latest and greatest) nothing to do with being refurbished. (maybe we should use different wording?)

 

[SjConnor]

Just ordered it. Thanks for the clarification.
"Certified" sounds a lot like Refurb to me, but others might not be making the same association/assumption. You could try different word like Authorized/Authentic/etc.. but don't take my word for it, you can check with others who are more experienced.

 

[kamkar]

Genuine product maybe

 

[SawMaster]

we are currently having problem with other unauthorized grey market sellers trying to take over our Amazon listing.

This is one of the major flaws with Amazon You must watch carefully or they will re-direct your transaction to someone other than who was listed on the first page It is outright deceitful and fraudulent behavior on Amazon's part to allow anyone else to influence your listing in any way

Phil

 

[kamkar]

The larger companies get the more evil they become a sad fact, that is also true with other large things.

Proof.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/20/ama...ng-a-giant-clock-inside-a-texas-mountain.html

 

[magistrfet]

Cheap dashcam like cheap china car. Every have a lucky chance to win and not will be have problem with cheap blackbox in future. But...no every people ready for that.
Example, iv got new 2 viofo. 119 and 119s. Yes, good video quality but 1 of is not working. I see Supercap wires was be broken (i was open dashcam). Wtf? $100 - not so low price.

I am not ready for that unstable products like i am not ready use low budget china car for safety my children. And video quality for license plate not main reason for choosing dashcam. My opinion.

 

[SjConnor]

Cheap dashcam like cheap china car. Every have a lucky chance to win and not will be have problem with cheap blackbox in future. But...no every people ready for that.
Example, iv got new 2 viofo. 119 and 119s. Yes, good video quality but 1 of is not working. I see Supercap wires was be broken (i was open dashcam). Wtf? $100 - not so low price.

I am not ready for that unstable products like i am not ready use low budget china car for safety my children. And video quality for license plate not main reason for choosing dashcam. My opinion.

At this point, we have to go with what we can find as being most reliable out of all dashcams.

As discussed earlier, you don't really get what you paid for, it's a gamble. Paying $300 does not guarantee you will get a military grade operation. Paying $50 does not mean it will crap out soon after. Sadly, dascham market in the USA still did not pick up, and my guess is, non of the big brands can find a reliable manufacturer to put their names and logos on the face of the product. HP did that for a bit, (it was a rebranded or licensed HP product, other companies like Panasonic rebranded the same dashcam as well) then again HP is not a dashcam or camera company.

If Sony, Canon, GoPro etc starts selling dashcams for the mainstream in the USA just like how they have been selling action cams, then we might see a bump in quality, reliability and functionality.
Dashcam is not a standard by any means, and I don't think it adds to safety in any way. Only way you can keep your children safe is drive safely, follow rules and regulations and make sure children are strapped properly. Hopefully one day car manufacturers will allow recording and access the on-board cameras, most vehicles nowadays have cameras. In the US, it's a requirement that every car must have back up camera, so more manufacturers are adding front cameras to make more money with packages. Nobody offers recording or access to footage. If that happens, dashcam market will disappear unless car makers charge too much for access to on board cameras. Some vehicles have 6 cameras and radars, they can easily capture every angle in case of accident.