XiaoMi Yi dashcam focus problems

[Alan Chan]

Don't want to argue anymore. Please say what you want to. I quit.

 

[Mtz]

The focus problem is noticed most when you get back in the hot car and start driving and the video is out of focus until it's cooled down again.

Maybe Alan want to keep our car engines and AC on during all day so we can chill a camera.

The camera itself is nice

Can you show on a Yi picture what is nice for you at this camera? Or describe?

most respectable dashcam manufacturers (like Vicovation) take this factor under consideration when designing a dashcam. They asume that the unit might be left under the windshield in direct sunlight.

You don't need to be respectable. Many unknown cameras discussed on DCT have no focus problems and we don't know by who or where are made. The G1W, Mini or A118 series don't even have a brand name to know by who is produced. And they are more respectable than Yi products because they not needed to use an well-known brand name like XiaoYi did with XiaoMi just to sell. All these videos from internet and XiaoMi cameras from online stores are not made by XiaoMi but by Yi Technology. XiaoMi should sue Gearbest and Banggood for example because they are using their brand name to sell a Yi product which is not made by XiaoMi. Btw, xiaoyi.com dissapeared, it is redirecting to another site with a more complicate name. Why not using a much simple name like before?

The problem is the mainland Chinese won't complain about the quality based on the low price value of Xiaoyi Dash cam.

If you will look on ebay or aliexpress you can find dashcams at prices starting at $12. Yi is 500% more expensive than that. And if a $12 dashcam have more clear images during summer day this means is better than Yi. A camera with blurred image is useless, the great 3um pixels of Aptina CMOS are blurred too. You can make a dashcam at NASA, if image is not good, is useless.

A sun in the summer of China or HK which is directly on a car windshield will produce high temperatures, that 80 degrees. Selling in China is not an excuse for their zero experience in dashcams. They started with problems also for the action camera.

Of course Yi doesn't want to send another camera to all buyers because when producing at low price is hard to offer a good support. Just imagine if their first batch was 5,000pcs of cameras with focus problems. If their profit is $5 for each produced camera this means just $25,000 compared to $200,000 production costst if the factory price is $40. To cover this lost they need to sell without any profit about 45,000pcs also because of shipping costs.

Original XiaoMi products are not cheap. A MI5 smartphone at $500 is not cheap at all.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[Alan Chan]

Vampire talking here. I guess this is free of speech. Right?

 

[Paradox]

Oh c'mon guys. If i'll promise to get some beer to the table you two will promise to get along?
Btw, we're not all vampires here. I myself i'm a huge fan of garlic. Just ate almost three cloves of it put in the pasta for dinner

 

[thancam]

But if they can fix the focus problem and still selling with the same price, then what ?
In my market, there is a huge fan of mi product. Many people will definitely buy.
I think they will take at least from 6 months to fix the problem ( if they know its exit)

 

[sp5it]

Thanks for focus problem warning. This will hold me from buying that cam for a while.

 

[Paradox]

But if they can fix the focus problem and still selling with the same price, then what ?
In my market, there is a huge fan of mi product. Many people will definitely buy.
I think they will take at least from 6 months to fix the problem ( if they know its exit)

They know, trust me. I'll leave them a week to conduct their internal investigation and ask them for an update.

Let's see what answer i'll get from them.

 

[DashCamMan]

Just a reminder, nation bashing and insults are not allowed in this forum. I have deleted the off-topic, offending posts. If this continues, you will be banned.

 

[Alan Chan]

whatever if someone started the fire

 

[tiz]

I can confirm the out of focus issue.
It is not related to heat inside the car.
I drove 30 mins with AC on directed to the windshield, in a cold day, and after 30 minutes the picture is garbage, you cannot understand the license plates.
I used a SJ4000 together with the Yi and the quality and focus is far better in the SJ.
The focus of Xiaomi is bad from the start compared with the SJ, but after 20 minutes driving it gets worse.
Here are some samples, SJ4000 versus Xiaomi Yi dashcam.



I dismantled the Xiaomi, you have to take the front face out, use a sharp screwdriver, I tried with a credit card and it is not working.
I tried to manually adjust the focus but does not help. Even when the camera was dismantled on the desk, after 20 minutes of working it was out of focus and cannot be improved. So it is a senzor issue, not optical. when it gets hot, it is blury.

I'm very dissapointed about this camera, I waited two months to get it, preordered on GearBest, but I will trash it and buy another SJCAM, I think M10 will be the replacement for this Xiaomi.

 

[Mtz]

I'm very dissapointed about this camera, I waited two months to get it, preordered on GearBest, but I will trash it and buy another SJCAM, I think M10 will be the replacement for this Xiaomi.

You don't need to throw it until you will report to Gearbest and even to Paypal and insist on full refund. A camera with blurry image is useless. If Wi-Fi was not working, or mic was not so good or display have some problems and so on, these are reasons to receive a partial refund, but the main reason of a camera, the bad image, can not be accepted.
Regarding an action camera as dashcam the best camera I ever met for this option is the GitUp Git1. Not Git2. If you want the best quality right now go for Git1, if you want the M10 form factor you can think also to M20, but M20 have the same specs as Git2.

Here are two comparisons with another dashcams from 2016 generation:

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[tiz]

Do they have the "car mode" option, meaning to autostart on power on and auto stop at power off?
SJCAM are the only action cameras I met that have this option, but I don't know the models you mentioned.

I am very pleased by the SJ4000, I had the first version but it broke after 2 years of using as a dashcam.
I think it was the battery that caused the problem, inside the car in summer, 60 degrees inside ... I found camera dead, charger dead, battery dead.
I didn't figure out which one was the first and caused the damage to the other parts.
Anyway, I looked around and didn't find a better replacement so I bought a SJ4000 WiFi this time, it is a little better then previous.
But I am still concerned about the heat during summer, so I thought buying a dedicated car dashcam is a good ideea. Wrong.
This Xiaomi which supposed to break the lines is a big fail. This is why:
Camera is huge. For a dashcam is enormeous, you can see it in the car from 50 meters.
There is no black color, I have the silver and it is again visible from quite a distance. I painted it in black with a marker.
It has a battery inside! So I came back to my problem with baterry inside car during summer. And the battery is small so it is of no use. For dashcameras they put a capacitor instead of the battery, just for this reason, the heat.
And last but not least, the reason I bought it was the image quality and the senzor wich supposed to give better image during the night.
But the image is bad and in the night I feel no difference compared with the SJCAM.
L.E. And the ADAS is just a joke

BTW, I compared XiaoYI dashcam with the SJ4000WiFi because I bought both of them from Gearbest for the same price = 65$ deals.
So, for the same money I got a dashcam not very good with little options and only chinese menu, and an action cam with a bunch of accesories and very good as a dashcam too.

 

[tiz]

if you want the M10 form factor you can think also to M20

M20 is so ugly! It is just an SJ4000 form but on portrait mode.
M10 is like the SJ4000 cut in half and folded behind. I mean the battery in SJ4000 which is near the senzor was moved behind the senzor in M10.
So it is much smaller from the front viewpoint, but much thicker, which is not a problem.

I like the Shadow 1s in your video, what is your opinion about it? It seems it has the widest angle and a good quality. Although in the night it seems Xiaomi Yi is the best of them, am I wrong?

 

[jokiin]

Although in the night it seems Xiaomi Yi is the best of them, am I wrong?

for 20 minutes, until the focus goes off

 

[thancam]

I can confirm the out of focus issue.
It is not related to heat inside the car.
I drove 30 mins with AC on directed to the windshield, in a cold day, and after 30 minutes the picture is garbage, you cannot understand the license plates.
I used a SJ4000 together with the Yi and the quality and focus is far better in the SJ.
The focus of Xiaomi is bad from the start compared with the SJ, but after 20 minutes driving it gets worse.
Here are some samples, SJ4000 versus Xiaomi Yi dashcam.

View attachment 22485 View attachment 22486 View attachment 22487 View attachment 22488

I dismantled the Xiaomi, you have to take the front face out, use a sharp screwdriver, I tried with a credit card and it is not working.
I tried to manually adjust the focus but does not help. Even when the camera was dismantled on the desk, after 20 minutes of working it was out of focus and cannot be improved. So it is a senzor issue, not optical. when it gets hot, it is blury.

I'm very dissapointed about this camera, I waited two months to get it, preordered on GearBest, but I will trash it and buy another SJCAM, I think M10 will be the replacement for this Xiaomi.

If you disassembled it, could you see what chipset does it use ? I am ready curious.

 

[jokiin]

which one you want to know?

 

[thancam]

yi one. They claim it can do both: HDR and 60 fps at 1080p. It's too much for a dashcam 65$, dont you think ?

 

[jokiin]

yi one. They claim it can do both: HDR and 60 fps at 1080p. It's too much for a dashcam 65$, dont you think ?

they also claim the chipset is an A12 but it's a Novatek 96660, how much faith can you put in the claims they make when they don't tell the truth from the beginning?

 

[Paradox]

I can also confirm the chip is a NT96660 "rebranded" as Yi A12. It's enough to open the firmware.bin file with notepad and see it for yourself

 

[thancam]

I can also confirm the chip is a NT96660 "rebranded" as Yi A12. It's enough to open the firmware.bin file with notepad and see it for yourself

"made in china" - we never know what inside.
The chinese are importing all kind of fruits from my country. I buy 1 apple import from china, and I leave it in the air in 6 month and it is not rot. After about 8 month, I cut it into halfs, and I can see this apple is rot from the inside. But look outside, it's look like as fresh as just picked yesterday.
I never eat anything from china in 10 year. But it is hard to advoid, can't tell which ones are from china, which ones are not. My country is next to china. My mom die two year ago because of cancer. A lot of people around me die because of cancer which cause is poison food. Don't know when I am next.
@jokiin I forget to tell you. Try don't eat when you in china special fruits and vegetables.