Your thoughts on the Viofo A129 Pro Duo as it stands today? Should I buy now or wait for it to mature?

[OzAdam]

I don't think the viofo cameras are picky for memory cards, which both the other brands in consideration are as i understand it.
I think pretty much any endurance card will be good, a good thing about those are they are also warrantied for use in CCTV cameras and dashcams, which many regular memory cards are not.

Would like to go for an endurance card. Supposedly should last longer but peace of mind really.

 

[kamkar]

Now that they do not carry insane prices VS regular ones i would go for nothing else, not least for the piece of mind with the warranty as i have had a couple of memory cards die on me surprising fast.

The dip in low light performance on current 4K cameras are a real thing, but i also feel they will be just fine for logging what you do with your car in relation to lane markings and roadside + the color of intersection's.
So any claim against you you should be able to fight just fine if it is untrue, and that just leave you with the little "cool to share" stuff you might miss, but this should be a minor issue.

I am myself looking forward to the day where i can give 4K a try myself, and its not really image quality of current cameras that keep me back.

 

[jokiin]

I am yet to still purchase a SD Card. @jokiin has given me two 256GB cards to consider – the Sandisk High Endurance range and the WD purple range. I guess it comes down to a coin flip to decide.

I run both, no issue with either brand

 

[OzAdam]

I run both, no issue with either brand

I ended up going with the 256GB WD Purple WDD256G1P0A card. I hope to install everything this weekend.

Interestingly it appears this card may be end of life. A few online retailers in Australia have listed this as discontinued. WD still has its product website active so perhaps these are on the way out? Still managed to find a place to buy it however.

 

[jokiin]

I think the distributor only brings them in based on demand, the cost is close to double that of the SanDisk version which probably impacts the demand

 

[OzAdam]

Logical. I can’t imagine they sell many of these cards.

 

[I CU2]

I was the one who messaged them to list it on their store on Saturday as I saw the rest of their store had the 15% off for Viofo haha. Didn't know they were the actual importers! Got mine yesterday and installed it, night vision isn't as good as I hoped but haven't tested it in the daytime yet - fingers crossed.

Checked out day vision today, it's great! Definitely a large upgrade over my DR650S-2CH. The rear camera cable could be a tad longer though, I've got a medium sized sedan and it barely made it.

 

[OzAdam]

Checked out day vision today, it's great! Definitely a large upgrade over my DR650S-2CH. The rear camera cable could be a tad longer though, I've got a medium sized sedan and it barely made it.

Nice!

I thought I remember seeing a longer cable being sold for the standard A129 Duo. Here it is - Viofo A129 Front to Rear Dash Cam wiring cable –8 meters

Wonder if that works with the A129 Pro Duo? I would assume so.

(edited - not an extension cable, just a longer cable)

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Nice!

I thought I remember seeing an extension cable being sold for the standard A129 Duo. Here it is - Viofo A129 Front to Rear Dash Cam wiring cable –8 meters

Wonder if that works with the A129 Pro Duo? I would assume so.

To clarify, the 8 meter cable is not an extension cable, but simply an optional longer cable than the original 6 meter cable. You cannot plug the 8 meter cable into the 6 meter cable to make it longer. Actually, you can't plug any any other cable or adapter into the original to make it longer.

The 8 meter cable will work with the A129 Pro DUO.

 

[gummy bears]

Can anyone comment on their iOS app, I see a lot of bad reviews on the App Store. For me its essential to be able to access and manage a dashcam via the app. Thanks.

 

[OzAdam]

Can anyone comment on their iOS app, I see a lot of bad reviews on the App Store. For me its essential to be able to access and manage a dashcam via the app. Thanks.

Used it on my Android, iPhone and iPad - no issues on firmware version 1.1. Everything worked as expected.

Be aware you do still need access to the dashcam to turn on the Wi-Fi - it doesn't just run all the time. It's basically on demand when needed.

Don’t know why it has bad reviews - does what it says.

 

[EGS]

Can anyone comment on their iOS app, I see a lot of bad reviews on the App Store. For me its essential to be able to access and manage a dashcam via the app. Thanks.

It works on my galaxy note 8 And so far I haven’t seen my camera hanging frozen. The only thing I noticed is that previewing the footage on the phone doesn’t play as smooth as you would think as the image looks to be at a lower resolution and it stutters. Not sure if that is related to my phone. I only want the app to make adjustments on the camera settings anyway and don’t want to upload any of the files in to my phone as it will quickly use the memory’s space.

 

[OzAdam]

It works on my galaxy note 8 And so far I haven’t seen my camera hanging frozen. The only thing I noticed is that previewing the footage on the phone doesn’t play as smooth as you would think as the image looks to be at a lower resolution and it stutters. Not sure if that is related to my phone.

On my Galaxy S10+ it runs perfectly smooth but there is a half a second delay in the live footage (expected due to overheads). I used the 5Ghz network for more bandwidth. Not stutters or hangs for me.

I also found it to be a lower resolution / quality transmitted image also. I will mention that I could not see the rear defroster lines on the phone app (even iPad), but I can in the recorded video on my PC so take care if setting up the cameras with the app.

I only want the app to make adjustments on the camera settings anyway and don’t want to upload any of the files in to my phone as it will quickly use the memory’s space.

Same here even though I have a terabyte on my phone - I want it for adjusting settings only. As I was aware before purchase, this dashcam absolutely eats storage. Each 2 minute clip from the front is 855MB with the rear at 228MB at max bitrate in 4K + 1080. That’s a tad over 1GB every 2 minutes. Makes a 256GB card look small!

 

[viofo]

On my Galaxy S10+ it runs perfectly smooth but there is a half a second delay in the live footage (expected due to overheads). I used the 5Ghz network for more bandwidth. Not stutters or hangs for me.

I also found it to be a lower resolution / quality transmitted image also. I will mention that I could not see the rear defroster lines on the phone app (even iPad), but I can in the recorded video on my PC so take care if setting up the cameras with the app.



Same here even though I have a terabyte on my phone - I want it for adjusting settings only. As I was aware before purchase, this dashcam absolutely eats storage. Each 2 minute clip from the front is 855MB with the rear at 228MB at max bitrate in 4K + 1080. That’s a tad over 1GB every 2 minutes. Makes a 256GB card look small!

You can try to use the low bitrate option to save space, the video quality is still acceptable.

 

[Nath]

I ended up going with the 256GB WD Purple WDD256G1P0A card. I hope to install everything this weekend.

Interestingly it appears this card may be end of life. A few online retailers in Australia have listed this as discontinued. WD still has its product website active so perhaps these are on the way out? Still managed to find a place to buy it however.

I think they plan to replace the WD Purple QD102 (WDD256G1P0A) for WD Purple QD312 (WDD256G1P1B).

 

[OzAdam]

You can try to use the low bitrate option to save space, the video quality is still acceptable.

Certainly yes, but I am more than happy to use maximum quality. I have a 256GB card for it. After all why buy the best image quality dashcam to reduce its quality!

I think they plan to replace the WD Purple QD102 (WDD256G1P0A) for WD Purple QD312 (WDD256G1P1B).

I saw that model mentioned when I was buying. Couldn’t find any stockists anywhere so must not be in mass production / distribution yet. I bet it will have an “extreme” price to match! The WD card I ordered cost far more than it should have.

 

[EGS]

Certainly yes, but I am more than happy to use maximum quality. I have a 256GB card for it. After all why buy the best image quality dashcam to reduce its quality!



I saw that model mentioned when I was buying. Couldn’t find any stockists anywhere so must not be in mass production / distribution yet. I bet it will have an “extreme” price to match! The WD card I ordered cost far more than it should have.

Totally agree. I also like the highest image quality even if that means more storage space. I usually archive important files in an external hard drive using my computer.

 

[positivecam]

according to the spec sheet online, the new model number is only class U1

 

[Nath]

according to the spec sheet online, the new model number is only class U1

That only means the minimal sequential speed (but the speed itself should be even higher, according to the datasheet). The main difference and what does matter for survailence is the endurance which is 2-3 times higher.

 

[positivecam]

thank you,
I am still trying to find a definitive recommendation for a 256gb card for the a129 PRO duo.

Every thread i read seems to be for the non PRo a129 or has been contradicted in a further answwer.
At this point I think my safest option is to buy the VIOFO 128gb cards but I really want bigger.