[Review] Anker Roav Dash Cam C1 Pro

[Mattb6288]

I’ve been using this dash cam for a few days now and took it on a road trip totaling 7 hours of driving. There are a lot of pros that make the dash cam great and a lot of the cons can easily be fixed with software. I’ll update as I notice some of the fixes

 

Pros:

-Great design. Slim simple design with aluminum sides. Makes it very inconspicuous and not just a camera sticking out of your window on a suction cup.

-Meant to be a set and forget kind of camera.

-High quality accessories included.

-Long length USB cable that can easily be routed through an overhead panel (Which is what I did)

-High quality Anker USB car charger that can push 2.4 amps though both port (4.8 total)

- 2 stick on mounts so you can use it in multiple cars.

-Samsung Evo 32GB Micro SD card

-GPS to record your speed / route with the option to turn it off.

-1440p Resolution or 1080p / 60fps. Can be adjusted to lower resolutions / higher framerates

-145 degree wide field of view.

-The button also blinks green / red when recording even when the screen is off so you know.

- Video locking, including an emergency record button that will start recording and lock the video so it can’t be deleted unless unlocked. When a video is being locked there’s a key icon letting you know. There is an option on every video to either lock it or unlock it yourself. Locked videos also don’t get overwritten when the micro SD card is full.

-Confirmation beeps and vocal notifications for what’s happening (Can be turned off)

- Built in battery allows it to have a parking mode that can record 30 second clips when motion is detected. The sensitivity of motion can also be changed. It can also be used normally without the USB cable for shorter trips.

- Built in mic with the option to easily mute and unmute on the main screen

- Auto locking video based on g-forces with the option to change sensitivity

- Built in Wifi allows it to connect to the app and transfer video to your phone quickly

-App is easy to use, but not necessary to use the dash cam. All features can be accessed using either or. You can use the app to transfer videos off the dash cam to your phone. The app can also be used to update the firmware on the dash cam. App also shows speeds, g-force, compass and route taken during video playback when GPS is enabled. You can also zoom in on the video during playback.

 

Now that’s a lot of pros, but there are also some cons. I believe a lot of them can be fixed with software though and a lot have to do with the app

 

Cons:

-One of the biggest cons I’ve noticed is because of the aluminum sides / button, if you try to take it down after driving in the sun you’ll need gloves or something to protect your hand because it heats up a lot. That also goes for trying to press the power button.

-There’s no light or indicator when it is charging and off.

-App (I used with Android. Unsure on differences on iOS. There is a feedback option in the app that I used to send this info to them)

-Can’t select videos by holding them down, only selecting the checkmark at the top and selecting each video.

-You can delete locked videos without any warning. This is only on the app and works normally on the camera itself.

- If the camera is all the way in the down position, if you try to press it further it will sometimes change the resolution / record time settings and open the menu.

 

Again most of these cons are with the app, which can easily be updated. As for the heat issue, I live in AZ and it's the middle of summer so I probably should have expected it. These aren’t make or break issues. Overall the pros heavily outweigh the cons. I think it's worth the $120 for all the features and nice design, but it looks like it's no longer available. Still figured I'd post my opinion since the 1080p version is still available and is pretty similar.

 

If you’d like to see the video quality during both day and night, I took a couple of the recordings and uploaded them to YouTube. There’s an example for both day and night time.

There's also a picture of it installed in my Ford Focus. The cable is tucked into the headliner and routed down the door to the USB port in the arm rest and was easily hidden behind the door weatherstripping.

 

Day: https://youtu.be/bbdMydUVziE

Night: https://youtu.be/TMXa21eWRcE