Almost EVERYONE is Wasting Money on Dash Cams.

[Dravas]

Anyway to use FPV cameras into a dash cam system.  Benefits are interchangeable cameras and better lens and sensors. 

 

[SpikeSpiegel]

NovaTech is also used in ONN Dash Cams for Wal-Mart's Dash Cam.  I have one of those with the same sound as the NovaTech's versions.  And the mount is terrible.  It keeps falling down and the dash cam survived in a cup of water.  Big warning btw.  The Micro-SD that comes with the Dash Cam doesn't last more than 2 months.  It got so corrupted I had to replace it with a SanDisk 128 GB Micro SD Card.  I believe Wal-Mart is using Micro-SDs that were rejected bins Micro-SD Cards from other mfgs or they're made with crappy Flash Memory chips.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/onn-Dash-Cam-with-2-7-Display-Screen/574061299

[user_name]

2 hours ago, poochyena said:

A mount like this, and use your phone. Much much cheaper and better quality

https://smile.amazon.com/Universal-Dashboard-Adjustable-Compatible-iPhoneXS/dp/B07HMG1H78/ref=sr_1_20?crid=19B7RM105LN5U&keywords=car+window+phone&qid=1660502523&sprefix=car+window+phon%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-20

Good temporary solution, bad permanent solution. 

 

1. Most smartphones require a battery before they power on. Just connecting a charger won’t work, you need a battery plugged in and charged. 

2. Smartphone batteries are not meant for the extreme temperatures your car will be experiencing. 

3. Smartphone parts (the camera module in particular) are sensitive to heat/cold, and can break when exposed to too much. 

4. Nowhere on the windshield is there a good place to stick a phone while having the A/C blow over it. 

5. Having a smartphone visible in the windshield is a thief magnet. So that means you have to take it off and redo the setup every time you leave/get in, meaning you’re more likely to forget/forgo setting it up. Plus you have to boot up the phone > wait for the OS to load > load up the recording app > wait for the recording app to start > connect the charger > place phone on windshield > start driving. Compare to a dedicated dashcam: turn on car > power goes to cam > cam turns on, starts recording, gives you an audio cue that recording has started > start driving. 

 

So best case scenario, the smartphone shuts off due to overheating, meaning you lose footage. Worst case scenario, the camera module/phone motherboard/battery dies due to the heat. Absolute worst case scenario, the battery catches fire ala the Galaxy Note 7. I’m not sure of any manufacturer who makes super capacitors that can replace smartphone batteries or if there’s any components that can be heat-proofed. 

 

Speaking from personal experience, I tried to run a Galaxy S4 as a dedicated dashcam. The camera module failed after 3 weeks and turned all the whites in a picture to a noisy pink, then the battery bloated up. I switched to a dedicated dashcam set up after that.

[D. William Morton]

3 hours ago, An0maly_76 said:

What most don't think about is that these things sit in the car when it's extremely hot or extremely cold, in conditions you wouldn't subject your child, your pet, or yourself to. Ever left your phone in the car on a hot day and either had it shut down to protect itself, or actually quit working from the heat? Same with this. If you can, park in the shade when not driving, your dashcam will last a lot longer. I got a VanTrue N4 about this time last year, no complaints.

That's a good reason to get one with a capacitor! Battery versions do not take well to the heat and cold fluctuations.

[An0maly_76]

2 hours ago, D. William Morton said:

That's a good reason to get one with a capacitor! Battery versions do not take well to the heat and cold fluctuations.

Capacitor or battery, these things really shouldn't be left in the sun. I had several dashcams and a GPS or two die when I drove a truck cross country for that exact reason. Anyone with a dash cam should at least get one of those reflective windshield sunshade things.

Edited August 15, 2022 by An0maly_76
Revised, more info

[D. William Morton]

I hope LTT will revisit dash cams in the future and cover some mid-range $150-200 cameras? Perhaps include hard wiring modules that won't drain your battery while the camera is in parking mode. Perhaps finding some cameras that do not use these bottom of the barrel SoCs and sensors? Perhaps taking a poll of some cameras that LTT could do a review segement on? I'd love to see how the Vantrue X4S 4K cam I bought stacks up with all the others. My previous was a DDPai M6 Plus. Ended up saving a family several thousand dollar repair bill after I caught a hit and run on their parked car. Hasn't saved myself any money, but I'm not complaining as it's cheap insurance in the case of catching any number of bad drivers here in the Lower Mainland BC.

[D. William Morton]

6 minutes ago, An0maly_76 said:

Capacitor or battery, these things really shouldn't be left in the sun. I had several die when drove a truck cross country for that exact reason. Anyone with a dash cam should at least get one of those reflectivewindshield sunshade things.

Yeah, I guess I don't have much issue with them being in the sun as I have mine mounted at the top of my windshield and I have a tint strip across the top of it, so it's almost always in the shade until late in the day (if I park rearward in my driveway) and by then the sun is so low that it's not an issue.

[An0maly_76]

1 minute ago, D. William Morton said:

Yeah, I guess I don't have much issue with them being in the sun as I have mine mounted at the top of my windshield and I have a tint strip across the top of it, so it's almost always in the shade until late in the day (if I park rearward in my driveway) and by then the sun is so low that it's not an issue.

Maybe so, but it still gets over 100 degrees in the vehicle on a sunny day.

[yolosnail]

For years we just went with the cheapest 2 camera dashcams on Amazon, taking advantage of the LEGALLY MANDATED 2 year warranty knowing they'll die within the first 2 years and just get a refund from Amazon. 

Was the quality great? No. But they did about the same job as any shown here, and I think the most we ever paid was about £30. Although prices seem to have jumped in the last few years

 

Last year we decided to 'splurge' on a Halfords own brand as it was on sale, and more importantly they had it in stock at the local store. I must say, for the price (£39 at the minute), the quality is far, far superior to anything shown in the video.

The only downside is you have to control it via the app, which obviously isn't the best, but at least it doesn't require any sign up!

https://www.halfords.com/technology/dash-cams/halfords-hdc400-dash-cam-535333.html

[LEXXIUS]

1 hour ago, darknessblade said:

Anyone else wants linus to make his own dashcam based on a "raspberry pi zero 2 W "

I actually thought about something like that, using smartphone camera modules, since they have amazing image quality compared to dashcams.

[Required]

When he buy from a Scam Company what should we think...

And here are "Dash Cams" illegal.

[GhostRoadieBL]

DIY to the rescue

 

$89 - https://www.ebay.ca/itm/393500382533 - starting with a refurb Iphone 6s or similar (newer models cost more but scale up camera quality)

$13 - Car Camera DVR. PRO gives you all the features of the high price dashcams and recording resolution is based on the phone you are using or a basic app from https://www.imore.com/how-turn-your-iphone-dashcam links in the list for various apps free/paid most are offline)

effectively free - 3d printed mount https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1767136 gives you a flat base for 3m tape or commander strips (to be removable without residue)

 

that's all it takes, add a car charger but the phone's battery should last long enough for most trips, low light performance will be better than any dashcam even when the iphone 6s' night video wasn't great but for daytime trips when the most cars are on the road it's perfect.

 

better yet, use your current gen phone and it keeps your videos in your pocket when you leave the car. Not like we all don't have high end cameras with us at all times.

 

[Lurks]

Just something I saw and wanted to note: GoPro Labs actually has an auto recording on USB Power option:

https://community.gopro.com/s/article/GoPro-Labs?language=en_US

"USB Power Triggers: Your GoPro can start/stop capture when USB power is detected, enabling USB-triggered functions such as serving as a dash cam."

 

This is particularly interesting. I'm definitely considering getting a GoPro for a dash cam since it can also double as an action camera when not in the car.

 

I actually wanted to get the VIOFO camera for a while so I was glad to see this video but I'm a little disappointed they didn't cover more cameras. I'm still hoping dash cams could be something covered by the LTT Labs but it was at least nice to see something new on the main channel.

[MarkW]

6 hours ago, swimtome said:

I know everyone is going to post why u no test my dashcam:  But :

 

I was hoping to see Roav (not Rove) which is actually owned by Anker. 

I now wonder if Anker stumbled on this issue because the Roav website doesnt even list any Dashcams anymore. 

I did find this Amazon listing for the C2, and if Labs needs my Roav Duo or my C1 let me know.

 

The C1 is typically my daily driver and is on par with what we see here, some readable texts, some readable plates. But it did already let me prove fault at least once so that's what counts

The Anker Roav C1 is WAY better than anything that was reviewed here, especially because it supports higher framerates. But I think Anker has completely discontinued these cams.

 

Anker was doing it better in 2018 than anyone else just by having a decent sony sensor in the camera.

[poochyena]

2 hours ago, user_name said:

Good temporary solution, bad permanent solution. 

 

1. Most smartphones require a battery before they power on. Just connecting a charger won’t work, you need a battery plugged in and charged. 

2. Smartphone batteries are not meant for the extreme temperatures your car will be experiencing. 

3. Smartphone parts (the camera module in particular) are sensitive to heat/cold, and can break when exposed to too much. 

4. Nowhere on the windshield is there a good place to stick a phone while having the A/C blow over it. 

5. Having a smartphone visible in the windshield is a thief magnet. So that means you have to take it off and redo the setup every time you leave/get in, meaning you’re more likely to forget/forgo setting it up. Plus you have to boot up the phone > wait for the OS to load > load up the recording app > wait for the recording app to start > connect the charger > place phone on windshield > start driving. Compare to a dedicated dashcam: turn on car > power goes to cam > cam turns on, starts recording, gives you an audio cue that recording has started > start driving. 

 

So best case scenario, the smartphone shuts off due to overheating, meaning you lose footage. Worst case scenario, the camera module/phone motherboard/battery dies due to the heat. Absolute worst case scenario, the battery catches fire ala the Galaxy Note 7. I’m not sure of any manufacturer who makes super capacitors that can replace smartphone batteries or if there’s any components that can be heat-proofed. 

 

Speaking from personal experience, I tried to run a Galaxy S4 as a dedicated dashcam. The camera module failed after 3 weeks and turned all the whites in a picture to a noisy pink, then the battery bloated up. I switched to a dedicated dashcam set up after that.

Its been working fine for me for 3 years. The "set up" includes the complicated task of... taping an app and placing it into the mount. Connecting to bluetooth takes longer than that.

heat isn't an issue as long as its not in the sun, and unmounting it takes 2 seconds, which is way better than the dashcams you can't easily detach and hide from sight.

Video from my old phone:

 

For reference, I don't drive often. It would maybe be useful to get a dashcam if I drove long distances weekly.

[justpoet]

I came to post about using your phone, though somebody above did already.

https://www.imore.com/how-turn-your-iphone-dashcam

 

There are 2 key things here to consider.  The first is if you're driving with it directly in the sun, you need to shade the camera or you are actively degrading the lifespan of the battery in it.  This is true of dash cams too though.  The second thing to consider is that you wouldn't leave your current phone in the car anyway, and an older phone probably already has a battery that is degraded and will be more likely to do bad things (like turn into a ball of fire) if left in a car in the sun on a hot summer day.  Also true of a dash cam unless it is hard wired and doesn't have a battery of its own.

 

Neither of those mean you can't use a phone as a dash cam though.  Several of the apps will run in the background, so you can still use the phone for maps or the like, and if you're not worried as much about where you park, then a full dash cam with parking mode and similar isn't needed, a small app download and mount will take care of you.

[oiaohm]

38 minutes ago, justpoet said:

There are 2 key things here to consider.  The first is if you're driving with it directly in the sun, you need to shade the camera or you are actively degrading the lifespan of the battery in it.

No this is a mistake.   The exposure end up degrading many parts of the phone.  There is Android software to use phones with removable batteries as dashcams and the ones that will run with no battery in them will still die from this usage.    Most commonly the battery bricks first but many other parts can brick and will brick from the usage.

 

Is a phone designed to be sitting exposed all the time.   The answer is a hard no its not designed for that.    There is a little more making a dashcam that last than what it first appears.

 

[justpoet]

16 minutes ago, oiaohm said:

No this is a mistake.   The exposure end up degrading many parts of the phone.  There is Android software to use phones with removable batteries as dashcams and the ones that will run with no battery in them will still die from this usage.    Most commonly the battery bricks first but many other parts can brick and will brick from the usage.

 

Is a phone designed to be sitting exposed all the time.   The answer is a hard no its not designed for that.    There is a little more making a dashcam that last than what it first appears.

 

A ton of people put their phones in mounts on their dash or windshield already for being a gps, keeping it on continually already as a result.  Like with that, you need to keep heat and direct sunlight exposure in mind.  Sadly, most people don't keep phones long enough for anything but the battery to become a problem.  I'm still using a 2014 iPad that is always the GPS in the car though, and while it has shut off from overheat protection a couple times, literally just a couple times, and it still works great and I use it a lot every day outside of the car too.  Maybe there's a difference in quality of flagship type phones and the phones you're talking about, but most phones today expect this sort of use in their design since the phones are designed and marketed to do it...or they're a bad design.

[oiaohm]

I do agree that people are wasting money on dash cams.    But there is more to this.

 

What was "Almost EVERYONE is Wasting Money on Dash Cams." in fact reviewing?   This is a question most people don't ask correct or get the correct answer.

 

The correct answer:  X models of dashcams with Y model of cars at Z placement locations on Windscreens.    

 

People don't consider that their windscreen shape is a factor that comes from the model of your car and where you placed it on Windscreen..    So you can fit the same dashcam twice in the same car and get different video quality.  Like where one has readable street-signs and the other does not..

 

The reality here is with the small camera sizes dashcams have for particular cars it pointless getting above particular camera resolutions because all will end up seeing is basically the blur the windscreen creates in greater and greater detail.    Some of these cars are used by police departments around the world they have a simple solution so they still get number plates put a camera either behind the grill or on the roof rack.

 

Yes there are times people waste money on dashcam when what they need is the integrated solution.   Yes this where you wire stuff in to have front camera, dash camera and possible side cameras and reversing cameras.    Why dash camera still required to have drivers point of view because the front camera in the grill and sides are at very different angles so something they show as highly visible could have been very hidden to the driver..

 

All the dashcam in this review did a good enough job for a basic overview of what happened.    All of them were having trouble getting more detail of course people don't notice some of this is the windscreen.   Reality here a windscreen/plate of glass that is good enough for humans to look though and see enough detail without visible artefacts generally not good enough for a camera.   Yes same problem as going with a camera to  museum and attempt to take pictures of stuff in glass boxes and yes you looking at the items don't see problem but the camera is showing all kinds of artefacts.

[oiaohm]

7 minutes ago, justpoet said:

A ton of people put their phones in mounts on their dash or windshield already for being a gps, keeping it on continually already as a result.  Like with that, you need to keep heat and direct sunlight exposure in mind.  Sadly, most people don't keep phones long enough for anything but the battery to become a problem.  I'm still using a 2014 iPad that is always the GPS in the car though, and while it has shut off from overheat protection a couple times, literally just a couple times, and it still works great and I use it a lot every day outside of the car too.  Maybe there's a difference in quality of flagship type phones and the phones you're talking about, but most phones today expect this sort of use in their design since the phones are designed and marketed to do it...or they're a bad design.

No you need to read more.    Lot of smart phones are marked in their documentation not to leave them in direct sunlight.

 

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201678

• Avoid leaving your device in a car on a hot day.
• Avoid leaving your device in direct sunlight for an extended period of time.
• Avoid using certain features in hot conditions or direct sunlight for an extended period of time, such as GPS tracking or navigation in a car, playing a graphics-intensive game or using augmented-reality apps

This stuff is in the iphone and ipad and android device manuals that people don't read.    Note you are not to leave your device in car and you are not to have the device exposed to direct sunlight for an extended period of time.    Yes apple define of direct sunlight include behind glass.

 

justpoet how much of a risk to your phone/ipad/android device depends on where you live.   Closer to the equator more problematic this is because your exposure levels inside car.   Direct sun outside car UV really exposure levels really messes with this.    Where you live might be far enough away from the equator where the exposure on the devices is not too bad.     This is what has to be considered what level of exposure is the device designed to take and if mounting it full time as a GPS or a dashcam is going to exceed this.

 

Also not all dashcams are built equal in there tolerances either.

 

The reality you presumed the tablets and phones expect the usage you defined.   The manuals of phones and tablets tell you clearly otherwise.   The validation testing done on phones and tablets also tell you clearly otherwise.    Phones and tablets are not tested for being in car on a hot day or being left on the dash or being left connected full time in a car in all conditions.   There are formal certifications for devices meant to take this level of abuse of being left on dash on a fairly hot day some models of dashcams in fact have them.

 

Please note the certification for I am strong enough to be on a dash of car and not break was first designed for third party car GPS units.   Its kind of important to be aware the phone or tablet is weaker device compared to a correctly certified dashcam or gps unit.   Now there are a lot of not certified dashcams or gps units that are just as likely to break as a phone or tablet.

 

Some of the dashcams with higher cost is higher durability now if it does not have the certification for it you might as well not pay the extra money...   

[MysticWizard]

Glad this was made, made me decide to try out my galaxy s21 ultra with app as dashcam first. 

 

Was surprised the following topics were not mentioned:

- Using phone as dashcam (I already use mine as navigation device so now it might double as dashcam!)

- in some countries in europe it is illegal to have dashcams (e.g. germany, austria, here is an incomplete list https://www.anwb.nl/juridisch-advies/op-vakantie/met-de-auto-op-reis/andere-verkeersregels/dashcam-verboden#:~:text=Er geldt een algemeen verbod,toegestaan bij privégebruik.)

- the privacy topic in general

- I was cosidering the xiaomi dashcam but it was not mentioned.

[oiaohm]

7 minutes ago, MysticWizard said:

Glad this was made, made me decide to try out my galaxy s21 ultra with app as dashcam first. 

 

Was surprised the following topics were not mentioned:

- Using phone as dashcam (I already use mine as navigation device so now it might double as dashcam!)

- in some countries in europe it is illegal to have dashcams (e.g. germany, austria, here is an incomplete list https://www.anwb.nl/juridisch-advies/op-vakantie/met-de-auto-op-reis/andere-verkeersregels/dashcam-verboden#:~:text=Er geldt een algemeen verbod,toegestaan bij privégebruik.)

- the privacy topic in general

- I was cosidering the xiaomi dashcam but it was not mentioned.

http://blog.imagnetmount.com/windshield-mounting-laws-for-all-50-states-in-the-us/

 

This usa one is good.    There are states in the USA where you are not allowed to mount anything to the Windscreen.   These USA laws is Nothing todo with privacy.   Laws against interfering with driver vision.

 

Australia where I am there is no rule that you cannot mount to Windscreen but if where you mount to windscreen believed wrong place and a police officer pulls you over its a $250AUD  fine this again is not a privacy problem but vision problem.  

 

Its $350AUD to get one wired into the car correctly with front back and sides and no legal problems in Australia.   So 100AUD dashcam+fine you are up to as much money if you got a wired in one covers more angles with better quality cameras.    The wired in ones normally have the camera behind the  mirror so in area already blocked from view.   Yes in countries/states where you cannot mount to windscreen some of those countries/states you can mount to roof inside or out to get basically the same angle.   Of course there are countries where they are just pure outlawed due to privacy laws.

 

Country laws do get tricky.   Yes some countries your DIY connect to Windscreen is not worth the fine.    Australia lot of cases it simple if you want a dashcam just pay money to have one wired in and be done with it.    Yes when getting wired in you can normally get to see and choose different cameras from a good installer.

 

Do note the wired in have your memory card storing your recordings under you dash so always in the shade.   Yes why wired in can hide behind mirror so well is that screen and core electronics can be mounted away from the windscreen.

 

This is something else to consider how bad for your vision is this dashcam.   No point buying and installing dashcam only to have it be the cause of your crashing or getting fined.

[danwat1234]

While the video was VERY informative, Bitrate was not mentioned at all in. I use the Rove R2-4K and the bitrate is constant at 153MB for a 61 second video at 2K/30FPS settings. If you choose 4K you only get 24FPS so nope.  The video stream is broken up into these 153MB segments. So 2.55MB/s or about 20Mbit/s. I gather that bitrate isn't everything! Post processing is extremely important when it comes to image quality of moving objects I assume. If only they would release a firmware update... 

It does take decent video, good low light quality but moving objects if you try to zoom in significantly to read a plate it's not clear (pixelated). Maybe 50Mb/s and excellent post processing is where it'll be at in the future. I mean I hope also the next gen dashcams won't keep on using MP4 format as the only option but could do VP1 or whatever the newest things is that Intel Arcs can decode. 

[DarkSwordsman]

This was an interesting video. There's a few things I want to touch on.

 

I actually somewhat disagree with Linus on the image quality of some of these cameras. I think the Rexing and especially Viofo actually have quite compelling image quality all things considered, and obviously the Thinkware is pretty good too (especially at night, and despite it's price). When you consider that the Rexing and Viofo are at a competitive price with many webcams with significantly worse quality, plus the fact that these have extra features designed to aid in capturing evidence for court or insurance, $100 or so for them is really a solid price.

 

Not to mention that even if it had a great sensor with great processing, bitrate and encoding quality, that trying to extract license plates and names from a wide angle lens (at a very high f-stop so everything is in focus) isn't really going to be that easy.

 

Also, it would have been nice to see an actual comparison against a latest or last gen GoPro since he made the comparison a few times. Considering the price of a GoPro with good image quality, I can only imagine what a GoPro + Dashcam would cost.

 

I think if you care this much about image quality, it would be better to start an open-source project designed to allow people to use off-the-shelf cameras that have better quality and run them through some small computer with a decent hardware encoder. This would be a good project since it certainly is a thing people clearly want these days, and it may even bring more awareness to how bad many of the lower cost dash cams are.

[nzldbart]

Hey James,

 

Here's a challenge, make your own dash cam using a NUC, Web Cam and surveillance software

 

Could be a fun project.