Almost EVERYONE is Wasting Money on Dash Cams.
Summary
TLDRThe video script discusses the challenges of purchasing a reliable dash cam, highlighting the disparity between marketing claims and real-world performance. The narrator shares his experience with multiple dash cams, revealing that many, even top-rated ones, fail to deliver satisfactory image quality. Despite investing in various models, the video concludes that the Thinkware F70 and Viofo A119 V3 are the most recommendable options for their price range, urging viewers to look beyond marketing fluff and read genuine reviews.
Takeaways
- 🚗 The importance of choosing a reliable dash cam to protect your car investment is emphasized.
- 💡 The author's experience with purchasing dash cams from Amazon was disappointing, with many top-rated options proving to be almost unusable.
- 🔍 The dash cam market is confusing, with cheaper models often having misleading specifications and paid reviews that don't reflect actual performance.
- 🎥 Dash cams have additional features beyond video recording, such as parking mode, discreetness, loop recording, and gravity sensors, which add to the complexity of choosing the right one.
- 🏆 The Thinkware F70 is recommended as a value pick for its simplicity and decent image quality despite lacking some advanced features.
- 🌙 Low-light and nighttime image quality is a significant issue with many budget dash cams, often rendering them ineffective.
- 🔋 Some dash cams use capacitors instead of lithium batteries, which can be safer and have a longer lifespan.
- 💸 Higher-priced dash cams do not necessarily deliver better image quality, with some top-of-the-line models performing no better than budget options.
- 📈 The script reveals that many dash cam brands use similar components, such as Novatek SOCs and Sony STARVIS CMOS sensors, which limits the potential for drastic improvements in image quality.
- 🚫 The author advises against relying on Amazon reviews when purchasing a dash cam and suggests the Thinkware F70 for budget shoppers and the Viofo A119 V3 for most users.
Q & A
What is the main issue the speaker faces with the dash cams they purchased?
-The main issue the speaker faces is that despite spending over 1000 U.S. dollars on a dozen top-rated dash cams from Amazon, almost every single one is of poor quality and basically unusable.
What were some of the misleading aspects the speaker encountered while shopping for dash cams on Amazon?
-The speaker encountered obscene pricing, misleading specifications, and paid reviews that made it difficult to discern the true quality and performance of the dash cams.
What is the speaker's value pick for a dash cam and why?
-The speaker's value pick is the Thinkware F70 because it is simple to set up, does not require pairing to an app, and despite lacking some features and having average image quality, it is affordable at just 70 U.S. dollars.
What are some of the features that should be evaluated when considering a dash cam?
-Some of the features to evaluate include parking mode, discreetness, loop recording, gravity sensors, and the length of the cable.
What is the problem with the A20 dash cam from Biuone in terms of image quality?
-The A20 dash cam from Biuone has poor image quality, especially during the late hours of the day and at night, making it difficult to capture useful information.
How does the speaker describe the situation with the dash cam market?
-The speaker describes the dash cam market as confusing and not straightforward, with marketing materials for cheaper dash cams being contradictory and performance difficult to compare without real-world testing.
What are the key differences between the Viofo A119 V3 and the budget F70?
-The Viofo A119 V3 boasts true 1440p recording, easy and secure mounting, and comes from a manufacturer that accepts community feedback and maintains their products through firmware updates. It also has better image quality than the budget F70.
Why is the speaker disappointed with the high-end dash cams like the BlackVue Dr750X+ and the Thinkware U1000?
-The speaker is disappointed because despite their high price and advanced features, the image quality of these high-end dash cams is not significantly better than that of the cheaper models, which they find frustrating given the price difference.
What is the commonality among most of the dash cams tested?
-Most of the dash cams tested use Novatek SOCs and Sony STARVIS CMOS image sensors, which are common components in many dash cams on the market.
What advice does the speaker give for those looking to purchase a dash cam?
-The speaker advises ignoring the Amazon reviews and recommends the Thinkware F70 for budget shoppers and the Viofo A119 V3 for most people, as their video quality is not far off from top-of-the-line models and they pose less risk of theft.
What is the main takeaway from the speaker's experience with dash cams?
-The main takeaway is that there is a hard limit on image quality that can be achieved with current dash cam technology, and some low-end models are already close to that limit, so consumers may have to settle for 'good enough' or consider alternative solutions like using a GoPro.
Outlines
🚗 Disillusionment with Dash Cams
The paragraph discusses the frustration of the narrator with the quality of dash cams purchased from Amazon. Despite spending over $1000 on highly-rated dash cams, the narrator finds them to be largely unusable. The issue lies in misleading pricing, specifications, and paid reviews. The search for a reliable dash cam leads to the discovery that many options are based on outdated technology, with a lack of transparency in marketing materials and poor real-world performance. The Thinkware F70 is highlighted as a value pick due to its simplicity and adequate performance for the price.
🤔 Exploring the Dash Cam Market
This section delves into the complexities of the dash cam market, noting that it is not as straightforward as one might hope. The narrator discusses the challenges in comparing the performance of cheaper dash cams, which often have confusing and contradictory marketing materials. The importance of features such as parking mode, discreetness, loop recording, and gravity sensors is emphasized. The paragraph also touches on the varying quality of cables and the difficulty in finding a balance between price and performance. The Thinkware F70 is recommended for its value, while other options are critiqued for their shortcomings.
🔎 In-Depth Dash Cam Analysis
The narrator provides an in-depth analysis of various dash cams, discussing their features, performance, and price points. The discussion includes budget options like the Biuone A20 and the Chortau BT 13, as well as more expensive models like the REXING V1 4k and the Garmin Mini 2. The Viofo A119 V3 is highlighted for its popularity and features, but ultimately, the narrator expresses disappointment with the overall image quality across all tested cameras. The high-end BlackVue Dr750X+ and Thinkware U1000 are also examined, with their high prices not reflecting the expected improvement in video quality.
📉 The Reality of Dash Cam Image Quality
The paragraph addresses the hard limit on image quality present in dash cams, despite the variety of options available. It is noted that even low-end models are close to this limit, prompting a suggestion to either settle for 'good enough' or consider alternative solutions like using a GoPro. The paragraph also discusses the common use of Sony STARVIS sensors across dash cams and the limited improvement offered by more expensive sensors. The narrator criticizes the focus of top dash cam companies on adding features rather than improving basic functionality, such as clear license plate recognition. Recommendations are made for budget-conscious shoppers and for those looking for a comprehensive solution, with a suggestion to ignore Amazon reviews in favor of these trusted picks.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Dash Cams
💡Amazon Reviews
💡Image Quality
💡Features
💡Price Range
💡SOC and CMOS Image Sensor
💡Brands and Manufacturers
💡Insurance Fraud
💡Product Sponsorship
💡Video Processing
💡Recommendations
Highlights
Investing in a dash cam is crucial to protect your vehicle investment.
The reviewer spent over 1000 U.S. dollars on a dozen top-rated dash cams from Amazon, only to find them largely unusable.
Marketing materials for cheaper dash cams are often misleading and make it difficult to compare performance.
Dash cams add extra usability features to the complexity of reviewing a regular camera.
The Thinkware F70 is recommended as a value pick for its simplicity and decent image quality.
The A20 from Biuone and the BT 13 from Chortau, both budget options, have poor image quality, especially at night.
The T1 from IIWEY and the D30H from Pruveeo, despite their bulk and claims, do not offer satisfactory image quality.
The REXING V1 4k and Garmin Mini 2, while more expensive, show only a slight improvement in image quality over the budget picks.
The Rove R2-4K, despite being the number one pick on Amazon, fails to deliver better image quality compared to the budget F70.
The Viofo A119 V3, a popular budget dash cam, offers the best image quality within the $100 budget but still falls short of expectations.
High-end dash cams like the BlackVue Dr750X+ and Thinkware U1000 do not provide a significant improvement in image quality despite their high price.
Most dash cam brands use components from a handful of manufacturers, such as Novatek for SOCs and Sony for CMOS image sensors.
The common use of outdated technology, like the Novatek NT96660 SOC, may contribute to the overall poor performance of many dash cams.
The Sony STARVIS IMX335 sensor is commonly used in dash cams for its decent low light performance, but differences in processing and SOCs can affect image quality.
The hard limit on image quality is set by the technology used, and low-end models are already close to this limit.
Ignoring Amazon reviews and choosing budget-friendly options like the F70 or Viofo A119 V3 can provide adequate video quality without breaking the bank.
Transcripts
- Buying a car is a major decision,
and you'll wanna do everything you can
to protect your investment. (car honking)
Oh! Oh God! Oh, what the?
That guy just hit me.
Good thing I caught his license plate
on one of my many trusty dash cams.
This one's kinda crap. This one too.
Well, surely my expensive one will.
Now, come on! This is unusable!
What the heck is going on here?
I spent over 1000 U.S. dollars
on a dozen of the top rated dash cams on Amazon,
and almost every single one sucks
to the point of being basically unusable.
How did this happen? I did my homework.
I got the most recommended. I got the highest rated units.
I thought I picked up something reliable.
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- This video started over three years ago
when my wife came across some hilarious examples
of blatant insurance fraud
that was prevented by dash cam footage.
She asked me to get some dash cams for our cars.
"No problem," said I, and I headed over to Amazon where,
to my surprise, nearly everything was obscenely priced,
full of misleading specs, covered in obviously paid reviews,
or sometimes all three.
Long story short, I settled on a cheap and cheerful unit
with decent reviews and bought two of them,
not one of which even managed to power on.
So, I gave up.
Then, one of our new writers overheard me
recounting this story and went,
"I can look into that. I need a dash cam too."
And two weeks later, we've learned a lot.
To start with, the dash cam market
is still not as straightforward as one might hope.
Marketing materials for cheaper dash cams
can be confusing and contradictory,
and their performance, its basically impossible to compare
without trying them side by side in the real world.
Dash cams take all the issues of reviewing a regular camera
and they add on a ton of extra usability features
that need to be evaluated.
Parking mode, discreetness, loop recording, gravity sensors,
even the length of the cable matters.
Too long and you've got an unsightly coil of wire to hide,
too short and it could be a challenge
to reach your power source.
It's a lot to take in.
The good news is that if all you want is proof of fault,
or lack thereof, in the event of an accident,
it's still pretty hard to go wrong.
Our value pick is the Thinkware F70.
It's pretty bare bones in terms of features,
lacking creature comforts like GPS data,
or even a screen for that matter,
but it is dead simple to set up
since it doesn't need to be paired to an app,
the included 3m mounting tape is quite permanent,
and while it won't be winning any awards for image quality,
we were able to clearly identify the vehicles
and people in our footage,
and we could even make out license plates,
at least on stationary cars.
That's pretty okay,
especially for just 70 U.S. dollars.
But, there were situations
where it left us wanting a bit more.
Now our target price was under $100,
and we ended up with a wide range of features
and image quality.
So let's make our way through the rest of them,
from cheapest to most expensive.
This is the A20 from Biuone, a brand with no website,
but they do have the lucky number eight spot
in the Amazon best sellers list.
You might not expect much for $60,
and if that's the case, boy are you ever a savvy shopper.
Image quality during the late hours of the day is lacking,
and at night is so bad
that you'd think you were filming on a potato.
Making matters worse, the screen doesn't automatically dim,
so you'll be constantly vibrantly reminded
of how little useful information your camera is capturing.
The BT 13 comes in at $10 more, ranks number six on Amazon,
and just like the Biuone,
it comes courtesy of a mystery meat brand with no website.
This time called Chortau.
It's not that hard to have a website, guys.
I've got one.
It's full of great deals, like these $9 mystery cable ties.
Lttstore.com.
Daylight quality is grainier than the A20 for sure,
but text is actually slightly easier to read,
indicating that Chortau might be using a better sensor,
but what they aren't doing
is much in the way of post-processing
to enhance the image quality.
And this is especially apparent at night,
where the A20 actually looks somewhat decent in comparison.
Also, like the Biuone, the screen stays on by default.
Annoying.
But one interesting feature it has at least
is that the rear camera input is mini HDMI.
So if you wanted to use a decent camera for your rear view,
the Chortau could act as your screen and save your backups.
Otherwise we stand by our recommendation
of the Thinkware F70 at this price.
And, at $80 for that matter.
These two chunky boys didn't make it
into our side by side tests due to their considerable bulk.
Both have cabin facing cameras though,
so realistically they're designed more
for an Uber driver audience anyway.
The T1 comes from IIWEY,
the first manufacturer with an actual website,
and in broad daylight driving away from the sun,
like ideal conditions,
it can't seem to make out the words on many road signs,
let alone other important details.
Not a good showing for the second highest rated unit
with a cabin camera.
Chonker number two is the D30H from Pruveeo.
They claim it's a 4k camera, which, if true,
could be a really great value,
but out of the box the metadata
for the files clearly reads 1080p.
With that aside, in the daylight it can read signs,
which is an improvement over the Biuone and the IIWEY,
but license plates are still elusive
unless at a complete stop and positioned just right.
One cool feature though
is that it uses capacitors instead of lithium batteries,
unlike the rest of the cameras we've talked about already.
This is a nice to have, because lithium batteries,
especially when subjected to heat,
and when they're constantly fully charged,
wear out more quickly, which can lead to battery swelling,
and in extreme cases, fire.
Let's step up our budget.
Surely for $100 this sponsored listing
for the REXING V1 4k will be a good choice, right?
I mean, it has 4k right in the name, right?
And Forbes named it the
"Best dash cam for a tighter budget" of 2022.
Let's see how that's goin'.
Actually, not too bad Forbes.
Looking at the videos from around dusk,
it is slightly clearer than our $70 F70, but only slightly.
Field of view, colors, ability to make out text,
all of that is pretty much the same,
which means that unless you really need the screen,
it doesn't feel worth spending 43% more.
Maybe Garmin can change my mind?
They used to be very well known for their GPS offerings.
Their compact dash cam Mini 2
was a little out of our price range at $110,
but, hey, what's 10 extra bucks
for the much better brand name one, right?
Well, not right, but at least not wrong.
It performs about as well as the V1 4k,
maybe a bit better or worse depending on the circumstances.
And it has some nice features available,
but those features require an app,
and that app requires an account,
and that account requires you
to give Garmin your information, which is super.
Now surely the number one pick on Amazon
is gonna ride in and save the day, right?
At $120, it is now firmly beyond our original price target,
but what's another 10 bucks if it's a lot better, right?
Here we go.
Really?
At dusk, the Rove R2-4K manages to capture less detail
than our budget F70, and at night it's more of the same,
signs are readable, sometimes, if you're lucky.
But there is one last hope.
It's the darling of budget dash cam stands
across the internet,
and it happens to nail our $100 budget exactly.
It boasts true 1440p recording
with easy and secure mounting, and comes from a manufacturer
that accepts community feedback
and maintains their products through firmware updates.
It's even popular enough to get into the top 20 on Amazon.
And it's the Viofo A119 V3, all of which sounds great.
But what about the image quality?
(Linus blowing raspberries)
I mean, in fairness it is the best we've seen so far,
especially when it comes to the finer details,
and it's $20 cheaper than some of the competition,
but I can't help but be a little disappointed.
It just feels like no matter which brand we buy
and no matter how much we spend,
we're ending up with pretty much the same crappy image,
even from our best camera.
So let's do something I wouldn't actually recommend
and completely blow our budget.
These are the BlackVue Dr750X+, and the Thinkware U1000.
The Dr750X is BlackVue's second most expensive
one channel dash cam at 270 U.S. dollars.
It has dual band wifi, a back illuminated image sensor
with enhanced night vision,
and support for LTE cloud storage backup.
And the Thinkware U1000,
well that's Thinkware's flagship device,
the best of the best.
150 degree viewing angle, 1440p 60 FPS recording,
geofencing with push notifications,
red light camera detection, and picture quality that...
Oh, come on!
The BlackVue is as bad as the crappy Chinese cameras,
and the U1000 is barely better than the A19 V3, if at all.
It does have some creature comforts.
I mean, I guess it's nice that it tells me
when there's a red light camera coming up ahead.
- [Dashcam] Red light camera in 200 meters.
- So that I can stop at it instead of
just blowing through like I normally would.
I mean, this thing's gonna pay for itself
in saved traffic tickets.
And the geofencing feature, okay,
that legitimately could come in handy
once my kids are old enough to drive.
And maybe BlackVue's cloud storage would come in handy
in case the camera got destroyed in a crash.
But at more than double,
up to quadruple the prices of these other options,
I am frankly blown away
that there's anything but a colossal improvement
in the quality of capturing video
out the front of my windshield.
The entire purpose of these devices.
What is going on here?
I mean, if I were to put a $400 GoPro in my car
instead of one of these cameras, it would look amazing.
How are these all so bad?
Well, here's a hint.
You might see nine dash cams attached to this car.
You know what I see?
Two dash cams in nine different plastic shelves.
Listen to these startup chimes.
(dashcams chiming)
- [Dashcam] Video mode. Please insert micro SD card.
- Look at these default folder structures.
Heck, even just look at the rear cameras
that come with some of these.
Notice any similarities?
The thing is, there are hundreds,
if not thousands of dash cam brands,
but there are only a handful of companies
that actually manufacture the two most important components;
the SOC and the CMOS image sensor.
In SOCs, the major player
is Taiwanese fabless semiconductor manufacturer, Novatek.
Not to be confused with the Russian natural gas corporation
of the same name.
Their bread and butter is LCD controllers
for companies like Asus or Sony.
But on the side, they also make camera SOCs,
like the NT96660 and the NT 96655.
With the numbering scheme not easily obtainable
by the general public,
it's hard to tell exactly what the specs of these chips are,
or when they were designed.
But from what we could glean online,
the 96660 was built sometime around or before 2017,
and the last two digits appear to be the series
and iteration.
So of our 10 dash cams in that near $100 range,
eight of them were using Novatek SOCs,
and Viofo was one of the few examples we could find
of any camera using an SOC
where the second to last digit was higher than six.
Meaning most of them
are using five year old technology at best.
Identifying a Novatek system is fairly easy.
They often have the same startup sounds.
(dashcam chiming)
- [Dashcam] Video mode.
- Or use the default backup cameras.
Or even have folder structures
that include the name Novatek.
Other manufacturers of SOCs
include HiSilicon from Huawei,
Thinkware's manufacturer of choice, Ambarella,
and the very infrequently used, Allwinner.
In our limited searches,
we could not seem to find the SOC manufacturers
for BlackVue or for Garmin products,
though it's fairly likely
that they're using one of these three.
As for CMOS image sensors,
nearly every company uses Sony STARVIS,
a sub-category of their Exmor sensors.
Exmors are used in nearly everything,
from phone cameras in Apple and Samsung phones alike,
to high end consumer cameras, to the lowest end webcams.
And the STARVIS line is the type
that is specifically designed for security cameras
and other similar applications
that require decent low light performance.
The most common sensor to find in dash cams right now
is the IMX335.
It's a perfectly fine sensor actually,
capable of 1440p video
with a reasonable enough level of clarity even in low light.
The Rove and the Viofo both use this sensor.
So then you would think they would have
the same image quality, right?
Clearly there's a difference, though.
What it could be is something to do
with Rove using its limited processing power
to upscale the image to 4k.
Or it could have to do
with the Rove using an NT96660 processor,
while the Viofo uses an evidently newer NT96670.
For the several hundred dollars more that you would pay
for the Thinkware U1000,
you're getting a STARVIX IMX334,
which appears to be the next level up from the 335,
totally intuitive.
But the difference, as far as we've been able to see,
isn't that great.
If I could put it in PC gamer terms,
it's kinda like upgrading your graphics card
from a 3070 to a 3070 Ti,
but for double or triple the price.
There are a few other sensor manufacturers,
like OmniVision or Galaxycore,
but these are only used occasionally,
and the image quality, at least going by the other reviews,
doesn't seem to be a huge improvement there either.
One great thing about Sony
being the big kahuna in image sensors
is that they're pretty open with their data sheets.
So if you know what image sensor a camera uses,
you can at least find some basic information on it.
But that's only gonna take you so far
without having information on the SOC,
or probably more importantly,
the software algorithms that will be running
to process the raw image.
The biggest takeaway here then
is that no matter which dash cam you choose,
there is kinda this hard limit
on image quality that can be achieved at the moment.
And some of the low end models,
they're already pretty close to that limit.
So you're either gonna be settling for good enough,
or, as we suggested before,
you could throw a GoPro up on your windshield
with all the associated inconvenience that comes with that.
Did I remember to roll it?
And the problem is,
I doubt that this is gonna change anytime soon,
because the top dash cam companies
seem to be more interested in adding features,
like the ability to string five cameras together
or let you review your footage
with full gyroscopic readouts,
rather than actually making a camera
that can read a bloody license plate
10 feet in front of you.
So if you're in the market for a dash cam,
ignore the Amazon reviews.
F70 for the budget shoppers out there,
and Viofo A119 V3 for pretty much everyone else.
Their video quality isn't nearly
as far off the top of the line as you would think,
and neither of them is gonna put you at major risk
of having your windows smashed to steal your dash cam.
If you wanna add a rear cam as well,
the A129+ or similar offerings from Viofo
will allow you to do that as well,
also without breaking the bank.
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If you enjoyed this video,
our first dash cam video is a treat.
You can watch Luke threaten me with,
wait, is that a crowbar?
No, it's an ice scraper. I think I'll be all right.
What the heck is going on here? Stop!
Forward as one might hope. (beep) you.
What the (beep)?
'Cause it's (beep) and everything is (beep).
The included 3m mount.
Keep doing it. The definition of insanity, right?
Here we go, boys.
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