Hey
it’s Andrew with Car Cam Central
We review dash cameras
and we’re back with our budget
dual channel recommendations for 2017 so far
These cameras record not only the front
but also from your rear windshield
which allows you to capture faces
and details like license plates
in hit and run accidents
As always
we researched many cameras
and spent close to $1000 American
to test those that were promising
We have three recommendations
Our top value pick for most drivers
is the $130 Mini 0906 camera
The video quality functionality and performance
is a big leap over cameras we found under $200
Our cheap choice
is the $60 Pruveeo F5
but there’s a lot of drawbacks
we’ll talk about later
Finally
there’s the $210 Blackvue DR490
which is our pick for parked recording
or for drivers in hotter climates
There’s a lot to talk about
so let’s get into it
[Intro]
Starting first with the basics
all three of our recommendations
are dash cams
They’ll turn on
and start recording automatically
when they receive power
They will also record on a loop
which means they will overwrite
the oldest files on your card
when it runs out of space
As well
all three have a second camera
which attaches using adhesive pads
to your rear windshield
It sends video to the front camera
through a 20’ cable
with an easy plug and play connection
During installation
you will need to hide the cable
either in the headliner
or under your seats
Each car is different
but I think most people
can do everything in under an hour
You might be thinking
if this is worth the trouble
While the front camera is most important
we found there many situations
where the rear camera is helpful
One top reason
is to give context behind a road-rage
or a tailgating accident
If the driver behind you is acting dangerously
and you later collide
you can show what happened
and how their driving influenced your actions
The second
is for a hit and run accident
This is most helpful for rear-end hits
where the driver does a U-Turn
and drives away
You can also capture the driver’s face
so you can sue for injuries
and they can’t lie and say
they were somewhere else
Looking at our first pick
the $130 Mini 0906
is our top recommendation for most drivers
It’s a game changer
as it delivers the performance
and heat resistance
that has not been found in cameras under $200
The body is fairly small and stealthy
to outside observers
and hopefully less of a tempting target to steal
There’s three main reasons
why you should spend more
to get the Mini 0906
over the cheaper cameras available
First
the 0906 uses capacitors
not lithium ion batteries
Both store energy
to safely shutdown your camera
when you turn off your vehicle
Capacitors are more reliable and heat resistant
so your camera is less likely to fail
and need replacing
Most budget dash cams use batteries
which can swell in hot weather
and damage your camera
This happened to the original version
of the Anker ROAV camera we tested
The second reason you should get the Mini
is the for the better rear camera
You can stick it to vertical windshields
which are found on some SUVs and hatchbacks
and still get a good angle
On cheaper cameras
many use a generic square camera
which has adjustability issues
if mounted on directly on some windshields
Most importantly
the video quality is so much better
compared to most budget cameras
Both the front and rear
record in remarkably clear full HD 1080P
When compared with our $60 pick
the front looks relatively similar
during the day
At night
there’s a larger contrast
The clarity and sharpness
are significantly better under low light conditions
If we look at the rear camera
that’s where the Mini 0906 is shockingly better
You can read license plates
both day and night
and the camera becomes dramatically more useful
Most budget cameras have VGA resolution footage
which is grainy and mushy
The mini camera takes a maximum 128GB card
which gives just over 7 and a half hours
of recording time
at the highest quality
Moving on let's talk about parked recording
The Mini 0906 has a special setting called parking guard
which saves space on your SD card
It works with a special hardwiring kit
which connects your camera to your car’s battery
for continuous power when your engine is off
It has a voltage cutoff circuit
to prevent the camera from draining your battery
The parking guard activates
when it senses your vehicle has turned off
It will lower the resolution to 720P
and the frame rate to 2FPS
When it detects motion or a shock
it switches back to recording at 30 frames per second
However
there’s a three-second gap
where the camera is not recording
and you could miss capturing an accident
or license plate
We do not recommend you turn on parking guard
until this delay is fixed
or a better parking mode is implemented
The Mini 0906 comes with a wireless remote
which can activate the emergency lock feature
by holding down the button
This feature protects the current file
from being overwritten
It’s quite helpful after an accident or interesting event
Moving on
like all cameras we recommend
you get everything you need for installation
except a microSD card
which you’ll need to buy yourself
Certain cards like the Transcend
or Sandisk High Endurance are more durable
See our video for more
To install the camera
it’s simple
No tools are required
The Mini uses an adhesive tape
for the front and rear cameras
which holds strongly under different weather conditions
and removes cleanly without residue
The only other issue
is the poor error notifications with faulty microSD cards
On our four non-working units
the camera would flash a “card full error”
once for 1-2 seconds before it disappears
It’s very easy to miss
that your camera has problems recording
As all cards fail overtime
this is a problem
On better cameras
like the Vicovation OPIA2
you’ll see a constant LCD warning
that tells you there’s a problem
Hopefully
the Mini will be fixed with a firmware update
Overall
we love the Mini 0906
We haven’t seen another camera under $200
that gives you 1080P front and back quality
with better heat tolerance
because of its capacitor build
Looking at our next camera
if you have a lower budget
the $60 Pruveeo F5 was the best we could find
It has OK video quality
backed up by decent customer service
Still we do not recommend the F5
unless you really want a front-back camera
and you can’t afford the Mini 0906
Starting with camera body
its wedged shape is great for escaping notice
The F5 looks like it was built into your vehicle
Moving to the rear camera
it’s design means it can’t be installed
on vertical windshields
found on some vehicles
You’ll have to find a horizontal surface
like a taillight
As well
you will need to bend the metal bracket
to get the right angle
On most vehicles you should have no problems
The video quality is the biggest downside
While the front camera is acceptable
there’s a decent amount of detail
during the day and night
However the rear camera is dismal
you won’t be able to make out any faces
or license plates
Still
it’s enough to show what was happening
such as tailgating or dangerous driving
As well
the F5 also uses lithium-ion batteries
which can cause trouble in hotter climates
Even if the Pruveeo had a proper parking mode
this would not be a good candidate
for recording in hot vehicles
The F5 also has the worst SD card slot I’ve used
I needed a tool
to insert and remove the card
as it was buried deep
Fortunately
the camera’s reliability has been good so far
There were a few issues with the LCD cover falling off
but not many reports of failed cameras
Overall
we aren’t excited about the Pruveeo F5
but it is an option for those
who can’t afford the Mini 0906
We did not find any cameras
we would recommend under this price
Moving on
we tested the $120 Rexing V1P
We wanted a camera from a popular brand
with excellent customer service
While it has many positive reviews
we do not think it’s a good value
The video quality is similar to the $60 Pruveeo F5
except it costs nearly the same
as the Mini 0906
Like the F5 it uses lithium-ion batteries
They also use a 3M tape
that has trouble coming cleanly off windshields
compared to the VHB adhesive that is normally used
As we said before
we think Rexing has great customer service
we just think it’s not worth double the price
over the Pruveeo F5
We’ll leave the decision to you
Finally
let’s look at the $210 Blackvue DR490
While it is pushing the definition of a budget camera
it is the cheapest dual 1080P camera
from a well-known manufacturer
There are two models
but we only we recommend the cylindrical
Non-LCD variant the DR490 not the DR490L
The DR490 is not the overall better choice
versus the Mini 0906
We’d only get DR490 for three reasons
One
if you need parking mode
Two
you live somewhere hotter
and want a more heat resistant camera
Three
if you want a mainstream brand
with better customer support
and a larger retailer network
Otherwise
the DR490 falls behind in video quality
and we don’t think it’ll be worth
the extra $70 over the Mini 0906
Starting first with Parking mode
the DR490 is a better candidate over the mini
as there’s no gaps in coverage
The parking mode activates differently
from the Mini 0906
It turns on when your car hasn't moved in 5 minutes
Which is detected through an accelerometer
The camera will then stop writing
to the SD card
but will keep 10 seconds of video in its memory
When the camera senses motion or an impact
it will copy the saved video
and the next 15 seconds in a new video file
This is much more reliable
than what the Mini 0906 uses right now
Unlike the Mini
you have more hardwiring kits to choose from
See our parking mode article for details
and more information on hardwiring your camera
The second reason to get the Blackvue
is for its higher temperature limit at 70C/158F
over the 60C of the Mini camera
This helps improve reliability in hot weather
It also has a temperature sensor
which will shut down the camera at 70C
to protect it from overheating
and is a more useful temperature compared to the Mini
The third reason
for you to consider the DR490
is Blackvue’s better retailer network
You have brick and mortar locations
like Best Buy
and speciality retailers like BlackBoxMyCar
who have experience installing cameras
on vehicles like BMWs
with complicated electronics
Before we talk about some of the DR490’s downsides
let’s look at the rest of the camera
The DR490 attaches to your windshield
using adhesives
and is stealthy
and not easily noticeable
outside your vehicle
Unlike other cameras
you need a laptop
or PC to change the settings
as the camera doesn’t have an LCD screen
or WiFi connectivity
You’ll have to take out the SD card
and run the Windows or OSX program
which can be downloaded from their website
I found it easy to use
You’ll also need to rely on its voice notifications and LEDs
to see if it is recording
I am disappointed
that Blackvue didn’t get error notifications right
The 3 failed ADATA cards caused the camera to format
and reboot on a loop
The Transcend card seem to crash the camera
as it wouldn’t start up
We suggest you check your SD card often
to make sure it is working
Looking at the video quality
the front camera is overall quite similar to the Mini 0906
as they both use a Sony Starvis Sensor
The dynamic range sharpness and clarity
is about the same both day and night
For the rear camera it’s a different story
There’s less detail
and greater motion blur
which means it’s harder to pickup license plates
on the move
The Mini 0906 uses a Sony Exmor sensor
while Blackvue hasn’t published their specs
We think it’s an inferior sensor
Looking at the recording time
you can use SD cards up to 128GB
which gives around 13 Hours of recording time
Blackvue includes a microSD card
from 16-128GB
depending on the package you buy
They are reliable
but pricey
We also measured energy efficiency
and found it was about the same
as the other parking mode cameras we tested
The recording time
will depend on the size of your battery
The DR490 comes with a standard one-year warranty
We don’t expect any reliability issues with the camera
as Blackvue has a lot of experience
making these cameras
Overall
the DR490 is a good pick
if you’re looking for a dual channel camera
for parking mode
and you don’t want to spend $400+
Speaking of $400+ cameras
we’ll be testing quite a few in the future
including the F800 we purchased
We’ll talk about how premium models
give you all the important features
we talked about today
and also add WiFi and live internet streaming
That information will be in an article soon to come
including the details we left out today
For example
the cameras we considered
but didn’t end up testing or choosing
Updates will be in the description below this video
and for trusted retailers
for the cameras we recommended
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Thanks for watching