Hey it’s Andrew with Car Cam Central
As promised we’re back with our premium front-back
camera recommendations for 2018 so far
These cameras represent the best of what’s available
in performance, features and customer support
We researched many cameras
and spent over $2000 of our own money
to purchase promising cameras and accessories
By buying all the cameras ourselves
we try to be as bias free as possible
After extensive hands-on testing
we have three recommendations
Starting with our great value pick
is the $290 USD Street Guardian SG9663DC
It's over $100 cheaper than our other choices
while delivering excellent day and night video footage
You get a 2-year warranty and many extra accessories
over cameras from Thinkware and Blackvue
For those focused on parked recording
get the $380 Thinkware F800 Pro
It’s the most energy efficient camera we tested
and has useful parking features
not found on other cameras.
For those looking for the best video quality
I would get the $480 Blackvue DR900S
Its 4K front camera is significantly sharper
than any other camera I’ve seen during the day
Its internet cloud features
allow you to view a live video stream
get push notifications
on impacts and more while away from your vehicle
There’s a lot to talk about
hope you’re excited as we are about these cameras
[Intro Music]
Starting with the basics
all three have loop recording
and auto record when power is received
They use capacitors not lithium ion batteries
for better heat resistance
They have WiFi and GPS features.
Finally the basic installation doesn’t require tools
They are also dual channel, front-back cameras
The second camera attaches to your rear windshield
using adhesives
Blackvue and Thinkware
have a similar cylindrical design
Street Guardian is wedged shaped
From our testing
all three are functionally similar
In all designs, there’s a 20-foot cable
with an easy plug and play connection
that sends video to the front camera.
Hiding this wire will take some time
but it’s not complicated.
We’d like to explain but it’ll take too long.
Some resources will be linked in the description.
So you might ask why you should spend over $300
on a premium camera
when we have recommendations for half the price
One reason is reliability
they have better components,
assembly and quality control
Their customer service will be smoother
There will also be features like cloud recording
spoken notifications, reliable parking modes
that are often not available on cheaper cameras
Premium cameras also look nicer
which for some drivers especially luxury vehicle owners
is quite important
These cameras aren’t right for everyone
and we acknowledge
the diminishing returns for your money
Still, for those who want the best
this video is for you
Let’s begin with the $290 Street Guardian SG9663DC
It’s our great value pick
not just for the cheaper price
but also its crisp video quality
two-year warranty
and Street Guardian's history
in producing reliable
heat-resistant cameras
with good customer service
Starting with the body
it’s wedge-shaped and while stealthy
it lacks the refined design
of Blackvue or Thinkware
It’s not unsightly
but there’s not much to look at either
In return, the setup is much easier
as you don’t need a smartphone
It’s the only camera out of the three
to have an LCD screen
You can do everything using the camera controls
The SG9663DC is quite a bit cheaper
than our other picks
The base price includes a decent 64GB card
Blackvue and Thinkware give you a smaller card
The cheaper price
doesn’t mean worse performance where it counts
Starting with video quality
overall it’s pretty great
The front camera is sharp
with excellent dynamic range and edge sharpness
There is the occasional issue with exposure
but Street Guardian is releasing firmware updates
all the time
At night it’s excellent, the sharpness and clarity
is near the top for dual channel cameras
and approaches what we’ve seen
in single lens cameras.
Looking at the rear camera footage
it’s the best we’ve been in a dual lens camera
for both day and night recordings
Overall you will be happy with the
Street Guardian’s performance.
Rather than spending time
in detailed video comparisons
we’ll post more on our second channel
if you’re interested
Let's look at the SG’s accessories
Normally it’s not important
but there’s a shocking contrast
between the spartan amounts
with Blackvue and Thinkware
versus what Street Guardian includes
Notably with SG you get a circular polarizer
which reduces glare
from light bouncing off the dashboard
For Android phones
there's a micro USB card reader for faster file transfers
and an extra, short rear cable
for overhead liner installations
Street Guardian gives you three extra sets of adhesives
In comparison Blackvue and Thinkware have one
which is ridiculous considering their cost
Even cheap cameras give you at least two
One downside to Street Guardian
is the external GPS dongle
It’s one extra item to install
if you want to log your speed, position
and for better time calibration
but, it’s not large or hard to install.
As well
Street Guardian is a smaller company
with less resources
While they greatly invested
into their after-sales support
their technical development has lagged behind
The camera has Wifi to change settings
and access saved videos
but you'll need to use a third party app
such as Novacam or DOD Tech
They work but the experience wasn’t good
as you lack the full range of customizations
found on the camera itself
The download speed is the slowest
of the three cameras
It takes 5 minutes to download a 3-minute video
Streaming saved videos isn’t smooth
Playback stutters
or has to buffer constantly depending on the app
As this is Street Guardian’s first WiFi camera
we think this may improve with future firmware updates
Looking at Street Guardian’s time-lapse parking mode
we found it works much better
You need to install the optional $30 hardwiring cable
which connects the camera to your vehicle’s battery
through the fusebox
There’s a switch that selects the voltage cutoff
which prevents your battery from being fully drained
The installation process
goes beyond what we can cover in this video
As a summary, there are two power leads.
You connect one to a constantly on circuit
like your dome lights,
the other to a switched circuit like your 12V car socket
Professional help may be needed
This allows the camera to sense when the vehicle is off
and automates parking mode
Unlike cheaper cameras
you won’t need to go into the menu
and turn it on and off yourself
When active
the camera will record 1,2, or 5 frames of video
every second depending on the setting
This reduces file size and energy requirements
meaning longer recording times
The Street Guardian isn’t as versatile a parking camera
as the Thinkware F800
but it does a good, reliable job
Unfortunately
Street Guardian doesn’t have spoken notifications
When it starts up you’ll hear beeps
instead of a prerecorded voice message
[Beeps from Street Guardian]
Blackvue and Thinkware use spoken status notifications
which sounds more refined and improves clarity
[Blackvue for your safe driving]
[Starting normal recording]
One issue is that the 9663 lacks an audio warning
for failed SD cards
You have to look at the LCD screen directly
You can miss that your camera has stopped recording
especially if it's covered by the rear view mirror
We hope Street Guardian releases a firmware fix
in the future
Fortunately, I think Street Guardian’s strongest asset
is their customer service and community engagement
We found their team works quickly to look after issues
One example
their CEO frequently interacts
with the DashCamTalk community to get feedback
handle complaints and to explain product updates
Also, they are the only premium camera
to provide a 2-year warranty versus the standard
1 year once you register it online
This is a big deal as cameras can fail over time
It gives us great comfort that Street Guardian
stands behind their products
While Thinkware and Blackvue are no slouches
I think with Street Guardian’s size
they have had disproportionately big results
I’m happy to give them a strong recommendation
as my great value pick
Next, let’s look at the $380 Thinkware F800 Pro
This is our recommendation for anyone
looking for a great parking mode camera
with better functionality and energy efficiency
versus Street Guardian and Blackvue
The user experience and design are also much better
Starting with the body
we find it more refined and sleek looking
The metal and plastic flow nicely together
It’s a great looking camera without attracting attention
if you’re worried about thieves
There’s no LCD screen so you’ll need a smartphone
or a PC to change the settings
There’s two models
the F800 and the F800 Pro which we tested
The Pro model has additional parking options
a stealthier appearance
and internet functionality aka The Cloud
Get the Pro
as it was cheaper than the regular version of the F800
in September 2018
Looking at video quality
it was good but not great
The front camera is muddled during the day
in comparison to the other cameras we tested
It’ll still pick up license plates
but it’s not great at it
At night the quality improves
it’s about the same as the other cameras in this review
In my opinion, the changes in the last few years
for video hardware has not improved
low light recording very much
Looking at the rear camera, it's relatively better
The clarity and sharpness are good
both during the day and night
We did find there can be more pixelation
in a detail rich environments
due to the lower 10mbps bitrate
While the video quality is no longer best
the F800 has no equal for parked recording
Its energy efficiency and functionality
are better than other cameras
Thinkware has three parking modes
all of them reliable and useful for different situations
Street Guardian and Blackvue have less
limiting their versatility
Here’s why that matters
Starting with motion detection mode
the F800 will only record once it senses movement
Its buffered recording will save 10 seconds before
and after motion was detected
This is great for less busy environments
and it will give you the full picture of what happened
In comparison
the time-lapse mode will have jumpier videos
But, this is useful for busy parking lots
so the camera won’t be constantly recording big files
and filling up your memory card quickly
as would happen with motion detection mode
Lastly, only on the F800 Pro is the impact only mode
The camera stops recording and hibernates
When an impact is detected
it’ll start recording one second after
You’ll miss the shock
but you should capture what happens next
This mode uses three times less energy
and is fantastic if you need
the longest recording time possible
Another unique feature
is the parking report after turning on your vehicle
[During parking mode event detection recording, 3, occurred]
This tells you the number of events
aka impacts
and saves you from having to walk around your car
to check for damage
Thinkware’s parking mode
requires installing a cable similar to Street Guardian
Instead of a cutoff switch
the F800 senses the voltage through internal circuitry
This allows you to use your smartphone and PC
to customize the voltages
the camera turns itself on and off
We found the app mostly easy to use
Compared to Street Guardian
the experience is much better
It’s easy to change settings and view saved videos
Streaming was a smooth experience
and download speed is significantly faster
than Street Guardian
taking 28 seconds
to download a 1 minute, 80 megabyte file
Unfortunately the in-app Cloud functionality
was hard to use and not useful for most features
Thinkware’s cloud uses the internet
to provide additional functionality for the F800 Pro
when connected to a WiFi Hotspot
We found the feature set extremely limited
especially as it can only be used during normal
and not parked recording
We also found the connection process difficult.
The layout is not intuitive
While we connected on iOS
We had problems with Android
Even so, the cloud is used by few people
We don't think it takes away from its great
parking mode - the main reason to get the F800
In September 2018
if you’re considering the F800
get the Pro model
as it’s surprisingly cheaper and has more features
Let’s look at our third recommendation
the Blackvue DR900S
This is the camera for users
who want the best video quality
and useful cloud features
Blackvue is probably the most famous
dash cam manufacturer in North America and Europe
We’ve been reviewing their cameras
since they first entered the scene in 2012
The DR900S was released in May 2018
Its cylindrical design
hasn’t changed much in a few years
The lens is on the front
and connection ports are on the side
The biggest changes are inside
the front sensor records at 4K or 3840x2160P
4 times the resolution of the 1080p sensor
in most cameras
We found the front camera has both
the sharpest video we’ve seen during the day
and a very wide 162° field of view
You capture more of the environment
and details like license plates
than any other camera we’ve tested
At night
there’s more noise
compared to the Street Guardian camera
but the DR900
has similar sharpness and dynamic range.
The rear camera also fell behind slightly
even though it uses the more advanced
Sony Starvis sensor
compared to the older
Sony Exmor on the Street Guardian.
We think it has to do with the lower bitrate
at 10mbps vs15mbps.
One small issue, we noticed the rear camera
loses a few video frames between files
While the impact is small
for a premium camera in 2018
we hope it will be fixed soon.
The DR900S
uses the newer H.265 video codec by default
to improve video quality without increasing file size
The only downside is it requires more processing power
to playback videos
Older smartphones and computers can struggle
which some users have complained about
The recording time
is a bit reduced compared to other cameras
On a 64GB card
at maximum quality
you’ll get just over 4 hours before looping
but it should be long enough for most people
Fortunately, the DR900S has a faster
AC-speed Wifi connection to download larger files
Using the iOS and Android app
we could download a 1 minute long,
180-megabyte 4K video in 41 seconds
That’s quite fast considering the size
The app was also easy to use
the layout has improved
since we reviewed the DR650GW
It’s the best of all the WiFI apps we’ve tested so far
simple to use and pleasantly designed
Let’s talk about the DR900’s two parking modes
The chosen mode is activated
when the camera senses
that your car has not moved in 5 minutes
The buffered, motion activated parking mode
has been standard in Blackvue for years
We found it reliable
in picking up movement from cars and pedestrians
The new buffered time-lapse mode
is a great idea recording at 1FPS
until it detects an impact
and switches to a full 30FPS recording mode
You’ll need to use the Blackvue player to view this video
as it doesn't work on VLC
The DR900S has a cloud mode
and unlike Thinkware’s
it provides useful functionality
while you’re away from your vehicle
Its most popular use
is remote monitoring of your parked vehicle
From anywhere
you can see a live view of your vehicle
download videos
and it can push notify you
when the camera has detected an impact
Again cloud features require internet access
from a mobile hotspot or a WiFi router
as well as the camera being wired
into a constant power source
The DR900S can take any hardwiring kit
that ends in the standard cigarette outlet.
No proprietary cable needed
We like the Vicovation Vico Plus
for its voltage, temperature and timer based cutoffs
Unless you drive a truck
your vehicle’s battery won’t last more than a few hours
as power consumption is quite high
One solution
get a dash cam battery like the Cellink Neo
At $300 it’s not cheap but that’s because
the Neo is built using temperature stable
lithium-iron phosphate batteries.
We found it can power the DR900S
for over 24 hours on a full charge
The neo can send you runtime
and other diagnostic information
using the app
It recharges quickly around 45 minutes hardwired
or 80 minutes through the slower cigarette outlet
One disappointment is the slow startup time
at 26 seconds from power on to the start of recording
Nearly double our other recommended cameras
You may have to wait in the parking lot before leaving
You might be tempted to buy a 4K dash cam
to replicate the performance of the DR900S
but most are fake
4K resolution requires a minimum 8 megapixel sensor
many advertised 4K cameras have 4 megapixels or less
Other Manufacturers cheat
by upscaling the resolution using software
which has a minimal effect on quality
Overall the DR900S will be a favourite for many
It has great video quality and design
with parking and cloud features that work
It’s a nice upgrade over the Street Guardian camera
and a fully premium experience we can get behind
If you are buying a premium camera
we recommend you avoid international
and general retailers
The price isn’t much cheaper
and the warranty process is harder
or non-existant for grey market sellers
plus there’s less help in setting up your camera
We think a dash cam specialist is best
Our recommendation for the United States and Canada
is BlackBoxMyCar
I think their knowledge of premium cameras
and hardwiring is amazing
plus I’ve been watching their customer service
for many years
and it’s been solid so far
For disclosure
we have not been paid
to recommend BlackBoxMyCar
but we are affiliates
That means we get a percentage
of any sales at no cost to you
We reinvest that money into the channel
for example to buy all the cameras for this review
I don't want to sound like an ad
or give the impression
that there are no other good retailers
OCD Tronic is our recommendation
for Street Guardian products
Based in United States
They've been awesome with their customers
I would also check out Dashcam Store
and Capture Your Action
Niko for the European Market is fantastic
While many of our recommended retailers
are on Amazon
make sure you check who it’s fulfilled or sold by
There are many unauthorized sellers
who are internationally based and grey market
leaving you without a warranty
You also want to choose the right SD card
to improve reliability
Writing videos to the cards
slowly damages the memory cells
Eventually your camera will stop recording
Most cards on the market are designed for speed
and not durability
On the left are our top choices
they last longer
as they are specifically designed for dash cam use
and have a warranty
On the right are our budget choices
they have a good reputation
but are likely to fail earlier
and there’s no warranty when used in dash cams
We have tested all of these cards ourselves
and they successfully work
in the three recommended dash cams
Here’s a summary screen
for all three cameras we talked about
You can pause the video here
if you want to read more
So this has been a long video
I appreciate your attention
And hope this has been useful
We’ll update the description below this video
with any changes good or bad
An article will be coming soon
with the details we left out of this video
including the cameras we reviewed and we don’t like
or cameras that we think are good in limited situations
like the Blackvue DR750S.
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