DashCam A1

When my last cheap dashcam stopped working, I set out to look for the best value for money budget dash cam with the best video quality. I considered the Viofo A119 which a lot of sites recommend, but did not get that one as at $95 it was a bit expensive and did not have WiFi, then I purchased the Yi Smart Dashcam which had an absurdly high number of positive reviews here on Amazon, but ended up being thoroughly disappointed by the Yi Dashcam due to its poor, grainy, out-of-foucs video quality with serious heat susceptibility issues. I ended up returning the Yi and getting this Roav A1 even though i did not see a large number of reviews for the A1 in the 'dashcam enthusiast' community forumsAfter testing the Yi & the Roav A1 side by side during my return window I can pretty much say that the Roav A1 is hands down the BEST WiFi dashcam available in the ~$50 price range with an excellent Sony Exmor IMX323 sensor with great daytime and night video quality . Here's how the A1 stacks up against the Yi :COMPARED TO THE YI SMART DASHCAM:- Much better, noise free, sharp in-focus daytime video quality with license plates clearly visible within 20-30 feet infront of you, even at high speeds or places where the YI would struggle (see my comparison pics)- Much better, natural looking Night video quality with less noise and clear outlines (reading license plates at night is hard for both dashcams at this price point, but the A1 does a comparatively better job)- Comparatively much better WiFi transfer speeds on the Roav A1 while transferring videos via the App than the Yi- The Roav has a 140 degree field of view (FOV) , compared to the 165 degrees FOV of the Yi . While the Yi may look better on paper , In my testing the 140 degree FOV for the A1 was better in real life as it provided a less distorted 'Fish eye' image than the Yi and yet captured everything in front and the side lanes adequately- The only redeeming quality of the Yi Dashcam was that it could record at 60FPS@1080P while the Roav can only do 30FPS@1080P & 60FPS@720P. But the poor image quality of the Yi ruins this advantage anyway- The Yi also has lane departure warning system which the A1 does not have . But those features are really gimmicks and more of a nuisance than be helpful with multiple false alertsSUCTION MOUNT:- While I generally prefer sticker mounts , the suction mount included with the A1 was pretty good and did not fall off , even under 95 degree hot weather (where temps inside parked car can reach almost 140)- Try using a bit soapy water to wet the suction cup for a more firm fit in case yours keep falling offDISLIKES:- The only minor negative that I can think of the A1 is that its video/image quality looks overly sharpened and as a result a bit harsh looking. But I can kind of understand the logic of using an overly sharpened image in order to get maximum licesne plate readability..so there's that.- The WiFi must be turned on manually from the menu each time you wish to use the app (it turns back off once the camera turns off) . While having WiFi not running when not in use helps keep the camera run cool , but a dedicated hardware WiFi button would have been betterLIKES:- Absolutely great daytime and night video quality , that captures license plates in most conditions where lighting is adequate and really thats the most important part of any dashcam- Responsive and helpful chat support via the mobile app itself that actually responds to your questions when I wanted to know how to upgrade the frimware on the A1 manually (It was a pain to deal with Yi support in comparison)FINAL THOUGHTS:I loved this dashcam so much , that I got two of them for my car (one front , one rear). And to summarize :- If you are looking for the best WiFi in the $50 price range - Get the Roav A1- If you are looking for a cheaper dashcam , consider upping your budget to $50 and - Get the Roav A1- If you're looking for a more expensive dashcam - Again take a good hard look and consider getting the A1UPDATE 11/02/2018I was using one of the two A1's I purchased as a rear facing dashcam , now since my car is an SUV the camera had to be mounted directly on the trunk, so with constant opening and closing of the trunk the suction mount kept falling off . I spoke with Kevin from Roav customer service about and he sent me an adhesive mount at no cost . Thats great customer service right there!!

I bought one of these at the end of 2019 and another at the beginning of 2021. The item fluctuates from $55 to $38. For $40 it is a five star item. At this price there is no reason everyone shouldn't have a dash cam. I don't think it will be much longer until the government requires all new vehicles to include them just as they do backup cameras.These would make the sixth and seventh dash cam I have purchased over the years (have bought/installed/supported for family). These are comparable to the $80 Aukey dash cams I purchased in 2018 (Amazon: B072FGL63X), although that page recommends a newer item for $45 that seems almost identical to the A1 (but no Wi-Fi).Every interface I have used on a dash cam leaves a lot to be desired. Even the significantly more expensive Rexing V1P (Amazon: B07FCSMJZB) I have in my personal vehicle. The addition of Wi-Fi to more easily collect footage from the camera is a great feature and it works well enough on this camera, probably better than the two Rexing cameras I've purchased. Although it's not really necessary if you won't be grabbing inconsequential clips of the typically poor driving experiences you might have.The unit has held up well to New England weather, where we get single digits and high nineties through the seasons. The suction cup has yet 't failed on me yet and dropped the camera like I experienced on an older Rexing S300 (Amazon: B018TI98PC). I prefer the suction cup/adjustable dash cams to the sticky backed ones like the Aukey, particularly for steep windshields like on a pickup truck.One unit has a SanDisk 64GB High Endurance Video MicroSDXC (Amazon: B07P3D6Y5B) and the other has a SanDisk - SDSQXA2-064G-GN6MA 64GB Extreme microSDXC (Amazon: B07FCMBLV6). I've used Samsung (MB-ME32GA/AM) 32GB 95MB/s (U1) microSDHC EVO (Amazon: B06XWN9Q99) cards in the past. Generally speaking the higher capacity cards have better performance, and I have ran into a couple issues with EVOs. Between the constant recording and weather they don't seem to like being in dash cams. I needed to format the 32GB cards more often. I tested with an old slower 16GB Kingston MicroSD card and actually had corrupted files. As a note most dash cam instructions say you should be formatting the cards every once in a while, I do mine every 3 months or so.One of my family members would have been deemed 100% at fault due to an accident they were involved in as the other party lied on their police report and for whatever reason the police officer who did not witness the accident wrote completely inaccurate information regarding the circumstances. With the dash cam footage they were deemed 0% at fault.Another family member was backed into while they were parked with their vehicle still running and due to hearsay would have been deemed 50% at fault as the other driver lied and claimed that they were the ones who were hit by my family member. Once again the dash cam footage saved the day and they were deemed 0% at fault.Another family member was involved in an accident where their car was totaled on the highway by a driver weaving in and out of traffic who pitted their car into guardrail while they were driving in the slow lane. The driver immediately fled into the woods on foot but luckily not before their face was caught on the dash cam. The other driver/vehicle inevitability had no license, insurance, registration, or inspection, the plates were stolen and the title was to a woman while they were hit by a man. The owner of the vehicle tried claiming the vehicle was stolen, but rescinded this statement when she learned the dash cam footage showed the driver was her son. Without the dash cam we would not have been able to prove who was driving to vehicle to hold them accountable.On a more positive note the dash cams provided some nice footage from a COVID-19 drive-by birthday convoy.Hopefully a dash cam is just something you purchase, put on the windshield and don't think about. Maybe it will save you a lot of headache and thousands of dollars though. For $40 (+ $15ish for an SD-Card) it is hard to go wrong.