The Viofo A129 is my current camera of choice, replacing my previous daily driver set up of the A119 + A119S. The A129 is a worthy successor to these cams, featuring clear dual 1080p with great night video. This is one of the first dual dashcams that I can recommend with ease, despite some little things that could be improved. If you want a single forward facing cam, get the Viofo A119 instead. If you want a front and rear setup without the hassle of wiring two separate cams, the A129 is a decent budget choice. And don’t forget a good memory card to go with this camera.
This projector also comes in an Android version called the AUN C80 UP. The best value is found in the basic version, the regular C80, since the $50 extra is a significant jump in price with no increase in image quality. For that $50, you’re better off buying a used PC or finding a separate Android TV box with better specs at less cost.
The Aun C80 is a basic 720p projector offering approximately 240 ANSI lumens of brightness and a native resolution of 1280 x 720. Compared to most budget projectors in its price range the image quality of this projector is quite high due to the higher resolution. Most budget projectors under $100 are only 480p. Unfortunately, like most budget projectors it has several trade offs over mainstream brands: it is not usable in the daylight and the fan is quite loud. If you’re going to be using a projector as a daily driver I recommend spending more money on something from Epson and Optima, however for the occasional movie night in a totally dark room this projector does the trick.
Note: any compression you’re seeing in the sky is a result of the video being rendered by me, not the camera. There isn’t that much compression noise in the sky normally.
This is an unboxing and initial review of the MGCool Explorer 3. It’s a nice looking camera and that’s what originally drew my attention. I’m a bit disappointed that this cam is missing the 2K resolution that the T5 Edge has, because otherwise I like the way it looks a lot and the menus are easy to navigate. The 2K res and the 4K res on the T5 Edge have the same bitrate which means less compression artifacting on the lower res. I don’t expect this cam will be updated though. MGCool has not had a good history of updating their cameras. Nonetheless it’s definitely worth a consideration and this is likely MGCool’s best camera to date, but if the Edge is cheaper check that out instead.
I got the cam from Gearbest. Check out the links below to buy it for yourself:
The ThiEYE T5 Edge is one of the newest cams in ThiEYE’s lineup, and it is one of the first cheap cameras to feature real 4K and electronic stabilization at 4K 30FPS. Initial tests look promising – but this camera has a big legacy to live up to. The original T5e was one of our favorite cameras last year, so it’s going to be a tough fight. Subscribe to us on Youtube to find out when the showdown video is released later this month.
The Ele Rexso K is based on a Hi3559 Processor and 16MP Panasonic MN34210 sensor. The camera performs best in its native 4K 30FPS resolution, with 1080p and 2K modes not being as sharp as competitors. Audio is quiet. Video is pretty good at night with lots of detail, however there is a decent amount of noise introduced. The user interface can be somewhat confusing but it is straightforward enough once you figure it out.
At $84.99 (when reviewed) this cam is the cheapest real 4K cam I’ve tested to date and it performs quite well at 4K given its price. However there are better cameras with sharper 1080p60, and better stabilization.
I recommend that you check out the Firefly 8S instead if you plan to be shooting mostly in 1080p.
This was originally intended to be a review of the Eken H6S, however the camera I received was defective – it was out of focus, and the camera would regularly reset itself, until finally it outright refused to power on. This is the second Eken camera I have owned recently with a focus issue. They used to be a decent mid-range action cam brand, however it looks like they are having some serious quality control issues that need to be resolved. The H6S had the specifications of a good camera – real 4K at 30FPS, stabilization for 2.7K, dual screens and nice quality included accessories, however due to receiving two defective problems in a row Eken will no longer receive my recommendation until they can regain my trust.
I highly recommend you purchase the Firefly 8S instead of this camera.
Check out how bad the focus was before the camera completely failed:
The MGCool Explorer Pro 2 is anything but pro. The best feature it has is the touch screen and user interface, but unfortunately the video quality and build just can’t keep up to the price. There are several better cameras available for the money, and spending just a little bit more nets a real 4K capable camera (Firefly 8S – $100). My recommendation, if you’re looking for the cheapest cam possible, skip this one and go for the Furibee H9r instead at $40. The MGCool Explorer Pro 2 is just a cheap Furibee F60 with a touch interface.
Thank you to Gearbest for supplying this camera for review.
Full Review
Full written review with examples is coming soon. For now, if you want to see some video samples, skip to 2:20 in the unboxing video. Thanks!
The Blueskysea B1w dashcam is based on a Sony sensor at a budget price. While the camera firmware needs some tweaking since it’s on a first firmware revision, this camera has a lot going for it for the price: 1080p at 30 FPS in h.264, a Sony sensor, and a compact form factor. It is also based on a capacitor which usually means higher reliability in hot and cold weather.
Note: The video samples are based on an older firmware version and may not represent how the video currently looks.
The Ele Rexso Explorer Dual is a interpolated 4K action cam based on the Novatek NT96660 processor and an unknown image sensor (likely the Omnivision OV4689, since some spec sheets say “IMX179” but the IMX179 has not been combined with the NT96660 before. This is just a guess, however, so please don’t take it as truth). Externally the camera is near identical to the Firefly 7S, but the video results are quite different. I love this wine-red color it comes in too.
The camera shows promising early results for a Novatek camera. It doesn’t suffer from the blue white balance that many cheaper NT96660 cams do. Additionally, it has real 1080p60 and stabilization. Although the stabilization isn’t as strong as some competitors, it does beat out the SooCoo C30. My copy of the camera processes video slightly soft so I am going to check if it needs to be refocused before doing the final review, or if it’s just the way the camera processes video.
The SJ7 Star comes with a whole host of accessories, all of decent quality. Accessories between action cams are fairly standard so we’re going to fast forward through this section: note that the important basics are included, sticky mounts, handlebar mounts, and right-angle adapters.
