REVIEW – The Thinkware F200 Dash Cam is a reliable, somewhat simple-to-set-up dash cam with a ton of great features at an affordable price. The majority of the really great features are only available after purchasing some accessories and having the camera hard-wired, but the base F200 Dash Cam’s feature set and included companion app are definitely worth the $139.99 price.

What is it?

Dash cams are small cameras placed on your windshield or dashboard that continually record video while you drive and sometimes when you’re parked and away from your car. Dash cams have increased in popularity as the tech behind them has become smaller and more affordable. There are a number of great reasons for having a dash cam in your car; they can help you document accidents for insurance purposes, get you out of a ticket for a traffic violation you didn’t commit, or record something that happened to your car while it was unattended.

Hardware specs

• Camera: Sony CMOS 2.12M
• Camera Resolution:
  • Front: 1080p Full HD (1920 x 1080)
  • Rear: 720p HD (1280 x 720)
• Frame Rate: up to 30 fps
• Viewing Angle: 140° (Diagonal)
• Capacity: Micro SD Card 16GB/32GB/64GB/128GB (UHS-I)
• Recording Modes: Continuous Recording, Incident Recording, Manual Recording, Parking Recording
• Sensor: Triaxial acceleration sensor (3D, ±3G)
• GPS External GPS receiver (Optional)
• Dimensions(WxDxH): 3.9 x 0.9 x 1.3 inch
• Weight: 55g (0.121 lb)
• Storage Temperature: -4°~ 158°F / -20°~ 70°C
• Operating Temperature: 14°~ 140°F / -10°~ 60°C
• Capacity: MicroSD card 8/16/32/64/128GB (UHS-I)
• Input Power: DC 12/24V, Built-in Super Capacitor

The Thinkware F200 Dash Cam is a mid-range dash cam with a moderate feature set. Thinkware has about eight different dash cams on the market of varying prices and functionality and the F200 falls around the middle. The front camera records in a beautifully clear 1080p at 30fps and the rear camera records at 720p.

The Thinkware F200 arrives in a great little box with a tamperproof seal on it.

The F200 is nestled nicely into the box to protect it in transit and showcase the dash cam upon opening.

What’s in the box?

• Thinkware F200 Dash Cam
• Thinkware Rear-view Camera (optional, but included with my review unit)
• Rear-view Camera Cable (optional, but included with my review unit)
• 12v Socket Power cable
• Cable mounting clips
• Dash cam mounting plates
• 16gb Micro SD Card with Reader
• Instruction manual

Setup

Fortunately, the F200 comes with everything you need to quickly install, set up, and run your dash cam. I reviewed the Thinkware F200 with three optional accessories; a rear-view camera, a GPS module, and a hard-wiring kit. None of these are necessary to run the F200, but they add some cool features such as parking monitoring, speed camera detection, and dual camera recording.

I love that Thinkware includes a preformatted SD card and card adapter with the F200. I haven’t seen this before and it really helps you to get started setting up your dash cam right away.

Along with the F200 dash cam and the SD card, all you need to start using your dash cam is the 12v socket power cable and mounting kit.

Once you find a good mounting spot for the dash cam, center of your windshield preferably near the top, simply peel away the backing on the main mounting clip and press it into place. Slide the F200 into place fitting the mounting notch on top of the camera into the slot on the mounting bracket.

Be sure to insert the included SD card in the slot on the bottom of the F200.

Next, connect the power cable to the open power port on the top of the F200 by the REC button.

Once everything is plugged in and powered, download the Thinkware Dash Cam MobileViewer app for your device, it works on both Android and IoS. Once downloaded and installed, the app will attempt to walk you through the setup procedure. There’s a WiFi button on the back of the unit that activates a hotspot for your phone to connect to for setup.

As I mentioned, the unit I’m reviewing included the optional rear-view camera, GPS module, and a hard-wiring kit. The rear view camera is pretty unobtrusive and has only one port on it for a video cable that connects back to the main unit. Wiring the rear-view camera was no easy feat and ideally should be done by a professional.

Thinkware provides about 19.6 feet (6 meters) of cable to reach a good spot on your rear-view window and the camera itself has mounting tape attached.

The GPS module is probably the simplest accessory to install.

The little puck has a short cable on it so it must be mounted on the windshield near the F200.

Both the GPS module and the rear-view camera plug into ports on the left side of the F200.

The final optional accessory I installed was the hardwiring kit. This is an included set of wires and inline fuses that allow you to run continuous power to the F200. The benefit of continuous power is that once wired correctly, the unit will power on and off with your automobile. Another great feature made available after hardwiring is parking monitoring. The F200 will monitor for incidents even when the car is powered off. If the F200 detects any movement while parked it will start recording. The best part of this feature is that the unit will monitor your car’s battery life as well, making sure that is never dips below a predetermined voltage. If the battery’s voltage drops to that point, the F200 automatically shuts off.

Performance

Once I had everything mounted, synced, connected, and adjusted to my liking the F200 did what all great technology should do, it disappeared. The unit dutifully powered on every time I started my car, recorded every trip I made, and then shut off when I exited the car.

When I downloaded my first few videos to check the camera’s quality, I was really impressed with the amount of information that was recorded as well as the stunning video quality. Because I was using the GPS module, the F200 takes note of my car’s location as well as my speed, marking my trip with a tracking dot on Google Maps during playback. Additionally, the F200 unit itself has a built-in accelerometer recording the X, Y, Z axes of my car during all trips.

Accessing the videos on the F200 was as easy as connecting my cellphone to the unit as I did in setup and downloading what I needed. The F200 records videos in one minute blocks and then writes over the oldest videos once the SD card is full. You can also access the videos by popping the SD card into your Mac or PC and using Thinkware’s desktop app.

Check out a sample video recorded by my F200. The front facing dash cam mic picks up a lot of wind noise from open windows in addition to whatever is going on in the car’s interior.

What I like

• Excellent build quality
• Easy Initial Setup
• Reliable performance
• Great, stable companion app
• 16GB Micro SD Card included

What needs to be improved

• Documentation confusing and lacking in specifics
• Some extra features like parking monitor only available if hard-wired
• Rear-view Camera, GPS, and Hardwiring Kit cost extra

Final thoughts

I really like the Thinkware F200 Dash Cam, especially after adding on all of the accessories needed for it to be fully functional. The base F200 is definitely worth the $139.99 price tag though, and gives you plenty of built-in features. What’s great about the F200 is that you have the option to build it out and add accessories as you need them. As dash cams become more popular and affordable, this would make a great first dashcam for someone just getting their feet wet with this relatively new technology.

Price: $139.99 for the F200 Dash Cam only, $39.99 for External GPS, $49.99 for Rear-view Camera, $29.99 for Hardwiring Kit
Where to buy: Thinkware and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Thinkware.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Car Gear, dash cam

Thinkware F200 Dash Cam review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 29, 2018 at 11:00 am.

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REVIEW – I have been very hesitant about getting a dash-cam that adheres directly to my windshield. The idea that it may be a pain to remove if I don’t like it has kept me from looking into getting one. Well, after watching countless dashcam videos and hearing horror stories from my sister who worked in insurance claims, I finally decided to dive fully into a quality dashcam and hoped the iRoad X9 dashcam, which includes both a front and rear camera, would be all I needed.

What is it?

The iRoad X9 dashcam is a front and rear camera that can continuously record while you are driving.

Hardware specs

• Front Camera:
  -Full HD 1920 x 1080P resolution
  -150 degree wide angle lens
  -30 frames per second
• Rear Camera:
  -Full HD 1920 x 1080P resolution
  -145 degree wide angle lens
  -30 frames per second
• ARM Cortex-A7 MP Core Processor V3
• Lane Departure Warning System
• Forward Collision Warning System
• Front Vehicle Departure Warning System
• GPS Sensor (optional, included in my review)

What’s in the box?

Inside of the box, you’ll find: A front camera, rear camera, Wifi dongle, 32 GB MicroSD card, Uninterrupted fuse cable, rear camera cable, user manual, and extra double sided tape. Mine also came with a power cable that plugs into the lighter as well, but the website says it is optional. I also was sent the optional external GPS antenna, which is sold separately.

Design and features

I really liked the look of both the front and rear cameras. They have a sleek, stylish look to them while seeming quite minimalist. Both can be twisted to adjust to the best angle for your car, which was very convenient and made the setup very easy since I could focus on properly adhering the camera rather than making sure the lens was in the proper location the whole time. When attached, I cannot see the front camera at all, since it hides behind my rearview mirror.

When the car is turned on, the camera will tell you when it starts recording, if the MicroSD card is missing, and when the GPS is connected. It sometimes took 1-5 minutes for the GPS to connect to the camera, and most the time I would be driving down the road and hear “GPS connected” from the camera. The GPS unit has to establish contact with the satellites, so I suppose that is why. If you forget to put the MicroSD card in, it will constantly remind you it is missing to the point that I unplugged the camera from the power because it did not stop. A few times to warn me is fine, but the entire time I am driving was quite annoying!

Other than recording video, one thing the iRoad X9 camera boasts is the ability to give lane departure, forward collision, and front vehicle departure warnings. I had the perfect car to test this with since my own comes with all three via the Eyesight camera system. I tried different sensitivity levels, and all three were far too sensitive for me to use on a daily basis. The camera would be beeping constantly that either someone in front of me has moved (while driving down the highway) or that a collision was imminent when the person in front of me does not even have the brakes on. The lane departure warning, however, did a fairly decent job and if I did not have it already in my car, I would have kept that mode activated.

Setup

I had two ways to choose from when setting the camera up. I could hard-wire it, or I could use the lighter port. Since I am not someone who is car savvy, and Subaru would not hard-wire it, I decided to use the lighter port.

First, I cleaned off a nice spot on my window, figured out where I wanted the front camera placed, and carefully applied it to my window. It stuck firmly right away. I threaded the power cable behind my glove box, up inside of my window panel, and, until I figure out a way to adhere it around my Eyesight cameras, up behind my visor. It actually turned out very well. The GPS unit was threaded up and through the visor, and placed around the handle above the passenger’s seat door. I used only the front camera for a week to make sure it was worthy enough to apply the rear camera.

The rear camera was applied in the same way, by centering it at the top of my back windshield and sticking it on firmly. I threaded the power cable up and above the two doors on the passenger side, and then through the visor and into the front camera. One thing I noticed right away when closing the back hatch was that it stretches out some when the hatch is open, so when it is closed, you can see the cord bow outward. This wouldn’t be a problem with a regular sedan. Aesthetically, it looks a little messy, but it isn’t terrible and doesn’t bother me that much.

After inserting the included MicroSD card and Wifi dongle, I followed the instructions on setting up the iRoad app on my iPhone. This was very easy and straightforward.

Performance

After having the rear camera installed for only a few days, I encountered my first tailgater, which gave me my first reason to download video from the camera on to my phone. When I arrived at my destination I opened up the iRoad app, scrolled through and found the video, (which is arranged from most recent to least recent recorded video) and downloaded it onto my phone, which took maybe two minutes at the most in total. I liked doing it this way because I did not have to worry about remembering to bring the MicroSD card in and out of the car.

I have one last tidbit about the iRoad phone app. If you mount your phone on your dash and connect to the camera while backing up, you can use it as a backup camera, which could be useful if you don’t have one installed in your car. It might be useful for a tight spot if you are in a bind.

What I like

• The cameras are sleek and look nice from outside of the car.
• Able to download videos directly onto my phone with relative ease.
• Good video quality.

What needs to be improved

• Wifi will sometimes connect while the car is on, which disconnects the data on the phone.
• Manual could be a little better.

Final thoughts

Overall, I think I really liked the iRoad X9 camera. It is reliable and has excellent video quality, has good software, and it looks nice in my car. The price tag is quite hefty though, and since I would not use any of the added features and will use it solely as a camera to protect myself in case of an accident or incident, this would not fit into my price/value range. However, if you have the money to spend and want a very nice camera, the iRoad X9 is a nice one to look into.

Price: $449.00 – $625.00 (depending on what size MicroSD card you want with it)
Where to buy: BlackboxMyCar.com
Source: The sample of this product was provided by BlackboxMyCar.com.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Car Gear, dash cam

iRoad X9 front and rear dashcam review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 28, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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