I’ve never thought I needed a dash camera. I have a 20-minute commute each way, which is mostly limited access or multi-lane highways, and folks generally drive OK. But the team at Uten needed a reviewer, so I volunteered to test their Model UCA001.

Note: Photos may be tapped or clicked for a larger image.

You can’t have surfed the internet very long and not have come across one of those dash-cam videos from Eastern Europe. You know the ones: cars and trucks of mostly Soviet designs that fall apart, swerve in front, flip over and catch fire while the driver tries to dodge. They are the reason I never thought I needed a dash camera. My commute is somewhat staid by comparison. But then I started to notice folks weaving into lanes, pulling in and stopping, slamming on brakes in front of me, and generally not driving well. There are a lot of distracted drivers out there these days. If I were to hit one of these crazies, how could I prove their actions in court? Or how could I explain to unbelieving friends?

What is it?

The camera is a 3.75” x 2.25” x .75” smooth black box with a lens and small speaker on one face, and a full-face screen on the opposite side. Across the top is an on/off switch, AUX input, a mounting hole for the included holder, a GPS input, and a mini USB power input. Across the bottom is a TFT slot (covered by a rubber gasket) and four menu controls: menu, left, right, OK. There’s nothing on the right side (with the lens facing you) and there are only a reset button and a mic hole on the left side.

Hardware specs

•  1296P+30FPS HD RESOLUTION: Providing great sharp video quality and super great vision.The camera can be mounted on your car’s dashboard or windshield to record what happens in front of the vehicle. Whatever treasured memories you want to keep, our in-car camera will deliver a high-definition record of events that you can watch time and time again.
• SUPPORT 128G LARGE SD CAPACITY: Super large capacity, storing all your videos and pics of your beautiful life right in this camera, enable you to capture videos of more enjoyable activities such as scenic road trip holidays and exciting track-day races!
• MSTAR TECH SOLUTION: Great clear night vision, clearly captures the license plates cars as well as road signs during the day and night, making our roads a safer and better place for everybody.
• 170°WIDE ANGLE+ F1.8 APERTURE LENS: Though most are F2.0 aperture in the market, our F1.8 is better than F2.0. The actual aperture much less, the vision is much brighter with better effect.
• 1-YEAR MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE: We commits ourselves to creating high quality and great design products. Also being confident in our premium upgrade dash cam and offering a full 1-year guarantee. We will do the best for you!

What’s in the box?

The unit comes packaged in a well-designed black cardboard box with a black heavy paper sleeve. Inside, a lighter-weight black cardboard box contains the 12-volt plug with a 9+foot captured cable, which ends in a molded right-angle mini USB plug. The camera itself is wrapped in a Tyvek-type envelope, with clear stickers over the rear screen and front lens. It is held steady by a black foam insert, centered over a black cardboard riser, under which is the mounting stand. Top marks for recyclable packaging. I think the foam around the camera is the only not-clearly-recyclable piece. You get everything except a storage card. Camera, charger/cord, instruction sheet, and mounting stand: that’s it.

Design and features

The camera is dead simple. You don’t even have to turn it on – just apply power and it is ready. By default, incoming video is cut into 3-minute segments and is set to fill the memory card, then the camera starts erasing the oldest unlocked clips. You literally just point it out the front window and you’re done. I used it for a week or so lashed to the rearview mirror with extra charging cable. (9 feet gives you a good bit of play!)
Settings available are lane departure warning, GPS connectivity, and distance warning. You can also alter the length of video clips, aperture, and time/date setup. The menu screens are pretty bare-bones but offer the settings needed.

Performance

The camera is rock solid. It turns on with the power, records until the power is cut, and locks video clips where significant vibration occurred. (I have seen this several times driving a bit quickly through road construction sites.) There is a sensitivity setting for this.

Here’s a sample video using the default settings during the day:

Here’s a sample video using the default settings at night:

What I Like

Simple on/off activation.
Flexible – can be used as front or rear camera.
Automatically cuts video into segments.
Automatically locks segments around velocity events.

What needs to be improved

The Permanent mounting – This would be better as flexible so that you could mount in rentals while traveling, or reposition if you don’t like where you first mount it.
No battery means routing power cord – never pretty.
The captive power cable is also irritating. I have at least one other item charging all the time and only one power outlet.

Final thoughts

Dash cameras are a natural outgrowth of two modern trends – highly litigious societies, and technical progress. Ten years ago, a similar system would have cost many hundreds of dollars, and a lot of custom programming and installation. However, ten years ago, the road-rage and “I’ll sue you” factors were much lower. With the cheap ability to document things, you may forestall any legal action early on, enough to cover the investment in this little gem. For now, I’m keeping it installed and running, at least when I don’t need to charge anything in the car. Were I to change to a more driving-oriented occupation, I might look into getting a multi-outlet adapter, or finding a camera that doesn’t have a captive cable. Since it’s a standard mini USB connector, however, that may be the route I take anyway.

If you have a larger car/van/SUV that may benefit should you be rear-ended, using this mounted and aimed out the rear glass may help you in the event of an accident. Seeing the driver checking their email just before they hit you and their airbag deploys may be great party footage as well, after your car gets out of the shop.

Price: $49.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Uten.

I drive one of the smallest cars on the road, so I leaped at the chance to review the Aukey Dual camera dash camera.  I drive a Smart. It’s 8’3”, but being so small comes with a price – bullies!  I’m a very conservative driver (I’m old) and each week, I get tailgated, cut off, and even flipped off, FAR more frequently in my tiny Smart Car than in a year of driving my gigantic Nissan Armada. I’m not doing anything wrong, but my car seems to bring out the worst in some. Aukey’s DR02 dual camera system is just what the doctor ordered to bring peace of mind to happy motoring.

What is it?

The Aukey DR02 is a dual-camera dash cam featuring a primary main unit for front recording, and a secondary camera for rear-view recording. It captures video simultaneously from both cameras in 1080P and has a set of features.

Hardware Specs

Sony Exmor Sensors in both cameras capture super-sharp 1080p video (accompanied by optional in-car audio) and perform well for nighttime driving

Full Six-Lane View: The wide-angle  170° front and 152° rear fields of view monitor vehicle movements and other activity in front, behind, and even towards the sides

Emergency Recording & Loop Recording: Emergency Recording automatically captures unexpected driving incidents and protects the recordings. Loop Recording allows continuous use by writing over old, unneeded footage. Connect to the AUKEY GM-32 GPS Antenna (sold separately) to embed location & speed data for trip tracking and greater protection.

What’s in the box?

Dual Dash Cameras (front and rear camera), Dual-Port USB Car Charger, 4m / 13ft USB Mini-B Cable, 6m / 20ft USB Mini-B Cable, Two Sticker Mounts, Six 3M Stickers, Six Cable Clips, User Manual, 45-Day Money Back Guarantee and 24-Month Product Replacement Warranty Card

Design and Features

The cameras arrived in a well-padded box with USB plug adapter, power and video cables, instructions, mounting plates for front and rear, and cable clips. I carefully read all of the instructions and jumped into the installation process.  Because I planned on making this a permanent fixture in my Smart Car, I went a few steps further, removing all of the internal body trim panels to hide the wires and make the installation as professional looking as possible.

I even cut a small notch into one of the trim panels to hide the somewhat bulky cable connector for the rear-facing camera. The system can be powered up by the car’s ignition but has the option of wiring it always on, triggering by motion detection. I chose the former.

After running the power and video cable to the rear camera and plugging in a 128GB SD card, I powered up the system for the first time and an image appeared on the front camera, but I was unable to access any camera functions. I found the main camera would function unless the rear camera was connected. As soon as I plugged in the rear camera, all of the lights would come on indicating everything was correctly powered, but the image and all of the functions on the main camera would lock up. After many hours of troubleshooting, Aukey graciously sent me a replacement.

I had a few issues running the cables – the cable is a 10 conductor Mini-USB male. You read that correctly, a 10-conductor oddball, not the run-of-the-mill 5-conductor connectors that were used everywhere as a precursor to the Micro-USB. It would have been ideal to purchase another cable and move the cameras from one vehicle to another, but this isn’t an option. I contacted Aukey’s customer support to inquire if spare cables and mounting plates could be purchased, but they are unavailable apart from the kit. Bummer.

Next, the connectors, particularly on the rear-facing camera have bulky, inflexible strain reliefs with very a wide bend radius, so I found routing them through existing cable paths was VERY challenging. Admittedly though, if I had just used the included cable clamps and double-sided tape, this wouldn’t have been an issue.

Because of the density of the rear-facing camera cable and the rigidity of the connectors, coupled with my Electrical Engineering background, I have some concerns that any lateral forces applied to the cable when being plugged into the cameras could result in broken connectors on the cameras, so care should be taken not to apply any stress. Been there, done that. It’s no fun.

Since everything was wired and ready when the replacement arrived, installation of the front and rear cameras only took a few minutes. I reformatted the card, chose 10-minute loop recording, no audio, and the rear camera as the display, and went for a drive. The system records 1080P from both cameras simultaneously which could prove invaluable in a fender-bender. It’s also fun just to review the recordings just to see things you missed while paying attention to the road like a well-behaved motorist should.

For the most part, the videos were crisp and clear, but on occasion, the screen would lock up, display a corrupted or pixelated image. I found with one of my SD cards, I would get frequent “Memory Error” errors and the corresponding files could not be viewed. This was particularly disappointing as I had an incident where I was tailgated and passed by a truck, on the right, that ran a red light in front of several other drivers, putting several lives in jeopardy. It really should have been reported to the police, but without the video evidence, there’s not much point.

Final Thoughts

I really liked the features, video quality, compact size and dual-cameras in this system and will definitely keep it running at all times while I’m in the most bullied vehicle on the American roads. Having a record of my surroundings will be used with the inevitable interactions I will have with my insurance company.  As an entertaining bonus, I can keep an eye on the driving habits of my 16-year-old daughter and I’m looking forward to preserving picturesque drives through the mountains of Vermont.

Positives

• Small size
• Good video quality
• Lots of features

Negatives

• Bulky cables
• Expensive
• Sometimes glitchy recording
• Has some trouble starting when the weather is extremely cold

Price: $129.99
Where to Buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Aukey. Please visit their site for more info.