I was thinking that, the image quality was great but the video was choppy. It looked like the ape only filmed at 15fps while the more expensive one's were around 30fps. In a high speed accident you might not be able to actually tell what happened at low capture rate.
Just bought the Apeman C420D, which is a dual camera system at a cost of $59.99 (Amazon) but with a $12.00 coupon so roughly $48. The rear camera is actually a separate unit that wires to the main camera so you can mount it to the rear window to look out (rather than at your passengers).
The one thing you should have done was to film licence plates. This is often where you can see the difference between camera quality, especially at night.
@@Calendyr I get it. But there's s lot more to it than meets the eye. After all, you can go to a Home Depot and buy one hammer for $14, and another that look just like it (to most folks) for $45. Its not until you start using the hammers that your realize there's a big difference between the two, and that one is not just way more expensive because they want to rip you off.
At the price I could live with that tint. This is a dash cam, not something you use for any personal filming. I don't think the tint would make it that much harder to identify persons or reconstruct the events of an accident and the resolution and sharpness was just fine for what it's intended for. And again, at that price I wouldn't expect perfection. Dependable function and usable quality is what you can hope for.
I have an FN7 and 100% agree. I always leave the screen display as rear cam only, and it's very handy tool while driving. It sees all my blind spots in its field of vision. I still do shoulder checks anyway, but certainly don't need to though.
Suction cup mounts suck unless you are always moving it from vehicle to vehicle. I bought a suction cup mount for my Viofo and used it once for a rental. I have never had a need to move any of my dashcams once installed.
Exactly, why the hell do you need to keep moving these things? If you have two cars buy a second camera for the second car, or a spare stick on mount. You want small unobtrusive that you can hide behind the internal mirror. My current dashcam was installed in my car three years ago and has been pretty much left alone except for the occasional format of the SDcard.
Not to mention, when it's hot out the suction cups have a tendency to slide, fall off and over time they leave horrid marks on the window that take some effort to remove. I prefer adhesive mounts for this reason. Sure the adhesive is just as hard to get off as the marks are, but you only do that once vs every 6 months with a suction cup.
I love having the suction cup. When i go from one garbage truck to another it is so nice to be able to quickly take the camera with me. If i only had the need in one car i could see using the stick on. But in this litigious world i can not see being sued because i could not move my camera when i needed it.
@@richwood2741 As I said, you're moving it from vehicle to vehicle. I have 2 front and rear dashcams in both my vehicles, and they just stay there, behind the mirror, out of the way.
I got an apeman for Christmas slightly different from the one he has and it’s the greatest thing I’ve gotten especially since I drive a 06 crown Vic retired police car people drive a lot more cautious around me
So my dog she was a rescue and she gets scared when she hears noises like the fridge or outside noises, I put on your videos to watch and she always calms down and relaxes when it's on. Just gotta say thank you man 👍
I've been using dashcams since 2013. My favourites right now are Viofo's A119 and A129 series. They have good A/V quality, a GPS module, and a reliable realtime clock battery. But probably most importantly: the build quality is good enough that my older one is still going strong after 4 years! A lot of ~$50 cams will compromise on build quality to get more video quality or features for their price point... and fall apart within a year or two.
@@DannyDevitooo Garmin camera lenses are poor quality. You can't read the plate of the car right in front of you. Blackvue has some better lenses and software.
As always, what I use in my commercial vehicles and works the best of any I’ve ever seen; VIOFO A119v3 It’s cheap, works better than most of these, and is the budget camera all the dashcam reviewers recommend.
Dude I just searched dashcam reviews, for a birthday gift, what a coincidence, you just uploaded! Your reviews have given me a good insight to make an inform decision. Best guy out there! 😜
my take from this vid: 1. adhesive vs suction mount: I think this theme reoccurring in the video was interesting. I def get that it is a preference but I would not hold it against a cam for not having a suction mount or not simply because it does not hinder the function of the dash cam. When you think about the purpose of the suction mount vs the adhesive they both achieve the same goal, but in different ways. Suction mounts are more convenient for drivers who would like to mount and dismount their cams for whatever reason. It def comes in handy for those who uses different vehicles but dont want to buy multiple cams. I would question whether or not the suction mount would hold during a car crash though. Then we have the adhesive mounts which is made for permanent mounting. You make sure you have the camera where you want it before sticking it to the surface. Adhesives when applied correctly offer more security in the fact that they would most likely not fall in the cabin if in a car crash. But if you have to have a suction mount you can purchase the mount off the main website for $6.99. And because of how my mind works, just like the back in the early 2000s people cars were broken into because they saw that there were GPS mounted in the vehicle, and people would steal those among other things...i cant help but think that because the suction mounts are easier to remove from vehicles that some folks may take the opportunity to snatch it from vehicles if given the chance. they would have a much harder time doing so with a cam that has adhesive. do i think there is likely to be high number of car break ins for dash cams, no..but it is where my mind went so yeah. 2. picture quality: from these 4 cams, hands down the ones with the better quality were the rexing and the kingslim, with the rexing having the better over all quality for picture. Both the front facing cam and the cabin cam of the rexing from what i could see where the better quality. kingslim cam appeared to have a good front cam, but compared to the rexing cabin cam the kingslim cabin cam was off the mark. 3. audio quality: kingslim audio was not at all great. surprisingly enough the pilot audio was good, probably the better audio from all 4, with rexing coming in second, apeman 3rd, and kingslim dead last. could the placement of the cams be a factor in the quality? idk. 4. you definitely should make merch that says "i got 4 dashcams, so i have the right away" lol 5. it felt that you glossed over the bells and whistles that came with the dash cams. It would have been nice to see the apps that came for the dash cams and how good or bad they worked and the ease of use. it would have also been nice to see that parking monitor, but i do understand buying the extra component can be expensive. overall i would have liked to hear about what comes with each dashcam for example, both the kingslim and the rexing (for the pro edition) have built in gps which can be super convenient and minimize wires, the ease of how to naviagte the menu to change certain settings for each cam, the fact that the rexing was the only cam that gives the speed (MPH). i know you said that for the price point of the rexing you want it to have the best quality, but you neglected to highlight many of its extra features to try and justify the price point. 6. pricing (bang for your buck): the prices for these essentially says, you get what you pay for. i would like to think that people generally are purchasing dash cams for whatever encounters they may have while driving for legal and insurance purposes. idk about you but i do not typically think that being cheap, buying a 24 dollar dash cam, is the way to go. i also dont think buying the most expensive is the way to go. i think you should purchase according to what you can afford with the must haves that are nonnegotiable for you, for me its having a cam that has both front and rear cams so i am covered on both ends while driving. in my opinion i think all the cams in the videos are appropriately priced for what you get. i would recommend spending a little extra if you can to get the best possible options for your needs. I will say that as of right now, December 19, 2021, rexing is having a sale on their website, and if you google for it, you can find some coupons to get additional off the already discounted price, and you get either a free 32gb sd card or a free hardwire kit. 7. over all view: i did enjoy the video (thumbs up) and it has given me things to think about when making purchases on dash cams. i do think you were being overly critical on the rexing for not having a suction cup mount. i do see that you mention in the description that the rexing was having issues with keeping the time. was this user error or was there a glitch with the software? i think that for the ones shown here, if you are going for a bargain buy then the apeman ($50is) or the kingslim ($109) may be your best bet, but if you can spring the $179-199 (depending on V3 model) price tag then i would say go for it. comparatively, the vantrue cam you said you will stick with is priced at $199, and it seemingly has similar video and audio quality, but cant really be too sure due to the potential file compression when you upload vids to YT. I would love to see you do a comparison on the vantrue, rexing, and 2 other similarly priced dash cams so that we can see what the higher end cams look like. if you are to do any more "best buy dash cam" vids i would request that you spend more time talking about each cam individual features to include the apps that goes with the cams, and to also show how easy or not it is to install each cam individually to include power cords and inserting sd cards to adjusting settings in menus. sorry for the long post, but thank you for the video. look forward to more.
I'm an Uber Driver, so I bought the Vantrue N2 Pro with the GPS base and the hardwire kit over a year ago. Rideshare drivers need the ability to record audio and video of the interior of the car for their own protection.The addition of the GPS base adds location and calculated speed information to the recording. The N2 Pro records both the exterior video and the interior video in separate 1080p resolution files, allowing you to provide excellent detail to rideshare companies/police/insurance adjusters/lawyers as the need arises. I've only needed to use it once (to great effect) when a driver rear-ended me and then tried to rabbit. Police got his insurance info from the owner and when I tried to file a claim, the agent on the phone started asking questions implying I may have done something to cause the accident. I stopped his questioning and mentioned I had dashcam video and would he like to see? He did, and after watching the video over RU-vid his only reply was, "Yeah, we'll cover everything." That saved me a $1000 deductible expense (Uber's insurance carries a huge deductible.)
Quick thing that differs between Suction cup mounts and adhesive mounts is the stability. The adhesive staying close to the window, will be significantly more stable on rougher roads.
Also in the market for a dashcam right now, this was right on time! P.S. My spouse just bought a mini flashlight on your rec. He mentioned wanting one, I said hold on...my bald headed dude has a review! I trust your word, man! Keep up the great work!
He did a review of come bag clips that are like straws with a stick in them. I thought they were a neat idea and went and bought some after his review. One of the best things i have ever bought all based on his positive and truthful review.
Adhesive is by far preferred in my opinion. Suction cups fail all the time causing your device to fall. If you are in areas that have large temperature swings they fail even faster. They also add a LOT of height to the dash cam causing it to take up more windshield space (and that is illegal in most states). They ALSO make it so the camera can't be all the way up on your windshield so they will take up more of your viewing area. The 'arm' on suction cup mounts cause the camera to bounce a lot more as well. Finally they do not work at all on curved glass, like the side of your windshield. You say "its hard to move it" and yes, that is the point. It won't fall off. You are not supposed to move it around. If you have more than one vehicle you need a cam for, get more than one cam. This is all obviously just my opinion, but since i spend over 100K miles on the road each year I feel I am qualified.
exactly kingslim for that price is utter shite... for almost half the price(around 90-100 bucks) you can buy a chinese mirror dash cam with front/inside also a separate rearview /parking camera also media player functions also for 10 bucks more gps...
The scene at 4:05 is fun. I am sure other drivers stay clear when they see that. Wonder why the brand names are so wonky? Your running through all the features is a great help.
I have a Rexing dash cam and I love the adhesive because I live in Vermont and the cold constantly causes suction cups to fall off in the cold. The adhesive has never fallen off and you never need to move it once you place it in the spot you want
you'd struggle to see the numberplate on any of them unless it came up right in front in daylight, nightime - just forget a bout it.. thanks for the thorough review
Thank you for the review. I am looking to replace my apeman because it has not worked very well. I purchased it a year or 2 ago and it tends to corrupt the memory cards. It also will stop saving videos. I pulled it from my car today and there were a bunch of videos from February and 5 form April 2. Today is May 6 and there were no other videos saved. I have been VERY disappointed with this camera. If I remove the memory card ( and I have used several over time) and format the card, it will work for some time. Then it will stop saving videos. Very unhappy but it was not very expensive. Going to upgrade now! Thanks again.
I feel like the sweet spot would be to have an adhesive mount that the camera can attach to/swivel on. It seems weird to just glue the camera straight onto the windscreen.
One important thing you missed is internal battery. Batteries only last a year in the heat of your dash. The cams that use capacitors instead of batteries last many years. My favorite is the VIOFO A119 V3, about $80. VIOFO is made in China but has a guy in the US that takes care of any issues you may have.
I think overall the Kingslim is the best. Pretty good clarity at day time and at night . The most important thing when having a dash cam is to be able to see peoples license plates so I think Kingslim will do that best .
I got the Aukey DR01 for $40 on promotion from Amazon back in 2017. Great dash camera still, but that time screen saver on the Kingslim is a feature more manufacturers should adopt.
I would want it because what if someone decides you're going to be their target for insurance fraud? Nice to have that extra layer of evidence with audio recording of what the other person says. Same for if you get into an altercation of some kind. Should you get out of the vehicle, or the other person approaches the vehicle off camera, now you have audio of what happened.
@@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley I doubt that any of them can capture audio clear enough to be able to hear an altercation outside the car, but you could always boost the sound in a sound editing software, but I understand that not everyone has access to that
Audio is reaaally important for winning cases agents the police, not only having video evidence of you not committing a crime but audio to incriminate the cop lying to your face. Thats why i want a dashcam
This is a good point. I actually might not have even thought about this factor, and I live in Texas. One of the products he reviewed, the phone holder, the one that slips onto your dash by your dials. Lasted my drive to work. Came out at the end of the day, and the heat had curled it up 😂😂😂
Did you set the dashcam to the correct timezone? As time will sync according to the timezone in the dashcam once the GPS gets connected. Check also if the infrared cabin cam can be set to Auto Infrared mode as when the infrared set to always-on mode will be in black & white day and night.
You are really good at explaining these products. Apeman at night, the Rexing during the day. If I were 40yrs younger I would’ve thought cool. Now only thing I could use it for is security.
I'd probably recommend looking at something like the Viofo A119 series cameras. I have two of them and they work perfectly, and they're cheaper than the two expensive ones you mentioned. Front facing only, but really good quality.
I think the most important thing about a dashcam video-wise is whether you can distinctively see and read the license plate numbers of other cars, but you did not test for that.
The Rexing mounting system received a lot of hate .. but if you look closely, the road vibration is less. I have used two different Rexing cams and I prefer the adhesive mount because of the vibration reduction. Especially in bad road conditions.
I have the Rexing (Not this model) and its been great! Been running it over 2 years in the FL summers and no issues or errors. I will say I was NOT happy with the double sided tape mount but it has not moved or fallen once, I cant say the same to the suction cup mounts that always seem to fall off at the most inconvenient times. So now I actually prefer the tape mounts because I know I wont have to deal with the mounts falling off.
This was by far the BEST review of four different dash cams at once! It’s extremely difficult to find the “Best” one! Video quality, audio and SD placement were my worries to begin with. By far the best review of Dash Cams! Please compare more in the future.
@@Freakinreviews You’re welcome! Also, what micro SD card did you use in the Kingslim? Or one that you’d highly recommend? I actually bought the Kingslim after the review. It was hard to choose one though!
Thanks for a review that is helpful to the average person. I saw a lot of reviews of dash cams that are not available in our local big box or amazon and priced out of our range. Ya, they are good but not in my price range. You reviewed what I would call the everyday dash cams. Thanks. I now know which I am going with. Kingslim. Keep up the good work.
Here is my thing about the dash cams, they need to be clear enough to be able to pick up license plates. If they can not successfully do this, their is no point of using a lower quality dash cam. Thoughts?
I agree. I have been looking to buy one ever since I bought my WRX. I still can’t figure out which one to pull the trigger on, even researching three years now. I totally agree on the license plate read. That and night view. I want both of those things to be clear, otherwise no sense in getting one.
All you have to do is just say the license plate out loud and save the video. This method works and it's also important for your dashcam to have good audio. A downside to a 4K dashcam is that it will take up huge amounts of space on your SD card and might have shorter loops. Which can also wear your SD card much faster overtime.
That helps in instances of hit and runs for sure, however what if you dont have any cam and the other party ran a red light. They state you ran the light to your insurance their insurance and the police report. Also no one came forward as a witness. Now it's your word against theirs, when even a crappy $20 camera would have picked up the traffic light
If you watch crash videos on youtube, the ones with suction cups always move on impact, or with hard braking. I prefer the hard mount ones like rexing.
I've had the apeman dashcam for about a 1.5 years now and it's been great. I had the screen pop out once and I contacted the company, they replaced the whole dashcam for FREE for me. Great customer service. Worth it for sure.
The Vantrue was nice though it did say your were going 0 mph. (What was the cost of that one?) Did you ever look into the audio issue? Was it a problem with that particular unit? Thanks for your video!
whenever he says oh I'm looking at a bunch of products that are in a similar category then he says I was using a different product than any of the ones I'm going to show off in this video and I'm not going to talk about it for the rest of the video so good luck
I had an expensive camera and it stopped working in the heat. I live in dc and it probably got 115ish in the car and something crapped out so I bought the apeman and love it. It is very reliable in the summer time and the cold. Never have had an issue of it not booting up or cutting out. From now on I will only do the “cheaper” ones. You can also just get a second one for the rear of the car if it if needed. Majority of cars now even have a usb outlet in the back. Also personally I like the stick on vs the suction cup. I find it to be less bumpy (which none of yours seemed bumpy) but I don’t have to worry about the cup failing which has happened.
I MUCH prefer adhesive for a dashcam. Once I have it in the right place, I don’t want to move it (the cam can easily be removed from the mount) and I have found that the adhesive is much more stable long-term. I had a cheap cam for close to three years, and it never moved until I upgraded. That’s exactly what I want.
I have the Apeman from Amazon - got it on a "Lightning Deal" for about $38. I'm very satisfied with the unit and quality of recording. I don't really use the audio, so that is not a factor for me. Luckily I haven't had an accident so can't verify if the footage lock works, but to me the unit was worth the cost.
I actually would prefer the more permanent adhesive mount. A dash camera isn't something you are going to be installing/uninstalling. And with those suction movable mounts if you take it out of your car when you park or it moves when you take out the SD card then you have to aim it each time. I have a different model Rexing that has an adhesive mount that the camera can detach from. I am thinking of getting one that has an outside rearview camera for my new car.
i use a viofo a129 4k with external rear camera. far superior than all others i’ve tried including apeman. you don’t want a suction cup during the hot summer. trust me, i live in az.
I have a Vantrue in my van, yes it’s true. I absolutely love the Vantrue. Great picture quality and audio. I got the GPS mount for it since it was only an additional $25 and the hardwire kit. Only problem I have is you are to wire it to the fuse box but my only fuse box is a sealed box under the hood. I’d have to go through the firewall then figure out how to get into the sealed box without damaging the seals.
Your paasenger side head lamp needs to be raised to match the drivers side. You can easily do it yourself and drive safer at night. Nice video review as well.
Glad I caught this review. The Nexar is on my Facebook feed constantly which caused me to search here for reviews. Even though you didn't review the Nexar, the information you did provide is very helpful. I enjoy your channel. Thanks again.
the rexing has wifi/ app support so removing the SD is not advised. i recommend Transcend Drivepro 550 has all the features as these gps, speedometer and has wifi/ app support for quick in car downloading.
I have an off brand one I got on amazon. Front and back cam both $20 plus another $8 for the SD card. A week after I got it, I watched someone blow thru a red light and hit another car. The red light runner said his light was green and the other person said theirs was green. I was right beside the red light runner in the turn lane with both of us having a solid red light. State trooper thanked me for the video evidence. Paid for itself already. Chortau is the brand. Love the videos and please find a way to put Bailey in every video somehow. Love seeing her.
Nah. I felt bad for the person who got hit. They did nothing wrong. The state trooper couldn’t determine who was at fault until I showed him the footage. I’ve been on the losing end of a car wreck. It ain’t fun.
have you considered testing out the newest model of the Vantrue, ik sometimes a newer model doesn't always improve and in some cases is actually worse. I'd be interested to see you test them side by side.
I have never had a suction cup mount that works well. They hold for a while and always pop off when you are least expecting it. The one that I have has an adhesive mount and it has been holding strong for a couple years now. Also, I would rather have one with a separate camera that mounts to the rear window. I guess the camera recording inside the car would prove that you weren’t doing anything stupid at the time of an accident but other than that it would seem more important to have a good view of what is happening behind the car.
As always, what I use in my commercial vehicles and works the best of any I’ve ever seen; VIOFO A119v3 It’s cheap, works better than most of these, and is the budget camera all the dashcam reviewers recommend. Wish I had seen this reviewed.
actually in the market for a dash cam. nice to have this. should check out your old video too. I love all your videos for entertainment, first time thinking it may be something I want to buy *before* clicking... (although i've certainly bought stuff *after* watching your videos)
I enjoyed your video comparison. I had no idea the cameras had the features you discussed. The infrared was a complete surprise. (You looked a little creepy in that light, though. LOL) I appreciate you taking the time (and absorbing the expense) of comparing these models. Definitely food for thought. Each of the models you talked about are useful in their own ways and at their own price point. I guess it comes down to what the consumer expects of a dash cam. Given a choice, and assuming you could get a suction cup mount, is the Rexing the one you would go with?
I'm actually not a fan of the suction cup mounts. I live in an area where we're well below freezing (sometimes -30 to -40 celcius) for half of our year, and the suction cups simply do not stay on in moderate-extreme cold weather. I can see where you'd prefer them in your warm climate, but the adhesive is actually prefered for me up here.
At 5:13 where you’re hooking the power to the Pilot, if you orient the suction mount 180* so the knob is on the left, it’ll make plugging in the power cord much easier. If somebody already made this comment, sorry for the repeat, but I didn’t read all 400+ posts.
I've been looking at your reviews for a few months, and am quite impressed. Methodology, camera presence and production values are all high. (I was in American Forces Radio/TV for a few years in the 70s) I'm a fan. Even though I'm not buying much right now. the information is useful and entertaining. Thanks!
Literally just got my new dashcam in the mail today, garmin 66w. Most of the people I know who have mid to high quality dash cams prefer adhesive to suction cup. Cleaner install, less chance of the camera becoming a projectile in a crash and holds up better to heat and cold. Regardless I've had cheaper dash cams come with both adhesive and suction cup mounts. I've also found that with the better quality cameras ($150+) that they focus on adhesive mounts. I'd guess that partly has to do with the manufacture expecting you to keep your dash cam up for years, vs the cheaper ones which you may be swapping out when they die.
I own a rexing for over 4 years now, it's 1080p. I love the 3M tape mounting, it doesn't fall of, I have videos on my channel that I have put up. I bought my wife the 4k version. I am not a fan of suction cup mounting because they fall off with temp changes
Bought a $35.00 Uniden dashcam from Walmart.... It had all the automatic-stop crash features, play, pause, record, rewind. It worked great, for 10 weeks. It still works now but is in a continuous loop mode - only. Stop button stopped working. Mode button as well. - Maybe a GoPro is better,... I'm thinking(?)
Run a quick test with each one plugged in individually, directly to the outlet built into the car. See if that doesn't correct some issues. There is a chance that the outlet or the multiplug you're using cannot supply the needed voltage for all devices at once causing low voltage condition anomalies.
Don't worry they are passing a bill that requires sellers to test their product with a american licensed firm and have it do quality check and control on it.
In some circumstances i'd imagine it's to indeed show the driver of the car wasn't at fault, if the other party claims you were distracted, i'm not guessing people causing a crash would hand over their dashcam footage to anyone showing they were at fault.