REVIEW: Mini DVR 0801 The Smallest 1080p LCD Car Dash Cam with Ambarella A2S60 - Best Mini Car Cam 

So nice to have people like this making USEFUL videos, makes buying these Chinese stuff so much easier since theres so much junk out there

Excellent vid. You spoke quickly but very clearly using a good mic and you didn't waste time on stuff that is not important. A++++ job man. You should be doing this for a living.

@Vaz Singh (you have replies turned off) You can find all my dashcam reviews on my channel. The latest version of this camera is the 0806 review here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MG7kU0rwEwU.html

You can see in the video description I state "This is my favourite dash cam so far". In the video I mention that this is the one I have chosen to use above all the other devices I've tested. I think that the review does a pretty good demonstration of showing how discrete it is and how it performs in daylight and at night. As always, there may be better cameras somewhere in the world...but as far as I am concerned this is the best one I've tested for my requirements.

You do a great job of these reviews, keep up the good work :)

Wonderfully insightful and informative. Thank You for being so crystal clear with your narration.

A few things. Firstly I forgot to mention the camera starts recording very quickly..approx 8 secs after power on. I'll re-iterate if you want brilliant sound quality on your car cam, then look elsewhere, this one often blows-out.The camera on it's own weighs 62g. If you spotted where I said "Micro USB" instead of "Micro SD" or "A to Mini B USB Lead" instead of "12V to Mini USB B Lead", then no need to share, because it's unimportant. GPS software was tested on a Mac running Win8 on Bootcamp.

Thanks for the kind words, Michael. It's always good to hear back from people like yourself.

Still here? Let's go through this in torturous detail... LOL!

best dash cam ever! been using for 3 years and everything has been perfect!

It's my pleasure. I'm glad I've finally tested another decent car cam. There have been quite a few good quality cheaper cams of all shapes and sizes coming out recently.

I'm always trying new ways round to do things. Unfortunately I usually forget what worked when I put the next video together. Thanks for the positive words as always.

This camera records everything mirrored or you're driving on the wrong side of the road

you sound like james may from top gear!

Thanks for the compliments, I don't think TV people agree, but I appreciate the feedback.

Just got one these DVR 0801(GPS) delivered to Karratha, Western Australia this week. Very happy with it, clear video footage. It was 40deg today and did not miss a beat !!

Glad you are happy. I'm never sure how well a new vid is going to go down.

I've no plans to look at any GPS devices, but I'm glad you've found the dashcam reviews useful.

Many thanks for being tech support on this when I was asleep. You'll find that it could be a full time job in itself, when the questions start repeating, so don't wear yourself out.

Have watched the review again and answered you own question - that's what comes of watching reviews late at night when half asleep!

The broken-english manual that came with mine was WORTHLESS. Thank you so much for doing this. You helped a lot!

Excellent review. If only all youtube reviews were like this. I love the fact that you put a 30 second summary at the start of the video. This way we can quickly see if this video is what we're looking for and not waste several minutes waiting and wondering. Also, despite it being 21 minutes long, it was 21 minutes of concise information. How many times have I watched a youtube review, shouting (to myself of course) for the presenter to get a move on and then realise at the end that he (or she) spent 5 or 10 minutes telling us something that should have taken 30 seconds. Well done on an excellent video review.

Excellent review. My 801 is en-route from England. In 1980 I went surfing in the British Virgin Islands and driving on the left side of the road was like a nightmare for about 30 minutes. What side we drive on is an interesting cultural phenomenon. Thanks from Florida.

I've covered this quite a bit in the video and the accompanying blog entry....but it's the size, the mounting system and the fact that the video quality is plenty good enough for what I need. I'm not shooting a movie with this...it's a small automatic security camera that hides out of the way and hopefully (like insurance) I'll never have a need to use it.

Glad you liked it. I'm happy with the battery life, because it will never leave the car. Hopefully the battery won't fail due to constant re-charging. At least the time can still be pulled from the GPS if it fails.

Finally a you tube channel with a good reviewer for dash-cams. Good job

Simply love the short video summary at the beginning of the video. Should be a RU-vid standard for these type of videos.

You should have a tv programme, very thorough, concise and informative and easy to listen to (no irritating voice!). I have been looking in to these gadgets for a while but have no knowledge of them but thanks to your reviews I am now able to make an informed choice. Cheers, good work :)

No - This was shot quite a few days ago when I was waiting on Macro Lenses for the G6. I used my usual equipment on this one.

Yes it seems like it could be quite brittle plastic, as I said in the video I think it's wiser to keep it in the car rather than repeatedly removing it if that's at all possible.

I don't think anyone can answer your first question other than a UK retailer that's planning on selling these. As far as delivery times go, wait a few days and see when people report back that they have received theirs.

I normally just let the wires hang down whilst testing. This is the first one I've tried installing properly because I plan on keeping it.

Thanks to this video I now own THREE of these DVR's, the last one being the new version.. They are simply BRILLIANT!

The mounting system on this is what makes me use it in preference to the Mobius.

Software for Windows can be downloaded from my site as well as many other places. All car cameras auto start /stop with the power.

It's a GPS receiver, it doesn't have a transmitter. I think the GPS trackers you may be thinking of are the ones where a car has a GPS Logger attached to a wireless phone transmitter which transmits the co-ordinates...that's a totally different category of device.. I don't plan on doing any MP3 player reviews at the moment, sorry.

First, let me thank you for your outstanding reviews. I have just purchased the GS608 from Amazon. The GS680 (non GPS model) is a fantastic bit of kit. The images are superb. The camera is small and very discreet. However: 1.The sound on my unit is defective. Which pleases me. It saves me listening to my comments about other drivers! 2.The mount has a screw thread to adjust it. This was cross threaded. So I adjusted it, the super glued the joint. 3. The instructions are not that clear.By accident I found out how to format the Micro SD Card. Follow the instructions to get to the playback screen then tap the power button to get the format option. The reason I never returned it, was I like it that much, I don't want to be without it. Every car should have one!

My pleasure..All the best.

If this beautiful piece of technic stops working..seems broken. Most likely the battery (accu) is the problem. When you turn of your car, the camera still needs a few seconds to close down the last file it recorded. After a few years the battery will die. Replace it by a new one and the camera will work just like is should. You can even replace the battery by a slightly higher capacity battery (like I did...Just make sure it fits in the housing.) And voila...your are good for the next 5-10 years of use ;)) There are videos on RU-vid showing how to open the camera body without breaking stuff. Thanks to people like Techmoan and the guy showing the repair, we can keep on using the things we love.

It's because the sound isn't considered important on a camera like this. It's just a security device. I'd imagine black boxes on planes are probably mono too.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Motion detection needs constant power, because the camera needs to be on. In this mode if the camera spots a large movement it will start recording and then stop again if nothing is happening. If you park your car in a place where things pass by - the side of a road etc, then it will be recording pretty much all the time. Any consumer-grade camera like this will probably not last long when used in this mode - the constant charging of the battery will take a toll. I never use this mode myself.

The weight was mentioned way back in the first comment...but it's a few pages back now. "The camera on it's own weighs 62g" My GPS unit is stuck to the windscreen now so I can't weigh it, but the non-gps mount weighs 7.5g. I'd estimate the GPS mount to be 10g.

Matt you always ignore the compliments and just answer the questions in the comments here, I think you should just admit that you're good or at least say something like "Thanks, I do my best" so we know that you don't just read over them ;) I also love how you are getting better and better at preventing people posting "stupid" questions by answering them ahead of them popping in our heads. You're going to make me poor in the long run, buying cameras wasn't a hobby until you showed them.

All car cams loop the video and auto-stop/start. Those are the qualities that make them car-cams/dash-cams.

Techmoan makes some of the best video reviews on RU-vid. I purchased the OjoCam 0801 directly from OjoCam. It arrived 2 days ago. The new firmware records in .mov format. Another nice change is the speedometer setting can be changed to MPH for U.S. users. The included PC software can also be changed from KPH to MPH by clicking the letters KPH. It toggles back and forth. It's a nice dashcam. Take care to mount it so the horizon is level or your videos will look like the whole earth is tilted.

There is a list of my favourite cameras for a variety of situations on the blog.

The tiny bit of visible cable is just held under standard clear sticky tape. The rest is just wedged in place.

I bought this camera after your review. Still going to this day and it's been a great camera, caught plenty of drama and been very useful. Only downside was the battery doesn't last very long at all when removing from car, other than that brilliant 👍

If the power in your car doesn't switch off - you'll have to start and stop the camera manually, unless you are using the motion detection mode. It will never power down though without unplugging.

Excellent video, thank you! I have just received mine in the post today. Your clear instructions are much easier than reading the 'broken language' instruction manual! :) Just tested mine for the first time - works great and managed to conceal the wire in my BMW 330i very easily.

Well pleased with mine though I didn't realise how dirty my windscreen was on the inside. thanks for the reviews.

Yes, like Techmoan said. That Mobius is the camera with the most bang for the buck. I have one and I really like it!

The LED is on when it's powered or recording. I can't see it in my car where I've placed it. Two options, put it out of the way behind the rear-view mirror or put a piece of tape over the LED.

Motion detection needs constant power to the camera. If you are using a switched 12V socket then there will be no power whilst parked.

1) I never measured the cable, sorry 2) My wall mounted TV has the cables routed through a hole in the wall behind. 3) When its in a parked car the power is off. The battery only lasts 10 mins at best anyway, so its not worth worrying about the battery. Its always 10 mins away from being flat anyway.

Most accidents occur at junctions, roundabouts, in heavy stop-start traffic, hence the need for either spot on accurate speed or none at all. GPS speed shows me going 40 when I've already slowed to 15.

Of course they are mono, but at least they could make 2 recording channels, which would amplify recording sound. The DVR looks really great! Thanks for walking through its menu. Now I know that it allows you to protect recorded file and tune up G-sensor and many other features. Pay no attention who says your reviews are too long, they are very informative, with samples. Thank you!

The VF960S has superior video quality, but unfortunately the size of it and the fact I'd have to remove it from the car every time I park up, means that I never used it again after the review. The 0801 has 'good enough' video quality and is now in constant use in the car.

File size isn't really an issue on dashcams, they only really need the last few mins of video on the card.

It's never given me any problems at all. It's been installed since I did the review.

It's a Philips N4414 Reel to Reel tape machine....with a couple of modifications.

Never mind, I just watched your video on features and that answered my question.

I've had a lot less use of it than I would have liked. Hopefully I'll have more opportunities before winter.

Thanks. This video was a nightmare to edit - something corrupted and the audio kept mis-matching. By the time I finished re-rending it for the umpteenth time (and watching the results through to see if it was OK) I was frankly sick of watching it.

Your only round the corner from me,I am in Ince. Very professional video and it was a easy 20 minute watch. Very impressed with the product as you sold it well....I am now thinking of buying one for my lorry.

I'll admit to not trying the Motion Detection - but it will work the same as on every other camera like this. The motion detection on these cameras looks for movement in the frame and when a large enough object moves on the sensor then it starts recording. For this to work, the camera needs to be powered on and 'looking' at the scene waiting for the movement to occur. Since my car 12V power disconnects when the ignition is switched off it isn't of any relevance for me.

Sony AS15 - My full list of favourites is on my blog

Great demonstration. You're reviews are excellent. Also, nice to see you drive the same roads aye! Thanks

TechMoan, You are a total star. So many decisions i have made with tech purchases have been aided by you!. Im fitting one of these in my Toyta iQ at the weekend. Thankyou :)

After 5 years of having it, I somehow turned off the microphone, but thanks to your wonderful video, I found how to turn it back on (11:04) Thanks bro

Download the samples...jumpy ness was mentioned in the video as a side effect of the editing process.

We got these custom made with our own specs from the manufacture, we ship the same day and usually about 3-5 days delivery to the UK

I enjoy your camera reviews. Professionally done and informative.

I think it was automatically included on the site...but I forget, I have so many things coming to me from abroad and the invoices arrive weeks later so I tend to just pay them without matching the two things together.

I've had these in two cars for well over two years. Have had success with Samsung class 6 cards. Initially had an issue with loop recording once card was full but 'downgrading' to class 6 from class 10 was the solution.

I haven't got any plans to. I've got a 1080p 3D projector, so I know what to look for and all the cheap projector specs sound terrible.

Great videos! I bought this camera based on your review. I'm in the US and ordered it via eBay. It shipped from Los Angeles and I received it within days. I ordered the version with GPS and no internal memory. I bought a 16GB, class 10 card separately. So far it works great -- just like in your review. However, there are some differences. Mine came with a HDMI cable instead of the AV Lead cable. A better choice IMO. Mine also records the videos as .mov files -- not TS files as shown in your video. So I'm able to remove the SD card from camera and easily view the .mov files on both a Mac and a PC. When I formatted the SD card, four folders were created. The three shown in your video plus one called Player. The GPS software is in this folder. As you stated, it only works on a PC. A thing to note though, when viewing the videos in the GPS software, the video is annoyingly jerky. Otherwise it plays smooth when viewed with Quicktime or Windows Media Player.

Yes, the battery is at the front of the camera, the speaker at the front is directly in front of it.

Thanks for the great review, I have watched a few of your videos and for the relatively cheap price, quality and size of this dash cam I have purchased it is as I regularly commute from Lancashire where I study to Devon where I live! Better safe than sorry!

the reason there is a line is because the image sensor is like a transistor, once it gets enough light, it can get saturated and causes false reports that select another color on the pixel spectrum

6 days from placing the order. Courier took a good 5 day's by road from the south island to the north. Next time I'll pay a couple extra dollars and get it delivered overnight. Probably felt longer as I was on leave at the time :)

Absolutely best dvr review I've ever watched

I tend to talk fast because I don't want these things to get boring. Besides if I make everyone watch it three times....I make another 5p of ad revenue. All the best.

FYI: Halfords sell black number-plate fixing foam tape (double sided and very strong). Perfect for this.

You continue to be my favorite subscription. Thank you for all the reviews, I always look forward to them. I will buy a video camera someday for my Goldwing. There is no doubt, your many video reviews will help me with my choice.

It's my fave car cam definitely.

Great review, Mat. I like the new format with the 'Readers Digest Condensed' version at the start, although I did watch the entire review. I always do. I've lost count of how many cameras you've reviewed but I'm glad you've finally found one that suits you. I'll be looking to buy one for myself very soon. Cheers, b.

Top quality review and presentation, as always. Your review videos are THE best on YT! thanks.

Thx for another great review. Received my unit from the kiwi blokes today and took it out for a drive today and I'm really impressed! Cheers

Interesting comparison to be made between this and the SJ1000 as they both do the same job and cost cost the same dosh. But the SJ's far longer battery life and the fact that it comes with a 'free' under-water housing make it look the better deal in my eyes. But then, as a fit-and-forget device this camera's screen mounting looks near perfect.

This was great! Thanks for taking the time to make such a high quality review

I have just purchased one, this review gave me a lot of worthwhile info, thanks

I just bought one sj1000 hd camera which you reviewed and im very pleased with this purchase so Thanks Techmoan. God bless.

We have made constant $NZ now, removed the US and Pound options, so on your credit card it will have the correct conversion. About 70 pounds. we also made the GPS optional as we have about 70/30 that want the GPS.

Enjoyed that review, Will be purchasing one after a recent collision! - Some nice shots of Standish and the surrounding areas there too ;)

You are right, it was there 10 mins ago. I've just emailed my contact there.

this is just the low profile dash cam I've been looking for.

The purple line is vertical charge transfer between the sensor's cells. Basically, when the cells get overloaded with charge (light), it spills vertically across the sensor, leading to the problem you see here.

The only thing about watching your videos is that I feel as if I should pay to subscribe. You bung-in the several 100s of pounds and we get the pleasure of just sitting back and admiring your labour and we receive the rewards. It just doesn't seem fair. Thank you for your hard work!!!