Vava Dash Cam review: Great video and ground-breaking features - seversonnormis1964

At a Glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

Fantabulous day and Nox video recording
Rotates 360 degrees with a 155 degree field of view
Bluetooth distant snapshot button
On-panel 320mAh battery allows mathematical process when the railway car is turned

Cons

Suck rise only
A bit pricey

Our Finding of fact

With excellent video, ground-break features, and cagey design, first-clip vendor VaVa has jumped to the top of the dash cam heap.

Vava's Dash River Cam is stylish, cleverly designed, and it offers at the least two features that are unique in the dash River Cam world as far as we be intimate: 360-degree rotation on its magnetic-mating, and decent battery on board to capture in parking mode for capable 72 hours.

IT's also on-curve with the modish features such as Wi-Fi connectivity, iOS and Android apps, and a separate Bluetooth shot button (press it to capture stills) that can live placed anywhere in your car's inside. If you've ever been in a hurry to capture an visualise, only to miss the opportunity because finding the midget release on the camera took too long… you'll appreciate the latter.

All the innovation would mean null if the video were weak, but Vava has even taken deal of that, both day and night, aside incorporating a Sony IMX291 STARVIS sensor. In brief, this is a precise expansive product from a first-metre vendor. It shows what keister be done when you examine existing designs with a skeptical eye. Information technology's even competitively priced at $150 (sans SD lineup). To picture how it stacks up against other models we've tested, look into out our full roster of dash cam reviews.

Note: As of 6/19/19, style cams in generalized have improved greatly. The VaVa is a great dash cam, but would be rated 4 stars rather than 4.5 if reviewed today.

Design and features

The Vava Dash Cam looks like nada indeed much as a overly thick, rounded hockey hockey puck—in a good way. Rattling. IT couples magnetically to a suction backing, which allows it to be rotated a full 360 degrees to capture whatever non-frontal exterior or interior hi-jinx you tactile property should be preserved for posterity.

The only thing even slightly untoward astir the arrangement is that the suction mount is quite sticky and picks up nearly every part of hair's-breadth or lint in the area if you drop it. Utilise a fair amount of force when you affix it to the windshield, and if you drop it, spick-and-span it using warm water only—nobelium max or chemicals. Oregon mayhap permanently attach the mount with double-sided sticky tape at one time you've determined the optimal location. A the camera is easily detachable, it would be fastidious if Vava offered a more permanent wave mounting solution.

vava dash studio6 — Shown from left to right-minded, tipto to bottom are the mount, camera, USB power transcriber, USB/GPS cable and the Bluetooth remote button that takes snapshots.

The Vava Flash back Cam is high-powered via its micro-USB jack. Both a USB cable and an auxiliary power adapter with 2 monetary standard USB ports are provided. The GPS unit is inline on the USB cable rather than in the unit itself, and is affixed to the dash or windshield, with, yes, sticky tape.

On the area of the puck opposite the lens is a captive rubber cover that pops polish off to reveal the slot for the SDHC card and cardinal precise petite status lights: cherry-red to indicate incident recording and other bad stuff (full computer memory card game, errors), and blue for normal operation.

Vava thoughtfully provides a plastic spudger (prying tool) for lifting your auto's interior garnish components to hide the USB cable run. Economic consumption this at your own risk, and only aft checking YouTube to see if anyone has attempted something related in your type of fomite.

VaVa provides a Frighten away Cam app for your iOS or Android call that privy be utilized for viewing the current run over, offloading videos, and tweaking various settings. There's non the depth of options offered by BlackVue DR750S, but all the essentials such as parking mode, resolution, and G-sensor sensitivity are there. You access the app's functions by logging onto the Vava Dash Cam's Wi-Fi hot spot with your phone, then connecting via the app.

Performance

By default, the Vava Dash Cam records continuously, piece of writing over the oldest material when required. However, it volition save videos you initiate manually, also equally incident videos triggered by its G-sensor (if you run into something, or something hits you). The only hitch we encountered out of the box was that the G-sensor was set a bit too sensitive for the somewhat harsh road/track suspension in our test vehicle. You can lower that using the headphone app, and in our grammatical case it cut away way John L. H. Down on the false-positive incident videos.

2017 1123 151723 121.mp4 snapshot 00.01 2017.11.24 12.00.03 — There's a infinitesimal piece of fish-heart from the 155-degree, 1080/60-fps telecasting, and it's a trifle dark with subdued colour, only point is outstanding.

Archived operating theater no, the superior of the Vava Dash Cam's 60-frames-per-second, 1080p video is impressive. Daytime video is a bit darker than others we've seen, and not as color-vivid, but it is sharp and even. The camera was mounted a bit low in our run vehicle, pick up some of the black dashboard and affecting the brightness slightly. (Eminence: If you'Ra wondering wherefore the car's speed is shown in km/h, it's because we didn't bother to change it to MPH, though IT's also obtainable.)

We experienced several fish-eye and aliasing effects, only that's par for the course with a wide 155-degree field of battle of view and the sharpness required to match minute details. Overall, the video is on luff for legal use, and quite swell, if not the best we've seen for travelogues.

2017 1123 211820 222.mp4 snapshot 00.18 2017.11.24 11.59.35 — As with all STARVIS sensors, Nox meter video is excellent from the Vava Scoot Cam

Nighttime picture was also very beneficial quality, capturing good detail and compensating for lack of headlights or other lighting politely when required, such as when you turn your headlights polish off.

The 320mAh battery is big enough to turn on your camera even when the car is upset off and leftover for a while—such arsenic in a parking garages or a reave into unfriendly territorial dominion. In our test the camera lasted for the better part of three days, chirping when disarranged. If you need more, then you'll need to hard-wire the unit to a constant 12-volt source. VaVa doesn't sell a kit, only it's a minor DIY task if you have any automobile and soldering chops. If you don't, seek a professional installer.

Vava tested the Dash Cam from minus 4 degrees to 158 degrees Fahrenheit, which should cover flatbottomed the hotter areas in the United States. Regardless, shielding operating room coating the unit is recommended when prolonged pic to new weather and sun is expected.

We want one

We've dependable a mickle of dash cams, and the Vava Scoot Cam is one we actually wish to keep up. You may, of course, get away a little cheaper, with or s the selfsame video quality, with a dash cam such as the Viofo A119. But the Vava Dash Cam is immoderate more foppish. Once you're utilised to perquisites like the magnetic coupling bestrid, 360-degree swivel, a Bluetooth remote button, and parking captures without hard-wiring, information technology's hard to live without them.

Note: This clause was edited 9/12/2018 to correct typos.