This review is not about installation procedure, there is plethora of literature already available on DIY steps for installation of dash cams. In this review, I will focus only on following aspects:
- Why did I purchase a dash cam, and
- My experience with RedTiger F7NP 4K Dash Cam.
Why did I feel the need for a dashcam in the car?
I felt the need for a dashcam in my car on day one of the purchase simply because it is quite a prized possession however in the daily rush of life and the excitement of a new luxury car, this didn't come up on my priority list. Well!! At least not until 19th May 2024 when India woke up to the news of Pune's Porsche crash leading to the tragic loss of two precious lives. The incident was an act of absolute negligence and not pardonable however, what took place as an aftermath of this incident was a social and media trail (similar to the #metoo drive) for every accident involving a luxury car almost instantly accusing the driver and holding him responsible for the related loss without analyzing facts. An act of negligence leading to loss must be punished however at times passersby on the road, social, media trails go too far to paint everyone with the same brush accusing even those who follow rules by the book but get involved in unfortunate accidents because of others not obeying safety norms. This includes (but not limited to) accidents due to pedestrians crossing road despite vehicles having right of way after receiving a green signal, vehicles coming from opposite direction in wrong lane or simply undeserving reckless (helmetless) drivers flying on the roads like alien UFOs. God bless them!
Take a look at the video below, there are few vehicles coming in opposite direction in a narrow one-way street. Reason! these drivers think of themselves as too privileged to have the right of way at will and find it hard to travel additional 100 meters to take a U turn. Despite me driving in the right direction, most drivers coming in wrong direction gave me a stare, some acted humble and offered directions to help me out of the mess created by them much as a favor. One needs to either ignore such irresponsible behavior or try and reason with someone who does not possess ability think sanely. No prizes for guessing the right option.
In all such instances and God forbid, if things go wrong, the onus to prove innocence unfortunately always falls on the driver of the luxury car. Even if one is lucky to escape the backlash on road, there are high chances of damages to the vehicle due to such reckless behavior, and in such instances a dashcam can play a crucial role to support insurance claims, defend traffic challans or prove innocence. Dashcams can also be a great tool for creating travelogues for those who want to log their vacations/drives.
My choice?
Given countless options for dashcams in the market, it was almost impossible to choose a dashcam and hence I found it easier to list my requirements to narrow down the options by elimination. With a budget of ~Rs.15K, my requirements were simple – dual channel, 4K resolution, Sony STARVIS sensor, G sensor, GPS tracking and a Super Capacitor powered dash camera. And yes, looks did matter as well. I wasn’t too keen on the ADAS features being offered in some dashcams since these are only marketing gimmicks deployed to hook customers in a 'feature over form crazy' nation. Finally, the choice came down to RedTiger F7NP 4K Dash Cam.
Experience with the dashcam?
Simple plug and play DIY installation:
The dashcam comes well packed with following accessories in the box - front and rear cameras, sufficiently large connection cables, 32 GB Class10, U3 Micro SD car, wire hooks, two electrostatic stickers, GPS mount, and a crowbar tool. Cable connecting the rear cam is ~19 feet, long enough to reach the rear window of any car. Add on accessories taken: CPL filter, 128 GB Micro SD Card. I installed the camera on my own without any professional help, all it required was a Purpose, bit of Planning and lot of Patience.
The box as it came
Contents of the box
The camera
Dashcam with and without CPL filter
Recording, Playback & Clarity:
The camera offers 170-degree wide view in front and 140 degrees in rear, excellent 4K clarity both in day and night lights. Readability of number plates is excellent both during the day and low light conditions. Point to note is that on certain occasions, powerful LED projector headlight of my car reflect on the number plates of vehicles in front creating a washout effect. This has reduced after putting CPL filter though not solved completely. Since the reflection is due to powerful LED projectors I am not counting this as a negative of the dashcam. If the headlight is not directly falling on the number plates, the readability is excellent even in low light conditions.
Videos from the dashcam. Bangalore's very own Autobahn, enjoy the garden called Bangalore.
Few stills. Shot on iPhone Err..F7NP Dashcam
Facing the sun (with CPL filter)
The garden that is called Bangalore
McDonalds, where even bridges take a break
Home sweet home
Ready to Play?
Heavy lifting can be colorful too
Legibility of number plates in day light and night light
Whitewash effect of headlights on number plate
Same view of number plate without headlights on
Videos are automatically locked if the dashcam senses a crash, such locked videos are never overwritten. Recorded videos carry day stamp, time stamp, speed stamp along with GPS coordinates. In addition, and most importantly, the play back overlays location, speed and route on Google maps (video given in next section). There is option to record sound if needed. There is a shortcut key to take a snapshot as well.
Appearance/Look & Feel:
The dashcam looks well-built, the plastics feel good in the hand. The size and dimension are sleek enough and not create a blind spot. The camera can move upwards and downwards but not sideways. Note, the camera does get heated up during operation but that is a normal feature and not a cause of concern. The view on dashcam screen can be changed between front only, rear only, front with rear as PIP or rear with front as PIP. The screen can be switched off or can be used as additional rear view mirror.
Wires running through the roof / rubber lining and concealed completely
Memory:
The dashcam supports up to 256 GB memory card which is sufficient to record up to 16 hours of loop recording. Resolution of recording can be changed as desired, needless to say that increase in resolution will decrease the recording time. There are multiple options for data transfer as listed below:
- While in the car: Connect mobile through dashcam Wi-Fi,
- While at home:
- Slide the dashcam out of the mount and power it through any type C charger and connect mobile through dashcam Wi-Fi (preferred option)
- Slide the dashcam out of the mount and connect to the computer using data cable, or lastly
- Simply remove the SD card and use directly with the laptop.
Note: Downloading the video on the app has an added advantage of also seeing the accompanying Google/Apple maps with speed, route and location overlay-ed as seen in the video below. If you directly download the video from SD card to computer Google map overlay is not displayed.
App Connectivity:
Once installed, the device runs pretty much independently and does not require any maintenance or intervention unless of course there is a need to extract video which is rare or so I pray.
Dashcam connects to the mobile app using local Wi-Fi. However, do note that if you use wireless Android Auto or Apple Car Play, you will first have to disconnect the car’s onboard Wi-Fi to connect the dashcam to mobile app. I read few other reviews claiming this as a negative however please note that this is a normal behaviour of any wi-fi enabled devise, the mobile phone or any other devise cannot connect to two Wi-Fi hotspots at the same time. Reconnecting the dashcam to mobile when needed isn’t much of a hassle since one does not connect to dashcam often. There is a shortcut key to launch the wi-fi hotspot of the dashcam which comes in handy. Typically, I keep my Car’s Wi-Fi on auto connect feature and keep the dashcam’s Wi-Fi to off all the time. An alternative could also be to install the dashcam on a mobile that is different from the one used with Android Auto or Apple Car Play. Another alternative is to keep two SD cards handy so that one can be replaced for other for data retrieval.
Parking surveillance:
The dashcam can be hard wired to the car, you will need to buy a hard wire kit separately. There are multiple options for parking surveillance such as on impact, time lapse etc. I don’t plan to hard wire the dashcam since I do not want to compromise my car’s warranty in any way, although this is a grey area but nevertheless, I do not want the convenience of one order to become a hassle of another order. I might consider hard wiring after completing the warranty period of my car.
Customer Support:
This is the strongest point going in favor of this dashcam. The customer support is excellent in resolving queries and providing installation related support. Not just answering queries, they proactively follow up to check if the resolution provided solved the issue or not.
This is a biggest highlight of Redtiger dashcam.
Cool gimmicks:
The dashcam has a screen saver that shows a live compass and speed, it looks fancy and is a cool party trick inviting attention. Another gimmick is a timer-based fatigue alarm.
Negatives:
Few shortcomings I have noted so far are:
- The screen of dashcam should be focused towards the driver for better ergonomics, having a driver centric screen will make it convenient to reach, operate the camera and improve visibility
- The camera can move vertically upwards and downwards but not horizontally left or right, this is sometimes needed to bring fine adjustment to the view.
- The suction cup appears weak, at the moment it is holding the camera in place firmly but needs to stand the test of time.
DIY tips:
- If you are installing the camera by yourself, I recommend doing it in multiple smaller sessions. This will give you the advantage of re-strategizing. I broke the entire installation into mounting front camera, wiring for front, installing rear camera and then wiring for rear. Instances where I got stuck, I gave myself break to gather my thoughts and come back with fresh approach. Do not rush into installing everything in one straight session since you might then end up with a shoddy installation.
- If dashcam is not hard wired and connected through USB, do check that the 12V cigarette lighter socket gets cut off the power after engine is shut off. If not, camera will drain the battery. Typically the 12V cigarette sockets do not come with low battery protection, in my case the socket gets cut off 10 mins after the engine is shut off and starts receiving power as soon as the car is unlocked.
- For long drives, in case one wants to store memories of the trip, it would be a good idea to carry two SD cards. After one card is filled, instead of the dashcam overwriting the oldest videos you can shift to the second SD card and retain memories of the trip.
- Please be sure to use a reputed & compatible SD card else the transfer rate could be impacted.
Recommendation:
I recommend purchasing this dashcam, do approach the dealer directly from the website or by calling the numbers provided on the homepage, chances are that you will get a better bargain compared to buying from Amazon.
19th September 2024, 13:12
(45)
Thanks
Cheers !
