Viofo A129 Pro Duo review

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As the ‘Duo’ successful its sanction suggests, the Viofo A129 Pro Duo is simply a two-camera system. The beforehand has a 4K sensor for signaling video astatine Ultra HD solution portion the rear is constricted to 1080p Full HD – some grounds astatine 30 frames per second.

This kit besides includes a GPS module. It’s reasonably chunky but attaches neatly to the front-facing camera and adds precise velocity and determination information to video recordings. Also successful the container is simply a instrumentality for tucking the cables neatly down the interior panels of your car, respective adhesive clips for moving a cablegram on the windscreen, and a 12V powerfulness adapter with 2 USB ports (for charging your telephone and powering the dash cam simultaneously).

On apical of each this, our reappraisal kit provided by Viofo besides included the optional polarizing lens screen (£11.25 / $13.49 / AU$20.01) to assistance amended the front-facing camera’s video quality, and a Bluetooth distant fastener (£14.99 / $17.99 / AU$26.69), which provides a convenient mode to grounds footage without taking your eyes disconnected the road. 

The Viofo is well-priced considering it’s a dual-camera strategy and besides records the front-facing presumption successful 4K. But portion it stands up good connected a method level, and we’ll delve into the show much later, the look and consciousness is simply a reminder of its much accessible terms tag. It’s a clunky, cheap-feeling dash cam that lacks the consciousness of prime offered by those from Garmin, Thinkware, and Nextbase. The plastics are scratchy, the cables are frustratingly thick, and the wide aesthetic feels similar a tech merchandise from a decennary agone – lone 1 with modern, 4K internals.

Moving connected from the so-so hardware, the bundle besides lacks polish, with a somewhat confusing fastener plan wherever the Rec and Mic buttons besides execute the relation of scrolling up and down done the paper system. A jarring beep that sounds with each fastener property tin thankfully beryllium switched off, and the Settings paper tin besides beryllium accessed via a Wi-Fi transportation with the Viofo app. We similar however this app works without demanding you make a idiosyncratic account, and contempt a batch of mediocre reviews connected the Apple App Store, we recovered it worked fine, though successful the clunky mode communal among astir dash cam apps. 

The setup acquisition could beryllium slicker, but dash cams are mostly set-it-and-forget-it devices, softly getting connected with their occupation without overmuch interaction. There are much settings present than with astir different dash cams, and we wonderment if immoderate buyers mightiness beryllium confused by the request to prime a preferred bitrate and video frequency. We’d alternatively the dash cam worked that retired for itself, but tin spot the other configurability appealing to immoderate buyers.

Both cameras connect to your vehicle’s windscreen with adhesive pads. helium beforehand camera tin beryllium removed from this pad (which is attached to the GPS module) by sliding it to the side. It’s a speedy and casual mode to region the Viofo from your car, but it’s conscionable arsenic casual to popular retired the microSD paper (not included) oregon link to the telephone app via Wi-Fi erstwhile you privation to transportation footage. 

We were pleasantly amazed by the video prime produced by the Viofo A129 Pro Duo and its Sony Exmor R sensor. The beforehand camera was particularly impressive. The 4K solution is doing a batch of the dense lifting here, allowing for much item and a crisper representation than would beryllium imaginable with a Full HD resolution. But it’s awesome nonetheless, with cardinal details similar roadworthy signs and conveyance registration plates casual to identify. Saturation is rather high, but since this is footage intended to support yourself aft an incidental – not to stock connected YouTube oregon Instagram – this isn’t a concern.

Although video prime is higher than 1080p dash cams, there’s inactive a lingering uncertainty arsenic to whether 4K recordings are genuinely worthy it, astatine slightest from a applicable perspective. Each one-minute signaling created by the Viofo is astir 300MB, truthful your microSD paper volition capable up quickly, and transferring past viewing footage tin beryllium a cumbersome process. 

The rear camera is constricted to Full HD, truthful people doesn’t nutrient arsenic awesome footage, but it’s inactive perfectly adequate. However, the 140-degree viewing space for some cameras could beryllium higher, particularly astatine the beforehand wherever we’d similar to person seen 160 oregon adjacent 180 degrees to lucifer immoderate of the Viofo’s rivals.

Helpfully, footage automatically saved erstwhile a collision is detected by the G-sensor is enactment successful a antithetic folder. That way, erstwhile viewing it backmost connected your machine oregon tablet it’s casual to find the close record – handy, fixed that Viofo’s naming normal smashes the day and time, to the second, into a barely-comprehensible record name.

A parking mode is available, but this requires a hard-wiring kit sold separately. As with different dash cams, this gives the A129 a imperishable powerfulness source, allowing it to consciousness collisions portion parked and grounds perchance important grounds of what happened. As ever, we’d urge hiring a nonrecreational to instal the hard-wiring kit. And connected that note, the Viofo’s alternatively heavy USB cables marque it harder to instal discreetly than different dash cams connected the market.

Should you bargain the Viofo A129 Pro Duo?

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See wherever the Viofo A129 Pro Duo sits successful our best dash cams circular up.

First reviewed successful October 2022