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16th October 2018, 00:44 | #1 |
BHPian Join Date: May 2018 Location: Ernakulam/Delhi
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| Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam I purchased my car late last year, and I was on the look out for a dash cam ever since, more as an accessory than a safety device, and that was partly due to their questionable legality as evidence, should you ever have to adduce the same in a Court of Law. I thought of a dash cam as a useful companion accessory to record footage of drives through scenic routes, or capture something interesting on the roads (believe me, there's always something weird or crazy happening on our roads, and they make for a few good laughs) However, these days, what with the public's mentality leaning towards taking law into its hands, something like a recorded video footage can't hurt anyone. Samurai's extraordinary (Video: Youth falls out of the bus, and in front of my car!)manoeuvre (Video: Youth falls out of the bus, and in front of my car!) recorded in his dash cam in a recent thread was convincing enough, and I had also stumbled upon another video on our forum where a member's car was prevented from proceeding to a hospital to treat his child on a hartal day in Kerala. In any case, I had made enough case for myself in favour of checking out dash cams seriously, and soon enough, I stumbled upon the Aukey 1080p DR02 cam on Amazon, which looked discreet enough, while retaining its core functionality of reliably recording driving footage, even in poorly lit conditions. Here's a link to their webpage for dash cams. I was sure that I didn't want a battery operated model, what with the possibility of a battery burst after being parked under the sun all day, every day. I was also certain that I would need a cam with a small screen, just to know that the thing's actually working. Also, I have seen that many among us regularly buy stuff from AliExpress, but I wanted to buy my cam either through Amazon or through the local VAG accessories vendor. I called up VAGtunes in Kochi, and to my surprise, the lady who answered my call didn't even know what a dash cam was. She mistook it for a reverse cam. That's how, after a detailed search on Amazon, I came across the Aukey DR02. At a shade less than 9000 Rs, it wasn't cheap, but I wasn't gonna penny pinch on a useful accessory for my car, especially since safety and reliability were keywords dominating my decision to buy a dash cam. Here's a link to the Amazon India page for the product. I went through the online User Manual, and realised that Aukey recommends neither the Samsung Evo nor the SanDisk Ultra series MicroSD cards, for some reason unknown to me, so I picked up a Strontium Nitro A1 64GB card along with the cam. The card cost 900 Rs., and its a necessary purchase along with your cam since Aukey doesn't supply a memory card with the device. Shame, because it isn't easy to get a Class 10+ High performance MicroSD card in our country for a reasonable price. Here's the link to the MicroSD card on Amazon. Funnily enough, Amazon took a day longer to deliver the MicroSD card than the Dash Cam, which is an oddity since both the products were serviced under the "Fulfilled by Amazon" label, and both products offered Free 2 day delivery, under Amazon's Prime offer. Mind you, both the card as well as the cam were booked on the same day, although one after the other, so perhaps that had something to do with the delayed delivery. Amazon's packaging was adequate, and the bubble wrapping looked buffed enough to have withstood the usual hazards of shipping and handling. The plastic wrapping on the dash cam box looked neat and, more importantly, intact. The sides of the packaging reveal more information about the product, although its likely you'd have come across this already, on the product webpage. The MRP is marked at 19,999/-, although I seriously doubt anyone must have coughed up so much for this cam ever, what with Amazon being the only retail partner for Aukey. Oh well, it does feel like I got a flat 50% discount on the MRP. Open the box and you'll find the cam wrapped in translucent plastic... ...and lift the black cardboard using the circular cut out to reveal the accompanying accessories. Although the user manual says that you'll be supplied with a warranty card, I found no such thing inside the box, but to be fair to Aukey, the Amazon listing details had specifically stated that no warranty is available. Moving on to the device itself, the moment you pick it up is when you realise how compact and light the cam is. Its almost laughably tiny, but I did expect the plastic quality to be a tad better. Is it to say the build quality is bad? Nope, in fact, I think its pretty good, and feels like it will last long enough, but I suppose its fair to say that I got a little carried away by the marketing pics on the product page online. Also, Aukey supplies three 3M adhesive pads, of which one comes pre-installed on the mount. They give you an extra mount, should you break the first while handling. Pretty neat. There are mics on both sides of the device for recording sound/voice, and the feature is turned on by default, and that was the first thing I turned off while setting up the cam. I cannot come to terms with any device, including my phone, recording my conversations happening inside my car. Its just plain creepy, and I would have gladly paid Aukey extra to simply remove the feature altogether. The microSD card slot is located on one of the sides. The opposite end from the lens houses the three ports needed from plugging in the AV cable, the GPS module and the Mini USB cable (to be used exclusively for powering the cam, and not for data transfer). You can power the device on even without inserting a MicroSD card, and soon enough, you'll be entering the date and time settings, which are saved even after you restart the device, and you also have the option of formatting the memory card on the device, which Aukey strongly recommends that you do, so as to ensure full compatibility while recording. The cam features loop recording, in 3, 5 or 10 min intervals, and the 3 minute interval is set as default. The interface and the buttons are intuitive to use, and I was up to speed with using the device in no time. The four buttons on the device are sturdy enough to press, and one of them take snaps of the video while recording (useful if you wanna capture something interesting on the road, for posterity). You can easily erase the data on the card on the cam itself, and if you want to transfer the videos to your pc, simply unplug/turn off the device, and then remove the card from the cam, plug it into your pc using a compatible SD card reader (usually supplied with the microSD you purchased), and you are good to go. Affixing the mount and the device itself in the car was easy-peasy; in fact, I took longer to figure out where exactly I wanted to place the cam. I found the space behind the right side of the IRVM to be ideal, and the wide angle lens ensured that the entire width of the car was covered during recording. This is how it looked after I set up the cam in my car. (Notice the white patch on the adhesive pad? Yeah, that's me with my butter fingers while trying to carefully place the pad on the windscreen. Before I realised my shoddy work, it was too late to remove the pad and affix it again - the adhesion is strong here, and despite my lazy work, the pad's firmly stuck on the screen, and I doubt it will come off easily. Whether the scorching sun will ruin the adhesion is something only time will tell.) As I said, the cam is discreet enough, and once I figure out a way to hide the wiring, its unlikely anyone will notice the cam immediately. Now, for the video quality. As it happened, it was raining belligerently in Cochin last night, so much so that I found it difficult to traverse through the water logged roads at some places, and I feared I would ruin the mechanics of the car beyond inexpensive repairs. Thankfully, I reached home safely enough. However, the cam was hard at work, trying to record through the wiper movements and the constant drizzle marring the general visibility. As to accessing number plates, I guess if you're close enough to the car ahead of you, with enough lighting, you should be able to spot the number plates, and rather legibly so, but then again, this video won't do justice to the quality of the cam, what with Youtube compressing to 720p and not retaining the full 1080p resolution. Here's a short compilation of clips: During the day, the results are very good, as expected. Again, I wish I had uploaded a 1080p resolution clip to illustrate how good the quality of the recording is: Here's a couple of pics of the MicroSD card I purchased for the dash cam. I suppose its too early to say anything about the reliability of either the device or the microSD card, but first impressions are solid, and very positive. I intend to revisit this thread occasionally, and update with more pics and thoughts on the performance of the cam, as well as the supplied accessories. Fingers crossed, for a product Made in China. Last edited by gk1234 : 16th October 2018 at 01:12. |
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16th October 2018, 06:36 | #2 |
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| re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam It’s raining dashcams on the forum and rightly so. While researching on the topic, I had zeroed in on this camera as a likely contender for purchase, but eventually gave it a miss. If budget isn’t a stretch, it’s cousin DR02D is a still better purchase with its twin camera setup. 9K is a reasonable amount to pay for this stealth camera. The recently concluded amazon sales made it even cheaper, the final purchase price coming to a bit more than 7K. It was a breeze reading through this review. You have covered all the points succinctly. Periodic updates would no doubt add to the wealth of knowledge on this thread. Congrats on the car and the cam. Regarding the memory card, have you noticed that the description on the amazon product page lists action cameras as one of the intended uses but the actual product has no mention of the same? At ₹900 for a 64GB card, its a no brainer anyway. Hope it serves you well. Last edited by dailydriver : 16th October 2018 at 06:49. |
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16th October 2018, 07:55 | #3 | |||||
Distinguished - BHPian | re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam Many thanks for the review and the details you've shared. I wish you miles of safe driving, and hope that the dashcam never has to be used for an incident. I would recommend that you also keep an OTG adapter (like this one) and a spare microSD card in your car - the OTG adapter will help you quickly review/crop/send videos on your phone without having to put it into your phone's microSD slot, the spare card helps in case you want to swap cards for any reason (e.g. to truly safeguard some important video, to handover the card as evidence, etc.) Quote: Quote:
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One question here - what is the typical file size of a 3-minute clip (or whatever duration you're using)? Quote:
Last edited by arunphilip : 16th October 2018 at 08:12. | |||||
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16th October 2018, 08:04 | #4 | |
Distinguished - BHPian | re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam Quote:
One can also try aliexpress for Aukey products - should be cheaper than on Amazon ? | |
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16th October 2018, 08:33 | #5 | ||
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| re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam Quote:
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Hence, it could be assumed that Aukey is not actually Aukey! But as I said, it is just an unverifiable feeling! | ||
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16th October 2018, 14:13 | #6 | |
Senior - BHPian | Re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam Quote:
A dash cam these days is a must have accessory and I make it a plan to tell others about it. Even the basic ones are better than not having one. That said, the clarity on the Aukey is very nice. Could you please upload some 1080p footages so I can get a better understanding of the clarity? | |
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16th October 2018, 21:01 | #7 |
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| Re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam A very well written and detailed review Glad to know you are having good experience with the product. Few things i will like to mention: + The authorized US seller (Aukey Direct) retails this unit for $69 which translates to roughly 5.5k INR after taxes. http://a.co/d/6HOdwjd + The amazon seller in India doesn't seem to be an authorized one. They are simply importing the stuff and reselling for 2-3 times more. Same thing i noticed with many items i purchased through aliexpress like the foam lance for pressure washer which sells here for 4x more. + The official Aliexpress store for Aukey doesnt seem to retail dashcams for reasons unknown . https://aukey01.aliexpress.com/store...650c649bUDZQFG + A class 10 card is sufficient for recording video at 1080 30fps. However for devices which record continually like dashcam / security cam, more expensive MLC nand is preferred over TLC. Samsung Pro series offer MLC but their warranty is void if used on dashcam. Best bet is getting the high endurance cards from Sandisk & Transcend. + Given the extra high prices of these products with indian resellers, its better to take help of a friend who is coming from abroad than coughing up here. + Its really simple to channel the dashcam wiring through A pillar to dashboard till floor. The installation will look a whole lot neater once you have done that |
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17th October 2018, 20:51 | #8 |
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| Re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam Thanks for this review, i was thinking about this during the Amazon sale. Was confused between this and the DrivePro 230. I think the Video quality is better on the Aukey as per the youtube videos i saw. The lack of WIFI made me think again and maybe look at a YI cam. However the design of the Aukey beats both the YI and DrivePro. Waiting for your 1080p video uploads. |
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18th October 2018, 09:15 | #9 |
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| Re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam Great buy. Like @Samfromindia has suggested it would be better to buy an high endurance card. Since the memory card will be in use continuously for video recording, normal cards tend to fail over a period of time. Any idea on how long can you record with the 64gb card in 1080p? |
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19th October 2018, 02:11 | #10 | |||||||||||||
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| Re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam Quote:
Yes, but I decided against buying the dual camera set up for two reasons. First, it was too expensive, at Rs 19,000/-, for an electronic recording device from a brand I had never heard of previously, and more so because it felt like an overkill. Second, I wasn't sure where I would mount it. The rear windscreen is covered with defogger lines, and my Skoda service personnel warned me against even adhering a sticker on the inner side of the windscreen, lest it should interfere with the functioning of the defogger function. Quote:
Thank you for the kind words and motivation. It was only after I had submitted my post did I realise that I should have proof-read the entire thing. I ended up using the half hour window to tinker with the uploaded pics and the text. That said, thank you for the encouragement. Appreciated! Quote:
Good catch! Quote:
Yep, I was thinking the same thing, and I ended up ordering a microSD to lightning cable adaptor for iOS, and an extra memory card. You can never take enough precaution when it comes to backing up digital data. Quote:
Oops. Good catch, and you're right - I meant that each clip length can be set to 3/5/10 minutes, and for those of you curious whether you lose any frames in the footage while a new clip is created, the answer is no. The transition is seamless, and highly efficient. If you were to merge two consecutive clips, you wouldn't find any distortion in the middle of your newly merged clip. I tried, and it works. Quote:
A 10-min clip is roughly 1 GB, so I guess a 3-min clip is 300 mb. This is when you record 1080p at 30fps. Quote:
Haha, thank you for the link. I am not keen on the DIY business. See how I messed up the simple job of affixing the 3M adhesive on the windscreen without air bubbles? I do, however, intend to stretch the USB power cable all the way to the boot, as discreetly as I can, so that I can leave the cam plugged into the 12v socket in the boot, and free up the one inside the cabin. Quote:
Thanks, but I wasn't keen on using AliExpress, and that was mainly because I wanted the product delivered quickly. I have read elsewhere that AliExpress orders can take anywhere between 2 to 4 weeks for delivery, if you're lucky, as against the 48 hour delivery promised by Amazon. Besides, I have never actually bought anything on AliExpress, yet, so I want to start off with something rather inexpensive. Quote:
You aren't the only one harbouring this suspicion. I came across similarly designed cams on Amazon and AliExpress, and all of them were sold at varying price points. Aukey sounded and appeared the fanciest of the lot, and in no less measure due to the presence of a reasonably informative website. Quote:
Thank you, and I agree that a dash cam can no longer be deemed to be a mere fancy accessory. Given the circumstances vis-a-vis road and pedestrian safety, its necessary to arm yourself against erratic public mentality, and I suppose adoption of dash cams as a standard feature in cars will improve if insurance companies start giving incentives to dash-cam users or give a higher NCB. After all, what wouldn't we do to get cheaper insurance? As for the 1080p footage, I'm more than happy to share the raw footage with you, but could someone tell me how to upload it here, if at all? I could upload to YouTube, and then hope that Google allows watching it at 1080p itself, but even then there will be some amount of compression. I do believe the difference in quality will be negligible, though, so if you still wish to see the video in 1080p, do let me know and I'd be happy to upload more footage in varying lighting conditions. Happy to help! Quote:
Thank you for the kind words, and your observations are spot on. I did think about asking a relative or a friend from the US to get me the cam, especially since I am not getting any warranty in spite of purchasing on Amazon India. However, I wasn't willing to wait another month or two before my acquaintances return from Stateside, so that option was out of the window. I do agree that a high endurance microSD card would be far more durable, and hence reliable. But I also realise those don't come cheap, at least not in India. Perhaps that's something I could ask someone to get from the US. Quote:
The Yi dash cam looks popular among the members here, so its unlikely you'll go wrong with that one. I don't know much about DrivePro, but I did not find it discreet enough, so that one was besides my consideration. Quote:
Given that a 10-min recording consumes roughly 1 GB, I'd say 10 hours of continuous recording is possible at 1080p resolution using a 64gb card, before the cam erases the oldest file to make space for the new clip. Last edited by gk1234 : 19th October 2018 at 02:20. | |||||||||||||
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19th October 2018, 19:52 | #11 |
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| Re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam A very useful and detailed review! Looks like I will take the plunge now and get one for my ride too. Thanks for the DIY inspiration! |
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22nd October 2018, 10:07 | #12 | |
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| Re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam Quote:
You can upload in Google Drive and can share the link here. Works upto atleast 4GB per file | |
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22nd October 2018, 13:46 | #13 | ||
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| Re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam Quote:
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Here you go. Uploaded to Google Drive. Feel free to download and play at 1080p. Sorry for the glare from the dashboard - can't help it. Also, I don't intend to keep the file for long in my Drive (I'm running a little low on free space), so I request you to download this at the earliest. Thank you for understanding. https://drive.google.com/file/d/12LU...ew?usp=sharing | ||
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22nd October 2018, 14:40 | #14 |
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| Re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam |
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22nd October 2018, 15:46 | #15 | |
Senior - BHPian | Re: Review: Aukey DR02 1080p Dash Cam Quote: 1) Does it have a battery or is it a capacitor type? 2) Does it have a wifi? Or should the card be pulled out to check the videos 3) Is it a pain to check the display screen due to its mounting as you would have to look up to see the screen? | |
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