My trusty old Thinkware F770 finally gave up and couldn’t be started anymore. While I may revive the camera later, I needed a replacement dashcam urgently as I feel handicapped without a dashcam while driving in Singapore. Driving across the border gives me anxiety without the dashcam continuously recording.
While I was looking for the replacement, the usual familiar names came across and a quick Google search for Dual Channel dashcams listed me quite a few new names which I haven’t heard of before.
The table below shows why I chose FineVu GX300 over others 😉
| Dashcam | Thinkware Q800 Pro | Vueroid D20-Q2 | FineVu GX300 | iRoad X11 | Blackvue DR750X-2CH Plus | 70mai A800S | Marbella KR8S Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resolution | Front: Quad HD (2560x1440p), Rear(Optional): Full HD (1920x1080p) | Front Quad HD (2560x1440p), Rear: Quad HD (2560x1440p) | Front : QHD 2560X1440p Rear: QHD 1920X1080p | Front / Rear: QHD 2560/1440P | Front: Full HD @60fps Rear: Full HD @30fps | Front: Up to 4K UHD with 140° FOV Rear: 1920×1080 HD | Front/Rear: FHD 1920x1080p |
| Frame Rate | 30FPS | 30FPS | 30FPS | 30FPS | 60FPS/30FPS | 30FPS | 30FPS |
| Sensor | Front:Sony Exmor R CMOS 5.14M IMX 335 Rear(Optional):Sony Exmor R CMOS 2.13M IMX291 | Front/ Rear: SONY Starvis™ (5M) | Front : 5.14M pixels, 1/2.8″ SONY Exmor R STARVIS Image Sensor Rear : 2M pixels, 1/3″ CMOS Image Sensor | Front: Sony STARVIS (IMX 335) Rear: Sony STARVIS (IMX 335) | Front: Improved Sony STARVIS™ CMOS Sensor (Approx. 2.1MP) Rear: Improved Sony STARVIS™ CMOS Sensor (Approx. 2.1MP) | Front: Sony IMX 415 | Front: 3MP Sony STARVIS Wide Angle 140° / Rear: 2MP CMOS Wide Angle 140° |
| Viewing Angle | 140° Wide Angle (Front & Rear) | Front/ Rear: 145° / 145° | Front : more than 122°of the opposite angle / 104°of the horizontal angle / 56.4°of the vertical angle Rear : more than 134° of the opposite angle / 105° of the horizontal angle / 60° of the vertical angle | Front / Rear: 155°/155° | Front: Diagonal 139°, Horizontal 116°, Vertical 61° Rear: Diagonal 139°, Horizontal 116°, Vertical 61° | Front / Rear: 140°/130° | Front / Rear: 140°/140° |
| Video Codec | – | H.264 High Profile | – | – | H.264 (AVC) | – | – |
| Recording Mode | Continuous Recording, Incident Recording, Manual Recording, Audio Recording | Normal / Event/ Manual/ Parking (Motion & Time lapse) | Driving recording Driving event(impact) recording Manual recording Parking (impact & motion detection) recording Driving time lapse recording Parking time lapse recording | Normal Recording, Event Recording, Parking Recording, Manual Recording | • Normal, • Event (Impact Detection / Speed Limit / Manual), • Parking Mode (Impact + Region-based Motion Detection, Time Lapse + Events) | Drive, Event, Park | |
| Operating Voltage | Input Power: DC 12/24V | DC 12V-24V | DC 12V – 24V | DC12V | DC 12V – 24V | DC 12-30V | – |
| Power Consumption | – | 5.0W (12V) | 4.1W | 3.8W (Driving Mode, Wi-Fi) 3W (Parking Mode, Wi-Fi) | ​3.8W (Parking Mode when GPS Off and WiFi On) 3.4 W (Parking Mode when GPS and Wi-Fi are Off) | – | – |
| Operating Temp. | – | -20℃ ~ 70℃ | Operation temperature -20℃~70℃ / Storage temperature -30℃~80℃ | Operation temperature -20℃~70℃ / Storage temperature -30℃~90℃ | Operating Temp -20℃ – 80℃ Storage Temp -20℃ – 80℃ | – | – |
| High Temp. Cut-off | – | Approximate 70℃ | Approximate 70℃ | – | Approx. 80℃ | – | Thermal Protection |
| Backup Battery | External Battery Pack | External Battery Pack | Super Capacitor | – | Built-in supercapacitor | Built-in 500mAH | Built-in supercapacitor |
| WiFi | Built-in Wi-Fi | Built-in Wi-Fi | Built-In with USB Wi-Fi Dongle Option | Built-In with USB Wi-Fi Dongle Option | Built-in (802.11 b.g.n) | Built-in | Built-in Wi-Fi |
| GPS | Built-in GPS | Built-in GPS | Built-in GPS | External GPS Antenna | Built-in (Dual Band: GPS, GLONASS) | Built-in | No GPS |
| G-Sensor | 3-Axis Accelerometer G-Sensor (3D, ±3G) | 3-Axis Acceleration Sensor, +2g/ -2g | 3-axis acceleration sensor, +2g / -2g | 3-Axis Accelerometer G-Sensor (3D, ±3G) | 3-Axis Acceleration Sensor | – | 3-Axis Acceleration Sensor |
| Functions | ADAS, Speed Camera Alert, Safety Alerts | ADAS, Speed Camera Alert, Safety Alerts | Smart Time Lapse, FineVu Wi-Fi, Speed Camera Alert, HDR, ADAS, Installation Angle Guide, Format Free, Auto Night Vision, Driving Rest Guide, Time Alarm, Battery Discharge Prevention, Support 1ch recording, High Temperature Protection | ADAS, LBP, X-Scanner | Enhanced Night Vision, Native Parking Mode | 24Hr Parking Surveillance, ADAS, Route Tracking, 3D DNR | Beyond 48Hrs Parking Mode, Dual Battery Discharge Prevention |
| Memory Card Capacity | Micro SD Card 16GB / 32GB / 64GB / 128GB UHS-I | MicroSD (16GB/ 32GB/ 64GB/ 128GB/ 256GB) | Micro SD Card (32GB/64GB/128GB) | MicroSD (16GB/ 32GB/ 64GB/ 128GB/ 256GB / 512GB) | MicroSD card up to 256GB | Minimum 32GB SD card | MicroSD card up to 256GB |
| Warranty | 18 Months | 12 Months? | 18 Months | 12 Months | 12 Months | 18 Months | |
| Dimension | 107 x 60.5 x 32.5 mm (4.2 * 2.4 * 1.18 in) / 104.5g (0.23 lbs) | Front: 107.8mm(W) × 42.6mm(H) × 75.4mm(D) / 107.5g Rear: 52mm(W) × 29mm(H) × 42mm(D) / 28.0g | Front : 78.0 x 64.5 x 50mm / 120g Rear : 53.4 x 30.3 x 41.5mm / 27g | Front: 30 x 15 x 65mm Rear: 28 x 54mm | Front: W 118.5 mm x H 36 mm /105 g Rear: W 67.4 mm x H 25 mm / 25 g | – | – |
| Price | $481 | $458 | $230 | $515 | $598 | $299 | $299 |
| Installation | $80 | $80 | $80 | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Total | $561 | $538 | $310 | $515 | $598 | $299 | $299 |
My F770 died last month after about 8 years of no problems. I think maybe this incredibly hot summer in Japan finally killed it. I took it apart but couldn’t really find anything obvious. Checked all the leads with a voltmeter and the proper parts were getting power but it just wasn’t turning on.
I was going to buy the new Thinkware or a Viofo with the new Starvis 2.0, but found a used F770 front camera unit for about 50 bucks. Supposedly it was used for only 3 years with a production date of 2017 (mine was 2016).
How has your new dashcam been?
The new dashcam is flawless, touch wood. Regular firmware updates / traffic / speed camera updates and it’s been working since day 1 without hanging at the blazing heat where I live 🙂