A129 Pro Duo 4K

To start with, I was a little disappointed with this camera. Rather than give up on it and return it, I decided to opt for some extras and did some research on issues I was experiencing with it. Now I can honestly say it was worth it. 1st of all, I wouldn’t recommend for the long term using the included cigarette lighter plug. Get the HK3 hardwire kit for it. Although it’s not plug and play, takes some research to know how to route the cables and get power to the camera, the hardwire kit allows the camera to be powered on when the ignition turns on, and enter a neat parking mode when you turn off the engine. Be warned the best way to tap into your cars power is with ‘fuse taps’ that don’t come with this kit. To be fair, I didn’t mind this as there are 3 different types of fuses in modern cars and the fuse taps cost less than a tenner for a pack of 4 on Amazon. As I say, it’s worth the extra work as the parking mode is awesome. I set it to a Timelapse feature and found that it captured the entire period of time my car was unattended (right through the night). Naturally this uses power from your car battery, but there’s a battery saver built into the kit that ensures the camera will record for as long as it can, leaving enough power to turn the engine over when you return to it. Although I’ve not needed it yet, I believe when the camera detects an impact while parked, it captures video from both front and rear cameras from before and after the bump and locks the video file from being overwritten. The quality from the front camera is exceptional when set to 4K. The quality of the recorded file is good enough to see the smallest of detail. The rear camera is full HD and is still clear enough to be able to see the faces of the drivers behind you, let alone their number plate. However I highly recommend you get the circular polarising filters for both front and rear modules. It does well to limit glare from sunlight or the headlamps of oncoming vehicles or the cars driving behind you. This gives you a better chance of reading number plates of careless drivers. I found the footage even in night driving was clear and the wide angle lenses means the cameras have a far better view of the road and surroundings than I do as the driver. The positioning of the camera needs to be behind the interior mirror to remain legal, but means you can’t see the display and interact with the dashcam. Thankfully with the above setup, I didn’t need to interact with the camera as it starts recording the moment I unlock the car and automatically switches to parking mode when I leave the car. Apart from adjusting settings, the only other time I needed to access the camera was when I wanted to lock a video file to save a moment in time from being overwritten (for example someone driving dangerously but not actually hitting me). Fumbling behind the interior mirror to locate the middle button is far too fiddly and dangerous so I opted to buy the additional Bluetooth button and stick it to the dashboard, well within view and my reach. Pairing it to the camera was almost too easy. I only needed to take the button out of the box and press and hold the button for three seconds. As long as the dashcam’s switched on, they pair immediately. The Wi-Fi was what really let the camera down for me initially. I downloaded the VIOFO app and signed in to the Wi-Fi signal the camera creates. The reliability was awful causing my phone to regularly disconnect and then wouldn’t reconnect to the camera. In an ideal world I wanted my iPhone to automatically connect to the dashcam when I enabled Wi-Fi, but there was no way that was happening. It seemed the only way to make the iPhone reconnect was to disconnect and reconnect power. This only resolved connection issues for a matter of minutes before the connection broke again. HOWEVER, while it was connected to my phone I noticed in the app settings the option to enable 5ghz Wi-Fi. I guess for compatibility reasons, the default Wi-Fi settings are set to 2.4ghz, but this is awful. Setting the camera to ‘5ghz only’ made the world of difference. Once reconnected, the connection to my iPhone was strong and didn’t break once. Downloading large video files (300MB each) to my camera roll took seconds too. What was more, the moment I switched on the Wi-Fi on the camera, my iPhone joined the Wi-Fi signal immediately. Now I can access recorded files quickly and easily without needing to remove the memory card. The last note I’d say is with the memory card itself. I’ve noticed with my setup (and about an hour of driving a day) that my 256gb memory card captures 24 hours of combined live video (when the engines running) and time lapse (when the car’s parked). This means I can decide to keep footage from any point in the last 24 hours. Really good for times when you don’t think a moment on your journey was worth keeping until later on. Obviously, more driving per day and a lower storage capacity card will mean less time to decide to keep footage. When selecting your memory card you MUST make sure you select a High Endurance card rated as Class 10 and UHS-I. If you don’t you WILL lose video clips. This is because the amount of data coming from a 4K camera and a 1080p camera at the same time needs the fastest memory cards. Slower memory cards won’t be able to write the data quick enough for the continuous stream of video coming in so you end up with video drop-outs. Overall, my assessment of this dashcam is that it is an incredibly good dashcam with the right accessories and the right settings enabled.

I bought this dash cam to upgrade to a higher resolution camera with an additional rear camera. I have found the most useful feature to be the WiFi phone connection, making watching back videos and changing camera settings easy through the Viofo app. It was easy to install, using a sticky pad instead of a suction mount like my previous camera, to prevent any shake. The box has everything you need to do a professional "stealth" install, including a tool to remove trim to route cables, sticky cable guides, a long cable to run to the rear camera, a shorter cable and cigarette lighter adaptor, and spare sticky pads if you need to move the camera(s) (see picture). Note that an SD card is not included. I connected my phone to the camera using the app to help me initially position it using the live view, for both cameras. With the included GPS module, it can also log your position & speed and plays it back in the app with the video (see picture). You can also download individual videos to your phone. There is also the option for parking mode, where the camera can record before and after the g-sensor is triggered, using the Viofo HK3 hardwire adaptor (not included). Parking my car on the street each night, I will shortly be fitting this as an extra insurance policy! I am impressed with the video quality in both daylight and at night time. The picture is smooth and you can clearly see details like number plates in 4K, 2K or Full HD resolutions. I prefer setting the Wide Dynamic Range to improve exposure further in light & dark scenes, such as driving into the rising sun. Overall, it's a top notch product that is well thought out.

this review is about the camera itself, bought over a month ago now, so had a bit of practice, and seen it's results. while disapointing at first, mainly due to the stupid mechanic who fitted it positioned it as high out of view as possible on the windscreen which then means reading the menu nearly at a 90 degreen angle on a Citroen C4 Airdream Picasso with the extra windscreen space, so reading the menu was extremely hard with the curve on my windscreen. which while you don't want it distracting, you still want to see the menu for first few times of use. there in lies the first problem, living in Wales, then 95% of the time the weather is rain. the mechanic didn't read the manual even though it was all provided with the camera, and as anyone who has used a camera in the rain knows to put it in the wiper area of the windscreen. so that makes the camera useless with the weather. the other problem I had was driving home from the garage on the same day. the rear camera had fallen down due to where the stupid mechanic had fitted it's sticky pad to interior plastic, again another flaw for the garage. then when I stuck it to the rear window, it has stayed stuck since, also positioned it in the center of the wiper sweep, then came another problem during daylight and the sun being in the back window then everything was nearly pitch black, not able to see cars or anything like number plates, so taken a few drives to sort that out as the camera was positioned too high, plus needed to go into the menu to sort out the brightness settings. now working as expected for the rear view. I bought 128 Gig memory cards for the camera, at full resolution then the memory cards will only last about 2 hours recording front and also rear as seperate files for both. I dropped the resolution down to 1080, and the camera will now record for 4.5 hours on both cameras, and the image quality is still good, but not sure if it is my windscreen, or where the mechanics fitted it, or the image quality but number plates are really hard to make out of cars travelling towards you. the rear camera is only good for number plates within about 10 feet, and same with the front camera when the vehicle is directly infront of the camera. still better quality than I am used to, as have been using cheap cameras for years. but my advice is to read the manual, and then get someone who has fitted camera's before, and knows what they are doing to hard wire into the car system, don't use a garage because they could just get a kid who hasn't fitted a camera, or used one to fit it for you, and end up having to basically fit it yourself when either they place it in the wrong place, or they fit it to somewhere that isn't secure, and render an accident footage 100% useless for the insurance company. verdict of the camera itself is it is a lot better than the cheap ones that claim to be 1080. so well worth the investment.

Update: Apr 2020 I am now only using Integral 256gb cards which have been the only reliable ones I've used. As commented before the quality of picture is worth 5 stars, the reliability issue now mostly solved I have increased stars to 4. One star is still kept off because the of overwrite issue, mentioned previously. Picture quality continues to be fantastic. .................................................................. Update Jan 2020. One issue continues to be that when the memory card gets full, it does not overwrite the earliest video instead, it randomly deletes/overwrites some of the newest files!! Another issue is that it stops recording mid-journey.. Being aware that a good memory card is critical I am now keeping a list of which memory cards it malfunctions with, though I feel it is will all of the ones I use . I have found "accidentally "that the camera does detach from the windscreen mount. Watching the videos on a 4k UHD tv shows good quality at its 4k resolution this and its exposure is where the camera excels...its detail continues to amaze me! Still keeping it at 3 stars (for quality of picture alone it would be 5) Update; I've knocked 2 stars off. after 1000miles of recording I have found it decides when it is going to record itself....What is going on? I've reduced it to 3 stars just as it may be a memory card issue ( using top drawer cards though) but if not... Disppointed. I have been using Viofo dashcams for years and this latest model was the one I have most eagerly anticipated. True UHD 4k.... Not had a proper chance to evaluate further but I am not disappointed, it feels right, better constructed and better to operate. If you are familiar with other viofo cameras this will be heavier and slightly larger. You get top quality cables in the package. More to follow. Update Jan 2022. I am still using these viofo 4k because of the excellent picture quality and because I have found nothing else that is anywhere near as reliable. I do also use DJI osmo action but this is more cumbersome . The viofo does not like having recording from 2 cameras...so don't use the additional one. its about how fast it can write. I've also taken the gps unit off and use extra velcro in its place....this cuts the errors by around 75%. I no longer have times when it doesn't record, it is proving reliable in the main now that I've taken the above steps, not having the gps unit attached and not using the additional camera, what it does do is only record 2 secounds as one file with the accompanying beep, sometimes...everytime its used but maybe on once per hour. Viofo are an excellent company I've found with helpful communication and refunds and I do recommend this camera, the picture quality is stunning for the price.

I’ve been using the Viofo A129 for a year now, and its by far the best dash cam I used up to this point. Previous ones were Nextbase – both of those had one serious issue where about 5 – 10 seconds would disappear between files and no Dual Camera. One was a high-end model and the other mid-range. The Viofo A129 Pro Duo is simply amazing, the quality of recorded video is beautiful and the bit-rate just right for 4K. If I were to be picky, it would be the file sizes which are around 2.1GB for 5-minute clip. With a 128GB SD Card I’m expecting roughly 130 – 140 minutes of footage before it begins to overwrite. The camera itself is the same as the previous A129 which is incredible that Viofo managed to put so much technology into the camera and not make it overheat in the summer! This also means I was able to re-use the existing rear dash cam cable and mount and just replaced the camera if they updated the components inside of it in any way. I used the new power cable as it seems to be a bit beefier than the old one. I can clearly see all the license plates of the cars passing by in 4K at 30MPH – no wash-out which is excellent. I will test on the motorway and post an update to this one. I have also checked the Dash Cam at 1440P @ 60fps and this produced very smooth footage, which might not be a bad idea to run at in the night to provide clearer and smoother video. Night time quality is also very good - its a bit harder to read license plates but they're still readable in many situations. I only had a chance to test in classical British weather conditions to it was made even harder to read them and the camera did a very good job. Overall, I'm very satisfied with this dash cam - was worth the wait.

I bought this camera on October 10th, 2021, and have been using it ever since. Today, I was involved in my first car accident where I needed the camera footage, and guess what? The exact moment of the crash is missing from the recordings. I did not turned engine off or disconnect it from power, and hit wasnt so bad to turn it off somehow from imact! it just did not saved it when accident happened. All other footage is there, but the crucial bit during the accident wasn't recorded. I’m not sure if the camera isn’t shockproof or if there’s some other issue, but it's extremely frustrating to pay for a high-quality device only to miss the very proof and evidence I needed it for in the first place. I like high quality tech but this is not what I expected from this product.

Having had a few Nextbase cameras over the years (we've had 6 altogether) and every one developing a fault, primarily with the battery's, thought I'd try the Viofo A129 4K Pro Duo cam after much research and reading through the reviews as it uses a supercapacitor and not batteries. Too early to tell but no "battery" issues yet. Firstly the picture quality is excellent on both cameras, I've got the front set at 4k and the rear at 1080p but using this configuration means it can only be set at 30fps, if you want 60fps it can only be done with both at 1080p which somewhat negates the reason to have a 4k front camera in the first place. Fitting the camera was very easy with the supplied 12v power cable, but if you want to use the cameras parking mode you will need to wire it in with the hardwire kit which is available separately. Fitting the rear camera was easy for me as I've fitted them before, but it can be a pain trying to route the cable through the car. Once you have downloaded the Viofo app you can download video files and also change settings on the camera through the app with the cameras built in WiFi. Be careful with the initial camera settings though, if you enable the time lapse setting it will look like your recordings are going at 4 times normal speed, so make sure not to enable it. Another thing I had was reflections off the windscreen and the rear glass in the video's, so I bought 2 polarising lens filters at £15 each which stopped this, but feel these should be included in the original kit. Overall up to now I'm happy with the camera.

I purchased one of these as I'm sure most people would agree, we're all counting down before someone eventually hits us on the roads. This camera has front and rear, HD recording and came with what I see as a key feature, parking mode. I have no doubt that most people would drive into an unattended car and leave without giving details. This eases my mind as the parking function is pretty flawless in my experience. The HD recording quality makes it easy to read signs, registration plates and make out most details on vehicles or passing objects. The speed and GPS is also a nice touch, displaying your GPS coordinates, and if you download it to the app via the cameras WiFi, it even shows the real-time location on a map of the footage you're viewing! The only issue I had, which is more due to my car, was it interrupted the DAB signal, however from Futher investigation this is due to my cars manufacturer putting the aerial in an odd place. Hard wiring this dashcam on varies from car to car, however it's pretty straight forward and the hard wire kit that VIOFO makes is decent enough, it does the job and is fairly inexpensive. The VIOFO app works well for viewing/downloading footage, meaning no more removing the SD card to get the footage. I had a few issues when deleting a large amount of parking footage where the app would occasionally crash, however it doesn't really bother me enough to complain about it, it's nice to know it's actually recording the motion while I'm parking! Overall, if you're after a decent camera that's slightly more pricey that the competition, however performs beautifully, takes away the hassle of removing SD cards and records in genuine HD resolutions, I'd go for this anyday!