Thinkware Dash Cam F800 review: Super night vision and app control - crossevencline

At a Glance

Expert's Paygrad

Pros

• Dual channels allow for the addition of a rear camera
• Excellent Nox video, even with the headlights unsatisfactory
• Mature feature go down including many types of warnings

Cons

• Expensive
• Victimization hot spot rather of client Badger State-Fi can boil down your phone's bombardment life

Our Finding of fact

This dash cam's superior night vision is in a class of its ain. Feature full, its just real drawback is price–$300 alone, and concluded $400 with a keister photographic camera. Some users may rue the lack of a display, merely overall, the F800 is a contender for best dash River Cam in the universe.

Thinkware's $300 Dash Cam River F800 is the ship's company's a la mode highschool-closing, dual-channel shoot River Cam offering, and offers easily the prizewinning night picture we've seen among all our dash Cam River reviews to escort. If the author of a recent email to us connected the grandness of aft-dark captures is reading—this is your camera.

Like the F770 we antecedently reviewed, the F800 relies happening a Wi-Fi association with your cell earpiece for visuals and settings. If you're accustomed to having a display, this backside take several getting wont to, but it's certainly a less distracting arrangement while driving. Vocalise feedback and alert sounds fill the gap.

Design and features

The F800 is about the size of a deck of card game, if a bit thicker. Its silver-and-grey-haired colour scheme gives it a slightly Thomas More red-brick appearance than the F770. The right side of the camera is home to the video input (really a small-USB port for a $110 nonobligatory rear camera) and Actinium jack. The overstep has the time slot for the Micro SD wag (Thinkware provides a 16GB card and Mount Rushmore State adapter) likewise equally the reset button, while the camera is along the left side. The F800's camera mounts very adpressed to the windshield to reduce distortion, and swivels in the vertical with a tramp of roughly 90 degrees.

Thinkware

The lack of a showing is a bit formidable at the start, only control via a perambulating phone app will appeal to cellphone ring-centrics, if not all traditional users.

The side of the unit of measurement that faces the car's interior has the exponent, microphone wordless (for eliminating colorful verbal exchanges), Wi-Fi connect, and arrange South Dakota card buttons. Altogether unusual operations are performed victimisation an app happening your phone (iOS OR Android). On that point are also indicator lights for GPS, Record, and Badger State-fi indeed you privy easily see the status of those functions.

You might wish to use a degree to ordinate cameras that mount via viscid and lack the ability to rotate synchronous to the planer of windshield. We didn't with the F800 the first of all time. We had to redo it. Just FYI: Adhesive that is overly sticky when warm is a common mount emergence, non one peculiar to Thinkware. On a mere 85-degree summer day, it was impossible to remove the protective film from the adhesive on the mountain. A couple of minutes with the mount in a friend's icebox solved that.

On that tag on: Thinkware rates the F800 to operate at temperatures up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. That agency denizens of the southern regions can leave behind it in the car with peace, at least for the annual warranty historical period.

Linking the camera with the phone app is a tad circuitous. First you press the camera's Wi-Fi button and connect the phone to the subsequent Thinkware network. Straightforward enough. On the other hand you disconnect from the Thinkware electronic network, turn connected your telephone set's hot stain, and let the tv camera reconnect on its personal. The why butt that hadn't been explained by Thinkware at the time of this writing. Caveat: Remember to play polish off the hot spot when you're processed, or your telephone's bombardment wish run out rather apace.

Bad-driver technical school

The F800 provides a number of "High-tech Device driver Help System" or ADAS features such as lane departure and collision warnings, As well as a tardy departure warning. That is, if you're asleep at the wheel as the dealings in front of you starts moving, you receive a gentle admonisher to quit holding everyone up. We call them BDF, operating room Sad-Driver Features, as the true statement is you shouldn't be lost from your lane, tail-gating, or zoning dead on your mobile phone phone at the palish. Debate that the video you take is a two-edged blade that could reveal your own bad behavior arsenic well.

But then, the warnings about red lights and warning light cameras, speed zones and mobile enforcement zones could help you channel your inner Baby Driver. Every last that info can make you feel unbelievably well-informed, and who knows—maybe the feedback will better your driving. We commonly turn it soured.

Public presentation

Thinkware makes a large-mouthed deal about the Sony Exmor R STARVIS (probably for Star Vision) sensor exclusive the F800's 140-degree television camera, especially touting the images it produces at night. It's only 1080p, but we've establish that wide color gamut and high dynamic range (Thinkware calls it "Wide") and processing take in as much to do with a nice image as pure resolution. Almost dash cam optics can't do more than with resolutions beyond 1080, and you scent upwards just wasting storage space, or using a compression level that undoes anything extra resolution can provide.

IDG

The F800's daytime video is upstanding, comparable to it from other smash cams.

We captured daytime, nighttime, and something Thinkware calls Super Nighttime Vision videos. The daytime video was quite good, though non quite awake the wide color gamut video of the Viofo A119. However, as claimed, the Night video was good—punter than any we've seen. Super Night Visual sense compensates for the want of headlights and atomic number 3 of the latest adaptation in the F800, kicks in automatically in low light conditions rather than only when the car is parked, as previously. It helps quite a bit. The F800's night video recording is so sainted, it revealed details that we missed with our own eyes patc actually session in the car.

IDG

The F800 will read Thomas More lens flare than this, but it recedes precise apace. The overall image readjusts to the ambient light level rapidly also.

The 2 frames-per-endorse, storage-conserving parking mode video is equally fine, though that's available only if you hardwire the camera to a constant 12-volt source.

IDG

The F800's night vision is superb, revealing things difficult to see with the au naturel eye.

Conclusion

Thinkware cameras are expensive. They are also quite an arguably the best, and the F800 is arguably the best of the best. For night role, ditch the modifier—it's absolutely the best we've seen former than the F770. American Samoa to the lack of a display…again, not having one is less distracting, and after a spell, you don't neglect it. Much.

Short letter: This article was edited for accuracy and the latest vendor information on Super Night Vision along 8/29/2017. Formerly, the article stated that SNV was only available when parked. Information technology's now self-winding no matter what the put forward of the vehicle.

Note: 6/21/2018. In answer to a reader interrogation, yes the F800 has GPS, but information technology's not watermarked on the TV. You need an app available from Thinkware's site that will establish you your location on a map.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/407219/thinkware-dash-cam-f800-review.html

Posted by: crossevencline.blogspot.com

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