Yet Another Vantrue S1-Pro Unboxing, Review, and Impression - Part 2

[DT MI]

Part 1 (Pictures, etc.) here - https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...-unboxing-review-and-impression-part-1.49650/

IV - Initial power up and setup

On initial startup (and also after a F/W update) camera goes goes into setup mode where the following must be selected. Afterwards everything else can be changed either from the camera or mobile app.

- Language
- Time Zone
- Date Format
- Set Date/Time
- Freg: 50/60Hz
- Speed Unit MPH/KPH
- WiFi Mode: 2.4/5Ghz
- Format SD Card

(I'm using a PNY 512GB Premier-X Class 10 U3 V30 at the moment and the camera seems to be OK with it. Use caution when inserting/removing the card as it has a very lively spring that can launch the card a long way. )

I 'bench tested' the camera for quite a few hours, both to test the PNY card compatibility and to familiarize myself with the camera and app. Here are some highlights:

- Power Draw - fluctuates rapidly and quite a bit while running
Peak observed - 1.5A @ 5.1V (Front and Rear camera, WiFi and screen on)
Average(?) - ~.8A to 1.0A @ 5.1V (Front and Rear camera, WiFi and screen off)
Low observed - .31A @ 5.1V (Front camera only, screen and WiFi off, no card inserted)

- Loop options: 1 min, 3 min, 5 min, Off

- EC: +/- 2.0 front and rear individually

- HDR: Front/rear on/off individually

- WiFi: 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz (I did not see an option on the camera to change the WiFi password, had to be done through the app.)

- Voice Control - the following functions can be controlled by voice command
Take photo
Video start/stop
Turn on/off Audio
Turn on/off Screen
Turn on/off WiFi
Lock Video
Show Front Camera
Show Rear Camera
Show Both Cameras
(Note: You have to say it as it is. "Turn On Audio" works, "Turn Audio On" does not.)

- Camera runs kind of hot. Camera and card were very warm to touch. This was while testing at maximum resolution for both front and rear cameras. I ran a test for a couple of hours with both cameras set to 1080p and it was not as hot so the heating is definitely related to the total bit rate being recorded.

- File naming/formats.
Video file naming seems to be YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS_NNNN_#_%.MP4 where -
YYYYMMDD = Date
HHMMSS = Time
NNNN = Sequence Number
# = N for normal files, and E for event files, P for parking mode files
(Parking mode files are in the 'Normal' folder, unlike Event files which are separate)
% = A/B for Front/Rear camera

- GPS data is stored in a hidden folder. I have no idea why it's hidden but I went in and removed the hidden attribute and it stayed 'unhidden' - reformatting the memory card causes the folder to be recreated as hidden again. It appears there is a new .DAT file created every day, however if the camera is on when crossing midnight the current file is continued. The file looks to have 1 record written every second. Records look like this:

20230903195533,42.xxxxxx,N,83.xxxxxx,W,12.912,194.800
20230903195534,42.xxxxxx,N,83.xxxxxx,W,15.115,194.200
20230903195535,42.xxxxxx,N,83.xxxxxx,W,15.732,193.400
20230903195536,42.xxxxxx,N,83.xxxxxx,W,15.158,192.900
20230903195537,42.xxxxxx,N,83.xxxxxx,W,15.830,192.400

The first 5 items are obviously date, time, and GPS coordinates. I have no idea what the remaining 2 are.

The files are not particularly large but they do cut into the 70% of space available for non-event files. Hopefully the logic in the firmware is smart enough to cull them as files are overwritten or deleted.

- There are many video resolution options ranging from 2592x1944p to 1280x720p. Rear camera is limited to 1080p max.

- Per the manual/app there are multiple parking modes: Collision Detection, Motion Detection, Low Bitrate and Low Frame Rate. I haven't really looked into them beyond this as parking mode's not high on my current priority use case. Edit: See post #4

- I did notice in my limited testing so far that GPS lock is very quick - noticeably faster than my other cameras.

V - Software

- Android
Installed the app on a Samsung Tablet and Motorola Phone with no issues.

- Windows
There are a few player apps on the Vantrue support website, however no explanation as to the differences or which one to use with the S1-Pro. I've been playing with all of them through 'Trial and error' but haven't gotten to a comfortable place yet. There was a significant issue with them just 'hanging up' when started but 'Unhiding' the hidden GPS folder helped (thanks to @GeekOnTheHill for this suggestion) - but there are still some glitches. I've reached out to Jeff but nothing concrete yet.

DashCamViewer works with the S1-Pro files but no map tracking. Not a criticism of DCV as the S1-Pro is not listed as a supported camera, nor is the S1.

The MP4 files are recognized by all video programs I have so it doesn't seem there's anything 'special' about them.

- F/W
Camera was received with F/W version VT-EGC191 for the front and VT-EGC201 rear.

While doing the initial setup I got a notification through the app there was an update available. Decided to try it Over-the-Air and updated the front camera to version VT-ECH281. OTA update took less than 5 minutes to D/L and install. As with virtually all other dashcams the configuration was reset and setup had to be done over.

Note - The S1-Pro is not mentioned anywhere on the Vantrue web site so downloading and updating the firmware manually is not an option at the moment.

VI - Installation

Running cables is no different than any other camera - a PITA.

The vehicle I'm installing in right now has a fairly large sensor housing behind the RVM. The combination of a wide angle lens and the lens being a bit back from the glass causes the housing to get into the frame when camera is mounted high on the glass so I'm going to have to install it lower than I would like.

The rear camera cable is a bit thicker than others I have which makes tucking it away a bit more challenging.

Because of the way the camera attaches to the base, and the cables and SD card being on the right at least 2-3" minimum clearance is needed to the side.

VII - Video samples (front/rear, day/night)
<Coming soon>

VIII - Conclusion.

It's definitely a new camera, no doubt about that. That's pretty apparent from the minimal documentation, as well as some of the vagueness and errors in what documentation there is - plus there's no mention of the S1-Pro anywhere on the Vantrue site as I'm typing this.

That said, I'm fairly impressed with what I have in front of me. Video quality so far is good, and the camera is physically solid. I've had only 1 issue with it in the limited testing I've done. It will occasionally (twice so far) take a picture on it's own with no input from me. That might be a matter of some random sound being interpreted as a voice command, or possibly something in the setup I did causing an event to be triggered. I just haven't had time enough to chase it down.

 

[kamkar]

The N5 will also at random snap a picture, i have no idea what do it CUZ it is very random, but so far happened to me 3 - 4 times since i got the N5

 

[DT MI]

In another review member @RayJ said;

So only thing I've run into so far, the screen off setting doesn't seem to be working. I've tried all settings, but screen stays on unless I manually turn it off. I have updated the app and firmware to the latest settings. Not a huge deal as the voice action to turn it on/off works really well.

I've been playing with this a bit and it appears it works when first set, but when the camera is power cycled the setting isn't recognized and the camera functions as though it's set to off - although if you check the option it will be what it was set to (30 sec, 1 min, 5 min). My sense is the firmware will honor the option when first set but when the camera is powered on doesn't check it and functions as though it's "Off".

Need to play with it a bit more...

 

[DT MI]

Had some time to kill so I played with parking mode for a bit.

First, I only tested 'motion detection' parking mode, in the house, using a wall charger.

When powered on and parking mode is turned on, after 5 minutes of 'inactivity' ("If no movement is detected" per the manual) the camera switched to PM. When motion was detected (the area is selectable, I went with full screen) 30 seconds of video is recorded along with 15 seconds of video that preceded the motion. I'm not sure this is any advantage when using a full frame detection area but could be if using a smaller area. (If collision detection PM worked the same way it would be a definite plus, unfortunately it doesn't.)

In those instances when there is continuous motion the camera records 45 second video segments for as long as motion is detected. (Set the camera up in front of the TV while the UofM football game was on to test this.)

 

[DT MI]

In another Vantrue thread (E1 I think) there was discussion about the rear camera focus, and a number of people mentioned their rear cameras were 'soft'. Just checked mine and it's definitely not focused correctly. In this screen capture the rear wiper blade, heating elements in the glass, and nearby objects are sharp, but anything more than a few feet from the camera gets progressively softer.

This clip at the start of a trip.




This after about 20 minutes of driving.

 

[DT MI]

Another rear camera focus example from today before and after a 1.5 hour trip with about a 15 minute stop midway.

Edit: You can clearly see the focus shift by the difference in the heating elements in the glass. In the before pic they are very soft, while in the after they're sharp. The rear camera definitely shifts focus.

Before:



After: