We own three Viofo A139 3-cam setups and have had problems to varying degrees with all of them. All 3 setups are hardwired. The first was purchased 11/2021 and is installed in my truck. It has been the least problematic of the bunch with less than 5 failures to record (device never starts recording) and less than 5 freezes (unit won't respond to button presses at all). The second was purchased 7/2022 and is installed in my elderly mother's vehicle. Hers has had about a dozen failures to record (I know this because she texts or calls me every time.) and at least a few freezes. I don't have an accurate count on the freezes because she only knows about it when she hits the remote or tries to connect the wifi to view videos on her phones. She never changes settings, etc. The third setup was purchased 10/2022 and is installed in my wife's car. This one has been an absolute nightmare and has me 99.9% convinced to abandon the brand.
For the first few months setup #3 ran fine. Then it started having the same failures to start and freezes as the other units. As time went on, the failures to start and freezes became more and more frequent. Then last month it took 5-6 attempts at powering the unit off and back on just to get it responding to button presses again. Then the Bluetooth stopped working. When I tried to go into the settings, I learned the wifi had stopped working as well. After 2 days of troubleshooting, Viofo gave me an RMA and said I could sent the unit in for replacement, but shortly thereafter seemed to retract that offer as they steered me back towards more troubleshooting. At their request, I updated the firmware with one they sent and things went swiftly downhill from there. First, the camera thought there was no memory card. After several minutes it finally booted up. Initially, it detected only 2 cameras, then a full minute later it recognized the third. After the car was restarted, again it took a couple minutes for the camera to start. While driving it would randomly shut itself down and restart. The wifi and BT were working, however. We drove it that way for a few days. Then 3 trips in a row the camera failed to start recording and would not respond to button presses. At this point I asked if we could go the RMA route as was offered about 1.5 weeks prior. They said ok.
I carefully packed the camera up and shipped it out to Florida, USA as directed. A day or two later they sent me the tracking number for the replacement. The tracking number was the first time I learned the replacement would be coming from China. I was told that's where they nearly always come from. That means we would be without a camera in that car for 2 weeks. I wasn't happy about it, but it was done at that point.
The replacement came yesterday. I hooked it up and immediately had major issues. The wifi doesn't work at all nor does the BT. The startup delay is a good 30 seconds. It froze 3 times out of 4 times starting the car. While driving the Wifi randomly announces "Wifi disabled" and then later "Wifi enabled." Regardless of whether it claims it is on/off though, it doesn't work. I asked Viofo if I could try an older firmware and they sent me one to try. That made things worse. The camera announces "Wifi enabled" but the wifi light doesn't come on. The unit beeps when I hold the wifi button, but still no light. Wifi/BT still not working at all. Additionally, the camera froze on me twice within 5 minutes. Somehow the replacement unit is even worse than the original unit I sent in. This has now been dragging out for 30 days and I am beyond frustrated. Moreover, we haven't had a working dashcam in this vehicle for that entire time so if something happens (accident, etc), we're screwed. I feel like my $300 is up in smoke for nothing and I don't feel like this is ever going to be properly resolved.
For the first few months setup #3 ran fine. Then it started having the same failures to start and freezes as the other units. As time went on, the failures to start and freezes became more and more frequent. Then last month it took 5-6 attempts at powering the unit off and back on just to get it responding to button presses again. Then the Bluetooth stopped working. When I tried to go into the settings, I learned the wifi had stopped working as well. After 2 days of troubleshooting, Viofo gave me an RMA and said I could sent the unit in for replacement, but shortly thereafter seemed to retract that offer as they steered me back towards more troubleshooting. At their request, I updated the firmware with one they sent and things went swiftly downhill from there. First, the camera thought there was no memory card. After several minutes it finally booted up. Initially, it detected only 2 cameras, then a full minute later it recognized the third. After the car was restarted, again it took a couple minutes for the camera to start. While driving it would randomly shut itself down and restart. The wifi and BT were working, however. We drove it that way for a few days. Then 3 trips in a row the camera failed to start recording and would not respond to button presses. At this point I asked if we could go the RMA route as was offered about 1.5 weeks prior. They said ok.
I carefully packed the camera up and shipped it out to Florida, USA as directed. A day or two later they sent me the tracking number for the replacement. The tracking number was the first time I learned the replacement would be coming from China. I was told that's where they nearly always come from. That means we would be without a camera in that car for 2 weeks. I wasn't happy about it, but it was done at that point.
The replacement came yesterday. I hooked it up and immediately had major issues. The wifi doesn't work at all nor does the BT. The startup delay is a good 30 seconds. It froze 3 times out of 4 times starting the car. While driving the Wifi randomly announces "Wifi disabled" and then later "Wifi enabled." Regardless of whether it claims it is on/off though, it doesn't work. I asked Viofo if I could try an older firmware and they sent me one to try. That made things worse. The camera announces "Wifi enabled" but the wifi light doesn't come on. The unit beeps when I hold the wifi button, but still no light. Wifi/BT still not working at all. Additionally, the camera froze on me twice within 5 minutes. Somehow the replacement unit is even worse than the original unit I sent in. This has now been dragging out for 30 days and I am beyond frustrated. Moreover, we haven't had a working dashcam in this vehicle for that entire time so if something happens (accident, etc), we're screwed. I feel like my $300 is up in smoke for nothing and I don't feel like this is ever going to be properly resolved.
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