Viofo A129 Pro Dual Dashcam - 4K Front + 1080 Rear

My car's parking on the side of the road. My upcoming dash cam will be taken out of my car regularly, because I already had a car break-in once, where a navigation device mounted on my windshield was stolen.

How easy and reliable can the A129 pro be mounted or removed with the new mounting system?

The old system holder of the A119 or A129 duo makes a good impression on me. This is all just an impression from a distance, because I haven't held the parts in my hand yet.
 
Nigel said:
... A wifi (Android) monitor would make more sense these days if you do actually want to watch live video.
Click to expand...

Is such a solution supported by VIOFO that I can send an AV signal to a smartphone via WiFi? An example of application would be to stream the image of the rear camera from a caravan or a camper van to the smartphone.
 
RC23 said:
How easy and reliable can the A129 pro be mounted or removed with the new mounting system?
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The mount is the same as the A129 Duo except for the electronics.
It appears to be very easy and reliable, I've not heard of anyone having reliability issues with the A129 Duo mount, only issue is that the rear camera plugs into the front camera, not the mount, so if using a rear camera then there is a cable to unplug, if not using a rear camera then you can get hold and slide it off the mount in 1 second, putting it back needs careful positioning so 2 or 3 seconds.

RC23 said:
Is such a solution supported by VIOFO that I can send an AV signal to a smartphone via WiFi? An example of application would be to stream the image of the rear camera from a caravan or a camper van to the smartphone.
Click to expand...
Yes, there is an http stream available that can be streamed to most web browsers and video players.

Only issue is that the wifi must be on, and that increases the power consumption and heat, and possibly new firmwares will automatically turn the wifi off if nothing is connected. So if you need to connect up to reverse your caravan then it is feasible, if you want a permanent rear camera display or one that pops up everytime you select reverse, then maybe not so sensible.

You can get reversing cameras that are designed for the job and are quite cheap.

Another option is to install one of Viofo's MT1 (motorcycle camera) in the rear, it is not 4K but streams nicely over wifi and doesn't have temperature issues since it is dual remote, with a DVR box that doesn't need to sit in the sun.
 
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@Nigel Thank you for the comprehensive answer.

Identical to the VIOFO MT1 is probably the WonVon MT1 Motorcycle Dash Cam with a 2.7" display.

To watch the rear traffic, 2.7" are relatively small. I prefer a 5" display like BOSCAM K7 or AUTO-VOX W7, which get their signals via WiFi and cable.

As you already said, WiFi puts additional heat load on the dash cam. It will probably be better to switch off WiFi on the dash cam and mount a classic rear view camera on the dashboard.
 
RC23 said:
Identical to the VIOFO MT1 is probably the WonVon MT1 Motorcycle Dash Cam with a 2.7" display.
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Far from identical, but you don't need top image quality or resolution for reversing so there are probably a lot of these devices that could be used. Dynamic range is important, you don't want to miss things because they are hidden by overexposure.

A camera designed for reversing should give the best result, not a dashcam which is designed to record detail, and given the low price of many perfectly adequate reversing cameras that is almost certainly the way to go.
 
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This camera looks like the best band for the buck. What are you guys doing for parking mode energy usage? I have a new 2019 4Runner and want to get a front/rear camera, and this may fit the bill nicely. I live in West Texas, and need a camera that will take the heat as hot as 110-115 on the most hottest days of the year. I owned ROAV cameras from Anker and multiple replacements batteries blowing up. I had a old Blackvue that I had for years and it died before that. Hoping this one will last in my new vehicle. My VAVA in my other car is still going too.

I wouldn't mind comparing it to my other ones for a donated one to me. 🙂

Either way, going to get it. Let me know your thoughts.
 
nizmoz said:
This camera looks like the best band for the buck. What are you guys doing for parking mode energy usage? I have a new 2019 4Runner and want to get a front/rear camera, and this may fit the bill nicely. I live in West Texas, and need a camera that will take the heat as hot as 110-115 on the most hottest days of the year. I owned ROAV cameras from Anker and multiple replacements batteries blowing up. I had a old Blackvue that I had for years and it died before that. Hoping this one will last in my new vehicle. My VAVA in my other car is still going too.

I wouldn't mind comparing it to my other ones for a donated one to me. 🙂

Either way, going to get it. Let me know your thoughts.
Click to expand...
The camera is still new so there aren't many people testing it in very hot places, but those that are haven't been reporting problems, at least not in public.

It does get hotter than 1080 resolution cameras, so if you leave it in a parked car in summer sunshine with the windows closed then you should expect it to sometimes shut down during the hottest part of the hottest days. If you are happy to accept that then I don't expect any problems, it isn't powered by a battery, and the clock backup battery is sensibly positioned in a cool area.
 
Is this worth the ~$100 price difference over the 1080p A129 Duo? I'm having a hard time justifying the cost.
 
how do I get on board to test this?
In Australia, we have summer coming around in 2 months and we have crazy summers of over 38C-40C + constant days.
Happy to test for heat 🙂
 
alexander3133 said:
What is the maximum current does A129 Pro Duo consumed?
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It can use a little over 1 amp when charging its capacitor, in normal use it occasionally uses .8 briefly.
Buffered parking mode, as a single camera will run for about 24 hours on a 74Wh (20000mAh @ 3.7v) powerbank, the other modes use a bit more.
 
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WhoWhatWhyUserName said:
how do I get on board to test this?
In Australia, we have summer coming around in 2 months and we have crazy summers of over 38C-40C + constant days.
Happy to test for heat 🙂
Click to expand...
You can buy one off the Viofo website and join in, as I expect quite a few other southern hemisphere people will...
 
Nigel said:
It can use a little over 1 amp when charging its capacitor, in normal use it occasionally uses .8 briefly.
Buffered parking mode, as a single camera will run for about 20 hours on a 74Wh (20000mAh @ 3.7v) powerbank, the other modes use a bit more.
Click to expand...

Ok thanks.
I am wondering why the car charger adapter with 3.1A rating was provided with my purchase of A129 Pro.
I do know that as long as the current rating of the car charger adapter is higher than the current consumption of the dashcam, it is alright.

What I want to know if the dashcam really draw current as high as 2A to 3A.
If anything goes wrong with the car charger adapter, I can replace with another one with lower current rating with the stock car adapter and still able to provide enough current to the dashcam.
 
alexander3133 said:
Ok thanks.
I am wondering why the car charger adapter with 3.1A rating was provided with my purchase of A129 Pro.
I do know that as long as the current rating of the car charger adapter is higher than the current consumption of the dashcam, it is alright.

What I want to know if the dashcam really draw current as high as 2A to 3A.
If anything goes wrong with the car charger adapter, I can replace with another one with lower current rating with the stock car adapter and still able to provide enough current to the dashcam.
Click to expand...
That is so that you can charge your phone at 2.1A from the USB socket on the charger, total output to USB socket + camera is 3.1A maximum.
 
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Nigel said:
That is so that you can charge your phone at 2.1A from the USB socket on the charger, total output to USB socket + camera is 3.1A maximum.
Click to expand...

This makes more sense now, thanks.
I was thinking that each of the USB port capable to supply up to 3.1A.
I did a search and none of the car charger adapter offer 3A rating on single USB-A port, only PD capable with USB-C port can provide current rating more than 3A.

So looks like I am able to power up this A129 Pro Duo dashcam with my existing car charger adapter with 2.4A current rating.
 
alexander3133 said:
So looks like I am able to power up this A129 Pro Duo dashcam with my existing car charger adapter with 2.4A current rating.
Click to expand...
As long as it has a good cable, or you can use the Viofo cable with it, thin cables can have too much voltage drop.
 
I finished my install, took about five hours. Most of the time I spent removing old adhesive, fishing wires throughout the headliner, and dashboard. I have it wired to a Power Magic Pro for parking mode, seems to take about five seconds to enter parking mode. The picture front and rear is top notch, no complaints. I have 30% tint on my rear window and I can't even tell on camera in my garage or out in the daylight.

My only concern is how hot this unit runs, I can't even touch it while it's running to take out the card with the camera in place. I have to remove the camera from the mount and let it cool off before taking out the SD card. I doubt this camera is going to record in parking mode without shutting off while sitting in a parking lot on your average Florida day(81-87ish or 27-30c for the month of October).

Edit: I am running a SanDisk High Endurance SDXC Card which I directly bought from SanDisk. Model #SDSQQNR-256G-AN6IA
 
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Trueweltall said:
My only concern is how hot this unit runs, I can't even touch it while it's running
Click to expand...
It's supposed to feel hot, that is how it gets rid of the excess heat.
If it was well insulated so that it feels cold on the outside then it would get very hot inside!
Let us know how it gets on in parking mode though, not heard many reports from hot places yet.
 
I understand that it's supposed to radiate heat, I just didn't think it was going to be so hot to touch. It's 85f(29.4c) in my garage and the unit is running at 134.4f(56.8c) in parking mode.

Edit: It's now up to 149.9f(65.5c).

154.9f(68.2c), camera is still running but who knows for how long.

160f(71.1c), still running in parking mode. Garage is 86f(30c).

Garage is 87.8f(31c), camera is running at 171.3f(77.c)
 
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