AUKEY DR02D 1080p Dual Dashcam w/ Sony Sensor Expired

Solid cameras with 2-year warranty, but very old tech. I'd wait for Sony Exmor STARVIS night vision iterations (if Aukey ever upgrades these to a better CMOS), or just get VIOFO.

But, this is a great price on the dual.

I find it interesting that the old CMOS in the OP units can read plates better than the STARVIS at night.

The difference is literally night and day:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf3s1jQjSQ4

Ah I'm glad this (the dual/ DR02D) finally went on sale! Not the cheapest I've seen it, I don't think, but cheap enough that I'll pick it up.

Own two of these already, really just buying another in case one of the ones I have now dies - and yes they do have various issues that cause them to die. Why keep buying them? Because I've only bought two and they've always lasted more than two years because every time I've had an issue, the customer service was absolutely gold. Reminds me of Amazon before they got shitty.

I've been on the lookout for an alternative, especially a newer or equal quality product for cheaper.. But it just hasn't happened. Even looking at more expensive cameras, I have been constantly disappointed.

One of the biggest issues I have with any dash cam is the warranty. Dash cams seem to just die a lot, every brand, in the heat. I'm okay buying a new camera every two years, although I think they should just build them better, it's annoying. But almost no cameras have two year warranties, they have one year and garbage customer service to go with that one year.
I'm also looking for equal or better tech, and so often I find that other cameras just seem to be made for someone who isn't me.. But I suspect most people think the normal dash cam designs are not for them, they have gimmicky features and poor design.

Here are the things I like about this camera:

- it's inconspicuous. The front camera mounts in the most out-of-the-way, smallest windshield footprint possible. The rear is the same. Just simple.
- wiring is robust. It sucks that it's proprietary, but they've sent me a new one when one got pulled and broke. Apart from that I have one that has been going for more than three years on the same cords. I do unplug it often too, so the plug is good. I am careful though because I figured a mini USB style plug would go bad like they all seemed to..
- it does the dash cam job. I've had an incident where I needed the license plate of someone who ran off, and while not all license plates are clear in this, that time it was. At night it's very iffy.. Takes just the right amount of light, too little and it can't see the plate, too much and the plate is just a blur of white. But this is the same for all cameras I've seen. I've used the dash cam as evidence for two accidents. One the guy stopped and gave fake insurance info and then tried to deny what happened later. Can't argue with a video, dumbass!
- it has a thermal fuse. The first time I bought this I think they didn't have a thermal fuse because during the summer the dash cam would stay on in the heat (mostly in a parking lot motion sensing in case someone hit me while parked) but it slowly started to malfunction then stopped working. The replacement I got never had that issue because when it gets too hot it just freezes. Won't work again until it's cooled off and unplugged then plugged back in. Sucks that it can't keep operating in the heat, but I can understand in the summer heat of over 100 outside and probably 200 when the camera is generating its own heat.. I appreciate that it continues to work after the reset.
- it doesn't have a battery. As everyone knows now, battery based cameras suck as the battery dies and takes the whole camera with it since it can't shutdown properly. Never had an issue with this camera losing video when turned off, except when the thermal fuse trips, and when I took the memory card out while the unit was still shutting down.
- most importantly, the warranty is two years and it really is a guarantee you have a working camera.

The things I'd change or look for in a competitor:
- ability to handle the heat
- better user interface, I find it clunky to navigate this one.. Although I've seen much much worse in other cameras..
- better motion detection, especially capturing the moments before the motion
- a way to change between different preset configurations quickly. Sometimes I want to set it to run constantly, sometimes motion detect. It's annoying to navigate through the menu to change it each time.
- a better memory card slot. It's hard to access this one, I had it spring launch one if my microSD cards once while trying to take it out, and it went to space, never found it. I also had one where the spring just stopped working, had to pull the card out with tweezers, and they had to replace it. And every so often if you push a card in at slightly the wrong angle it will just wedge itself next to the card tray because there's just overly large gaps around it.. Again have to break out the tweezers to recover it.
- option to select only back camera. It let's you select front only or front and back.

Anyway, yeah I recommend this dual dash cam setup. And I'm obviously very picky.

If you don't want recording with the ignition off here's what I use:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078T5T21G

I ran the cable along the top of the windshield (tucked into the headliner), down the pillar, and then connected it to a fuse under the dash. In my Corolla the inside fuse box is above my left foot. I chose a fuse that controls the cigarette lighter power outlet since in my car those only work with ignition on.

If you're interested in something like this there are YouTube videos you can watch showing the general process. To find the right fuse you can just Google your car model and you should find a diagram.