I am considering getting a dashcam for my 2019 ES. I want one that has good functionality, aesthetically unobtrusive, and can be self-wired/installed (if possible). Please take into account the location of the center speaker and not inhibiting that. All suggestions appreciated.

 

A member, RKF350, on the 6th. gen forum just posted a review of this one that he has installed. Looks pretty good. Blackvue DR650S-2CH dash cam

 

I'm having a BlackVue DR750S-2ch installed Friday. Looks to be be able to self install, but I want someone (whose done a few) to do it so the install doesn't look like I did it. Will update afterwards.

 

Just looked up that one. That is quite a nice unit. Looks more than I want to spend. But that brand has several along the price spectrum, so I'm checking them out.

 

I agree, a bit pricey, but to get 2 channels (front and rear), and a real parking mode that can be switched off when parked in my garage, cloud recording and storage of the video files, your going to be spending similar amounts, regardless of whose unit you purchase. There are a lot of good reviews of the various brandsout on you tube, and Black Box my car.com and the dash cam store both have good solid information. I signed up "accounts" for both companies, and have been getting e-mail offers pretty regularly since early February when I totaled my wife's car when a young (teenager) turned left in front of me (at about 35mph) and despite my best efforts to avoid the collision, we ended up totaling both vehicles. LEO's determined 100% fault of the other driver, since I took evasive action, and she didn't. Finally went and put what I wanted in a cart, and then left the site(s). Both sites came back with repeatedly better offers over about a week, until I finally pulled the trigger on the unit from the Dash Cam Store.

 

A few of us posted pics in this thread:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...ggestions.html

 

For flagship dashcams, go:

1) Blackvue DR900S twin channel with front 4K resolution and rear FHD @ 30 fps, or front only 4k @ 60 fps.
Korean.
In life, the Pittasoft Blacvues are much larger in size than in photo.
Very slow start up time of nearly 30 seconds.
The sharpest front camera with the highest resolution @ 4k, but the tiniest pixels compromizes the low light performance.
Rear cam good, but compromized by slow bit rate.
Compresses data more for smaller file sizes, but needs a new phone or new PC with greater processing power to playback.
Has cloud upload.
~$480.
20% 1 Star reviews on amazon.com.
Only 58% 4-5 stars.
Only 3.7/5 stars; latest unrefined technology troublesome.





2) Blackvue DR750S twin channel, with either dual channel FHD @ 30 fps, or single channel FHD @ 60 fps.
Does not use input buttons, nor output LCD screen, but uses bluetooth remote to cellphone.
Has parking mode.
~$380
20% 1 Star reviews on amazon.com.
3.7/5 stars too; latest unrefined tech troublesome.





3) Thinkware F800 Pro twin channel, with either dual channel FHD @ 30 fps, or single channel FHD @ 60 fps.
Korean.
Does not use input buttons, nor output LCD screen, but uses bluetooth remote to cellphone.
Rear cam good, but compromized by slow bit rate.
Has the best parking mode choices.
Can upload to cloud, but poorly refined.
~$380
19% 1 Star reviews on amazon.com for the single channel model.
3.6-4.1/5 stars; wireless etc always troublesome.





4) StreetGuardian SG9663DC twin channel with either dual channel FHD @ 30 fps, or single channel FHD @ 60 fps.
Australian-Chinese.
In life, the StreetGuardians are much more compact than they look.
Has traditional input buttons and output LCD.
Has wireless cellphone remote too.
The best quality rear camera day and night.
Has simple parking mode too.
Great support.
2 years warranty.
~$290.
Best value flagship dashcam.
5% 1 star reviews.
89% 4-5 stars.
4.4/5 stars average.





5) There is a forthcoming StreetGuardian SG9663DR dual remote lens dashcam dual channel FHD @ 30 fps, or single channel @ 60 fps.
It will be more expensive than the SG9663DC above.
The DR has twin remote lens/sensors attached to the front and rear windscreens respectively, with the cable going to the black box located either in the glovebox, under the front seats, or the trunk.
The black box contains the power supply, microprocessor, and SD card.
The purpose of this design is to locate the black box away from the windscreens that are a source of solar thermal damage.
Furthermore, the lens/sensor is much smaller, more covert, and minimizes vision obstruction.
This model will perform exactly the same as the conventional SG9663DC, but won't be released till the 2nd half of 2019.

The Koonlung K1S photographed below is an example of a budget dual remote lens dash cam where only the lens/sensor is attached to the windscreens, and the processor unit stashed in the glovebox, under the front seats, or in the trunk etc - to protect from sunlight heat damage - but it has very mediocre video quality.
Below, one plug feeds the power, while the other two plugs feed input from the two lens-sensor units of the front and rear windscreens respectively.
There is actually a fourth plug that feeds GPS data; an external GPS sensor has less electronic interference than an internally mounted GPS sensor as used in Korean Blackvue and Thinkware etc, but an internally built-in GPS sensor is slightly neater & fractionally easier to install.
Because remote lens dashcams have their processor boxes located in remote areas like the glovebox etc, they MUST have an external GPS sensor, or NO GPS sensor at all.





6) Old StreetGuardian SG9665GC Single Channel FHD @ 30 fps.
Very good image quality.
In the old days, the microprocessors did not have much speed, hence two separate single channel dashcams performed much better than one twin channel dashcam.
Can purchase a separate unit for the rear windscreen.
Great support.
Now at great price of ~$150 each.
7% 1 star reviews.
86% 4-5 stars.
4.3/5 stars average.

I own four of these purchased back in 2015/16.
I park record full time FT with a Cellink Neo battery pack, since I found that using the car's 12 V prematurely shortens the 12 V lead acid's life, and we don't get much FT park recording time before the PbSO4's voltage drops to the cut off level.
FT park recording requires a big memory card like Samsung Evo 256 GB, but it is the ultimate in recording.
Motion activated recording often misses when it should record.






5) Old Blackvue DR650GW/S Series Twin Channel, with front FHD 1920 x 1080 and rear HD 1024 x 768 @ 30 fps.
In the old days, the processors simply did NOT have enough speed to process two channels [front & rear] simultaneously, hence image quality of DR650 Series, esp the rear camera suffered - especially under low light conditions.
S performs with the same mediocrity in low light as GW, but S has more and newer features.
Now ~$200.
13-15% 1 star reviews on amazon.com.
Only 60% 4-5 stars.
Average 3.7/5 stars.
Bluetooth wireless control always troublesome, plus old processors too slow to process two channels simultaneously for decent image quality.
If using old dashcams with old slow processors, best to use two (2x) single channel dashcams; although this will cost more...







Value for Money Dashcams
Viofo A129 Duo Twin Channel
China.
~$170.
Great value for money, but don't expect flagship quality to match your 7ES.
13% 1 star reviews.
4.0/5 stars average.






Budget Dashcams
Heaps around...


Dod
Taiwan's Dod used to be very good, but lately a lot of bugs.
For many years, Dods have had very good image quality; Dod was famous for low light performance.

Below, the Thinkware F800 Pro's rear dashcam under low light doesn't perform as well as its competitors, with experts suspecting that is due to F800 Pro's lower bit rate of only 10 Mbps, while Dod RC500S uses 15 Mbps, with the Blackvue DR750S now updated to 25 Mbps.

Presently, the best all round quality dashcam without bugs & hassles, and the very best rear dashcam day or night is the StreetGuardian SG9663DC.






Meanwhile, Taiwan's Vicovation has stopped making dashcams altogether.


https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...l#post10516407

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Thank you pete harvey for the comprehensive review of the numerous dash cams. Very good information...

 

After one week, I am thrilled. 120 second installation including hiding the wiring easily with the included tool. I liked that I don't have to route wire down along the A pillar airbag, that all power is from the OBDII, that it has an actual IOS app not a glorified website, a bunch of other things.

https://owlcam.com also on Amazon, but first responder discount is on there site.

 

shows as back ordered, how long did yours take to get to you?

 

I have the Thinkware F800 Pro and really like it. No issues seeing license plates at night, it installs really well too. The cloud functionality is a little iffy. They actually just replaced this model with the Q800 Pro which is 2K in front. Looks the same.

 

Lexus offering a manufacturer installed dash cam now!

(At least in Canada.)

https://www.lexus.ca/lexus/en/mainta...us/accessories

 

They've offered it in Canada for some time now.

 

But per Lexus dealer, only retrofitted back to 2016 MY.

 

Has anyone tried this? Looks like it integrates great with the ES. Please let me know as I would like to get one as well.