PRODUCT REVIEW: 70mai A810 dashcam

Disclaimer: 70mai sent us an A810 dashcam unit for review along with a 128GB SD card

While we typically review cars, now and then, we get something that's not a vehicle but is still car-related, such as what 70mai sent us with their A810 dashcam. It's one of their higher-quality dashcams with a host of features to help protect you with more than just video and audio.

Dashcams play an essential role as they offer you an extra layer of protection and can record your side of the story in the event of a crash or an accident. While it won’t save you from a crash, it will provide you with evidence you can use for insurance claim purposes or a police report. 

What you get in the box

As 70mai is a leading smart car electronics company specializing in dashboard cameras, it brings its latest technologies and a solid global market presence with over 1.5 million units sold annually to over 100 countries in Europe, North America, and South East Asia. With that in mind, you can expect top-quality products from the company.

Speaking of products, you get a straightforward kit with the A810 out of the box. You get the camera, a mounting plate, a power cord, a car charger, an electrostatic sticker, a user manual, and a wiring crowbar.

As for its general specifications, it has a 500 mAh Li-ion battery; it has a Sony Stavis 2 IMX678 image sensor and can shoot in 4K with frame rates ranging from 25 to 60, depending on the resolution. As for its field, it gets 150 degrees, which is adequate for covering the entirety of your dashboard. It also comes with a GPS, dual recording, AI motion detection, and 4G capabilities if you buy the modem sold separately.

Ease of installation

Dashcams must be easy to install to use efficiently and correctly. They must have simple wiring that will get in the way and a mounting surface that you can easily attach to your car's windshield. 

The 70mai A810 checks these boxes as the mounting plate is light and easy to place but is sturdy enough to hold the camera in place with its strong adhesive. All you have to do is line it up and stick it onto the windshield. You can slide the dashcam onto the mount from there, and you're done. There is also a wiggle room on the rails of the mounting plate to help you align the device slightly.

However, just like any other dashcam on the market, the tricky bit is when it comes to hiding its USB cable. As it was installed on my Honda Jazz, I could easily find most of it within the headliner, while the rest had to be hidden behind the interior panel of the A-pillar. 70mai does provide the A810 with an interior panel removal tool to make it easier, but I still had to use the tools I had to manage the cable properly. Regardless, it's still an easy installation process, and how you deal with cable management is up to you. 

Connecting to the app

While installation is straightforward, connecting the dashcam to your phone is different. It was a hit-or-miss experience as I initially had problems connecting it to my phone. For some reason, the device wouldn’t connect to my Samsung S22+ despite running the latest version of the application. It was a problem I didn’t encounter with the brand’s other products, as it was a quick process with simple instructions.

However, I eventually connected to the A810 when I removed it from my car and brought it into my house, where Wi-Fi connectivity was present. It was smooth sailing once it was connected and paired with my phone.

Transfer speeds aren’t as quick as I would want over Wi-Fi, but it is understandable as the camera needs to transfer several hundred megabytes of footage to your phone. It may take you a couple of minutes to move over a two or three-minute clip, especially if it's in 4K. 

Video quality

The 70mai A810 has 4K recording capabilities, which works well at night. If you want to save on memory card space, it can also record in lower resolutions, such as 1080p at 60fps and 1080 at 30fps. 

Video recording quality is good at 4K, where you can easily see the plate numbers of cars and other details. However, at night, the camera starts to struggle as the footage gets a bit grainy, and that's with a windshield without tint. Despite this, you can still read even faded plate numbers, but you may need to zoom into the video to read them. 

We also have to note that when you download video recordings, it automatically comes with the date, time, GPS coordinates, and your speed. You can activate a cool overlay feature that tracks the same variables but with a G-force feature when you presumably take your car to a race track. 

Video stability is also good, but the G sensor on the camera can be sensitive as certain road bumps may trigger its emergency recording feature. Despite this, you can turn the sensitivity of that feature down so it happens less often in the case of an actual emergency.

Verdict

Depending on whether there is a sale and the store you get the camera from, it will cost you between Php 8,000 and Php 10,000. Given the features and add-ons you can get with the camera, it's priced reasonably for what it offers. Video quality is good in the daytime but struggles at night, especially at highway speeds. 

Regardless, it's an excellent dashcam to invest in if you have the money. Still, if it's out of your budget, other cameras may better fit your needs if recording video and audio is only what you’re after.