BlackVue DR650S-2CH is a dashcam (ie a dashboard camera) that is mounted on your car and allows you to record what is happening both in front and behind the car.
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Packaging:
BlackVue DR650S-2CH comes in a small elegant box containing over to the two cameras also the instruction manual (in a reduced size) in different languages, the power cable and the connection cable for the rear view camera, various accessories for mounting including two spare adhesives for the cameras and 8 stops wire in addition to a Micro SD – USB adapter.
Mounting:
Mounting the DR650S-2CH is relatively simple and enforceable by yourself. The manual provides all the information you need and in case several videos are available both on YouTube and in the BlackVue website that explain how to do it: in practice the camera must be positioned so that the lens is on the middle of the windshield (approximately under attack of the rear view mirror). As regards the wiring, for the rated model (the one with the rear camera), there are two cables: the first is the power that attaches to the front camera, the cable is long enough to connect all the without much effort by passing it around the occupant so as to make it invisible, the cable will be connected to the cigarette lighter or Power Magic Pro: the kit can be purchased separately to use parking mode which we will see later; The second cable, only present in the model – 2CH is a coaxial cable approximately 6 meters long which connects the front to rear camera that can be installed easily between the internal seals of the doors, so that it is not a hindrance to passengers; being coaxial quite fragile you must be careful during installation. To mount the cameras the required time is about 20-30 minutes, depending on your skills and the type of car. Before attacking the two cameras I recommend temporarily fasten with double-sided adhesive tape, so as to ensure correct positioning of both cameras.
The installation of Power Magic Pro, is slightly more complicated because you must handle with the fuses of your car, the manual included explains step by step how to do, but if you are not comfortable with this type of installation your mechanic will surely be happy to help you.
First use:
After mounting the cameras (and making sure the correct operation) and Power Magic Pro you can proceed with various settings of brightness and sensitivity of the sensors (the latter may vary depending on the recording mode: normal or parking) it is possible to change these settings directly from the iPhone/ iPad/ iPod (or Android device) might want to take a test drive and change the settings to the street (with the help of the passenger) once you find the best settings for your necessities, subscribe (for free) to activate cloud capabilities. At this point, if everything works perfectly, you should install permanently the cameras with the adhesive supplied (both the cameras are removable and can then be detached).
BlackVue C app:
BlackVue C is the application for smartphone (Android and iOS for the moment, but in the future may be available also for Windows Phone) that allows you to configure DR650S, view videos, upload them to the cloud (you have available 5GB on BlackVue server; after 90 days the videos will be removed) and use all the Cloud functions:
• Live View that allows you to see the video of the cameras and location remotely
• Notifications (entrance in parking mode, connect to the internet, events like the motion detected while parking etc.)
• Call: it is possible to talk to the driver of the vehicle that will answer us through a microphone and speakers built in BlackVue DR650S
During our tests, with cloud capabilities, the video had a delay of approximately 6-7 seconds (the lower duality of the Wi-Fi signal may have influenced, however, a slight delay is normal) while for calls the delay reached the minute. After a brief e-mail exchange with CS team the problem has been solved and the delay is now normal (2-3 seconds).
The cloud feature is really handy, but lacks at the moment the ability to download videos uploaded to the cloud directly on your home computer. Blackvue has released today (8/29/2016) the cloud app for Windows and confirms the presence of the same for Mac that is planned for the last quarter of 2016.
The test:
The installation both of power Magic pro and of DR650S-2CH was swift and without major problems, just make sure the rear view camera is installed upright (this model however allows to rotate 180° the video directly from firmware settings) for configuration after several tests I set the brightness to 4/5 while moving sensitivity in 20-25-25 (80-85-85 parking mode, motion sensor very sensitive), I’ll have a good visibility day and night on streets (if not the best street lighting then increase the brightness to 5/5 directly from the iPhone)
I put the cameras so that the driver’s side front camera is completely hidden from the rear view mirror; the rear being very small impeding the view from the mirror.
The first two rounds I used to find the best settings in order to have the recordings neither too dark nor too light and have the least possible number of recordings in emergency mode (with high sensitivity, just the uneven road surface or with a few holes to activate the emergency mode).
The videos are of good quality, let you read clearly the plates of the cars that you precede if the distance is medium-low, in case of impact will not be a problem back to the owner of the vehicle and its driver, also record audio (switched on and off by the camera by tapping the motion sensor) allows you to hear clearly what is said inside the car, in the parking mode allows you to hear the engine of the car approaching and according to some tests at home, even the loud discussions, if they occur at a short distance from the vehicle and with almost no background noise.
Evening / night video appears less clear, for obvious reasons, it is still possible to read the number plate of the vehicle immediately ahead, for the one behind is a little more difficult, for vehicles coming in the opposite direction is not possible to read the license plate; as regards the signs, also it remains visible at night.
The BlackVue software for Mac and Windows PC lets you see all the movies (you can place the movie back in the corner so you have a full view front and back simultaneously); all videos are geo-located, this allows you to see the exact location of cars, speed and follow the movements of the car in the movie along the path through the map on the main screen or a complete view by pressing the button with the compass in the app menu. In addition to geolocation videos also the data of sensors of movement in three directions (front and back, up-down, left-right)
When you hand it is necessary to consider that the camera start-up time is approximately 5-10 seconds (a voice will announce the successful ignition of the camera); the entry into parking mode is automatic and takes place if the vehicle remains stationary for a bit of time (also in this case an entry will inform us of the passage in this mode), once the vehicle start moving, the recording will return to normal mode; switching off the camera will be announced from a voice, too.
Conclusions:
An increasing number of people are considering the installation of a dashcam on their car because in case of accident you can count on a reliable and impartial witness; Thanks to the functionality provided by the cloud, with DR650S you can remotely monitor your car, accessing the recorded video or watching live what the camera is filming as well as the car’s position in real time.
Hard to find negative points, if not the lack of being able to use the cloud functionality from your home computer and if we’re going to nitpick a 2K for the front camera and Full-HD for the rear (currently it is Full HD and HD to the front to the rear) would make this perfect.
The included 16 GB Micro SD allows you to record up to 5.1 hours depending on various settings;you can still expand the hours of recordings replacing it with a bigger Micro DS card (class 10 or higher, supports up to 128 GB); regarding the recordings once the memory is full, the camera will delete the oldest recordings making place for the new ones.
The MRSP for DR650S-2CH is $ 379 (341,87 €*, 32GB), but if you do not want the second camera (be careful that you will not add it in the future) the price drops to $ 259 (233,66 €*, 16GB); for Power Magic Pro the price is $ 25,99 (23,44 €*, very often some retailers give them free with the purchase of DR650S; you can buy DR650S and Power Magic PRO through authorized BlackVue resellers in Europe or the rest of the world (here the full list), you must pay attention to the place whence send the goods, to avoid incurring duties
Power Magic Pro:
Power Magic Pro is an optional kit that plugs into the car’s battery allowing you to keep on DR650S even with auto shut off, this allows you to use the parking mode.
Power Magic Pro can be set to stop supplying energy after a specified number of hours or when the voltage drops to a certain level, whichever occurs first.
It is an essential accessory if you plan to use the parking mode and you want a clean and professional installation; It is designed to be installed at home and does not require the intervention of a specialist; if you are not able to mount it on your own, as already mentioned, your trusted mechanic will certainly be happy to help you.
In addition to Power Magic PRO (PMP) is also available Power Magic Battery Pack (PMBP) at the cost of $ 159 (143,42 €*), which consists of an external battery that plugs into the cigarette lighter of the car and connect plus DR650S also tablet or smartphone with dual USB Sockets;this solution is more cumbersome compared to PMP but it is certainly the most simple.
PMP and PMBP support both 12V batteries (some those of cars) or 24V (such as trucks).
For the heavy vehicles is available DR650S-2CH TRUCK model that as secondary camera has an outdoor camera, waterproof and also equipped with infrared sensor (as well as a coaxial cable of 15 or 20 meters); also available is the kit -2CH IR where the 2nd camera is replaced with an internal camera with infrared sensor (also available individually) designed to shoot the Interior of the vehicle.
Worthy of note is the 12-month warranty that covers replacement or repair of the camera in case of problems.
* converted price at the time of this writing (8/8/2016 @ 9:55 CEST)
