High-quality video recording: TOP-5 high-definition car recorders

Serious excitement around the second generation of the DVR from Xiaomi played out at the stage of its announcement, which is not surprising at all against the background of the popularity of the first—born in the line of devices for video recording of the road situation — Xiaomi Yi Smart Car .

For a relatively affordable price, the manufacturer offers a device with functionality at the level of older models of car recorders. What a high-quality Sony matrix with an aperture of f/1.8 is worth, due to which the picture remains readable even in poor lighting conditions. The "eye" of the registrar's object looks at the world with a viewing angle of about 160°.

Video recording is carried out in a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels with a frame rate of 30 fps or in HD format with a frame rate of 60 fps. Files are saved in the MP4 video format, which is common for further reading and processing. For greater reliability, it is advisable to use a memory card paired with the recorder at least the 10th speed class.

Chinese characters periodically appear in the device menu, which is typical of most Xiaomi products. But still, you can understand the settings on the screen intuitively, especially since it will not take much time — touch input greatly simplifies navigation through the menu. And support for remote control from a smartphone does not require any effort at all in setting up video recording parameters or searching for the required video clip among the footage. For these purposes, the Mi Home application is used, which is a part of the Xiaomi smart home concept.

A separate line pleases the quick—release mounting of the DVR — an indispensable thing in east european realities. Along with the developed functionality and high definition of the picture, it exposes the model in the light of an almost non-alternative option for its cost. After all, there are no direct competitors of Xiaomi MiJia Car DVR in this price category.

Externally, the Sho-Me A7-GPS/Glonass DVR resembles a smaller copy of a camera — the similarity with photographic equipment can be traced in the shape of the model body and the protruding object with a viewing angle of 140°, which allows you to capture the maximum space in front of the car.

The device's camera, built on the basis of the flagship Ambarella A7 chip, performs video recording in a resolution of 2304x1296 pixels. The manufacturer calls it nothing but "2K", although in fact the specified resolution corresponds to the Super FullHD format. Anyway, the video sequence boasts high-definition images both during daytime trips and at night, when the HDR function is connected to help in obtaining a detailed image. The numbers of passing and oncoming cars remain readable in the vast majority of cases (except, perhaps, for traveling in complete darkness or traveling in bad weather conditions).

Part of the recorder body on the driver's side is given under2.7-inch display, which serves to display information about the current and permitted travel speeds, as well as a number of other data. For example, an up-to-date database of stationary cameras can be loaded into the device's memory (constantly updated), thanks to which notifications about approaching the point of video recording of violations will be displayed on the screen. In parallel, the DVR will warn you about this by voice. Determining the location of cameras, as well as measuring the speed of movement, are entrusted to the shoulders of the built-in GPS/GLONASS modules.

From a number of secondary useful functions of the recorder, lane control is highlighted — when leaving its lane, the device gives the driver a warning signal. The only thing missing in the model is the possibility of turning the camera towards the driver's window, which may be useful if the car is stopped by law enforcement officers. And the rest of the Sho-Me A7-GPS/Glonass is one of the best DVRs in its class in terms of price/quality ratio.

Looking at the compact cylindrical body of the DVR from Gazer, it is immediately hard to believe that it was "stuffed" with the most advanced hardware. But in fact, this is so — the heart of the device is the Sony Exmor photosensitive sensor with a maximum aperture of f/1.8, and one of the crown "chips" of the model is equipped with a Wi-Fi module.

The most advanced models of automotive video recording devices are built on the basis of the Sony Exmor matrix. After all, she is able to provide a high—quality result when shooting in almost any conditions — whether it is moving against the sun or traveling in pitch darkness. In case of strong light fluctuations in the frame, the image automatically adjusts to difficult conditions thanks to the support of WDR technology.

It is surprising that there are no controls at all on the body of the device. It turns out that access to all the DVR settings is opened from a smartphone paired with the model over a Wi-Fi connection. To do this, you will need to install the Gazer Viewer application on your mobile device. In addition to the ability to change the shooting parameters, the associated programme allows you to use your smartphone as a video finder, as well as view, modify and immediately publish the footage in social networks.

The recorder is attached to the windscreen with 3M adhesive tape, so it will not be possible to quickly remove the device from its place. Another controversial point of the model is the fact that the Wi-Fi module is recognized as an access point, which makes it impossible to use the mobile Internet on a paired smartphone (as long as the connection remains active). And of the useful functions of the DVR, it is necessary to highlight the parking mode — recording video with a reduced frame rate when parking the car in order to save space on the memory card.

The model will appeal to those who communicate with modern technology "on you". And one of the most powerful sides of the recorder is the ease of transferring the footage — together with the Gazer F720, you no longer have to mess with a card reader to copy files to a computer for further publication, instead of which access to the video library opens directly from your smartphone.

The Gazer F150 car recorder disguises itself as a rain sensor, so it is quite difficult to suspect a device for video recording of the road situation from the outside. Thus, the manufacturer has secured his brainchild from possible theft by intruders.

Basically, the role of the device shows itself from the best side — there are no claims to the model regarding the clarity of the picture and the legibility of license plates on passing and oncoming cars. The recorder's camera records videos in a maximum resolution of 2304x1296 pixels. The fee for such high numbers is the rapid filling of the external drive — for 7 minutes of the trip, the memory of the flash drive is reduced by about 1 GB.

The functionality of the DVR is complemented by a lot of auxiliary functions. These include LDWS and FCWS (lane control and distance control, respectively), as well as the Antison driver fatigue monitoring system. That's just in some instances of the model, some of the functions do not work fully and unexpected interface freezes occur when trying to launch any of the "helpers".

Fixing the recorder to the windscreen is non-rotating. But the object has a variable angle of inclination (only in the vertical plane). A modification of the device with a built-in GPS module is also presented on the market, which can be recognized by the symbol G at the end of the model name (Gazer F150G Price from 4 647 up to 5 683 ₴). Its advantage over the basic version is the support for linking data about the location and speed of movement of the vehicle to the video.

The South Korean DVR BlackVue DR650S-2CH is the best model among modern devices for video recording of the road situation, which has absorbed the most advanced developments in the industry.

From the name of the device, it becomes clear that two cameras are included in its equipment at once: the main module uses an advanced Sony Exmor matrix with support for FullHD video recording, and the rear camera shoots in HD resolution. In terms of image quality, there are no equals to the DVR — both day and night, the frame shines with high detail, and car numbers are visible on the video in almost any shooting conditions.

The registrar is fully disclosed in conjunction with the BlackVue Over the Cloud kit — this device is purchased separately and allows you to upload videos from the device directly to cloud services. Also, with its help, it is possible to conduct live video broadcasts, which can be viewed from any corner of the planet where there is Internet access.

Wireless Wi-Fi and GPS modules are installed under the "hood" of the device. The first of them is responsible for pairing the recorder with a mobile phone (providing access to all settings, navigation through the video library, etc.), and the second allows you to record the speed of movement and location coordinates on video. There is also a voice assistant in the arsenal of the car recorder, and you can broadcast your voice through the built-in speakers. This function is useful in case you need to scare off an attacker.

The high cost of the device keeps you from immediately going to the store for the BlackVue DR650S-2CH. Some potential buyers of the registrar may also not like the non-removable mount, which increases the risk of theft of the device. But the biting price is taken for granted when it comes to the flagship ambitions of the DVR. It not only fully meets the expectations of consumers, but also provides users with unique high-tech functions.