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I bought this camera a couple years ago, this first post is my initial review that I posted to a group on fb two years ago. I've learned a bit more about it since then, and recently swapped to a different rear camera, and I'll put that part in the second post.
I bought this Auto-Vox V5Pro on Prime Day and I finally installed it. I had to contact them on Amazon and request the mounting bracket for our cars (#129), which they sent for free but it took a few weeks to get it. Even then I had to do a little grinding on the mating surface. It still wobbles a little but I think that's due to the plate inside being warped from constantly messing with it (I have a new one on order) and it doesn't move while driving. Initially it was also wobbling because a screw head was sticking out too far.
The rear camera is not hard mounted, the mounting plate for it is sandwiched between the headliner and roof. I didn't want to hard mount it until I tested that location, and I think it'll work well. I haven't done any night driving with it yet so I'm a little concerned about the tint on the back window diminishing the visibility too much. The Vantrue I've been using (also in the pics) uses IR and it records great at night, but it doesn't have a rear camera aside from the one facing inside the car. I had an Auto-Vox backup camera that I just swapped for a different one yesterday and it doesn't seem any of their stuff uses IR, which is a bit disappointing. I'd really like to mount a camera in the hole that used to hold the rear washer nozzle, but I'm not sure if these cameras are small enough to fit there. I'd look into 3D printing a new housing for it though that's aerodynamic , I think it would be great.
I was also concerned about glare, but I angled the mirror down a bit and it solved that. I believe I read that you can turn off the video feed and use the surface as a mirror, but I'd have to angle it back up and I don't currently have a need for that.
There's still a lot I don't know about this but I'm going to keep learning it's functions. I'll post a couple video clips from both cameras once I edit them shorter. And I'll post night time clips also.
The rear camera is wavy at times. I don't think it's because of not being hard mounted, it looks like the waves are in the video itself from interference or something. But I'll look more into it.
My Vantrue shows the speed and GPS location on screen, I'm going to see if this one will show that also. I like that feature. Supposedly you can get on the app and it will show you where the car has been, but I need to do that still. They said it will do it automatically when you insert the memory card into your computer, but that didn't happen and I don't see how it would.
One downside I've already noticed is having the mirror mount in the shot, vs nothing in the way with the standalone cameras like my Vantrue.
After having it for a couple years, I've noticed a couple issues.
The impact sensor is way too sensitive. Even on the lowest setting, closing the door or hatch, sliding the seat all the way back, etc will make it think the car was impacted and lock the file.
The biggest problem is some files were missing the day I did the last review a couple years ago. I brought it up in an Amazon review and they sent me a new SD card to try to fix it. The problem is it wasn't at the top of my list of things to fix and I lost the card lol. I haven't checked to see if it's still having the issue but so far the files I've looked for have been there.
The plastic ring on the back did have issues staying locked in place, but now it seems to be fine. And it turns out the tint really didn't allow it to film well at night.
The new mounting hardware from Mazda fixed any wobbling issues.
I did access an app to view GPS data from the camera with the SD card in my laptop, but I don't remember much since that was over a year ago. I'll try to remember to post an update about that too.
The waviness of the rear camera was actually due to it not being hard mounted. I didn't know that until I mounted this new rear camera. It's hard mounted and there is no waviness at all.
Which brings me to the newest change. The only reason I bought this camera was because I wasn't sure of a way to mount the original one to the hatch. I searched for small cameras and this one isn't quite as small as I'd like, but it is has adjustable angle and an easy way to mount it where I'd like. I did have to grind on the base some to be able to angle it down more, and I realized now that rain will be able to get in and it will go right into the inside of the hatch. I was thinking about printing a new mount anyway that's sleek and covers the top of the camera. I haven't used it at night yet, but during the day it films really clear. I have these two photos but I'll post screenshots from the camera as well.
Looking at the screen shots now of the rear camera quality, I'm not as impressed. It looks OK if you don't zoom in, but it looks awful if you do, and I'm not a fan of the yellow tint. On the night shot, it was pretty dark in the area so I'm happy with how bright it is.
And here are a couple shots of the original camera in the original location, shooting through tinted rear glass. Zooming in on these isn't great either, so I guess there probably isn't much that can be done.
09-21-23, 10:16 PM
