Esta cmara de salpicadero Halo Drive de Road Angel, es bastante compacta, se puede poner perfectamente en el salpicadero o detrs del espejo retrovisor. Se conecta a travs de la toma de corriente auxiliar del coche o al mechero, con el adaptador incluido.
La cmara se fija con una simple pestaa adhesiva y gira para permitir encontrar la mejor posicin posible. Ofrece un ngulo de 140 grados, lo que hace que las imgenes sean amplias.
Antes de poder usar la cmara es necesario descargar su aplicacin, en ella se pueden ver y descargar los videos y las imgenes tomadas por la cmara . Aparte de est instalacin inicial, no es necesario hacer nada ms, la cmara funciona sola.
Proporciona imgenes y video Quad HD de 1440p. Se enciende cuando arrancamos el coche y comienza a grabar instantneamente. Las fotos se toman a intervalos regulares durante el trayecto y se almacenan en la tarjeta SD del dispositivo si la tenemos instalada ( no viene incluida). El modo de vista previa en vivo te permite ver grabaciones de vdeo en tiempo real en tu telfono, sin tener que descargarlas. Tambin se puede acceder a las imgenes y videos a travs de la aplicacin Halo Drive y se pueden editar y descargar en cualquier momento.
Pero, no solo graba y toma fotografas, sino que tambin tiene un micrfono integrado que captura un audio ntido. Tambin incluye funciones interesantes como sensor G, que detecta movimientos bruscos y acelerones; Modo de estacionamiento real 24 horas, despus de 15 min de inactividad entra en este modo y si detecta un evento o movimiento, reanuda la grabacin normal y Modo de invierno, que ayuda a derretir el hielo del cristal, proporcionando calor. Es necesario utilizar el Kit de cableado para mantener la unidad en funcionamiento 24 horas al da. Adems alertar si la tarjeta SD deja de funcionar y es necesario formatearla.
Existe la posibilidad de cablear la cmara en el coche, mediante un kit de cableado, que no viene incluido, pero que se puede encontrar fcilmente en Amazon o en la pgina de la marca.
En definitiva, me parece una cmara de salpicadero muy til sobre todo para los que se pasan el da en la carretera y quieren documentar sus viajes por lo que pudiera pasar. Recomendable
Belle qualit d’image de jour comme de nuit.
– Trs simple d’utilisation et fiable (on ne s’occuper de rien).
– Possibilit de rcuprer les vidos sur la carte SD une fois celle-ci branche sur un PC.
– Discrte, elle s’est se faire oublie.
l’application tlphone manque d’ergonomie. Pas simple de retrouver un moment prcis.
– Cela tlcharge les vidos sur le tlphone, attention la saturation de mmoire.
– Il manque un kit pour la brancher sur les fusibles et qu’elle fonctionne en permanence. Ici elle se branche uniquement sur l’allume cigare ce qui fait que ds que le moteur est coup, elle n’enregistre plus.
Rsum : Super qualit d’image ( condition d’avoir d’avoir un pare brise propre) de jour comme de nuit. L’image ne saccade pas, et elle n’est pas dforme malgr son grand angle..
L’application manque d’ergonomie, c’est un peu brouillon. Je prfre rcuprer les vidos en branchant ma carte SD mon ordi (ce sont des fichiers de 102400Mo).
L’installation est super simple (10 min pour l’installer dans ma cactus), un outil est livr pour passer le cble sous les garnitures de la voiture sans l’abimer.
Bilan : Je suis super satisfait de cette camra, mais j’ai enlev une toile pour le descriptif produit qui prsente un “mode parking” fonctionnant avec un kit d’alimentation non livr avec, et pour l’application qui manque d’ergonomie.
En esprant avoir pu vous clairer sur le choix, ou non, de cet acha
Road Angel bietet eine kleine kompakte Dashcam mit Klebepad.
Mitgeliefert wird auerdem ein Adapter fr den Zigarettenanznder sowie ein MicroUSB-Kabel.
Warum hier noch MicroUSB verbaut wird verstehe ich ehrlichgesagt nicht, andere Dashcams — teilweise sogar gnstiger — setzen schon lngst auf USB-C.
Die Dashcam lsst sich einfach befestigen. Der Winkel kann einfach durch drehen eingestellt werden. Das Bild berblickt meine Stostange von beiden Scheinwerfern.
Die App synchronisiert automatisch Zeit und Datum an die Dashcam und zeigt auch das Bild an.
Das Bild wirkt klar und speichern auf einer MicroSD klappt super.
Auch bei Dunkelheit ist das Bild klar und Kennzeichen lassen sich noch lesen.
Also an sich eine gute Dashcam.
Allerdings gibt’s nur 3,5 Sterne:
– 0,5 Sterne werden abgezogen, da kein GPS Modul verbaut ist (andere Dashcams in dieser Preisklasse kommen mit GPS-Modul)
– 1 Stern Abzug wegen MicroUSB
Am Ende wird auf solide 4 Sterne aufgerundet, da keine halben Sterne vergeben werden knnen.
This dash cam is great. Price was good and you get the benefit of its full settings when you either hardwire it or use an obd connection to always have a live feed.
Initially I was frustrated with the dash cam, I was unable to get the 24hr monitoring to work (instructions were to turn time lapse on) however there is no time lapse option!!! On fiddling with the settings there is a drop-down which asks full picture/thumbnail pic/sentry. If you click thumbnail and 24hr then when the car is parked up the light turns blue and hey presto time lapse 24 HR recording.
Now the app, there has been a few complaints about this but I can’t really fault it. It connects with no issue to my phone, I’m able to download clips if I wish and all this over WiFi with no need to take the SD card out! Yes Bluetooth would be easier but I have no issue using the WiFi.
Overall excellent, great picture quality and can’t fault it. If your looking for a dash cam I highly recommend
Absolutely brilliant little camera a bit flawed that it didn’t come with a hardwire kit cheaper models come with either hardwire kit or a choice I had to purchase a cheaper camera make hardwire kit apart from that little thing I can’t fault it picture quality is brilliant and the fact it talks to you when turning it on and it feels a bump it gives you a warning and saves that clip into a separate folde
Good camera. First one I got was faulty but was replaced next day first class service from Amazon . Unfortunley. Hard wire kit was not included with package reading description you get the impression it is supplied with camera ? Which is a pity. Or it would be a great buy Could Amazon. Have forgotten to put kit in package
Great value for money camera, easy to install but you’ll get one chance to adhere it to the windscreen.
Set up in a few minutes, with great crystal clear image capture.
Hard wired is a necessity if you want the park function to be operational, don’t be fooled into buying the RA hardwire kit @ 23.00 I did and it was damaged on delivery (twice), I bought a spurious one instead (11.00) and works perfectly and wasn’t damaged on delivery – simple 2 wire connection (earth and fuse box) and connect up.
This is by far the best dash cam I have ever purchased , I’d even go as far as saying it’s better than the next best selling brand! Great picture quality , you can download the videos straight to your phone while your sat in the car by connecting to it! 100% recommend!
This is a fantastic dashcam, the only issue I have is that you have to connect via its own WiFi whenever you want to view footage (unless you want to remove the card).
It would be great if it had Bluetooth connectivity.
A good quality dashcam, and small enough to be well hidden out of view behind the rear view mirror.
Unlike another dashcam I’ve tried, I was able to get the companion app on my phone to connect to it and view/download video, although I didn’t find its interface particularly smooth to use. I could however get a live view on my phone to make sure the camera was angled appropriately, and download clips – although the last dashcam I used had a small screen which made the former point even easier, and it was easy enough to just pull the SD card as and when I wanted to copy videos off. I do miss the screen from time to time. At least the little “Halo active” voice announcement on startup and a chime on shutdown let you know it’s working.
One big thing I miss is a convenient “protect the current recording” button; on a previous dashcam I’ve used, it was very handy, if you see an instance of silly driving etc to be able to just hit that button and know that the recording will be saved for later reference – and it’s something you could do by feel while driving along easily. I’m certainly not pulling out my phone, opening up their app, getting it to connect to the camera etc while moving.
I’ve found videos downloaded from it to be of pretty good quality, although it’s still tricky to make out licence plates at much of a distance.
5.0 out of 5 stars Good camera, image quality good enough, small
One of the current mysteries to me is why car manufacturers do not have the option of a pre-installed camera system in cars. I have a new reasonably decent car with more electronic gadgets that I’ll ever use but, despite having a front facing camera that works as part of the GPS system, there isn’t one that can do recording for safety and insurance purposes.
Until the time comes when that happens – which I’m sure it will – we have to use 3rd party devices such as this one. There are of course many makes most of whom I have never heard of. I’m sure that most work well enough, however this comes with the added veneer of a brand name and the design that goes with it.
And that means it gives that feeling of a well designed and well made product which in some way justifies the higher price. You do have to factor into this a micro-SD card as well so add another few quid.
Out of the box it is clear that this is a high quality bit of kit. Good, neat and compact design with a quality throughout. The only thing that is a bit odd is the micro-SD card fitting. Normally when one pushes in an SD card it clicks into place against a spring detent and remains in place until it is pressed again. On this camera you push in the micro-SD card and nothing. It just pushes back out again. You have to close the cover against it to hold it into place which, is either an odd design or my camera has a small fault.
You first have to set this up and I did so in my kitchen which, was easy because the power supply is a USB cable so fairly ubiquitous.
You download the app, install it on your phone and of course set up the inevitable account. Once you do that you power up the camera, locate it on WiFi – which means you disconnect from your house WiFi to do so – and then allow the camera and phone app to talk.
Once done you disconnect from the camera and back onto your house network.
To fit this into the car is a simple matter of sticking the camera in a suitable place. Which I didn’t I forgot that the field of vision for this camera is very wide and instead of giving it a bit of room I stuck it on the top of my windshield next to the large plastic cover where my mirror hangs and a few more electronic goodies reside. Thus half of the field of vision is black plastic. Doh! Given that it uses a 3m double sided pad I’ll have to scrape it off and move it.
Then there is the big issue with all of these cameras. The power cable. The long USB cable has to be routed around the screen so as to be powered by the included lighter socket PS – which also has a second USB power outlet which is a nice touch. Inevitably you have to face the reality that your nice new car has a carbunckle of a cable running around it if you want to have a front facing camera. It is a small price to pay I guess if it means saving your insurance premium.
Unless you are the idiot who did it…..
You can watch and download videos from your camera onto your mobile phone for the usual important stuff. YouTube mainly I suspect…
The camera comes with a 2m power cable, 12v cigarette lighter adapter and a 3M sticker to apply it to the windscreen.
It does not come with the micro SD card needed to be able to record!
Once the SD card was inserted it needed formatting, which was a little tricky as the instructions provided are not that good. We needed to phone the customer service team to sort the process out.
The camera is small and is fitted easily behind the rear view mirror in my VW Golf, I was able to tuck the cable in around the windscreen, down the passenger side, through the glove box and plug it in.
You need to download the Halo app to a smartphone then follow the simple instructions to connect to the camera.
This is the first dashcam that I have used and was very impressed with the wide field of view you get from such a small device.
Initially, I was unplugging the dashcam when I was not using my car, then plugging it back in if I was driving anywhere, the camera tells you when it is activated. Now I leave it plugged in as I have discovered that it films 24/7, its amazing to playback the footage and watch the sunrise or sunset, also could be beneficial depending on where you park as it acts as a CCTV. The longest I have left it plugged in without using my car has been ~48 hours and there was no problem with the battery.
The camera stores ~36hours of footage before overwriting, so remember to download any clips you want to keep asap. To download footage you need to sit in the car and be connected to the camera, You could take out the SD card, but once the camera is stuck behind the mirror that can be tricky.
Additional information from a family member who has a different make of dash cam:
The Halo is a neat little dash cam – It would benefit from better installation instructions though. Most dash cams have a display, sometimes touch-screen. This makes them larger, for the most part, and it is a matter of personal choice which you prefer. Mine continually displays the vehicle’s speed, which is more accurate than the car’s odometer. Some dash cams also link to safety cameras and give warnings. Mine has this feature and I find it very helpful; Road Angel also sell separate devices that detect safety cameras so I imagine they didn’t want to duplicate function and make more complex offerings at this level.
I found the download process more complex for the Halo, but the video quality is certainly excellent and I like the fact it is always on; mine shuts down when the car is parked.
Overall, it is a good dash cam and with the very few caveats above, I’d recommend it.
Definitely a strong and good quality camera – well designed appearance and looks purposeful when fitted. Agree totally with the criticisms of the app which is very twitchy and doesn’t do the camera justice. Cabling can look unsightly when everything is plugged in. A mixed profile.
The Road Angel Halo is a decent dash cam for a slightly more premium price. It’s easily enough to install with the instructions provided, although it will take a bit of fiddling around to make sure the relatively thick cable can be hidden away within your car and still powered.
The app is a little fiddly to get installed and get up and running, and there are some issues around the fact it doesn’t seem to be quite as easy with one phone to another. Not great considering there are no controls on the camera itself so you have to make sure your phone is compatible.
It also doesn’t have GPS (another 50 for the Pro version to get that), so there are pro’s and con’s to this for sure. The main functioning camera though is very good, and produces very nice high quality imagery.
This is the first dashcam I’ve seen which has a capacitor instead of a battery. This is better because capacitors are much less heat sensitive – I wouldn’t want to leave a dashcam containing a lithium battery inside my car on a hot summer’s day due to the fire risk.
This dashcam is compact – it has no LCD screen. Instead it connects with your phone via WiFi, using it as your screen.
It takes a maximum 128Gb card – my current dashcam only takes a maximum 32Gb card. The advantage is that a longer time passes before the original recording is recorded over. A 32Gb card can complete a full cycle (i.e. be recorded over) in as little as a 2 hour drive. I once tried to view a recording after a 3 hour or so drive (on my current dashcam) and was astounded that it had been recorded over. In theory, you should be able to put a 128 Gb card in any dashcam but it doesn’t work like that – they are not compatible. This one accepting a 128 Gb card is a massive plus.
The camera resolution is high – an advantage as lower resolutions won’t capture a clear number plate under certain circumstances. I have had incidents where I have viewed my (current) dashcam after an event, confident that the number plate was recorded, only to discover it was indistinguishable (e.g. blurred). When you get a dashcam, I suggest you play a recording back to check to see if you can make out number plates as you may be surprised how often you can’t, mainly on vehicles not directly in front of you (relevant if someone travelling in the opposite direction at speed scrapes you, for example).
Similarly, all dashcams tend to use wide angle lenses which has the disadvantage that they make things seem further away than they are. The relevance is that you can need a camera with a good resolution to make out a number plate that is only a few car lengths in front of you.
For that reason, if something happens, I suggest saying the number plate aloud so that it is recorded on the soundtrack – it is easy to assume that your camera has recorded it only to discover it hasn’t.
For the same reason, I use the highest frame rate when recording (as a medium frame rate may display a fast moving number plate as a blur). High frame rates devour memory – another reason for welcoming a dashcam which accepts up to 128 Gb cards.
The biggest disadvantage – there’s no GPS. You need GPS not simply to record location but also to record your speed. This can be critical in proving you weren’t speeding.
It is expensive – 138.58 at the time of review which is too much for a dashcam without GPS in my opinion. I suspect that it may be in a Lightning Deal in the future or that the price may be reduced. My star rating is for its quality, not the price as the latter is likely to change.
Reading through the reviews, especially the negative ones, I think this product has had an unfair reception.
The mounting system is good. I had another very good dashcam which I simply can’t use because it falls off no matter how carefully I mount it.
I don’t have any probolm with the lead or the power system. The plug doesn’t protrude very far and certainly no further than most devices which use the cigarette lighter. If your car predates the fashion for charge points, it’s worth getting a cup-shaped power adapter that sits next to the handbrake and will give you a couple of cigarette lighter sockets and some USB points.
It doesn’t have GPS and some dashcams do. It is an advantage but I am not sure it matters a great deal.
I agree that the app is fiddly. It downloaded easily but it took me about three goes to connect and the instructions weren’t brilliant (though better than several Chinese dashcams I have tested). Someone reported that it’s slow to download video clips. There is no need to do this. Just take the card out and upload to a computer. You won’t have to do this very often unless you are extremely accident prone or your idea of Saturday evening entertainment is reliving your journey on the A5123 to Towcester. The important thing about the app is that it shows you what kind of picture you are getting and even if you have to connect 3 times, it is still easier to do this than fiddle with the menus on the other dash cams I have tried. Once you have checked it is pointing in the right direction, the device will work perfectly well without a phone connected.
The other advantage of this approach is that, because it doesn’t need a screen, it is much smaller, and lighter than most dashcams (and therefore less prone to falling off) and uses up less windscreen real estate. Mine is more or less hidden behind my mirror and doesn’t impeded my view at all. One tip in locating it: make sure it is inside the area covered by your windscreen wipers. I made that mistake with my first dashcam and when I needed to get a numberplate, it was unreadable behind the raindrops.
The build quality, the physical design and the picture quality are excellent and in my view it is a better choice than a lot of dash cams which have 5 star reviews.
On taking the Road Angel out it’s rather smart box, I was surprised how light it was weighing in at only 63gm and measuring just 8.7 x 3 x 4.3 cm. The box contains, the road angel camera, 12v power adapter, power cable, which is 2 metres in length and a 3m sticker to secure you camera. The box does not contain the Class 10 Micro SD Card, making the camera useless without purchasing one. In my opinion the card should be included in the rather expensive price of he kit your about to buy. The cable has to be tucked behind the dashboard ect. so its out of sight and not dangling over the windscreen. Having plugged the usb cable into the included adapter I was ready to go. I downloaded the Road Angle app and Installed the app without incident. All worked well and I could play back the live view footage. I’m not a fan of leaving anything that looks inviting lying in my car when I’m not in it and wonder if leaving this expensive camera on show will attract unwanted attention. The camera has a Parking Mode to help protect your vehicle when you’re not in it . This uses a G-Sensor to detect movement, but needs the power in the 12V and USB sockets, but in my car these are turned off when the car is switched off. This is a great camera and does everything I want it to do in order to help make my journeys safer, it does need tweaking however and has a heafty price tag, therefore it’s 4* from me folks
This was the 1st dashcam that I’ve used having seen many of them on the road I decided to try this one. Setup was straight forward but the main problem I had was the power cable was not long enough to reach the center of the car where my socket was located so I had to move the camera to the right a few feet so it was not in the middle of the windscreen but was not a problem. The app needs a bit of work as it crashes a lot on my phone and not sure why but managed to get the footage I needed, I just wish it was plug and play without the need for an app.
The picture quality was good enough and you can just about make out the number plates from the cars in front, its a little pricey compared to other dashcam’s on the market would of been nice to include GPS but overall I’m happy with it.
This product comes attractively boxed. You get the camera unit, a cable that could have done with being a bit longer and a power adaptor which goes in lighter slot in cars. The unit itself looks nice enough.
It has basic recording functions and the recordings are in 5-minute segments (to avoid large files, which are easier to corrupt, presumably). The picture quality isn’t bad. I didn’t like the phone app very much once I installed it. Menus seemed a bit squashed up and the instructions were not too good, either. I got there after a bit of messing about.
Connecting to it via my phone took a few minutes to work out, but it worked in the end. I worried about the drain on my battery, so have disconnected the device and stuck it in the glove box, when parked up. It also makes the car a target for thieves, so I think it best to hide it.
I am going to experiment with transferring video to my PC using the SD card.
I’m still finding my way around this unit, as I don’t know that much about them.
My mate asked if it uses GPS, it appears not to. He said it should. I will have to research that.
Really like this. Comes packaged in a rather neat black box with all the necessary bits and bobs. The only thing you will need to get is an micro SD card and you are away. The barrel shape is great, low profile so as to not attract too much attention and practical in positioning where the lens points. Picture is great, very sharp with loads of detail, exactly what you need. I got this for a friend who was recently caught in a nasty car crash, the footage from the car behind was the only thing that got him sympathy from the insurance company… So this is surely essential for your friends and family.
This Road angel camera came in a smart black box which had two drawers, one for the camera and the other for the lead and plug, I couldn’t find any directions, but eventually found them tucked inside the lid of one of the drawers. Once I had read them it was plain sailing.
The app was easy to find and download in a few seconds, I’m using a HTC U11 Android phone, it quickly found the camera and connected, this was all very simple, the app allows all options, I soon had it taking photos and videos around the room, good photos too.
Next I took it out to my Jeep Cherokee sport, it fitted with ease to the top of the screen (clean screen area before sticking) the 3M pad stuck firmly, I did make sure I could see the road clearly using the phone app before sticking, I like the fact there’s no screen on camera to distract you.
I found the lead plenty long enough to tuck into the dashboard panels so it wasn’t on show, I connected it to the power point down in front of gear shift, there’s two, one is permanent power the other goes on with ignition, I chose the latter so camera turns off when I leave car, I park in my drive so don’t require it to work when I’m not in it, but it’s easy to swap to the permanently on power point if required
I have found the who!e thing easy, only done two journeys with it running so far but very pleased with it, I’m not a techno expert by a long way! If I can make it work it then it’s easy.
5 stars from me, I will probably but another for my old Blazer too
This car dash camera will be suitable for front use only unless you can find an additional mount, as the one comes attached to is short and will not bring the camera down far enough from rear window top to see the road. This was the only flaw I found with it.
On to the set up. Using my latest model pixel android phone I found the app halo easily in Google store and it was free to download.
I had a minor issue with the installation in that it would not connect to the camera though this was plugged into a usb socket in the house, and had a micro SD card inserted. Note; you need to ensure you buy one of these and a reader for inside the house for ease of use I’ll explain later why the latter). Or you get error spoken repeatedly and install won’t work.
Once card was inserted it said formatting disc or similar and it was good to go.
Installation into the car was fine for the front attaching it to the area near the rear view mirror directly onto the windscreen.
I did test it to see if would work as a rear view camera but as I said earlier it’s mount is not deep enough to take the camera lenses far down enough from the window border and enable a view of the road and cars behind radiators. Most only use a dash cam but I like to have rear in addition.
I’ve had cat cams for 6 years now and this will be my fourth used. The current pair I have have been the best as lasted for 4 or so years without issues. They like this one are linked into the ignition system by plugging into the cigarette lighter socket, and turn on and off with the use of the car.
Do not work g to do. If you want them to film constantly you would need to them wired in to the cars system so always on but I would not recommend this as you might drain your battery.
The file system when recording consists of short segments but is continuously record as no intervals of activity are missed. This makes viewing within the phone app a little tedious and I would recommend you obtain a micro SD reader for use either with a computer or that can be linked to your mobile via a data lead, as it makes it so much easier. I was able to use my phone for this purpose but the small screen does not make viewing easy and then files can be quicker selected in the comfort of your home or at least away from the car, which requires the ignition to be on in order the road angel to be on and connected to your phone. Using my recommendation you will need none of these things and will have a beer view of the video footage. The date and time is clear also see photo of this and the file system on the computer once micro SD card connection made.
The footage is clear and the angle is wide. I am satisfied with it. The sound quality is good and you can hear both inside and outside the car when traveling.
This is a good camera for use as a dash camera. If a rear camera is needed it might be worth investigating whether they do an adaptor for taking it further down / away from the top of the rear window.
5.0 out of 5 stars Get a micro SD card reader for viewing and selection of files.
Really impressed with the was this dashcam was packaged. It was presented in a very smart box with 2 separate pull out compartments containing the camera and cables etc.
One it was all unpacked, I was struck by how small the camera itself is. The supplied cable is adequate for most fitting procedures, but it wasn’t quite long enough to reach the lighter socket in my Nissan 370zGT as it is in the center console. Fortunately, there is a second light socket in the 370 located just under the glove compartment on the passenger side so I have had to use that – not ideal for reasons I’ll get to in a moment.
I gauged roughly where I was going to mount the camera and then started to conceal the power cable behind the head lining, down the A pillar, down the back of the door seal and then under the glove compartment. That’s the hardest bit done.
The package also includes an adapter to fit into your lighter socket that provides 2 USB outputs. This is where I have a slight issue with the power supply. The included twin adapter is almost as long as the camera itself so does protrude into the leg area. When the USB lead is plugged into it, it makes it protrude even further so there is a risk of passengers catching it with their legs. This wouldn’t have been an issue if the supplied cable had been longer as I could have routed the cable to the center console. However, I’m left with a rather cumbersome setup where the adapter and USB lead are sticking out into the footwell on the passenger side.
I inserted a micro SD card into the camera and this was automatically formatted as soon as I switched on the ignition. I heard a womans voice emanate from the camera to say the Halo was active and an orange flashing light to say things were working OK.
I then went on to download the Halo app. This was over 30MB in size. The instructions supplied were on the vague side so I had to fumble my way through the setup procedure.
1) Go to your device settings and connect to the camara wifi manually.
2) Start the App and then “Add” the camera by clicking on the + at the top.
The app itself needs a lot of attention. It’s quite difficult to navigate and on my Galaxy S9 android phone, some of the categories in the menus were clipped from view and unreadable. After having scrolled through a few settings, I then found it impossible to get back to previewing the camera footage “live”. In the end, the only way I could get back to “live” streaming was to turn off the ignition (and therefore the camera) and then restart it. Then close the App on the phone and restart that – whereupon I could then view the live stream.
Pro’s:
No doubt about it, the camera feels and looks very good quality indeed.
Fairly easy to get the camera up and running.
Con’s:
At this price point I would have likes GPS built in
A longer power cable would be beneficial
A redesigned cigar lighter adapter that isn’t as long or has the USB sockets on the side rather than on the front.
The App needs redesigning from the ground up. At the time of writing this review it has 2.3 out of 5 stars rating.
I’d love to try out a higher spec Road Angel Dash Camera. Quality-wise I can not fault it.
UPDATE TO REVIEW:
After a 2 hour journey last weekend, I had an error from this dashcam with the voice saying “SD Card Error”. This repeated verbal warning continued constantly without stopping until I was able to pull over (on a motorway) and I could unplug the dashcam. I left it for 5 minutes then plugged it back in and it appeared OK for a minute or so but then the verbal error returned. For everyones information, the SD card I was using was a brand new leading brand card – not a cheap card and I have tested the card on my PC since returning from the troublesome journey and it has worked faultlessly so I can only assume the dashcam is at fault here rather than the card. I have ordered a replacement card so that I can conduct further tests and will update this review once I’m finished.
Thss Halo Drive dash cam from Road Angel is designed to be a discrete cam that you can install on your dash and then just leave running until you need to review it’s recordings.
The cam comes sensibly packaged in cardboard and comes with:
The unit itself
A Micro-USB to USB charging cable
A USB to 12V adapter.
A 3M sticker for mounting on the dash.
It doesn’t come with a Micro-USB card, needed for recording so this will need to be factored into the cost (though they are pretty cheap these days). I had a spare one so popped that in.
Initial set-up involved plugging the USB cable in, popping the card (which then auto initialised), from there it is all accessed by an app.
Instal the app via the Play store (Or Apple store for IOS), connect to the device via wifi (it has inbuilt wifi connectivity) and you should then be able to add the drive to your app. I had problems here and it failed every time i tried to add it on my Moto G6, which is running a current Android version. I decided to try adding it via my old Galaxy Note 3 (running an older Android) and this worked perfectly. Certainly something to be aware of.
Reviewing footage via the app is very easy and once here you can save clips and download them to your device.
The picture quality is good and a good resolution, helping a ensure a good clear image for review.
Overall this seems a decent straight forward dash cam. I’m not a huge user of these, I understand it lacks some features that they have but I’m finding it works well for my basic need of capturing what is going on. Be aware of the issue I’ve had with connecting via my newer phone though. No idea if this is a general issue or specific to my device.
Esta cmara de salpicadero Halo Drive de Road Angel, es bastante compacta, se puede poner perfectamente en el salpicadero o detrs del espejo retrovisor. Se conecta a travs de la toma de corriente auxiliar del coche o al mechero, con el adaptador incluido.
La cmara se fija con una simple pestaa adhesiva y gira para permitir encontrar la mejor posicin posible. Ofrece un ngulo de 140 grados, lo que hace que las imgenes sean amplias.
Antes de poder usar la cmara es necesario descargar su aplicacin, en ella se pueden ver y descargar los videos y las imgenes tomadas por la cmara . Aparte de est instalacin inicial, no es necesario hacer nada ms, la cmara funciona sola.
Proporciona imgenes y video Quad HD de 1440p. Se enciende cuando arrancamos el coche y comienza a grabar instantneamente. Las fotos se toman a intervalos regulares durante el trayecto y se almacenan en la tarjeta SD del dispositivo si la tenemos instalada ( no viene incluida). El modo de vista previa en vivo te permite ver grabaciones de vdeo en tiempo real en tu telfono, sin tener que descargarlas. Tambin se puede acceder a las imgenes y videos a travs de la aplicacin Halo Drive y se pueden editar y descargar en cualquier momento.
Pero, no solo graba y toma fotografas, sino que tambin tiene un micrfono integrado que captura un audio ntido. Tambin incluye funciones interesantes como sensor G, que detecta movimientos bruscos y acelerones; Modo de estacionamiento real 24 horas, despus de 15 min de inactividad entra en este modo y si detecta un evento o movimiento, reanuda la grabacin normal y Modo de invierno, que ayuda a derretir el hielo del cristal, proporcionando calor. Es necesario utilizar el Kit de cableado para mantener la unidad en funcionamiento 24 horas al da. Adems alertar si la tarjeta SD deja de funcionar y es necesario formatearla.
Existe la posibilidad de cablear la cmara en el coche, mediante un kit de cableado, que no viene incluido, pero que se puede encontrar fcilmente en Amazon o en la pgina de la marca.
En definitiva, me parece una cmara de salpicadero muy til sobre todo para los que se pasan el da en la carretera y quieren documentar sus viajes por lo que pudiera pasar. Recomendable
Belle qualit d’image de jour comme de nuit.
– Trs simple d’utilisation et fiable (on ne s’occuper de rien).
– Possibilit de rcuprer les vidos sur la carte SD une fois celle-ci branche sur un PC.
– Discrte, elle s’est se faire oublie.
l’application tlphone manque d’ergonomie. Pas simple de retrouver un moment prcis.
– Cela tlcharge les vidos sur le tlphone, attention la saturation de mmoire.
– Il manque un kit pour la brancher sur les fusibles et qu’elle fonctionne en permanence. Ici elle se branche uniquement sur l’allume cigare ce qui fait que ds que le moteur est coup, elle n’enregistre plus.
Rsum : Super qualit d’image ( condition d’avoir d’avoir un pare brise propre) de jour comme de nuit. L’image ne saccade pas, et elle n’est pas dforme malgr son grand angle..
L’application manque d’ergonomie, c’est un peu brouillon. Je prfre rcuprer les vidos en branchant ma carte SD mon ordi (ce sont des fichiers de 102400Mo).
L’installation est super simple (10 min pour l’installer dans ma cactus), un outil est livr pour passer le cble sous les garnitures de la voiture sans l’abimer.
Bilan : Je suis super satisfait de cette camra, mais j’ai enlev une toile pour le descriptif produit qui prsente un “mode parking” fonctionnant avec un kit d’alimentation non livr avec, et pour l’application qui manque d’ergonomie.
En esprant avoir pu vous clairer sur le choix, ou non, de cet acha
Road Angel bietet eine kleine kompakte Dashcam mit Klebepad.
Mitgeliefert wird auerdem ein Adapter fr den Zigarettenanznder sowie ein MicroUSB-Kabel.
Warum hier noch MicroUSB verbaut wird verstehe ich ehrlichgesagt nicht, andere Dashcams — teilweise sogar gnstiger — setzen schon lngst auf USB-C.
Die Dashcam lsst sich einfach befestigen. Der Winkel kann einfach durch drehen eingestellt werden. Das Bild berblickt meine Stostange von beiden Scheinwerfern.
Die App synchronisiert automatisch Zeit und Datum an die Dashcam und zeigt auch das Bild an.
Das Bild wirkt klar und speichern auf einer MicroSD klappt super.
Auch bei Dunkelheit ist das Bild klar und Kennzeichen lassen sich noch lesen.
Also an sich eine gute Dashcam.
Allerdings gibt’s nur 3,5 Sterne:
– 0,5 Sterne werden abgezogen, da kein GPS Modul verbaut ist (andere Dashcams in dieser Preisklasse kommen mit GPS-Modul)
– 1 Stern Abzug wegen MicroUSB
Am Ende wird auf solide 4 Sterne aufgerundet, da keine halben Sterne vergeben werden knnen.
This dash cam is great. Price was good and you get the benefit of its full settings when you either hardwire it or use an obd connection to always have a live feed.
Initially I was frustrated with the dash cam, I was unable to get the 24hr monitoring to work (instructions were to turn time lapse on) however there is no time lapse option!!! On fiddling with the settings there is a drop-down which asks full picture/thumbnail pic/sentry. If you click thumbnail and 24hr then when the car is parked up the light turns blue and hey presto time lapse 24 HR recording.
Now the app, there has been a few complaints about this but I can’t really fault it. It connects with no issue to my phone, I’m able to download clips if I wish and all this over WiFi with no need to take the SD card out! Yes Bluetooth would be easier but I have no issue using the WiFi.
Overall excellent, great picture quality and can’t fault it. If your looking for a dash cam I highly recommend
Absolutely brilliant little camera a bit flawed that it didn’t come with a hardwire kit cheaper models come with either hardwire kit or a choice I had to purchase a cheaper camera make hardwire kit apart from that little thing I can’t fault it picture quality is brilliant and the fact it talks to you when turning it on and it feels a bump it gives you a warning and saves that clip into a separate folde
Good camera. First one I got was faulty but was replaced next day first class service from Amazon . Unfortunley. Hard wire kit was not included with package reading description you get the impression it is supplied with camera ? Which is a pity. Or it would be a great buy Could Amazon. Have forgotten to put kit in package
Set up in a few minutes, with great crystal clear image capture.
Hard wired is a necessity if you want the park function to be operational, don’t be fooled into buying the RA hardwire kit @ 23.00 I did and it was damaged on delivery (twice), I bought a spurious one instead (11.00) and works perfectly and wasn’t damaged on delivery – simple 2 wire connection (earth and fuse box) and connect up.
This is by far the best dash cam I have ever purchased , I’d even go as far as saying it’s better than the next best selling brand! Great picture quality , you can download the videos straight to your phone while your sat in the car by connecting to it! 100% recommend!
This is a fantastic dashcam, the only issue I have is that you have to connect via its own WiFi whenever you want to view footage (unless you want to remove the card).
It would be great if it had Bluetooth connectivity.
A good quality dashcam, and small enough to be well hidden out of view behind the rear view mirror.
Unlike another dashcam I’ve tried, I was able to get the companion app on my phone to connect to it and view/download video, although I didn’t find its interface particularly smooth to use. I could however get a live view on my phone to make sure the camera was angled appropriately, and download clips – although the last dashcam I used had a small screen which made the former point even easier, and it was easy enough to just pull the SD card as and when I wanted to copy videos off. I do miss the screen from time to time. At least the little “Halo active” voice announcement on startup and a chime on shutdown let you know it’s working.
One big thing I miss is a convenient “protect the current recording” button; on a previous dashcam I’ve used, it was very handy, if you see an instance of silly driving etc to be able to just hit that button and know that the recording will be saved for later reference – and it’s something you could do by feel while driving along easily. I’m certainly not pulling out my phone, opening up their app, getting it to connect to the camera etc while moving.
I’ve found videos downloaded from it to be of pretty good quality, although it’s still tricky to make out licence plates at much of a distance.
One of the current mysteries to me is why car manufacturers do not have the option of a pre-installed camera system in cars. I have a new reasonably decent car with more electronic gadgets that I’ll ever use but, despite having a front facing camera that works as part of the GPS system, there isn’t one that can do recording for safety and insurance purposes.
Until the time comes when that happens – which I’m sure it will – we have to use 3rd party devices such as this one. There are of course many makes most of whom I have never heard of. I’m sure that most work well enough, however this comes with the added veneer of a brand name and the design that goes with it.
And that means it gives that feeling of a well designed and well made product which in some way justifies the higher price. You do have to factor into this a micro-SD card as well so add another few quid.
Out of the box it is clear that this is a high quality bit of kit. Good, neat and compact design with a quality throughout. The only thing that is a bit odd is the micro-SD card fitting. Normally when one pushes in an SD card it clicks into place against a spring detent and remains in place until it is pressed again. On this camera you push in the micro-SD card and nothing. It just pushes back out again. You have to close the cover against it to hold it into place which, is either an odd design or my camera has a small fault.
You first have to set this up and I did so in my kitchen which, was easy because the power supply is a USB cable so fairly ubiquitous.
You download the app, install it on your phone and of course set up the inevitable account. Once you do that you power up the camera, locate it on WiFi – which means you disconnect from your house WiFi to do so – and then allow the camera and phone app to talk.
Once done you disconnect from the camera and back onto your house network.
To fit this into the car is a simple matter of sticking the camera in a suitable place. Which I didn’t I forgot that the field of vision for this camera is very wide and instead of giving it a bit of room I stuck it on the top of my windshield next to the large plastic cover where my mirror hangs and a few more electronic goodies reside. Thus half of the field of vision is black plastic. Doh! Given that it uses a 3m double sided pad I’ll have to scrape it off and move it.
Then there is the big issue with all of these cameras. The power cable. The long USB cable has to be routed around the screen so as to be powered by the included lighter socket PS – which also has a second USB power outlet which is a nice touch. Inevitably you have to face the reality that your nice new car has a carbunckle of a cable running around it if you want to have a front facing camera. It is a small price to pay I guess if it means saving your insurance premium.
Unless you are the idiot who did it…..
You can watch and download videos from your camera onto your mobile phone for the usual important stuff. YouTube mainly I suspect…
Overall, a great car camera and a well made one.
The camera comes with a 2m power cable, 12v cigarette lighter adapter and a 3M sticker to apply it to the windscreen.
It does not come with the micro SD card needed to be able to record!
Once the SD card was inserted it needed formatting, which was a little tricky as the instructions provided are not that good. We needed to phone the customer service team to sort the process out.
The camera is small and is fitted easily behind the rear view mirror in my VW Golf, I was able to tuck the cable in around the windscreen, down the passenger side, through the glove box and plug it in.
You need to download the Halo app to a smartphone then follow the simple instructions to connect to the camera.
This is the first dashcam that I have used and was very impressed with the wide field of view you get from such a small device.
Initially, I was unplugging the dashcam when I was not using my car, then plugging it back in if I was driving anywhere, the camera tells you when it is activated. Now I leave it plugged in as I have discovered that it films 24/7, its amazing to playback the footage and watch the sunrise or sunset, also could be beneficial depending on where you park as it acts as a CCTV. The longest I have left it plugged in without using my car has been ~48 hours and there was no problem with the battery.
The camera stores ~36hours of footage before overwriting, so remember to download any clips you want to keep asap. To download footage you need to sit in the car and be connected to the camera, You could take out the SD card, but once the camera is stuck behind the mirror that can be tricky.
Additional information from a family member who has a different make of dash cam:
The Halo is a neat little dash cam – It would benefit from better installation instructions though. Most dash cams have a display, sometimes touch-screen. This makes them larger, for the most part, and it is a matter of personal choice which you prefer. Mine continually displays the vehicle’s speed, which is more accurate than the car’s odometer. Some dash cams also link to safety cameras and give warnings. Mine has this feature and I find it very helpful; Road Angel also sell separate devices that detect safety cameras so I imagine they didn’t want to duplicate function and make more complex offerings at this level.
I found the download process more complex for the Halo, but the video quality is certainly excellent and I like the fact it is always on; mine shuts down when the car is parked.
Overall, it is a good dash cam and with the very few caveats above, I’d recommend it.
Definitely a strong and good quality camera – well designed appearance and looks purposeful when fitted. Agree totally with the criticisms of the app which is very twitchy and doesn’t do the camera justice. Cabling can look unsightly when everything is plugged in. A mixed profile.
The Road Angel Halo is a decent dash cam for a slightly more premium price. It’s easily enough to install with the instructions provided, although it will take a bit of fiddling around to make sure the relatively thick cable can be hidden away within your car and still powered.
The app is a little fiddly to get installed and get up and running, and there are some issues around the fact it doesn’t seem to be quite as easy with one phone to another. Not great considering there are no controls on the camera itself so you have to make sure your phone is compatible.
It also doesn’t have GPS (another 50 for the Pro version to get that), so there are pro’s and con’s to this for sure. The main functioning camera though is very good, and produces very nice high quality imagery.
This is the first dashcam I’ve seen which has a capacitor instead of a battery. This is better because capacitors are much less heat sensitive – I wouldn’t want to leave a dashcam containing a lithium battery inside my car on a hot summer’s day due to the fire risk.
This dashcam is compact – it has no LCD screen. Instead it connects with your phone via WiFi, using it as your screen.
It takes a maximum 128Gb card – my current dashcam only takes a maximum 32Gb card. The advantage is that a longer time passes before the original recording is recorded over. A 32Gb card can complete a full cycle (i.e. be recorded over) in as little as a 2 hour drive. I once tried to view a recording after a 3 hour or so drive (on my current dashcam) and was astounded that it had been recorded over. In theory, you should be able to put a 128 Gb card in any dashcam but it doesn’t work like that – they are not compatible. This one accepting a 128 Gb card is a massive plus.
The camera resolution is high – an advantage as lower resolutions won’t capture a clear number plate under certain circumstances. I have had incidents where I have viewed my (current) dashcam after an event, confident that the number plate was recorded, only to discover it was indistinguishable (e.g. blurred). When you get a dashcam, I suggest you play a recording back to check to see if you can make out number plates as you may be surprised how often you can’t, mainly on vehicles not directly in front of you (relevant if someone travelling in the opposite direction at speed scrapes you, for example).
Similarly, all dashcams tend to use wide angle lenses which has the disadvantage that they make things seem further away than they are. The relevance is that you can need a camera with a good resolution to make out a number plate that is only a few car lengths in front of you.
For that reason, if something happens, I suggest saying the number plate aloud so that it is recorded on the soundtrack – it is easy to assume that your camera has recorded it only to discover it hasn’t.
For the same reason, I use the highest frame rate when recording (as a medium frame rate may display a fast moving number plate as a blur). High frame rates devour memory – another reason for welcoming a dashcam which accepts up to 128 Gb cards.
The biggest disadvantage – there’s no GPS. You need GPS not simply to record location but also to record your speed. This can be critical in proving you weren’t speeding.
It is expensive – 138.58 at the time of review which is too much for a dashcam without GPS in my opinion. I suspect that it may be in a Lightning Deal in the future or that the price may be reduced. My star rating is for its quality, not the price as the latter is likely to change.
Reading through the reviews, especially the negative ones, I think this product has had an unfair reception.
The mounting system is good. I had another very good dashcam which I simply can’t use because it falls off no matter how carefully I mount it.
I don’t have any probolm with the lead or the power system. The plug doesn’t protrude very far and certainly no further than most devices which use the cigarette lighter. If your car predates the fashion for charge points, it’s worth getting a cup-shaped power adapter that sits next to the handbrake and will give you a couple of cigarette lighter sockets and some USB points.
It doesn’t have GPS and some dashcams do. It is an advantage but I am not sure it matters a great deal.
I agree that the app is fiddly. It downloaded easily but it took me about three goes to connect and the instructions weren’t brilliant (though better than several Chinese dashcams I have tested). Someone reported that it’s slow to download video clips. There is no need to do this. Just take the card out and upload to a computer. You won’t have to do this very often unless you are extremely accident prone or your idea of Saturday evening entertainment is reliving your journey on the A5123 to Towcester. The important thing about the app is that it shows you what kind of picture you are getting and even if you have to connect 3 times, it is still easier to do this than fiddle with the menus on the other dash cams I have tried. Once you have checked it is pointing in the right direction, the device will work perfectly well without a phone connected.
The other advantage of this approach is that, because it doesn’t need a screen, it is much smaller, and lighter than most dashcams (and therefore less prone to falling off) and uses up less windscreen real estate. Mine is more or less hidden behind my mirror and doesn’t impeded my view at all. One tip in locating it: make sure it is inside the area covered by your windscreen wipers. I made that mistake with my first dashcam and when I needed to get a numberplate, it was unreadable behind the raindrops.
The build quality, the physical design and the picture quality are excellent and in my view it is a better choice than a lot of dash cams which have 5 star reviews.
On taking the Road Angel out it’s rather smart box, I was surprised how light it was weighing in at only 63gm and measuring just 8.7 x 3 x 4.3 cm. The box contains, the road angel camera, 12v power adapter, power cable, which is 2 metres in length and a 3m sticker to secure you camera. The box does not contain the Class 10 Micro SD Card, making the camera useless without purchasing one. In my opinion the card should be included in the rather expensive price of he kit your about to buy. The cable has to be tucked behind the dashboard ect. so its out of sight and not dangling over the windscreen. Having plugged the usb cable into the included adapter I was ready to go. I downloaded the Road Angle app and Installed the app without incident. All worked well and I could play back the live view footage. I’m not a fan of leaving anything that looks inviting lying in my car when I’m not in it and wonder if leaving this expensive camera on show will attract unwanted attention. The camera has a Parking Mode to help protect your vehicle when you’re not in it . This uses a G-Sensor to detect movement, but needs the power in the 12V and USB sockets, but in my car these are turned off when the car is switched off. This is a great camera and does everything I want it to do in order to help make my journeys safer, it does need tweaking however and has a heafty price tag, therefore it’s 4* from me folks
This was the 1st dashcam that I’ve used having seen many of them on the road I decided to try this one. Setup was straight forward but the main problem I had was the power cable was not long enough to reach the center of the car where my socket was located so I had to move the camera to the right a few feet so it was not in the middle of the windscreen but was not a problem. The app needs a bit of work as it crashes a lot on my phone and not sure why but managed to get the footage I needed, I just wish it was plug and play without the need for an app.
The picture quality was good enough and you can just about make out the number plates from the cars in front, its a little pricey compared to other dashcam’s on the market would of been nice to include GPS but overall I’m happy with it.
This product comes attractively boxed. You get the camera unit, a cable that could have done with being a bit longer and a power adaptor which goes in lighter slot in cars. The unit itself looks nice enough.
It has basic recording functions and the recordings are in 5-minute segments (to avoid large files, which are easier to corrupt, presumably). The picture quality isn’t bad. I didn’t like the phone app very much once I installed it. Menus seemed a bit squashed up and the instructions were not too good, either. I got there after a bit of messing about.
Connecting to it via my phone took a few minutes to work out, but it worked in the end. I worried about the drain on my battery, so have disconnected the device and stuck it in the glove box, when parked up. It also makes the car a target for thieves, so I think it best to hide it.
I am going to experiment with transferring video to my PC using the SD card.
I’m still finding my way around this unit, as I don’t know that much about them.
My mate asked if it uses GPS, it appears not to. He said it should. I will have to research that.
This Road angel camera came in a smart black box which had two drawers, one for the camera and the other for the lead and plug, I couldn’t find any directions, but eventually found them tucked inside the lid of one of the drawers. Once I had read them it was plain sailing.
The app was easy to find and download in a few seconds, I’m using a HTC U11 Android phone, it quickly found the camera and connected, this was all very simple, the app allows all options, I soon had it taking photos and videos around the room, good photos too.
Next I took it out to my Jeep Cherokee sport, it fitted with ease to the top of the screen (clean screen area before sticking) the 3M pad stuck firmly, I did make sure I could see the road clearly using the phone app before sticking, I like the fact there’s no screen on camera to distract you.
I found the lead plenty long enough to tuck into the dashboard panels so it wasn’t on show, I connected it to the power point down in front of gear shift, there’s two, one is permanent power the other goes on with ignition, I chose the latter so camera turns off when I leave car, I park in my drive so don’t require it to work when I’m not in it, but it’s easy to swap to the permanently on power point if required
I have found the who!e thing easy, only done two journeys with it running so far but very pleased with it, I’m not a techno expert by a long way! If I can make it work it then it’s easy.
5 stars from me, I will probably but another for my old Blazer too
On to the set up. Using my latest model pixel android phone I found the app halo easily in Google store and it was free to download.
I had a minor issue with the installation in that it would not connect to the camera though this was plugged into a usb socket in the house, and had a micro SD card inserted. Note; you need to ensure you buy one of these and a reader for inside the house for ease of use I’ll explain later why the latter). Or you get error spoken repeatedly and install won’t work.
Once card was inserted it said formatting disc or similar and it was good to go.
Installation into the car was fine for the front attaching it to the area near the rear view mirror directly onto the windscreen.
I did test it to see if would work as a rear view camera but as I said earlier it’s mount is not deep enough to take the camera lenses far down enough from the window border and enable a view of the road and cars behind radiators. Most only use a dash cam but I like to have rear in addition.
I’ve had cat cams for 6 years now and this will be my fourth used. The current pair I have have been the best as lasted for 4 or so years without issues. They like this one are linked into the ignition system by plugging into the cigarette lighter socket, and turn on and off with the use of the car.
Do not work g to do. If you want them to film constantly you would need to them wired in to the cars system so always on but I would not recommend this as you might drain your battery.
The file system when recording consists of short segments but is continuously record as no intervals of activity are missed. This makes viewing within the phone app a little tedious and I would recommend you obtain a micro SD reader for use either with a computer or that can be linked to your mobile via a data lead, as it makes it so much easier. I was able to use my phone for this purpose but the small screen does not make viewing easy and then files can be quicker selected in the comfort of your home or at least away from the car, which requires the ignition to be on in order the road angel to be on and connected to your phone. Using my recommendation you will need none of these things and will have a beer view of the video footage. The date and time is clear also see photo of this and the file system on the computer once micro SD card connection made.
The footage is clear and the angle is wide. I am satisfied with it. The sound quality is good and you can hear both inside and outside the car when traveling.
This is a good camera for use as a dash camera. If a rear camera is needed it might be worth investigating whether they do an adaptor for taking it further down / away from the top of the rear window.
One it was all unpacked, I was struck by how small the camera itself is. The supplied cable is adequate for most fitting procedures, but it wasn’t quite long enough to reach the lighter socket in my Nissan 370zGT as it is in the center console. Fortunately, there is a second light socket in the 370 located just under the glove compartment on the passenger side so I have had to use that – not ideal for reasons I’ll get to in a moment.
I gauged roughly where I was going to mount the camera and then started to conceal the power cable behind the head lining, down the A pillar, down the back of the door seal and then under the glove compartment. That’s the hardest bit done.
The package also includes an adapter to fit into your lighter socket that provides 2 USB outputs. This is where I have a slight issue with the power supply. The included twin adapter is almost as long as the camera itself so does protrude into the leg area. When the USB lead is plugged into it, it makes it protrude even further so there is a risk of passengers catching it with their legs. This wouldn’t have been an issue if the supplied cable had been longer as I could have routed the cable to the center console. However, I’m left with a rather cumbersome setup where the adapter and USB lead are sticking out into the footwell on the passenger side.
I inserted a micro SD card into the camera and this was automatically formatted as soon as I switched on the ignition. I heard a womans voice emanate from the camera to say the Halo was active and an orange flashing light to say things were working OK.
I then went on to download the Halo app. This was over 30MB in size. The instructions supplied were on the vague side so I had to fumble my way through the setup procedure.
1) Go to your device settings and connect to the camara wifi manually.
2) Start the App and then “Add” the camera by clicking on the + at the top.
The app itself needs a lot of attention. It’s quite difficult to navigate and on my Galaxy S9 android phone, some of the categories in the menus were clipped from view and unreadable. After having scrolled through a few settings, I then found it impossible to get back to previewing the camera footage “live”. In the end, the only way I could get back to “live” streaming was to turn off the ignition (and therefore the camera) and then restart it. Then close the App on the phone and restart that – whereupon I could then view the live stream.
Pro’s:
No doubt about it, the camera feels and looks very good quality indeed.
Fairly easy to get the camera up and running.
Con’s:
At this price point I would have likes GPS built in
A longer power cable would be beneficial
A redesigned cigar lighter adapter that isn’t as long or has the USB sockets on the side rather than on the front.
The App needs redesigning from the ground up. At the time of writing this review it has 2.3 out of 5 stars rating.
I’d love to try out a higher spec Road Angel Dash Camera. Quality-wise I can not fault it.
UPDATE TO REVIEW:
After a 2 hour journey last weekend, I had an error from this dashcam with the voice saying “SD Card Error”. This repeated verbal warning continued constantly without stopping until I was able to pull over (on a motorway) and I could unplug the dashcam. I left it for 5 minutes then plugged it back in and it appeared OK for a minute or so but then the verbal error returned. For everyones information, the SD card I was using was a brand new leading brand card – not a cheap card and I have tested the card on my PC since returning from the troublesome journey and it has worked faultlessly so I can only assume the dashcam is at fault here rather than the card. I have ordered a replacement card so that I can conduct further tests and will update this review once I’m finished.
Thss Halo Drive dash cam from Road Angel is designed to be a discrete cam that you can install on your dash and then just leave running until you need to review it’s recordings.
The cam comes sensibly packaged in cardboard and comes with:
The unit itself
A Micro-USB to USB charging cable
A USB to 12V adapter.
A 3M sticker for mounting on the dash.
It doesn’t come with a Micro-USB card, needed for recording so this will need to be factored into the cost (though they are pretty cheap these days). I had a spare one so popped that in.
Initial set-up involved plugging the USB cable in, popping the card (which then auto initialised), from there it is all accessed by an app.
Instal the app via the Play store (Or Apple store for IOS), connect to the device via wifi (it has inbuilt wifi connectivity) and you should then be able to add the drive to your app. I had problems here and it failed every time i tried to add it on my Moto G6, which is running a current Android version. I decided to try adding it via my old Galaxy Note 3 (running an older Android) and this worked perfectly. Certainly something to be aware of.
Reviewing footage via the app is very easy and once here you can save clips and download them to your device.
The picture quality is good and a good resolution, helping a ensure a good clear image for review.
Overall this seems a decent straight forward dash cam. I’m not a huge user of these, I understand it lacks some features that they have but I’m finding it works well for my basic need of capturing what is going on. Be aware of the issue I’ve had with connecting via my newer phone though. No idea if this is a general issue or specific to my device.