Today, I want to show you a new dash cam recently released by Yi…the mini dash cam. What I like about this is that it is a smaller and more discreet form factor as compared to their other dash cams. It is a wedge type camera that hugs and blends well with your windshield that if you don’t look closely, you will think that it is a part of the original equipment of your car.
Let’s check out the features…it is a 1080p full HD with a wide angle lens and a field of view of 140 degrees. It has a 2 inch LCD screen and also records audio with a built-in mic and speaker.
It accepts a micro SD card for recording video from 8 GB to 64 GB.
It is WiFi accessible with your smartphone via the app on IOS or Android platforms.
It has an emergency recording feature when there is a collision or hard braking, the camera will automatically lock and protect the footage.
The USB power cable is 11.5 feet which is long enough for installations on any cars or trucks.
So, let’s open up the box.
We have the dash cam and you will see the 2.0 inch LCD screen..a red emergency record button, record or previous, playback or next and the power button..a status and charging indicator LED lights.
On the right side
At the front, we have the 3M mounting tape, vents and the camera lens.
The camera lens is adjustable up or down, so you can easily adjust it whenever it is already mounted in your windshield.
On the left side, we have the mic and the reset button.
Now, this camera mounts on your windshield like so..making the distance on the camera lens to the windshield minimal decreasing the glare…plus it makes it more discreet as compared to the traditional rectangular dash camera in a suction mount.
So, what else is inside the box…
We have the user guide which is pretty thorough and is translated in several languages..
We have warranty card
A social media information card for the Yi.
and some advertising leaflet..
hmm which I didn’t know that Yi also makes drones…
We have a USB car charger
and the 11 1/2 feet micro USB power cable.
Plugging in the cable automatically turns on the camera and if you have the micro SD card installed, it will start recording.
Initally, it will prompt you to install the Yi Smart Dash Camera app so that you can access the footage via the app.
To install the micro SD card, just push it in on the slot…
Let’s check out the settings…to turn on the dash cam manually..push the power button and hold for a second..to get to the settings, push the button again
First on the settings is the resolution..defaults to 1080p at 30 FPS or you can lower it down to 720p at 30 FPS which I don’t recommend.
Then, we have the video duration which the video clips can be 1 minute or 3 minutes long..so basically the camera split the footage 1 or 3 minutes long..
Then, we have the mic – on or off
G sensor sensitivity…so, whenever there is a collision or hard braking, the camera will lock the current scene and records for 10 seconds..this footage will not be recorded over.
LCD on time…1 min, 5 mins, 10 mins or always on..
Then, brightness – low, medium, high
WiFi – which defaults to “on”
Then, formatSD card – doing this will erase all the data on the card
There is factory reset…
Set date and time…
Power on or off sound and also clicking the button sounds…if you want them on or off.
Driving report.. which after 10 minutes of driving, when you turn off the car, it will show the acceleration, brakes and driving time.
Lastly, we have the language and about info.
Now, let’s install this in my windshield…using the 3M mounting tape, just find a permanent location for the camera. As you can see, this type of form factor is pretty good for a more permanent and discreet install. Just route the wires up and tuck it in your headliner..down the A pillar..under dash and to the nearest outlet…newer cars have the USB port and you can just plug it in. Just make sure that it turns on when the car is on and off when the car is off.
Let’s check out some video footage…
How about some night footage..
Depending on the outside lighting…the video clip is decent but when you start driving on streets that don’t have light posts and mostly dark…you will notice some grainy artifacts mostly on the edges or in dark areas of the footage.
Lastly, you can use the Yi Dashcam app to get to live view, access and download the video clips to your phone using the camera’s built-in WiFi. Just click on the upper left menu on the app., click my devices…
add device..select the Yi mini dash cam at the bottom.
Make sure the camera is on click next..
Confirm that the WiFi is on… take note of the password… and click choose WiFi…
Select the Yi Car Cam network…and type in the password…which is basically 1 thru 9 and 0 at the end… and click join.. when connected, go back to the app.
You will then see a live view from the camera..
Click on Album if you want to see the video footage..
Select on the footage that you want to watch which is a bit slow in loading the video..
And if you want to download the clip…click the download button… which is also slow to download a 1-minute clip… I think it would be better just to remove the micro SD card and view or upload the footage to your computer.
Another thing that I noticed is the LCD screen. You really cannot tilt it up or down when it is already installed and also depending on your windshield,…you will barely see anything on the 2-inch screen when it is in an angle. Also because it is a square and the aspect ratio is 16:9..Yi compressed the view making everything thinner…
Also, the achilles heel of any dash camera is the micro SD card..first, I recommend for you to get a high endurance card. The heat and also frequent recording over will take its toll…I’ll link some below that I am using…So, a dashcam needs to have an alarm or an alert feature whenever the card goes bad and doesn’t record…This is a feature that is missing from this dash cam.
Yi Mini Dashcamera – amzn.to/2JukmN6 High Endurance Micro SD card : SanDisk – amzn.to/2I494PS Silicon Power – amzn.to/2r0tO3W Transcend – amzn.to/2KhIILd