I shouldn’t have to explain the benefits of owning a dash cam anymore. I’ve been preaching for the past few years now that everyone should have one in their car to protect themselves from whatever may come their way. Whether it be a car accident, having a “tree” jump out at your, or even just to protect yourself from an unwarranted traffic violation, a dash cam recording can serve as proof that whatever happened was not your fault. That’s why I won’t drive anywhere without one.
I’ve been super fortune though to be able to try out so many different types of dash cams and from different brands. While many are the same, there are a few that stand out and the 70mai Dash Cam Pro is definitely one of those.
Design
The 70mai Pro is actually a very small and compact unit. While a majority of dash cams I’ve looked at require a separate mounting attachment with the main unit hanging down, the 70mai Pro’s attachment point is pretty much right where the body is. That means that the 70mai Pro sits much closer to your windshield which means it also takes up much less viewing space.
It also achieves a smaller size because of how the main unit is designed. It’s basically a single body design with a built in screen. The camera sits to the left of the unit and can be rotated to adjust the viewing angle up or down. The way it’s designed allows you to place the dash cam behind your rear view mirror and out of your line of sight.
Lastly, while the 70mai Pro does not have built in GPS, there is an optional GPS module you can get that attaches to where the mounting plate would usually go. It’s not that large and still keeps the size of the 70mai Pro pretty small.
Specs
The 70mai Pro has pretty good specs for a 2019 unit. Mainly, the camera has a resolution of 2592×1944 with a 140-degree field of view and an aperture of F1.8. It’s using a Sony IMX335 image sensor and has a DeFog algorithm that helps clear up hazy video.
The 70mai Pro also includes a built in 500mAh battery so it can continue recording even when your vehicle is shut off. It does this via motion detection.
Experience
Like with most dash cams, the 70mail Pro dash cam is a set it and forget it device. You’ll probably not even know it’s there half the time. This again is partially do to its design and small this dash cam actually is.
Installation is a breeze and is the most you’ll probably be interacting with the 70mai Pro. The rest of the time, you can just enjoy your drive and let the dash cam do its work in the background, and let me tell you, it does this like a champ. It’s continuously recording as soon as your start up your vehicle and even when parked, it’ll record while you’re away. It only does this however when it senses some kind of motion or hit.
Video files are shorter than most though as it only seems to record in 1 minute snips. This might make things easier to find later on when you’re looking through the files for a specific event. The 70mai Pro though will automatically save important events as well and will even prompt you when there are events that were saved while you were away from your vehicle.
The 70mai Pro when coupled with the GPS module also allows for ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System). This gives you real-time alerts that warn you when you’re veering off the lane and when you’re about to hit another vehicle ahead. It also lets you know when vehicles start moving ahead of you when stopped. It’s an interesting if you don’t have any of that in your car already, but I tend to usually turn these off. I don’t like when these systems are constantly jabbering away in my ear.
Lastly, the 70mai Pro does something I haven’t seen on other dash cams yet and that’s allow me to control it via voice. It’s mainly used for simple actions so you don’t have to go searching for buttons. You can tell it things like “take a photo” or “record a video” and it’ll do it. You can also say things like turn the screen of or off as well. Again, just simple actions but very neat and time saving.
Final Thoughts
The 70mai Dash Cam Pro is an excellent choice for those looking for a reliable, user friendly dash cam that ticks off pretty much everything you’re looking for in one. It has a a super high definition camera, a backup battery for recording while away, a built-in display to view recordings, and it’s small enough that it can be installed out of the way. Not only that, it’s one of the only dash cams I know of so far that has voice activation.
While this unit doesn’t have a second camera, this is probably one of the top single camera units right now that I’ve tested. This is mainly due to its higher than norm camera resolution and the ability to record while away. With that said, I can see now why it’s rated so highly by customers on a lot of retail sites.
