With so many dash cams on the market these days, you pretty much need some sort of gimmick or feature to really stand out from the crown, but with every coming year, it’s getting harder and harder to do that. You see, we’re at a point now where even if you have the highest specs possible, it’s still not enough because everyone else is doing the same. That’s not to say you can’t find something great out there, on the contrary, you’re more likely now to find something amazing even coming from companies you’ve probably never heard of before. Take for instance the VAVA 4K Dash Cam. This is my first time hearing about them and it already has some very impressive specs out the gate.
I’ll start off by saying that the VAVA 4K Dash Cam looks nothing like the other dash cams I’ve seen. This one is hockey puck shaped and some heft and weight to it. On one end of the puck, you’ll find a single camera unit and on the other end, a rubber door that houses the SD card slot. On top of the unit, there is a micro-USB port for charging.
The VAVA 4K Dash Cam also includes something that no other dash cam I’ve used comes with and that’s a recording button that you can mount on your dash or on your steering wheel. VAVA calls this the Snapshot Button and it allows you to instantly capture a scene without having to fiddle with your dash cam. Tap it once to take a photo and hold down the button to capture video.
In terms of specs, you’re looking at a dash cam that can record at 4K, but can be changed in the settings to output at a variety of different resolutions:
- 3840 x 2160@30fps
- 2560 x 1440@30fps
- 1920 x 1080@60fps
- 1920 x 1080@30fps HDR
The lens has a field of view of 155° which is pretty wide and should give a very clear view of what happens in front of your vehicle. There’s also built in Wi-Fi for transferring of data to your phone, a magnetic window mount, and a built in 320mAh battery so that it can continue recording long after your car has been shut down.
Also Included in the box is a USB cable, 12-volt car plug, and a plastic installation “crowbar” that is used to help tuck the USB cable into your headliner or wherever else it needs to be tucked behind. The kit however does not include an SD card so you’ll have to provide your own and it must be a U3 rated card.
Note that you will need to download the VAVA Dash app to make the most of the VAVA 4K Dash Cam. You’ll need this to adjust all functions and settings due to the fact that the dash cam doesn’t have a display. You’ll also need the app for real-time video streaming, playback, downloading of media files, editing, and sharing if need be. The app is available for both iOS and Android.
Now let’s get down the video quality. Because this is a 4K dash cam, video quality is going to be much better than what is seen on a dash cam that only records at 1080p. The main difference here is that you’ll see a lot more fine detail in the video, such as clearer license plates and street signs. Mainly the extra resolution allows for more important information to be captured because that’s what you really want when you have to use these videos as evidence. The VAVA 4K Dash Cam does an excellent job capturing all this with the 155° lens and captures most of what occurs up front.
The only real complaints about the VAVA 4K Dash Cam I have is the fact that it does not have included GPS and is apparently an add-on. Second, it would have been nice if there was a display built in to make using the dash cam a bit more stream lined. Lastly, this one doesn’t include a rear camera.
Overall, the VAVA 4K Dash Cam seems to be a solid choice for those who are looking for a 4K dash cam without a bunch of unnecessary frills. I do like that it doesn’t take much to install and you can mount it in a place that is out of the way. It’s not cheap though, coming in at around $200 but you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it to you for the extra amounts of detail the VAVA 4K Dash Cam can record. Either way, 4K dash cams are the future and you can expect a lot more of them soon.
