Thinkware F770 Dual Channel Dash Camera Review

 

Video Review

Watch this video to learn the essentials about the Thinkware F770  

 

The Camera

  F750 in a New Body. The Thinkware F770 is a model specifically designed for the North American to be stealthy. It uses the same video hardware of the older F750 but changes the body to be slimmer and less noticeable. Some users have upgraded their F750 using the F770 firmware which shows Thinkware didn’t do too much to improve on the F770.M Video Hardware Thinkware uses the older Ambarella A7 image processor compared to the newer A12 chip. It uses the highest-end A7LA85 which is the only model allowing for 1080P recording for the front and back camera with WiFi.  

Video Quality & Raw Videos

Overview The video quality is one of the best I’ve seen for dual channel cameras under $600. The QVIA Z970 with the mechanical zooming lens could be better but the $575 USD price tag is a bit much. Still it doesn’t match even the $100 single lens dash cameras we reviewed. It’s going to be a while before dual channel cameras can approach that level of quality for a reasonable price. The technology isn’t here yet.

 

Front Camera – Daylight Videos

   

Front Camera – Night Videos

   

Rear Camera

 

Additional Testing Notes

Since I’m strapped for time, here’s additional notes from my tests. In the future this section will be expanded with photos. If you have a specific question leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you!

Installation

• No option to flip the camera in the settings
• To correctly install the rear camera the written text as it faces you needs to be upside down
• Included wire clips were especially effective on curved surfaces as it used thick gel pads compared to the thin tape versions found in other cameras

Computer Program

• There’s a Mac and Windows program, both having the same functionality and layout. Hard to find a specific files as there’s no thumbnails. I’d use dash cam viewer instead.
• For the PC programs you can’t change lane departure/forward collision warnings, g-sensor sensitivity and a number of other features. Use the App instead.

Smartphone Apps

• On some cameras like the Yi Dash Cam you can browse files and record at the same time but not the F770. Once you connect over WiFi all recording stops
• Unfortunately you can’t update the firmware through the app as you can with other cameras such as Blackvue and Yi. You need to manually download a file, place it on a formatted card and insert it into the camera.
• There’s a number of alternative languages and when you change the setting it will change the spoken language.
• You can individually set the brightness which can be useful if the rear window is heavily tinted.
• Switching between parking modes (motion detection, time lapse) will show a prompt letting you know all parking mode files will be deleted first. I don’t know why it forces you to do this. I’m glad I backed up my files first.

Daily Use

• No speed alerts which gives you warnings if you exceed a set speed. I’ve found this useful in other cameras to prevent highway speeding tickets
• While the emergency record is hard to find at least you can’t easily turn off the camera as with other cameras.
• G-Sensor is useful. I would take the time to adjust it for the greatest sensitivity without having every bump trigger the sensor
• You can turn off the security LED in the settings so it doesn’t give away your camera
• Super Night Vision was effective to light up darker areas during parked recording

Video Quality

• Increased glass distortion on the edges as the camera is close to the glass. Not much you can do about that.
• WDR being turned on or off makes no noticeable difference to my eyes. It has the same amount of sharpness and dynamic range.  

Where to Buy It?

 

Viofo has a number of authorized retailers listed on their webpage. We’ll list them below and talk about the sellers. It’s worth paying the additional $10 for the GPS mount as it improves convenience but it’s not necessary.

 

Canada // United States

BlackBoxMyCar is a Vancouver based business who has an excellent reputation with great customer service. They know how to hardwire luxury vehicle.

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