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Ausdom A261 Dashcam - Review


jeebowhite
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Hi Guys,

I am trying a bit more of a formal and "proper" review stance for this product. I hope you like it! Just for reference, I do not work for, nor am I directly affiliated with gearbest.com, they saw my review of the GS8000L right here on the forum, and offered me the opportunity to review some of their products, and they sent me the below. I hope you enjoy the review!

All views expressed in this review, are those of the author, and do not represent the views of FordOwnersClub.com, forum management, staff or any approved affiliate of the forum. The relationship between the author and GearBest.com as the supplier of the camera is solely independent. The forum does not sponsor, nor endorse the product reviewed below, any such endorsements are solely of the author.

The Ausdom is an Ultra HD camera, with 2.0 inch TFT screen, High Dynamic Range, Parking Monitor,GPS, Collision and Lane departure warnings... All for less than your fuel tank holds!

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​Courtesy of my friends at GearBest.com, I have been provided this astonishing litle camera for my abuse, and hopefully your awe inspirement. GearBest are a fast-growing online retailer offering some of the hottest and coolest gear around at great prices. Take a look at the camera http://goo.gl/RGDeQ2.



This camera comes with a multi - lingual instruction manual, Covering English, Russian, French and Spanish. Lack of spellchecker and proof reading are the only real let down here in the English section, reading French, Spanish and Russian isn't my strong suit! But never the less, you get a clear understanding of whats being explained.

Opening the box:
Here's the kit all laid bare. With an uninspiring box (though the holographic stickers are shiny) you get;

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​The Ausdom A261 DVR, a 12v - USB converter, a 3.6 metre USB lead for operating the camera in car (charging lead), a 1.2 metre USB lead for connecting to your PC, suction mount, user manual and CD with the software.

With a 90 degree twistlatch to secure the windscreen mount, it offers a nice quick and simple attachment, different from the usual push down to lock in place. A small feature, which offers a more unique quality to the camera assembly. Even the battery life is excellent for a dashcam, 21 minutes of recording, including three minutes of screen on, full display, with the remaining 18 minutes with the screen off, from a 250 mAh battery, that's not too bad with full HD.

The camera also comes with a piece of software allowing you to playback the video and the GPS feedback simultaneously.

Not only that, but you get collision detection warning system - a functionality you can enable when you are not running HDR mode. A quickly stopped vehicle, or wandering driver, it should alert you to he presence of this with a two tone bong. Most effective during the day, though during the night its more likely to detect the car in front of you leaving, rather than stopping..

Lane Departure Warning System, performed admirably, when I tested it, I managed to wander about half a foot into another lane before it set off the two tone bong, trying to wake me up.

Both systems are rudimentary, but never the less are a very usable feature. This is however, at the cost of the High Dynamic Range, so the colours are less vibrant, but for an electrical pair of eyes watching over you? I think its a fair trade.

Price:
This camera, is in the upper market price bracket, at the time of writing, its$129.99/ £85. Currently, GearBest have a deal on the camera until 30th November 2015 - using coupon code AUSDOM261, you can get the camera for $86.99, around £57. A great number of features boasting a small price tag!

Build Quality:
The build quality is impressive, it has a reassuring weight to it, small details, how the front of the camera looks like an SLR camera. The small box of tricks hosts clear buttons and simplicity in its menu structure. Even small details, such as the mettalic paint job on the front of the camera. A smalll touch adding further quality to the device.

The camera offers a clear and crisp picture during the day, showing the great 130 degree span at its finest. Catching more of the surroundings, and ensuring the best view for any mishaps which may occur. Then you move into dusk and night mode, and you cannot help but be impressed. The picture is glare free, offering you a crisp image, whether naturally lit, or unnatural.

Daytime Sample:

Due to compression on youtube, I have taken a ten second snippet and made the above available for direct download to show the true quality (here - 35mb file size) and also (here - 26mb)

​Night Sample:




Here is a 10 second sample for download, without compression.

Overall, the specifications of this camera are fantastic, with an all round great offering 2 inch TFT screen, Ambarella A7 processor, F2 Aperture 6G Lens, 64GB TF card compatibility,

Main functions include Camcorder, Camera (snapshot) and Playback mode.

Video rates
1920 x 1080 (30p)
2304 x 1296 (30P)
HDR - 1920 x 1080 (30P)
1280 x 720 (60P)
1280 x 720 (30P)
4 Megapixel Resolution.

Functions include:
Loop Recording
Motion Detection
Parking Monitor
Audio recording
Date / Time stamp imprint on the video
G Sensor (2G, 4G, 8G, Off)

Camera:
16 Megapixel still image.


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The Good
This is the portion of the review I pick my top things about the camera, the good in 3 words: Quality, LDWS/FCDS, Comprehensive

Quality: A great quality feeling product, with great quality imagery. Not a part of the camera feel's 'tacky' or cheap. Considering the price is quite low, you might have even expected it.

LDWS/FCDS: As rudimentary as the system is, it still offers a feeling of additional confidence, Its best to have the camera in the centre of the windscreen to offer the best response on this feature.

Comprehensive: The goodies you get with the camera are a great combination, It might not be as flexible as the likes of the Mobius dashcam, where you can change the lens, or swap the battery for a capacitor, but you don't need that. Battery life is very reasonable, weighing in at 21 minutes and with an almost SLR lens in place, a wide clear viewing angle, what more can you want?

The Bad:
This is the portion of the review I pick my top dislikes about the camera.
The bad in 3 words: PC Software unreliable.

Maybe its just Windows 10 (which I tested this on), but when you swap video's and try to play them, it crashes, and is reluctant to swap video's without having to restart the software. Hopefully its just my PC, but this is a real kicker for a great camera, There are other alternative products which I am currently exploring, and will update this review later with these, on the upside, having mentioned it to GearBest, they have already started conversations and sharing the problem with Ausdom, to get it resolved as soon as possible. I cant fault that!

The Ugly:
To be fair, the only "ugly" about the camera is the Lane Departure / Collision Detection, its great, but I just wish it was that little bit more accurate and responsive. Perhaps lots of "tinkering" with the settings will improve it, but just setting it up as per the manual, doesn't seem to make it as optimum as I want it to be. Having said that, for the camera and the price, I still cant fault what I have to work with!

Final Verdict:

Overall, a quality camera, with great functionality. Slightly let down knowing it could do so much more if the LDWS/FCDS was that little bit better! But that doesnt detract from the overall quality of the High Dynamic Range, High Definition, processing abilities of this camera. In the grand scheme of things, this camera is a mid range model for most people, yet in comparison to camera's you can walk into the likes of Halford's and pick up, you get more for your money than the equivalent price range, but equal to a camera you can easily pay twice as much for!

http://goo.gl/RGDeQ2 using code AUSDOM261 will get you the camera at the reduced price of $86.99 before 30th November 2015.
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So what do you guys think? Anyone had a look at the cam and got any initial thoughts about it?

How was my review?

Would be interested to get your thoughts!

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Looks like a nice piece of kit- im looking at a dash cam soon and I dont want to break the bank in getting one. This could be a possibility for me.

I have looked at mobius and the other cheapies but I cant decide as they seem to be either too cheap or too expensive.

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To be honest there is no doubting it, my gs8000l is a very budget camera and has helped me out several times. The mobius is great quality but has no screen. This I find superb. The amount of gadgets you get is brilliant for the price it's superb quality and worth the discounted price makes it better still.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

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Nice review :)

It looks heavy James . . . how much does it weigh ?

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Looks a nice camera, review is pretty decent and well thought out.

Night time video sample is the wrong file as it is the sunlight test sample again lol

But yeah seems really good for the price.

I like it based on your review.

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Thanks for the feedback guys!

Looks a nice camera, review is pretty decent and well thought out.

Night time video sample is the wrong file as it is the sunlight test sample again lol

But yeah seems really good for the price.

I like it based on your review.

Well Simon, that was a bit special of me!!! I have updated it now!

Glad my review was good to you! I know I am kinda fishing for feedback, but to be honest, If GearBest are wanting me to do more reviews for them, I want to know that the public like the style I am writing in! I definately wanted to keep it mostly planned out and legible, rather than just essay format!

Nice review :)

It looks heavy James . . . how much does it weigh ?

Thanks Mark!

Its not heavy I must admit, its only a few ounces!

EDIT: 3.5 ounces according to the specs I found.

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Price:
All of this, camera, is in the upper market price bracket, at the time of writing, its$129.99/ £85. Currently, GearBest have a deal on the camera until 30th November 2015 - using coupon code AUSDOM261, you can get the camera for $86.99, around £57. A great number of features boasting a small price tag!

First line does not make any sense to me dude.

All of this, Camera,???

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Clearly a fluff in punctuation!

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Guys,

Just thought you may be interested to know, there is a flash sale on the dashcam - if you use discount code: GB11AUSDOM between now and november 11th, You can get the camera for $71.11! I think thats pretty good really!

Just be on your toes, the first three people to claim it, will get it at that price, beyond that it may be back to the RRP!

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I take it you meant to use the £ sign NOT the $ sign? I got excited and nearly bought one until I realised. Not saying it's not a good deal though, just not as good as I first thought ;)

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No its dollars matey. That's what they deal with on the site.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

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They have got another discount code: http://goo.gl/MieB8z under this link you should be able to get it for $75.99

I will mention this to my contact over there and see if I can get them to sort it and confirm whats going on matey!

EDIT: some of the flash sale start in 14 hours from now (the A261 for $75 - £49)

Also Turvey, if you logged in and applied the code it should come straight up as $71.11?

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Hi Kevin,

Seems I made an error. I misread the email from GearBest and they confirm the sale prices are present tomorrow.

As of 11:11 tomorrow, they will have the flash sale price of $71.11 for the Ausdom for the first three customers using the code GB11AUSDOM )

Beyond that, in 14 hours, the overall sale price is to be $75 until they run out of stock.

Apologies for the confusion!

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Cheers James, thanks for the PMs, now registered and awaiting sale prices ;)

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Kev you managed to get a good deal yet?

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Just ordered one at under £47 ;)

Just need to get an SD card now and I'll be ready to catch the excellent driving skills as shown on our roads up here on a daily basis! :rolleyes:

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Good stuff matey. I hope you enjoy it.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

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  • 2 months later...

Just to add my tuppence worth!  :smile:

 

Be aware that the stuff gets sent by mail from China and it took nearly a month to get here! However on arrival I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the camera and the ease of setting up etc

 

The software is, as already mentioned, absolutely rubbish!!! I did, however, find a use for the disc :cool:

 

 IMG_20160109_2150576141_zpsydychtqo.jpg

 

I found some half decent FREE alternative software here though...

 

http://www.registratorviewer.com/

 

One thing I think they could update/improve on is the feature whereby you can keep a 30 second? clip just by pressing any button. This works well but only keeps the clip from when you press the button NOT leading up to it. So, for instance, if someone nearly caused an accident you can't(as far as I'm aware) save that clip instantly. You would have to go into the settings and try and save it that way. Not very handy or legal when driving.

 

One more thing to add is on my camera the GPS has stopped working totally! Not a major issue but could be if there was a question regarding speed etc in the event of an accident.

 

I elected to get a part refund from Gearbest for this inconvenience which has taken the total down to about £33  which isn't too bad I suppose. Would rather the GPS was working though :wink:

 

 

 

 

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Your right about the disk! Though I am surprised about the GPS, nine does seem to still be going strong. I'm currently writing up my next review...

As for the clip I know what you mean, saves about 15 seconds either side of the press.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

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