I have both goluk T3’s and VIOFO A119 and I have tried whistler etc. The whistler was junk and returned the same day. Here are my thoughts. Dash cameras should only be capacitor power (no batteries) as they basically never fail and aren’t affected by hot or cold. Next is are you looking for a dual cam or single cam? A dual cam usually shoots slower quality 720p in the rear. I personally prefer running dual single cams so you get 1080 minimum front and back.
Not all cameras are created equal and some excel where others drop off. I won’t spend over $100 per camera. Even if they shoot 1080 you need to see if it’s at 60 or 30 FPS. 60 is a lot smoother. Also 1080 really isn’t all that great. About 20-25ft and you can’t really read license plates while moving.
I like the goluk T3’s as it has no screen so it hides easily, it’s capacitor and uses WiFi to transfer, program and you can watch live. It shoots 1080 at 60 and 30 FPS and it has a good parking mode with motion sensor and g-force. The motion sensor parking mode works really well and the camera is $100 usually on amazon plus it comes with a 16 or 32GB SD card so your all set. The price of dash cam high endurance cards is not cheap at like $20-45 depending on brand a size. They have to be high endurance or transcend.
I recently just got a VIOFO A119 to try and to get one for my wife. The A119 I got has the GPS add on which tracks your route and gives you location and speed. The A119 is also a capacitor, has a screen and has no WiFi. It shoots in 2k or 1440p 1276p 1080p and 720p. 1440p at 30fps, 1080 at 60 and 30fps. It has a parking mode but it has to be manually activated which I don’t like and wouldn’t use it as a camera that is powered 24/7 (unlike my rear goluk T3 which runs 24/7 but goes into and out of parking mode automatically), my A119 is my front camera bc of the 1440p and it’s only on when my truck is running so I don’t have to worry about parking mode. The GPS on the A119 is accurate with speed and gives you real time data, the info can be viewed via software on the net. There is a noticeable difference between 1440p and 1080p and that is why it’s my front camera. It has lane departure warning and collision warning but I haven’t tried them, it makes alert noises to let you know.
So to sum it up, both cams are good for $100 and less. Goluk is more stealthy and has a good parking mode (mine are 1 year old and work fine). A119 has better video at 1440p but it’s the same roughly as the goluk T3 at 1080. The A119 has lane departure warning and collision warning features but I haven’t activated those, gps speed is accurate which is good if u need evidence for court etc. both cams have mics to record sound and both are decent.
Gotta find what u need in a cam and what you can afford. The thinkwares and black vues are great but cost a lot. I have 4 cameras and that’s wat would we invested in 1 good camera. Korea brand cameras are top of the line as they use the most dashcams so they have the most skin in the game.
