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G1w Dash Cam – Cheap in price and quality
Key features:
- Max Res: 1080p
- Display: 2.7″
- G-Sensor
- View: 140°
- Night Vision
- Auto Start with Record & Auto Off
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I needed a cost effective, pretty basic dash cam so decided to give the G1W dash cam a try. What stood out to me was the HD video footage which looked to provide clear visuals, and I wasn’t going to be paying for all the bells-and-whistles that I didn’t really need or want in a dash cam. Four months on, here’s my review on the quality and reliability of the G1W dash cam…
Installation and design
The G1W dash cam is very simple to install and set up. You just need to purchase a class 10 micro SD card separately, plug the dash cam into your car and then tweak a few of the menu’s setting such as exposure compensation, loop recording time-frame, video resolution and language. Very quick set up and away you go. I recommend you spend a little more money and purchase a large micro SD card about 128GB in size given the G1W is producing HD video footage.
In terms of look, it has a large viewing screen (2.7”) which is easy to see and use. But the product itself is certainly a little on the cheap side – not just the buttons and shape of the camera, but the quality. It doesn’t withstand extreme heat well at all, and actually started to melt one day when I left it sitting in the midday sun for quite a few hours. Since then, the dash cam has never really been the same – the defects have been more and more consistent and the camera more and more unreliable.
Video and audio quality
The G1W dash cam records at full HD which 1920 x 1080p at 30 frames per second. This is a high quality video recording, and the details you need your dash cam to provide – like number plates and signage – are as clear as day. The G1W dash cam also enables you to choose to record at a reduced frame rate of 60 fps, which provides 720p resolution footage. This is pretty average quality and I don’t think it is worth using if you’re hoping to provide video evidence of an event given how grainy the footage is. But it is good to have options!
As well as this, the G1W dash cam features a 140-degree lens. This is a pretty common and practical lens that allows you to see in front and sufficiently to the sides of your vehicle. I feel that dash cams which capture more than 140 degrees starts to feel really distorted and fish-bowl like – so my preference is to stay at this width. A unique feature about the G1W dash cam is that it can also zoom in to see something happening ahead of you in the distance. I haven’t used this feature, but again – it’s good to know I have it should it be able to provide important evidence.
The G1W dash cam is supposed to start up and record as soon as you turn on the car ignition – however, mine will also often turn off (and on) on its own accord for no apparent reason. This glitch happens a few times a week and is starting to become more frequent, affecting my video footage and proving to be pretty unreliable.
The loop recording feature is also pretty defective. When I set my G1W dash cam to record 5-minute intervals for the loop recording, there are many frames skipped and missed between the video segments.
The other thing about the G1W dash cam is that there is an extremely high pitched and constant noise in the background of all of my recorded videos. Now this happened to me regardless of the road conditions – I could be on a freeway, or sitting in my garage in silence. The audio feature and quality is completely useless. This noise impacts your ability to hear any of the genuine audio the G1W dash cam has actually recorded.
Safety features
The G1W dash cam features a parking motion detector which provides surveillance to your vehicle when parked. If motion is detected, the camera will switch on and start recording, even during the night time it uses an infra-red night vision mode. This concept is good – but this feature in this camera is useless since it’s not hardwired. I gave it a try to see what would happen. The camera switched on like expected, but lasted a total of 3 seconds before it died since it has no power to continue recording the incident. So in my opinion, a totally wasteful feature.
The other safety feature worth mentioning in the G1W dash cam is the G-Sensor. This feature senses rapid changes in gravity that usually happens when the vehicle has been in an accident. When this sensor enables the video being recorded is locked and saved separately, preventing it from being overwritten when the micro SD is full. Now I am fortunate enough to not have been in and accident in the 4 months I have had this dash cam, so can’t say if it’s worked well or not – but I do think it’s an important feature of have in a dash cam.
My verdict
I knew I wasn’t after anything fancy in a dash cam, but I still expected reasonable quality. I have found the G1W dash cam to not only be a cheap price tag, but also a cheap, unreliable product. While the footage is HD and great, the fact that it switches on and off unexpectedly, shows that it can’t really do the one thing it needs to do. Should I be involved in a car accident during that period it is restarting, it’s useless. I would not recommend the G1W dash cam to friends and family. Instead, I would recommend an alternative, like the Rexing V1 instead. I have seen the reviews on the Rexing V1 to be very positive for a similar, basic, affordable dash cam.
