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Transcend Drive Pro 520 dash cam review – Quality, reliability and durability, ideal for ride-sharers
Key features:
- Dual Recording Dash Cam
- Front & In-Cabin Video Recording
- Record Driver & Passenger Behaviour
- Ideal for UBER/Taxi/Fleet/Truck use
- 1080P Full HD Front / 720P HD In-Cabin
- Angle of View – 130° Front / 110° In-Cabin
- 65°C Heat Resistance – Quality Build
- In-built Wi-Fi & GPS
- In-Cabin IR Lights
- Suction Mount Attachment
- One-Touch Hazard Record Button
- G-Sensor – Impact Detection
- Supports up to 128GB Micro SD Card
Best deal at: Amazon.com
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The Transcend DrivePro 520 an extremely popular dash cam of choice for taxis and ride sharing companies. It is a clever and compact dual dash cam that allows in-cabin recording from the one unit, without the need for a second camera. The Transcend DrivePro 520 is packed with features, and fits in the upper mid-range in price for dash cams. After nearly six months since I received mine, here’s my thoughts in these different features, focusing heavily on quality and reliability – the two most important attributes of a dash cam.
Set up and design
The DP520 dash cam was not designed to be discreet – it’s there to be noticed by passengers and others outside of the vehicle, emphasizing the importance of safety. It’s black, thick and certainly feels very sturdy.
A unique feature is that the rear lens is rotatable – up to 180 degrees which allows you to record other passengers or different situations. It’s designed for taxis, ride sharing companies, truck drivers or schools so you can record inside and outside the vehicle at the same time. It is not designed to record the traffic behind your vehicle though – you would need a second camera for that.
The DP520 comes in two models which differ by mounting kit options; one has a suction mount while the second is a permanent adhesive mounting. You need to decide ahead of time which type of mount you’d prefer to go with as only one comes with the box. I went with the suction mount. The mount itself includes full axis movement, and I have never had an issue with the suction detaching from the windshield in the heat or cold.
I found the DP520 super easy to install and operate. The DrivePro 520 even includes wireless connectivity so you can stream, download, and share videos whenever you need to via your mobile. This wireless feature is extremely useful if you are to ever witness an incident and need to share the footage with those involved.
Video and audio quality
As I alluded to above, the dual lenses are the crowning glory of the DrivePro 520. So how do they perform?
The DrivePro 520 features a 130 degree viewing angle, a large ƒ/1.8 aperture and 6 glass lenses – it was built to produce quality footage, and that it certainly does!
The front camera which is designed to record the road ahead records 1080p footage at 16Mbps. The daytime footage is produced in extremely high quality, with finer details like number plates and signs shown as clear as day. During low-light or night-time the footage is pretty good. I have very impressed with this video quality of the main camera.
The back camera records the interior of the vehicle at 720p at 7Mbps – this is pretty good during both the day and night, capturing the people in the car perfectly fine. I noticed that some infrared LED switches turn on in these low light conditions to help improve the video quality of the interior footage. This does not capture people in the backseat at night time though – only the front passenger is picked up by this infrared vision.
This footage is also accompanied by very high quality audio which gives you complete peace of mind, particularly for personal safety when ride sharing.
Other features included
The Transcend DP520 includes GPS logging. This helps to take note of location and vehicle speed on the footage which is incredibly useful when presenting your dash cam footage as evidence to police or insurance. Conveniently, it provides options for speed to be recorded in either kilometres or miles, so can be used internationally. I believe the GPS feature is a must in any dash cam, so have been pleased it is part of the DP520 offering.
The Transcend DP520 also includes a G-sensor. G-sensor is an excellent functionality. It recognises when an incident is occurring and saves the video footage into a separate file for insurance purposes, removing the risk of it being overwritten during its typical loop recording. The good function with the DP520 is that the g-sensor can be triggered automatically by shift in gravity, or manually, by hitting the red button on the dash cam. I haven’t had any issues with the DP520 mistakenly recording an incident as a result of pot holes or speed bumps on the road – it’s been incredibly accurate.
My verdict
The Transcend DP520 is an excellent quality and highly reliable dash cam. While it may not appeal to someone who’s after an inconspicuous dash cam to sit in their stylish car, for anyone who is looking for an extra level of personal safety and security – like those who ride share – the DP520 is perfect. It has all of the critical features you need including GPS and G-sensor, as well as the ability to share footage wirelessly to your mobile phone without any troubles. The camera and audio quality is exceptional during the day, and very reasonable during the night. I have only had this dash cam for just under six months, so am yet to see how it holds up against our incredibly hot summer months. This will be the telling sign of a quality dash cam, one that is able to push through extreme heats inside a car and still work flawlessly. I look forward to seeing how the Transcend DP520 performs to this in just a few months’ time.
