Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased a different vendor's camera first, but I returned it because of a compatibility issue with my iPhone7. I then bought the Roav camera. This experience gave me two views of two rather different approaches to dash cams, which I will share first. I'll then talk about the Roav specifically. The first camera, let's call it Camera #1, cost $47.99, and its main features were: 170 degree angle, WIFI, iPhone user interface that included live streaming of the image, 3M adhesive mount, ADAS, 30-day money back warranty. In comparison, this Roav cost $59.99 and its corresponding main features are: 140 degree angle, WIFI, iPhone user interface but no live streaming, suction mount, no ADAS, 12-month warranty. Both models have the same, small compact form factor. I thought I would prefer Camera #1's wider 170 degree view, but in retrospect, I like the 140 degree view better. The former does give you more sight-line, but there's fisheye distortion that is inevitable with such a wide view. Camera #1 can connect via WIFI to my iPhone, allowing you to set camera parameters, download video files, and stream the image. The Roav has WIFI where you can set camera parameters and download video files. It can't stream, and the camera won't record while the WIFI is connected. Being able to live stream to your iPhone is a feature I miss, as it's easier to see my line-of-sight cell phone vs the dash cam that sits under the rearview mirror. Comparing adhesive mount to suction mount, I prefer the latter. I unmounted Camera #1 when I returned it, and using a razor blade to cut through the 3M adhesive pad was a PITA. Camera #1's ADAS was a compelling safety feature, until I started using it. It's false alarms drove me crazy. This Roav camera doesn't offer ADAS, but it does have a cousin, "parking collision detection," which turns on the camera if the car is moved forcefully enough. However, even when I set the sensitivity on "low," this feature has many false alarms. Last point of comparison is the warranty. I thought Camera #1's 30-day warranty would be fine, but once I encountered the problem that eventually caused me to return it and worked with their Support to try to resolve it, 30 days flew by fast. -- Now on to the Roav itself... Pros: Excellent sturdy construction. Excellent image, including at night, and good sound capture. Compact size doesn't compromise driver's view of the road. Generous length of power cord, which I ran around the perimeter of the windshield for cable management. Mount is stable, in that it doesn't move/mis-align the camera if your hand or a cable brushes against it. You can also rotate the camera to face any direction. Easy to re-mount to another location on your windshield, just rotate a ring on the shaft of the mount. Fairly fast transfer rate for video files to iPhone, about 3mb/s. This translates to roughly a minute of download wait time for each minute of video. Easy to set the camera's settings on the iPhone app. Advertised higher tolerance to high temperatures, though I won't know if this is true until Summer. Comes with a crowbar to tuck the power cord under the car's ceiling liner. Cons: No live streaming onto your iPhone, only video playback. Parking collision detection, even in low sensitivity, is overly sensitive. Just opening the door and getting in would set it off. When it sets off, the camera starts a 30-second, locked video. Because the storage for a locked video cannot be re-cycled automatically, eventually you have to delete each locked file manually or erase the entire SD card by formatting it. Wish list features, probably too much to ask for on a $60 camera: Data compression to save on storage and to increase file transfer speeds. Touch screen. -- Overall assessment: a well designed, well made, reasonably priced camera whose user interface (iPhone app) is rather plain vanilla.