VIOFO - A229 Plus-W 2CH 2K Front+2K Waterproof Rear Camera

I like the VIOFO A229 Plus-W 2CH 2K Front+2K Waterproof Rear Camera. The only pain is getting the rear camera routed.

Not sure where you are located OP but you can definitely purchase your own dashcam and bring to an auto electrician to install, they'll just charge for the labour. Decent front+rear from viofo is about $350 (give or take, they're my go to brand for value) or you can ball out for a unit from blackvue for more. If you're in Melbourne, Millenium Lighting does dashcam install only (meaning you supply) for about $170-$300 depending on vehicle size and body type if you're not confident installing yourself.

Bang for buck, you can find a viofo 2ch with hardwiring for that price and install yourself. If you have a bigger budget, I've always seen blackvue as pretty good for a premium price. I personally run viofo on every vehicle I've own and takes about 1-2hours to install depending on experience

Nice try u/hachielectronics we know you have alt accounts. (Love the a229 with the hardwire kit btw)

Viofo makes very good dash-cams available on Amzn, they’re highly ranked in reviews, not cheap units. I have three A229 2K dual cameras and A129 Pro 4K dual on a total of 4 cars. The A129 pro got stolen by tow truck driver when it was headed to the mechanic. If you’re DIY installing the rear camera can take a little bit of work threading the long cable, but lots of YouTube video step by steps. Viofo also has front-only A119 V3 cameras, those are easy to install you simply push the cable into the headliner and down the A pillar, around the back of the glove box to your 12V power source. There’s also a short power cable you can buy that tape power from the power home-link rear view mirror.

After having the viofo 229plus 2k+2k I'd only recommend their 4k versions if you want to guarantee license plate capture

I recently bought a Viofo A229 Plus front + rear. Never owned a dashcam before. Honestly I'm pretty disappointed in the quality and the general usability of it. It seemed to be highly reccommended on driving subs, but I have nothing to compare it to. I've since set the birate to maximum and made sure HDR isn't on during the day, but yeah, the window for getting a legible numberplate seems to be vanishingly small - the files look way too compressed to me. Also needing to back out of the whole menu once turning wifi on in order for the wifi to actually turn on is daft.

Seconding VIOFO. I use theirs and the video is good quality with legible plates.

This was purchased a few years back: VIOFO A229 Plus Duo 2K QHD 2-Channel Dash Cam

Second the Viofo. I got the 229 duo plus and a 3 mini for the other car.

Just got a Viofo A229 Plus Duo, the CPL filter and their own brand 256GB SD Card. Safe to say I’m overall very pleased. I regularly travel long distances and drive in different cities. 2 days ago I did 1000 km’s (620 miles), and had no issues with the dashcam itself. No corrupted files, no missed spots of record, nothing. Whenever I park my car, it’s either in a guarded car park, gate-only access or private park, that’s why I skipped the hardwire kit for the moment and use it solely with the lighter socket. The wiring is very easy, as long as you know your car. What I mean by that is, if you know where the empty trims are and where you can safely route the cables for a cleaner look. I also saw many drivers with cavemen approach for the cables and just run them directly, clear path from their cigarette lighter going under their backview mirror (back camera cable running under seats). For Viofo A229 Plus Duo, with their 256gb sd, I get 12hr30min recording combined with back camera (according to the dashcam info). My back window (station wagon/estate) is 15% tinted, but I still get enough feedback as long as there’s light. No dashcam back camera will record anything good if there are no lights. Be vary of hardwire kits. Change your battery for a new one before hardwiring, or you may get stuck with a near dead battery. Most hardwire kits have voltage cut options on them to prevent this, but if your battery is old/weak, you might end up with a dead battery and 1-2 hours of parked mode recording at best. As for the mounting, before doing anything, run your wipers. Make sure the place of mounting does not overlap with wiper residue or any water run. Had to change the position of mine because of that mistake lol. Your front dashcam should slightly include the front of your car. Same goes for back camera if you have a sedan. Hatchback/wagon/SUV, just align it enough so it can capture the action in case of an accident.

Viofo have an official store on Aliexpress. Bought another A229 Plus (front and rear) a few months back saving me around 100 off the Amazon price and and around 80 quid of the Viofo UK site. Delivery takes around a week. Support is excellent as well. Had a couple of issues with the 2 cameras I bought over the years, and they sent replacement parts. Again, took a week on each occasion for the parts to arrive.