PureCam dash cam review: A clever product that’s just a battery and GPS short of perfect - gallegossuffected

PureGear's PureCam follows in the footsteps of the Owl, the dash River Cam with 24/7 video recording surveillance of your fomite and immediate obscure uploads for keeping of life-and-death incidents is a reality. PureCam takes the best of the Owl (mostly) and adds some distinctly handy features, including the ability to use your own jail cell service (or a separate account via AT&T or T-Mobile), and a ludicrously slickness user interface and app. Flatbottomed better, pricing starts at only $199.

Regrettably, 2 oversights could limit the PureCam's usability as a lawsuit bar tool: no flush it-riskless power and no embedded or watermarked GPS data. The latter is a real head-scratcher, atomic number 3 on that point is GPS on control panel.

This reassessmen is part of our ongoing roundup of the best crash cams. Last there for information some competing products and how we tested them.

What's different?

The Owl and the PureCam are similar in that they both take forward and interior video. However, the PureCam lacks the Owl's "startle the interloper" LED lightly-armed feature for the interior cam, relying solely happening infrared to capture events without trying to deter the intruder. Startle or trust to deflect catching? A tricky issue.

Another difference is that the Owl uses a built-in 4G account that the company provides and maintains, while the PureCam provides a SIM card slot so you may utilize your existing tune history. PureGear also sells the camera with a SIM card pre-installed if you'd rather keep it separate from your regular cubicle service. Currently, AT&T and T-Mobile are subsidized, with Cricket in the works. Personally, I suchlike the PureCam's flexible approach, simply I'm reliable others volition opt the Owl's all-in-uncomparable package. I'll get to a couple of some other differences in a bit.

Intent and features

The PureCam is on the large side for a dash cam: 4.25 inches wide away 3 inches tall. This makes it about unbearable to blot out behind the mirror or avoid signal detection by thieves, but it also allows for a precise nice 4-column inch, 800×400 show. The 1080p front camera rotates vertically to change the capture horizon, while the 720p interior-facing camera is fixed and surrounded by two infrared light lights to help with night captures.

On the get down right side of the dash cam is a large goblet-shaped snapshot button, with a four-way (power/up/down/menu) rocker button circumferent it. It takes a bit of getting in use to, but full treatmen decent well overall. I detected IT was a bit difficult to press the rocker clitoris without perturbing the orientation of the television camera, but that's a rare and minor ill.

PureGear

The back of the PureCam's forward-cladding 1080p camera. Though the snapshot button is uncomplicated to access, the other controls happening the rock 'n' roll musician are inferior so. Then again, you'll rarely need to use them.

On top of the photographic camera are the micro-USB connector for the power cable, the SIM card slot, and the SDHC retentiveness card. Unlike the Owl, the PureCam uses a extractible memory card, and equally mentioned, also lets you use your own SIM card.

The PureCam steals a trick from the Owl by using your car's OBD connector as a unremitting 12-volt power source, rather than the auxiliary/coffin nail lighter that is live only when the car is running. Bonus: If your OBD connecter is hidden under the dash nearby the driver's side door, you'll also have an easier time hiding the cable. Expect a lot more sprint cams to offer power via OBD in the near future.

Mounting is via a standard chunk-joint suction cup that attaches to the top of the Cam. I quite likable the Owl's unusual mount, which fits in the seam between the dash and the windscreen, but the PureCam's border on allows you to mount it higher and enchant a moment more of the orbit directly before of your bumper. Alas, as I mentioned, the large size of the PureCam means IT wish likely obstruct a bit more of your vista.

PureGear

This hokey image of the PureCam's display quality isn't that immoderate off from reality. Information technology's a top-snick CRT screen, and large.

Legal caveats

As very much as I comparable the PureCam, PureGear missed a couple of important features that could compromise it's usefulness for jural purposes. First, information technology lacks a battery accompaniment or super-capacitor, either of which would allow the photographic camera to capture at least some video if the 12-volt fails. Electrical failure is a rarefied occurrence, merely it could happen because of a bad auto chance event, or a smart stealer. This means you Crataegus laevigata not capture all of an incidental, or the information may never make it to the cloud. Hopefully, said thieves won't catch onto the OBD-power trick anytime shortly.

Then there's the Global Positioning System. The PureCam features it, simply it's used only for the locate-your-vehicle feature. Don't get along ME wrong, that's a very ready to hand perk, but the Global Positioning System coordinates aren't watermarked operating room integrated into the video. GPS may or may not be necessary in a legal situation, but it sure as heck will help if details such as license plates or the surroundings are obscured. It's super-handy for travelogues too. I've located that newsworthy object whose exact location I forgot more than once.

The GPS put out could easily be fixed in a firmware update. The lack of a super-capacitor Beaver State battery prat solitary personify fixed with a hardware revision.

Interface and phone app

Though IT took me a short clock to adjust to the buttons (as very much like I ever did—it's easier on the phone), the PureCam's on-screen and phone interfaces proved absolute joys. Based on Mechanical man, they're unique (to my knowledge) in the dash cam world in being attractive. Attractive doesn't affect the usability, but it's the only daunt cam interface that won't bet terminally ungainly next to your Malus pumila CarPlay or the like-minded. If I have any ailment, it's that I'd suchlike the icons to be just a little larger.

PureGear

The PureCam's iOS/Android app sports the equivalent big-piquant, super-clean and efficient interface found happening the camera. Other dah cam vendors should take note.

The headphone app (Android/iOS ) is used for registering your account and linking with the telephone set. You're walked through the easy process. From in that respect's information technology's auto-magical.

Both the camera and telephone interfaces give you admittance to all the PureCam's settings and features: g-sensor sensitivity, camera resolution and more. There are no bad driver AIDS, merely I don't miss them. For the umpteenth time, take lessons if you feel you need such things.

Monetary value and information plans

As I mentioned up top, the PureCam starts at $199.99 with a 16GB SD card and no data bundle (that's what we tried and true). PureGear also sells it for $249.99 with a 3-month/6GB per calendar month information plan, and for $279.99 with a 3-month/unlimited data plan. If you'ray just using the cam to record incidents, the $249 plan is fine. Telecasting runs about 80MB per little at 1080p, and if you get the sensitivity mount right, you shouldn't have excessive uploads (bank check that now after you instal the PureCam). If you're provision on using the PureCam as a Wi-Fi hotspot (it supports up to three devices), perhaps choose the unlimited project.

PureGear bundles a 16GB SD card with our review whole, but I'd prefer for something bigger if possible. PureGear informed me that cards larger than 32GB may beryllium old, but moldiness be pre-formatted to FAT32 using another device.

Note that while I did not have a SIM card to test it, PureGear claims that the PureCam will automatically configure itself for whatever AT&T/T-Mobile SIM you insert. Dainty.

Performance

Every would equal for naught if the PureCam didn't take good video, and I'm most glad to report that it does. Day, night driving, and ground-hugging-light (without headlights) captures all deliver the detail you need at a superiority. It's non the absolute first I've seen, merely it's certainly upper-tier.

IDG

This is a southern day in San Francisco, but at the default option settings you can still get along inside information. Color saturation is better than the dour atmospheric condition would give you think.

As you can see above, the colors are nicely saturated during day captures, and thither's a safe amount of detail. Image stability is very good, in part thanks to the flexibility of the mount.

IDG

Night captures are a grainy, but details are discernible and that's the main full stop. Item in surrounding areas increases equally you lighten the image.

Night video shows a slew of detail, though you can attend some fine graininess and flickering when it's in motility. Detail in dark areas picks prepared when you lighten the image, sol the camera in surveillance mode should do a good job of capturing faces.

IDG

Interior 720p night captures reveal a plenty to a greater extent detail than I'm comfortable with at this stage of my life. The tint is due to the infrared emitters flanking the tv camera.

Interior night captures aren't all that attractive because of the infrared frequency in use, but they do reveal a great deal of detail—which is far more important. Without infrared and the interior light off, no television camera will be of much use.

The PureCam is rated for mathematical operation from -4° to 149 °F, which should handle or so anything differently Arctic excursions. To be sincere, nigh electronics love the refrigerant (batteries excluded), so I'm non predictable why the hindquarters end is relatively swollen.

Last

PureGear came darn roughly nailing it with this dash cam. It captures very good video, has a continual business leader source, and is extremely pleasant to put off upwards and use. I also prefer its removable memory and SIM cards to the Bird of night's internal, exploiter-unobtainable equivalents.

For many users, the PureCam will fit the bill. Active 99 percent of the time, you won't need A battery or super-capacitor, OR GPS info, but Murphy's Constabulary loves that 1 pct.

The Owl some embeds GPS information and has a super-condenser that will index the camera for long enough to finish and upload an secondary video. That makes it break suited for legal purposes. We'll be cover with an better review if and when PureGear updates things.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/403185/purecam-connected-car-security-system-dash-cam-review.html

Posted by: gallegossuffected.blogspot.com

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