Dash cam sales are booming as drivers seek ways to protect themselves against false claims in the event of an accident, with 18 of cent of UK motorists believed to have one fitted.
Their unsung virtue is that simply by catching an insane manoeuvre or someone cutting you up on the motorway, you feel better about it, without even needing to take further action. I’ve only ever bothered to send one clip, among many, to the Met (a driver raced blatantly through a red light, performed a wild U-turn in the middle of a busy junction, then sped off through another red) and they didn’t even respond.
If the worst does come to the worst, however, involving a crash or serious incident, at least you have evidence of someone’s bad driving. Hopefully not your own.
The latest new device is the Dash Cam 4K Omni from Shanghai-based 70mai, and it’s pleasingly high-tech, looking very premium with its unusual cylindrical camera unit made from high-quality plastics. Complete with rotating camera that can film straight ahead, or swivel to the right or left, or even inside the car, and take still photos, it is controlled by your voice, making it safe to operate (once you’ve memorised the commands).
Making it even more of a sure-fire thing in the case of an incident, the upgraded version of what is claimed to be the world's first 360° dash cam, also comes with a rear-view camera, in case the crucial action happens behind.
The makers claim that the device ensures ‘vivid, true-to-life visuals in all lighting conditions’ and, in tests when fitted to a Volvo V90 T6 estate, that is exactly what we found.
Smooth operator
The makers say that with 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, even high-speed journeys are captured with cinematic smoothness and precision. That too is borne out, as are claims about its capability in lower light conditions, although to be fair, most of our testing has been within London, where it is seldom particularly dark.
Other benefits? Using voice commands, the unit will take a selfie while you’re driving (including of your passengers, so if you happen to pick up a dodgy ‘ride’ you can catch them on film). It will even record the driver creating a vlog while behind the wheel, although I’m yet to meet a motorist who wants to.
By using the hard-wire kit, to ‘plumb’ the unit into your car’s electrics, users can use the Omni to catch parking bangs, scrapes and intrusions too, around the clock (even if experts do warn that you should inform your insurer, as this constitutes a modification to your vehicle; it’s worth checking out). We were unable to test this on the press Volvo but it is good to know - in this day and age when your car might even be raided for bits such as headlights and catalytic converters while parked - that this is possible.
Collision alert
The Omni is reliant on an app, which - by live-streaming - lets users see what’s happening in and around the car remotely, while the app will also send alerts in the event of a collision.
Other features include ‘find my car’ - in case you forget where you parked, perhaps in a vast airport - and ‘Track Route Live’, enabling the user to check the location of the car when someone else is driving it.
With built-in GPS and ‘Super-Sensing ADAS’ (driver aids), the dash cam can be used to provide lane departure alerts, forward collision warnings and pedestrian detection. Storage capacity has been upgraded over the previous model, accommodating up to 512GB for extended video recording without interruption, on the supplied micro SD card.
In tests, the Omni has proved easy to use, largely thanks to the voice control element. Fitting it, however, can be a faff, as with any after-market dash cam.
Burying the wires inside interior fixtures and fittings is awkward; it would have been handy if the makers provided two, not just one, plastic prise bars, one to gently hold panels open, the other to push the wire into place. In the Volvo, the wire from the front camera to the only available power socket was slightly too short, making for unsightly routing of the cable.
The front unit, measuring 80 x 40 x 60 millimetres, is impressively sleek, although there’s no getting away from the fact that - with two wires leading to the windscreen surround - it’s an after-market device. At the back, there’s no avoiding a wire trailing from the rear pillar to the tailgate; it looks untidy.
Overall verdict? This new kit is expensive, at £268 for the single front camera and £389 for the pair, so it’s only worth choosing this particular model if you particularly like high-tech, and will use all of the advanced features. It also takes a while getting used to the app, which isn’t altogether intuitive. If you just want a simple dash cam ‘in case’, it’s probably not for you.
Those who bask in the pride of car ownership might like the Omni for its sleek looks, together with its efficient operation and ease of use. And it’s quite entertaining watching it swivel right, left or centre – all by voice control. More information at www.70mai.com/4komni
Tower Top Tyre Inflator - fast and simple but not the sleekest
It’s always handy having a plug-in tyre inflator for emergencies or routine maintenance. They’re sociable too; I often meet neighbours in distress, when I’m lending them mine.
The latest device comes from TowerTop, billed as ‘high-speed’ and ‘built for durability’. It comes in a stout nylon ‘handbag’ measuring approximately 220x178x150mm, costs £35.69 and - if you like this kind of thing - looks fairly dynamic.
It has a steel-braided air hose around 620 mms long and a power cord of around 3,048 mm, that plugs into your vehicle’s cigarette light-style socket, and that stashes away neatly in the unit’s baset. Overall weight is about 1.35 kgs; too bulky for motorcycle use but reasonably compact for your car’s boot.
It’s claimed to pump at double the speed of traditional models, inflating a standard 185/65 R15 tyre from 0 to 35 PSI in two minutes and 45 seconds - handy if you’re stuck in a precarious position at the roadside, perhaps. It also, say its makers, has built-in safety including overheat, overload and short-circuit protection, while the safe current limit of 9A prevents blown fuses during use.
Target fixation
A dual-display LCD screen provides real-time and preset pressures simultaneously, and an automatic shutoff feature halts inflation precisely when the target pressure is met, to prevent overinflation. In practice, the pressures are easy to set and to read and the unit works efficiently.
The device has a ‘high-efficiency cooling system’, enabling continuous operation for over 30 minutes, the manufacturers claim. We didn’t run it for this long but the makers say this would allow it to inflate 8–10 car tyres in one go, useful for multi-vehicle households or fleet maintenance... or a lot of footballs.
The 3D vibration-dampening design is said to reduce noise output, ensuring quieter operation and extended motor life. It is quieter than many older units but is still nowhere near as quiet - or compact, or sleek, or vibration-free - as the rival Ring Digital Tyre Inflator which we recently reviewed, but which costs more, at around £45.
Other useful features on the TowerTop include a quick-release valve clamp and a torch at the front, with continuous illumination, spotlight, strobe, and SOS modes. In the box there’s a tiny zip-bag containing adaptors for Schrader, Presta, Schrader-Dunlop, and ball needle adapters for footballs and so on although - unlike the Ring unit - there’s no handy built-in cubby hole for these, so it will be hard to keep track of them.
Disappointingly, the Schrader adaptor failed to work on several bicycle tyres; because of a loose fit, it simply became detached from the valve clamp. We prefer the Ring unit but if size (and bicycle tyres) aren’t important and price is, it is worth considering.
