Vantrue N2 Pro Uber Dual Dash Cam

First, a bit of disclosure. I work for a surveillance camera manufacturer, so I am very familiar with the image quality possible today, even though we don't make any mobile or dash cams. Second, I had purchased multiple dash cams before stumbling upon Vantrue on Amazon. I was admittedly buying inexpensive models, and found that many had extremely poor instructions for setup and use. Others were poor resolution or narrow field of view. Worst of all, most didn't last me more than a couple of months before they failed due to the hot California sun. I actually had an accident where another car side swept me, and the driver only admitted fault because he saw my camera. When I looked at the camera later, it turned out it had failed to record, so I was very lucky that the other person assumed it caught what had happened. I decided to buy a quality camera to hopefully avoid those issues, and purchased an earlier Vantrue model (OnDash X3 1440P HD). I have used it daily since 2017; I've put 50,000 miles on my car in the past three years here in Los Angeles, so it does get a lot of use. The Vantrue I bought back then has had none of these problems. When I purchased a new car, I decided to transfer that older model to my wife's car, and purchase a new one for my own new vehicle. The Vantrue OnDash N2 Pro is what I purchased a couple of weeks ago on Amazon. It arrived in a couple of days. The packaging was clean and bright, as the pictures I took in my office show; it felt like a quality product from the start. This again is not always the case; I ordered one online from a deals site that came in very flimsy, black on white low quality packaging. That one turned out to be not so great a camera. Setup instructions for the N2 Pro are easy to follow (although in part that may be because I had used the earlier model) and with few English-language typos. Neither of these things should be considered a given! As you can see from the comparison shot I took in my garage, both cameras are similar, compact size. The N2 Pro (on the right in the photo) is slightly smaller in overall dimensions. The screen area is smaller as well, but it is extremely vivid & clear. Thus I don't have a problem with viewing content, either live video or playing back a recorded file. Since it is quite small, it blends in when you look at the car from the outside. Unless you are specifically looking for it, you likely won't notice the camera, as it almost disappears with the black of the mirror and sensors near where I typically mount it, center windshield, up high. I purchased the optional wiring harness, so that I could hook it up permanently. I do usually take a dash camera with me on trips, using the included 12 volt adapter and cable. Hooking it up via the wiring harness, though, lets me record any incidents that happen around the car when I'm not present. Vantrue indicates that it won't drain the vehicle battery in the documentation. Obviously, I haven't had a chance to validate that with the new model, but I believe it. I will be experimenting with the capabilities in this area. For example, I enjoyed the footage my previous Vantrue camera took going through a car wash. The night vision capability is outstanding, recording imagery much better than I can see with my own eyes. This is not a given; I've purchased and disposed of dash cams that had virtually no night vision and were thus useless much of the time. While I plan to primarily use it for recording the action ahead of me, this Vantrue model allows you to also record what is going on behind you in the rear seat of the car. The wide dynamic range all-lighting-conditions technology in the sensor also allows it to see out the rear window. This would be useful in the event you are rear-ended and need the evidence of what happened. I plan to experiment with that capability more as well, to see which mode I want to use it in. My only issue is that I had to look up in the printed instructions how to switch between front-facing recording only and the default mode of both front & rear facing recording activated. That done, no problems. Everything else was quite intuitive to set up if you've ever used other dash cams, and certainly if you've every had another Vantrue. The audio and video quality are excellent, and I've shown people on my team some of the recordings the camera produces. They were impressed with the quality, especially since we work for a surveillance camera manufacturer here in the US, and I think a couple of them probably have bought the same Vantrue model since then. I am very happy that I chose this model, and again purchased a Vantrue from Amazon again.

I had been planning on getting a dash cam for about a year and just couldn't settle on one. But after watching so much DDS, MegaDrivingSchool, Sergey22, etc. on YouTube, I decided on a VanTrue. The day after I made my decision and started seriously looking for one, an older gentleman pulled out of a gas station while not looking my direction and SOMEHOW, at less than 15 mph, totaled my car. I am still in disbelief! I went home and purchased this right away. I love it! High definition, high quality clips that you can set up in 1, 2, or 3 minute loops. Night vision is great. Some people have complained about the mount included (slipping) but mine has been on for several months in a Sacramento summer and now cold, wet weather with no change in position. I did get the GPS mount (tracks speed and coordinates) but haven't set it up yet. The inside facing camera is great, definitely keeps you more aware and tuned into the road knowing you have a permanent witness with you. Lol. But it doesn't just see inside, it's clear enough to see behind me as well, though mainly larger and more obvious details like car type and color rather than license plate numbers. The front camera gets plates, bumper stickers, signs, everything else though. It lets you take pictures in addition to recording manually. Parking mode is easy to set up and you can set the G shock sensor to a very sensitive setting but thankfully, I haven't needed it yet. All the settings are easy to set up, uploading clips can be done by taking the card out of the camera and uploading to the comp or the easier way, detach the whole camera (very easy to do by pushing a little lever and sliding it off) and connect using the USB cable. The playback is smooth and seamless, audio is not the best sometimes but I bought a camera not a microphone so I can't list that as a genuine con. However when it's really quiet (no radio, late night driving) you can even hear the blinker and windshield wipers going. Hit or miss. A card is not included, and when you buy one you need to format it before inserting it and recording. Very easy to do though, and my 256 GB Samsung (from the "recommended with this purchase" section) works great. Holds hours and hours of video so I can record as I please without running out of space or overwriting videos which is what happened with my last camera (gifted.... it broke). That being said, there is a note about the manually recorded/"event" videos potentially being overwritten once you hit something like 70% capacity. So if you care about that, stay on top of extracting your videos. My ONLY con after owning this for probably 3 months now, is the actual initial set up. It comes with all the cables and cords necessary to hook it up via the cigarette lighter port thing (idk) *but* the plug they gave me was too big for my port. Like, way, way too big; there was no realistic way it could fit in my 97 Honda Civic, so just keep that in mind if buying for an older car. I have a stereo/deck with a USB port so I can connect the camera to the power source that way using the USB cable meant for the computer, but it hangs down from the windshield and sometimes gets in the way, either of my hands or the inside facing camera. But again, only con here. Doesn't affect the operation and it was an easy fix. I've never bought a piece of technology that hasn't given me problems within the first 1-2 months but here I am reviewing the exception. Let me tell you, the piece of mind this gives you is overwhelming sometimes. I can't tell you how many times I've de-escalated someone else's road rage by simply pointing to the camera (or prevented my own by remembering it's inside watching me too! Ha!). Plus, I've caught some funny, unique, and just plain weird things on it, like a semi on fire on the freeway, a murmur of birds by the river, a troop of turkeys 45 strong fighting in the middle of the road, a crow dropping a rock on someone's windshield and cracking it, a homeless man pulling his sweats all the way off to tie his shoe in the middle of the road then pulling them back on to keep jay walking... Excellent gift for paranoid, angry, or new drivers, Lyft/Uber drivers, or just anyone with long commute who sees more than the average driver. You can't beat the price for the quality and customer service. 10/10 would buy again

I love this camera! The picture/video is unbelievable, I like the front/back view if you want it (or you can turn it off) you can also use (or not use to save battery life) the parking mode. It has a great amount of coverage/view when videoing and the sound is amazing. The installation was easy, the size is perfect and it functions great. The SD card has to be wiped about every 2-3 weeks depending on how often you drive and use it and how much storage is on your SD card. The reason for the 4 stars and not 5 is the suction cup. After having it less than a year (bought it November of 2024) the suction doesn't stay. We keep re-mounting it and it sticks for about 10-20 min and then falls off the windshield. If you can't have it mounted you can't use it (I was tempted to give it a 3 star because of this). We are trying to find another mount to buy or try to figure out how to adhere it without damaging the windshield. Other than that this is an AMAZING camera.

I've always wanted to pick up a dash camera to capture that instance something goes wrong. The most important thing to me is that it is RECORDING. The Vantrue was a breeze to setup and is always running when I want it on. I've used it in two vehicles: Acura RDX and Tesla Model 3. Acura RDX: The setup was simple. Charge two hours before using it (I think this just gives it some running power for setup and power up/power down). Put in memory card, mount it in the car, plug it into power. Boom it comes on and it’s recording, no need to do anything else. Drove around enjoying that the display facing me gave me confirmation of what was recording and that it was on and functioning. After parking, the camera turns itself off within like 10 seconds of powering the car off. After getting back in the car and starting it, camera powers on and starts recording. Tesla Model 3: Why would I put this in a car that has built in dash cam recording and even Sentry mode (recording when parked)? Similar to the RDX everything works just fine. However, those who own Model 3s know we don't really "turn off" our cars. We get out of the car and walk away while the car is still powered on. I assumed that when the car locks and powers off the camera would do the same. NOPE, the car continues to power the camera so you have CONTINUOUS recording which is great to find those people who pull up and try to smash our small windows. Video Quality: The quality is great, and it’s higher quality than the Tesla recordings. Also, the tesla recording give the video an odd "hue" to it. With the Vantrue I read complaints that you can't catch people’s license plates etc etc. First, there is no camera that auto focuses on license plates so yes if a car zooms by you it’s no different than a human not being able to read it let alone if you had your iphone out it wouldn't record it and you wouldn't have time to tap "focus". The quality is good and you can get license plates if they are in front of you "long enough" where a human would normally need to focus their eyes etc. Second, with the 1440p camera option you can "enhance" photos nowadays, so I find it hard to believe that if you needed to you wouldn't be able to extract the plate. Design: I really really like the suction cup; the turn to lock is nifty. Vantrue paid attention to detail when they put a power plug on the suction cup mount so that it would be streamline. Additionally, there is a USB charger on the power plug base so you don't lose the ability to charge phones. In fact you gain a cigarette lighter to USB converter. I'll finish with my fixation on it recording. I grabbed video from the Vantrue and Tesla to compare them side by side. Guess what, the Tesla didn't record video. When the Tesla memory is full it stops RECORDING. So if you get in an accident you won't have the recording and there is no notification to tell you it's full. Of course Tesla will fix this, eventually. Lastly, I was driving my Tesla down the freeway and hit a hard hat in the carppool lane, it was unavoidable. But because I didn't know how to operate the "record" function on the Tesla I never got the video proof from the car. This is why Vantrue has great value. It just works. I can upload photos and videos if I find that people find my post useful to compare Tesla and Vantrue. I'll probably pick up another one so I have one in both cars. This is a must if you're a ride share driver. The interior camera is superb with its wide lens. For those who simply want to record front only, you can easily disable the in-car camera.

I'm not a picky consumer when it comes to fancy materials and features I'll likely never use. This camera is great and I won't call it a dash camera as it really should be up by the rear view mirror to make sure you get the best inside/rear view from the internal camera which is rear facing. The higher up mount allows me to see out my rear hatch easily, I'm debating on an actual rear camera as this seems okay for now. The packaging is quality! Which really surprised me as this product, like about 75% of all products, is made in China. The instructions say origin of manufacturer although I could not find this on the outer marketing packaging box anywhere. However, the manufacturer understands that just because it is made in China it does not have to come in a cheap box to save pennies. I, for one, do not mind paying more for better products even if they are from China, I want QUALITY. The packaging and instructions and included parts are made well, even though with cheap materials. You can tell quality control is strong with this company. The product through the instructions and packaging are QUALITY and Made In China! Something I speak highly of when I come across a strong product made in China. I must promote the understanding of quality! As far as the actual camera goes. It is higher quality than your standard $50-$80 dash cams on Amazon. I have two ~ $50 dash cameras from Amazon and the quality difference is like those fake Nintendo game cartridges compared to the real ones. Will both items do what they say? Yes, sort of. The materials are better, the plastics, the metals, etc... The quality is just higher with this camera V2 Pro Uber dual than those cheaper cameras, trust me. The build feels solid like it has the correct screw mounting locations and so on. The dust covers and rubberized plastics instead of hard form plastics, should hold up much longer and keep seals tighter. You can tell when development goes into products and the manufacturer did a good job. ( An after thought as I purchase the wiring kit, and the GPS add on mount. I wish there was an alternative clamp style mount that allowed for great clamping with no vibration and also for the GPS add on to remain. With that said let's hope the suction cup holds! Fingers crossed!) With that said the video and sound quality is excellent in my opinion for a dash style camera system. Will this present motion picture audio and video for playing later? Absolutely not. But, it does capture interior and exterior video in crisp clear images with no stuttering or shaking from what I could tell. Sound is beautifully captured inside and out for what seems to be up to about 25 feet outside a cracked open window of two neighbors talking normally outside their house on a quite morning as I drove by. With this in mind careful what you say on camera if you crash or anything as it will record your words so don't admit fault on camera if you didn't do anything wrong. The video sizes I am recording are 1920x1080 60fps (although it may really be 30fps) dual with interior 1920x1080 at 60fps (this is why I think it may be 30fps each front and interior total 60fps) The video file sizes of roughly 10 minutes of driving are 1.3 MB each in total. So about 20 minutes worth of HD video (front and back video at 10 minutes each) is total of 2.6 Mega Bytes, As far as I can tell that is a very reasonable file size for the quality of the video AND audio that is stored on the card. I have a 32GB card in the camera now from my older dash cams and this would take a while to cycle through the storage memory before wiping data. I have ordered a 256GB Samsung Evo Plus memory card from BEST BUY!!! I read the reviews on AMAZON for the recommended memory card and it says that there are tons of FAKES ON AMAZON for the storage sd cards. I bought from Best Buy and if you read the questions on this product review page the manufacturer of this actual dash cam says to NOT buy from Amazon as there are obvious fake memory cards being sold directly through Amazon. It's a shame as the Best buy card is about 8 bucks more expensive, but for it to be real is PRICELESS! Get this camera and a nice recommended sd micro card from Best Buy or likewise actual store and you are set to Uber Lyft or freakin drive across your country!!!

So this has been an incredible experience of how bad amazon can be, I've used this website for longer than I can remember and have never had a product this bad!!! I cannot stress how much you should not buy this camera. If you have the time to read all the updates and post about my experience with the thing you will only begin to know my pain, the final straw came today 8/21/2018 only moments ago when I was leaving the grocery store and was involved in a minor fender bender. after pulling aside and exchanging info I immediately took off my Vantrue N2 PRO joke of a camera and hooked it up to my computer to see who was at fault only to find the same problem that had persisted almost the entire time I've had the thing. The video of the crucial moment of impact was missing as the camera would only record for about a minute or so then stop for whatever reason! needless to say I AM NOT 100% SATISFIED!!!!!!!!! AND WILL BE DEMANDING A FULL REFUND!!!!!! not only did I have to endure all the things I did just trying to get this thing to work it craps out on me at the moment I need it the most!!!! Absolutely horrible, please don't suffer the same fate as I did and save your self Time+money+headaches and DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!!! Vantrue N2 Pro Uber Dual Dash Cam Dual 1920x1080P Front and Inside Dash Camera (2.5K 2560x1440P Single Front) 1.5" 310° Car Camera w/Infrared Night Vision, Sony Sensor, Parking Mode, Support 256GB max 2 STARS BY DEFAULT!!!! Can’t put 2 1/2🤷🏽‍♂️ Final and last update 8/20/2018 So after the mount issues, and the camera issues, then the waiting for a new camera, and trying to figure out why the video would not record more than a minute or so and finally applying a firmware update despite the camera saying the firmware was the newest version the camera fully works and does what I want it to do which is record for 5 min increments at a time and not have any “incident” videos. After all is said and done it is not worth the 200$ I payed for it but maybe worth the 150$ they are charging now if you have time to spare to figure out all the hiccups. Update; 8/18/2018 the customer service for this product is excellent and goes above expectations, I received my new camera 2days after shipping back my old one. Also I was informed that the “new” mount I received was actually the same old mount and they replaced that as well. I’ve yet to test out the new camera but like I said when it works it’s awesome, the speedyness and general concern from the customer service rep makes up for the unfortunate mishaps with the mount and camera. I’d still wish I’d gotten the cheaper price but wygd? 2 1/2 stars 🤷🏽‍♂️ So I purchased this camera about 5 months ago back in march, and at first it was a great lil camera that came into my life so seamlessly that I hardly ever had to check it. it wasn't until the summer came that I first starting having issues with the thing, the suction cup used was not heat resistant and the camera would be found hanging from the wires sitting on my dashboard. after complaining to the company I was sent a "new" suction cup that was supposed to be made of better quality and heat resistant. alas it wasn't and the same issue happened again only this time the camera must have been damaged from the fall because shortly after I reviewed the footage and found that not only would the camera stop recording spontaneously and after trying to reset the camera to default mode and format the memory card because I read online that sometimes that would help I discovered that the menu button would not bring up the menu properly! so after I tried a few things for a few days and sat and watched as the camera tried to record but would stop after a minute or so I decided to reach out to the company and emailed them today 8/7/2017 I will update this review after they get back to me. for the most part this is a great lil camera when it works, but the fact that it was made with inferior materials and that amazon dropped the price shortly after makes me with I'd had waited or went a different route. BUYER BEWARE!!!! TL;DR CAMERA DOES NOT WORK AS IT SHOULD, PICS SHOW THAT CAMERA WILL STOP RECORDING FOR NO REASON HAD CAMERA SET TO 5MIN RECORDING TIME STARTED RECORDING FOR A MINUTE OR 2 THEN WOULD STOP LEAVING CRUCIAL GAPS IN PLAYBACK AND THE LAST STRAW WAS WHEN IT HAPPENED JUST BEFORE AN ACCIDENT!

Having recently started driving Uber it occurred to me it would be in my best interest to have a dual dash cam. This got me started doing the research. In this litigious society (no matter what country) a video is worth a thousand words when it comes to the truth. So, whether having a video record of your ride sharing experience inside the car, or to dispel the “he-said-she-said” debate following a traffic accident, it is clearly in your best interest to be able to produce video proof. Obviously, not all dash cams are created equal. Consider your needs before making a decision. In my case I needed a “dual” dash cam with a rear facing camera that would work in complete darkness to capture what is going on inside my car. Some “dual” dash cams claim to have wide dynamic range (WDR) and “night mode”. But if you really need a camera that works in the complete darkness you need an infrared (IR) capable camera WITH an infrared light source built in. The Vantrue N2 Pro Dual Dash Cam w/ Infrared Night Vision provides exactly that. Other dual dash cams typically have a remote rear facing camera, with a long cable to attach it to the main control unit, while the front facing camera will be built into the main control unit that attaches to your dash or windshield. These are intended to allow you to decide where to put the rear facing camera. Typically facing out the rear window to cover what’s happening behind the car. If you wanted to capture the interior of the car you would attach it to the inside of the front windshield facing the interior of the car. I originally bought a dual dash cam that claimed to have “night vision”. I installed it and found it to be a really nice camera with a lot of features, however neither camera was rated for infrared (IR) light. After I realized it would not work to capture images of the interior of my car in the dark I bought an external IR light source. This did not help. I contacted the manufacturer and they confirmed that the camera was not rated for infrared light! I ended up sending both the light source and the camera back and bought the Vantrue N2 Pro Dual. This is a FANTASTIC camera. I won’t quote the specs because they are all in the description, it has an amazing field of view on both cameras and extremely high-resolution video capture (1080p in dual camera mode) with all the features of the first camera I bought and more. I also purchased the GPS module. This is a really cool addition to the camera that also helps to set it apart from the rest. It superimposes your exact GPS coordinates into the video along with your speed. There is a really cool software package available to give you map imagery coordinated with your video. The camera will allow you to insert your license plate number which is also superimposed on the video. In summary, other “dual dash” cameras claim to be a perfect fit for Uber and Lyft drivers but beware, only cameras that specifically state that they are infrared (IR) capable with an integrated IR light source (LEDs) are truly rated to capture images in complete darkness. If you go with a camera that is not rated for IR you will find that unless you are in a brightly lit area, or it is daylight, you will not be able to capture what is going on inside your car! If I were to find any fault with this particular camera it would be the following: • Memory card is NOT included. Most of the cheaper cameras come with one (~$13.00 for 32GB) • GPS is not built in and costs another $22.00 • I would prefer a rearview mirror mount. The ideal position for this camera to mount would be just below the rearview mirror. The suction cup mounts can’t facilitate this. This camera is on the high end in cost, but in this case you definitely get what you pay for.

A very nice product, with a severe design flaw: What do you want to use this for? For most people, the value in this product is the ability to document an accident, to prove whether or not they were at fault. Well, this product will do that, as long as the built-in Lithium battery has a charge, and as long as the accident did not disconnect the DashCam from the car's battery. That is for a simple reason: This is a digital product, not analog. In an analog product, say, a VCR, the minute it loses power, it stops recording, but what has been recorded up to that point is preserved and reviewable. Not so with a digital system. The video/sound is recorded in FILES. You get to determine, on this product, how long you want the video to be, and it creates a file for each video. The DashCam is very good at stopping one recording and starting a new one, in a chain. This means that each file needs to be PROPERLY CLOSED when reaching the end of the time interval you've set. Without power, the file will be LOST AND INACCESSIBLE. So think about it: You are, Heaven forbid, in an accident, and the impact has interrupted the power to the DashCam, somewhere along the line. Maybe even disconnected one of the cables from your car's battery. That point of impact is THE MOST CRITICAL data you want. It could be anywhere between 1 and 5 minutes long (depending on how you set it up), but IT IS LOST, if the DashCam loses power. How can it lose power? It has a built-in lithium battery. Yes, it does, and about 2 years after you've installed it in your car, the battery will have swollen and lost all ability to recharge and store power. That is because, as anyone would expect, you've left it on your car's windshield, exposed to the sun and it heated up and damaged the battery. On top of that, they made the product black, which absorbs more heat than any other color, and have built no heat-shield into it. And the product itself generates a little heat of its own. But...But...But you didn't spend $200 just for the ability to document accidents. You also want all the other features the manufacturer advertizes as selling points -- record entire trips, record inside the car, record whoever shoved a supermarket cart at your car and dented it, and such. In my case, I installed the hardwire kit to provide power to the unit all the time, whenever it is triggered by any car passing by when the car is parked. So what do we have here? The manufacturer advertizes that you can, with the hardwire kit, record any kid who wants to key your car, any car that dents it when you're not there -- all of which depends on the unit's battery providing some power in order to gracefully close files -- because without that small amount of power, the last files open will be lost -- and then the manufacturer tells you, in the manual, don't leave it exposed to the sun? Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it? So that was my experience with the first N2Pro I bought. This is my second one. I do not intend to buy a new one every couple of years, because the manufacturer couldn't see the obvious and plan accordingly. I've already found the replacement battery (it really doesn't require much, about 250Mah), and when necessary, solder the bad battery out, solder a new one in. And tape some kind of heat-shielding material around the Dashcam, with white tape. It's such a silly thing. Plus the world-wide craze to slap lithium batteries in everything from electric cars to hearing aids, when a regular, replaceable battery would do -- in this case a pair of AAA with voltage-adjusting circuitry would have done it, and avoided the problem altogether. You may never have this problem, just be aware of it before you buy.