Thinkware U3000 dual-channel dash cam review: Radar love at a cost

Price When Reviewed

Thinkware U3000 dual-channel (entrance/rear) sprint cam: $549.99 (dual-channel), $429.99 (single-channel)

Best Prices Today: Thinkware U3000 dual-channel (entrance/rear) sprint cam

Thinkware has produced some high-quality sprint cams over time. The firm has additionally been on the leading edge by way of options—as seen within the U3000’s built-in low-power radar. But the U3000 can also be dauntingly expensive at $550 and we have now some quibbles with the mounts and cabling. The options and captures are nice, however that’s a ton of money for a dual-channel sprint cam—parking RADAR or not.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best dash cams to study competing merchandise.

Thinkware U3000 design and options

The U3000 is a display-less (an app and voice suggestions serve as an alternative), dual-channel sprint cam that features each a 2160p/158 diploma field-of-view entrance cam, and 1440p/ 128 diploma FOV rear digicam. Our take a look at unit arrived with each auxiliary port and OBDII energy cables. OBDII is by far the best manner to offer fixed energy for parking surveillance as you don’t need to faucet any wires. Just plug it in to your automobile’s diagnostic port.

The entrance sprint cam is detachable, sliding to the left off the skinny mounting plate that sticks to your windshield through semi-permanent double-sided tape. I used to be a bit upset that the sticky tape was old-school 3M with out a tab protruding from the protecting masking for simple removing. (Tip for my short-fingernailed fellows: Put your tape within the freezer for a couple of minutes to stiffen the sticky stuff and decrease the adhesion issue.)

I additionally was a bit disenchanted with the best way the digicam and mount coupled. There are three tabs on the mount that the digicam hooks and locks onto; nevertheless, it wasn’t all that simple to align the tabs with their holes as you possibly can’t see them through the course of.

Eventually, I famous the relative place of the highest of the digicam and mount and the process turned simpler, however give me a magnetic mount à la the Nexar One Pro or Garmin’s dash cams any day. In a digicam this costly, fragile plastic tabs shouldn’t be concerned.

The again digicam additionally mounts with sticky stuff, however there’s no separate mounting plate so removing regularly isn’t possible. No one stole the unit from my convertible parked right here in San Francisco throughout testing, however left there lengthy sufficient, it will positively disappear.

Jon Jacobi / Foundry

The important digicam is roughly 4.3-inches lengthy/excessive, by 2.7-inches large, by 2.0 inches thick the place the digicam resides. (See under.) The rear digicam measures round 3.1-inches large, by roughly 1.5-inches thick and deep. The brand makes it simple to find out the orientation, in contrast to with some rear cameras. (I’ve put in some the other way up initially)

On the proper aspect of the primary digicam (when caught to the windshield) is the micro card slot and venting, whereas on left there’s solely venting. The floor dealing with you when the digicam is mounted is residence to the microphone, Wi-Fi, on/off, and guide report buttons, in addition to standing lights for the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, report, and GPS.

The prime edge (when mounted) of the U3000 homes the mini-USB port for the rear digicam, the DC energy enter, and a pair of.5mm jacks for the “ext.” (elective GPS antenna) and the “bat.” port (communication/energy cable from an iVolt Xtra BAB-95 battery).

My important criticism right here pertains to the fairly thick mini-USB cable that’s included. After the skinny cables and Type-C connectors provided by the Viofo A139 Pro, this old-school resolution simply isn’t as cool. Not to say being more durable to route and conceal within the cabin.

Be positive to stay with the included 64GB Micro SD card. When I attempted to make use of one among my very own 128GB card, the U3000 acquired caught in a “Card format required” loop, inflicting it to repeatedly reboot. As this was earlier than I’d linked with the cellphone app, there was nothing to be carried out about it.

As for the U3000’s cellphone app, it’s referred to as Thinkware Dash Cam Link. Unlike Nexar’s app, it’s appropriate with my Pixel 4 (principally—you will need to use Bluetooth fairly than Wi-Fi linking initially). As the webcam itself lacks a show, the app is your solely recourse for altering settings, and so on.

Thankfully, because the storage is detachable, there was no repeat of the switch points I had with the Nexar One Pro. The app makes use of its personal Wi-Fi hotspot if you make use of the stay view or need to view/offload captures

Thinkware was one of many first corporations to supply dangerous driver, excuse me, “road safety” options for its sprint cams. The U3000 follows swimsuit with warnings of lane departure, ahead and rear collision, in addition to ahead automobile departure. I flip them off and take note of my driving. You might want them. Taste varies.

By far essentially the most distinctive characteristic of the U3000 is the low-power radar used to detect the presence of autos and other people and wake the digicam from semi-sleep in parking mode. This makes the U3000 superb for surveillance, and will prolong the run time of the mode past the standard 48 hours. Most cameras, together with the U3000 will sense low voltage and switch off the digicam utterly.

GPS is the icing on the U3000 cake, or needs to be. See under. I ought to point out that the U3000 is warrantied for a full yr. Most Amazon discount cams are 90 days. In a area not famend for {hardware} longevity, 365 days is an efficient factor.

How does the Thinkware U3000 carry out?

Overall, the Thinkware U3000’s captures had been excellent, a minimum of by way of shade and element. The entrance captures had been higher than the rear, although each provided excellent element. The rear digicam had a slight tendency to overexpose in vibrant mild, although it dealt with flaring at evening virtually in addition to the entrance digicam.

Colors are wealthy with out being oversaturated, and there aren’t any considerable movement artifacts comparable to tearing or bouncing. I did see gentle stabilization points in a single seize, however that seemingly cured itself over the following couple of minutes of the drive.

Right-click and choose “Open image in new tab” or “Save image” to see the next captures in larger, or full decision.

As you possibly can see above, daytime captures are fairly good, and current loads of element ought to it’s essential seize an offender’s license plate quantity. Details on the evening seize proven under weren’t fairly as apparent. Brightening in a photograph editor doesn’t reveal much more element, alas.

As talked about, daytime rear captures had been barely overexposed, however once more confirmed good element for 1440p. If you possibly can learn the signal, it’s all good.

Rear evening captures had been additionally fairly good, with cheap shade and element.

Alas, there’s a purpose you don’t see GPS information within the captures above. It appears the primary U3000 I used to be shipped was a faulty trial unit. I’m positive that Thinkware, who’s a really dependable vendor, may have straightened this out by the point it ships for actual so I didn’t deduct any stars. That mentioned, verify it very first thing.

The U3000 makes use of a supercapacitor fairly than a battery for prolonged recharge cycles. It will hold the digicam functioning lengthy sufficient (about 2 seconds) to save lots of the latest file, however not for much longer.

Is the Thinkware U3000 price it?

The dual-channel Thinkware U3000 is an excellent dual-channel sprint cam with some nice options. But it’s competing with some wonderful, and considerably cheaper options such because the Cobra SC 400D with its implausible video, and the modular Nextbase 622GW.

The low-power RADAR parking is a superb characteristic, however not sufficient to warrant a $550 price ticket ($430 single-channel). Especially given the entry-level mounting and cabling. Being blunt, the U3000 is considerably overpriced.