HDVR Rearview Mirror Car Accident Camera

Product Description

Reviewers of ABEO's HDVR-150, a hi-def video/still camera built into an attachable rearview mirror, have predominantly words of praise to lay upon the device, but I'm not fully sold on its application. Certainly in this... [Read more]

Top Reviews

Good DVR for the money
by TP (4 out of 5 stars)
January 9, 2013

BE ADVISED. The video was reduced from 720p to 480p due to Amazon file size constraints.

Here's my first video review. Hope it helps you to decide which DVR is best for you. Most of my comments are written here and not in the video. You'll see many more on YouTube. For this review, I had to reduce the resolution to 720x480 pixels because Amazon limits the video file to 100 mb maximum. The original 1280x720 p video was over 380 mb.

Pros:
-Factory look. Sturdy and sleek.
-Since it looks factory, no one can tell it's a DVR and they wont break into the car to steal it.
-Automatically records and stops. (this depends if the cigarette lighter is switched, turns on when key is inserted)
-Can turn recording off/on at anytime.
-Turn onscreen display off/on at anytime.
-Options to set resolution, on screen display, time, date, etc..

Cons:
-Needs slightly wider adjustment to compensate for rear view mirror use. What I mean by this is if I set the mirror to view the rear window (which is normal), the partial left side of the car is cut. This is even when the camera lens is pointed the the outermost left part. The workaround: I have to move the mirror to point to the left a bit. However, this alters my rear view. Now I dont see the entire rear window but the partial right rear window as well.
-1080p resolution - not useable. Im estimating it's about 10-15 fps. Its almost like a slideshow. I dont recommend it because if there was an accident, those critical frames in that fraction of that second may not be recorded at all.
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Excellent value for money
by David Toh (5 out of 5 stars)
July 31, 2012

This 2-in-1 product with the anti-glare rearview mirror and in-car camera is a neat package with a very solid casing. It clamps on your original mirror like any other after-market mirrors and stays firmly in place.

The controls are simple and the manual that comes with it are well written and clear.

The lens can be adjusted over a wide range to suit adjustments to the mirror's viewing angle.

The 2.4" LCD is sharp and aids in the lens adjustment. It can be switched off when not needed.

The only con is the huge filesize for the recording which is about 800 to 900MB for 5 mins of footage.

A 4GB SD card was included though it wasn't stated in the orders and for that size, it can hold only about 20 mins of footage before the first video file is recycled. It can take a SD card up to 32GB size but I have yet to try it.

The videos are sharp and in the expected quality range of a HD720p camera.

One point to note is that the device's weight (about 320g) may be too much for some car's rearview mirror arm/linkage and it may vibrate or even sag if the arm/linkage was loose in the first place.

So prior to buying you might want to assess your rearview mirror's suitability.

Also thumbs-up to the seller for including a personal thank you note and a quick start-up guide.

Highly recommended for those looking for a simple and good quality in-car camera without paying extras for frills like GPS, G-sensor, or night-surveillance mode etc if you don't need them.
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A very good buy for the money
by CH (5 out of 5 stars)
April 20, 2013

I thought of getting a dash cam when I saw all of the Russian meteor videos, but wanted a camera that wouldn't attract attention to itself. This seemed like the perfect solution--you really can't tell my car has a camera unless you really look for it.

Since this camera was designed for right-hand drive vehicles, the lens doesn't swivel quite as far left as I'd like it to. It goes far enough left though, in my opinion. It was packaged with an 8GB SD card, which was a nice start. It arrived set for English and included a quick start guide. The clock was not quite set correctly, despite what others have reported on their purchases, but it didn't bother me. Once you get the hang of moving through the menus on this device, it makes sense.

It was a challenge to get it to sit correctly on my mirror, since my existing mirror is somewhat weak. My car mirror would sort of lock and aim onto one "sweet spot" where it would hold, so I adjusted the camera accordingly by sliding the bottom grips toward me a bit, aiming the mirror side of the camera upward. The rubber grippers hold pretty well. This solution helped me to keep the camera's mirror aimed properly rearward. It was about 90 degrees here yesterday and caused my car's mirror to sag down...this is a unique issue in my particular car. I'll have to figure a workaround to tighten the mirror's ball joint in my case...

The power cable hides very well in my headliner and pillar trim. The cable is just narrow enough to fit and hide.

I wanted a camera that will just run automatically, and this one does exactly that. I don't even have to think about it when I get in the car--it just starts rolling when the car turns on (my cigarette outlet switches on and off with the ignition). I picked up a 32GB SD class 10 card for it. It holds about 2 1/2 hours of video in 720 mode. I keep the included 8GB card in the glove box as a backup.

I wish the camera had GoPro-like sharpness. It's hard to make out license plates on the video unless the lighting conditions are right and the license plate is within 20 feet of the front of my car.

I suppose if I see reckless driving or am a victim of a hit-and-run, I'll just speak the offender's license plate number so the camera's microphone can pick it up. The audio can be enabled or disabled with this camera, but I leave the audio recording on for this reason.

I always record at 720p because I heard that 1080i is only 15 frames per second. I have not tried 1080 mode yet.

This camera has a parking mode (records on internal battery power for one minute if vibration is detected while the car is parked), which I haven't used very much. I don't know whether or not the lights come on when parking mode activates--I would hope that the camera stays dark if it rolls on someone messing with my car. Flashing lights on the "rear view mirror" in an empty car would be a "steal me" signal.

I love the clandestine nature of this camera. It's the MAIN REASON I bought it. If I have a confrontation/collision on the road, I want no one to know I have a camera before the police show up. Also, since it's not noticeable, I'm not worried about it attracting thieves while the car is unattended.

If this camera had GoPro-like video, I would have paid $250 for it, maybe more. It's not super sharp video, but I definitely think it is worth the going price. If it can clear my liability on one traffic accident, it'll more than pay for itself.

Also, it's fun to load the videos into editing software and make it roll in super-fast motion!

You can also stamp a number onto the video, such as your own license plate number. On my video I choose to only stamp the last three digits of my plate number (in case I get a viral video, my full license plate number isn't all over the place!).

My uploaded video was shot in 720p mode. I removed the audio and showed different lighting conditions. Keep in mind that the video seen on this review will be slightly degraded from the original video quality. Amazon seems to compress these videos. The white car in the very first shot has a readable license plate, as well as the white car in the very last shot, along with the silver crossover SUV to its right.

UPDATE 4/22/2014:

I've owned this camera for a year now and it's still working great. It's survived the hot sun of Southern California just fine.
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Awesome gadget
by Pea_Tear_Griffin (5 out of 5 stars)
January 19, 2013

I bought this after watching several Russian dashcam videos on YouTube.

The product is plastic, but feels well made.

The mirror is nice and long, but is a bit dimmer than a normal mirror.

The instructions on setting up the camera are a bit jumbled, but easy to follow.

I can't comment on the sound as I had it turned off (I don't want to hear myself singing haha).

To me, the most important part, and the deciding factor in getting this, was video quality. There are 3 settings, Full HD, HD, and 640x480 (or something like that). I did several tests in the morning, afternoon, and at night.
*Full HD is a much wider video, but for me, the picture was too bright, and I would have to get closer than 10 feet to see the license plate in front of me at a full stop.
*HD is a not as wide as Full HD, but the picture quality was outstanding; it was much more natural looking. I could also see license plates from farther away stopped, but also while driving (not crystal clear, but good enough).
*640x480 was much smaller than the two above, not as clear, but had the same natural look as above.

Lastly, it starts up right when I turn the power on in my car, with all the settings saved.

My suggestions:

Put it in HD video mode

Put it at 4Gs (it's set at 6G when you receive it (in US at least))

Get a 32GB SDHC Class 10 Card

I will say though that the model I got had some problems, so I had to return it. It would randomly restart, and then when that stopped, it kept saying the SD card I had in was wrong, even though it was the one provided. I'll eventually get a new one as this is a great product, highly recommended.
*UPDATE*

I recently purchased a new one and received it today. My other one must've been an older model because this one has several new settings. This new one includes a parking mode where the camera will record up to a minute after an impact on the car, which is a great feature. The next one is where you can adjust the exposure of the picture, making it lighter or darker. The next new feature is "metering" and, after contacting the seller, it looks like it measures the amount of light...? Please correct me in the comments if I'm wrong, but I would leave the setting on it's original selection, which I believe is "center."
*MINOR UPDATE*

I tweaked with the exposure levels on the Full HD setting to see if it would be as good as the HD quality. After doing a few tests, I would still recommend the HD setting as it is more natural and fluid.
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Poor quality, likely counterfeit - look for alternatives
by DJ (1 out of 5 stars)
November 19, 2013

I bought this camera from Amazon a couple months back. It worked alright initially, but lots of the settings weren't correctly saved (they would either change randomly or not ever save). Further, due to its onboard battery, there's no way to turn it off if it stays on for some reason. The instructions don't include much information about using it.

I could barely read license plates if it was day time AND the plate was high contrast colors AND the plate was directly in front of me (within 10 feet of my front bumper). Other than that, license plates were not legible. I compared the video this camera recorded to videos online which claim the same resolution. It appears this camera interpolates to get the higher resolution which is worthless.

On the highest resolution setting, the video segments are 3 minutes long and are around 517MB. Is it just me, or is that unusually large? Well, considering the video file for an entire DVD movie is around 1,000MB, something is wrong. Further, these videos must be viewed in Windows (on a mac, they play incorrectly).

About a week after I bought it, the camera went extremely dark and didn't recover. It was like the lens was tinted (RGB were all still visible, just darker). I tried everything to troubleshoot the problems but wasn't able to fix a single one of them.

Because this product initially had some good reviews, I'm guessing they switched to a counterfeit product at some point (maybe, without the amazon seller knowing) or always had some counterfeit products. I have read about counterfeit dash cams on a dash camera website. They said that many use low resolution cameras. Then, they convert to higher resolution by adding in pixels that are the average of their neighboring pixels. This, of course, only decreases the video quality even though the video now appears to be high definition. This might explain the files that are 10 times the expected size, the poor video quality (even though they claim high resolution), and the early product failure.

If you decide to buy this dash cam, use caution. It's also possible that some are counterfeit and some are real. Check to make sure the file size for a 3 minute video is well under 100MB. Also, make sure you can read license plates (you should be able to at this resolution). Compare your video to online videos of the same resolution to make sure that similar details are visible.
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Excellent Product for the Price.
by Bmcgnh (5 out of 5 stars)
January 19, 2015

Great camera for the price. I was looking for something inexpensive but reliable after 3 close calls on the road last week. This is perfect for my needs. Setup was simple. The unit easily clipped over the mirror of my Camry. Just a few things I'd pass on.
#1 Yes, I was that stupid. I did NOT realize that there was a cap over the camera lenses...so for the first few minutes I had a black screen that I started to trouble shoot.
#2 I did not realize that the camera is adjustable (a tiny bit) so you can swivel it left and right and/or up and down. My out-of-the-box configuration was pretty close and when I initially tried to adjust it the unit did not feel like it would move (it's stiff) but after a few tries I was able to swivel that camera to capture the perfect front view.
#3 There are not any consolidated instructions. I received (1/15) three separate sheets of paper and sometimes the syntax was a bit hard to follow but you can get there.
#4 From what I've read online (and tried in the car) there doesn't seem to be any real built-in function to "save" a video. For instance, I'd like to save the near miss that I was behind today. I wish there was a way to push a button and "lock" that file.
#5 Basically this saves small (3, 5 or 10) minute blocks of video; fills the card and then loops over the SD space.

Very happy with the product. Will probably hard wire to the fuse block to get rid of the long wires.
#6 There is a setting to turn the panel (preview) off. Mine came pre-selected to the "ON" position so I always had the camera preview in the corner of the mirror. Easy to change the setting to 1-3 minutes (just so I can check the angle) when I turn on. Not sure if having the screen "ON" would attract attention of police since some states prohibit a screen forward of the driver's view. (I guess you could turn it off completely if you dropped the car off at the valet).
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Easy to use, decent quality video
by J. Johnston (5 out of 5 stars)
August 3, 2013

Once you get a feel for the controls, this dash video recorder works remarkably well. After it is setup to your liking, there really isn't much more to be done with it, unless you'd like to review video. It records video reliably with a minimal amount of user interaction.

The unit slips on over most standard mirrors with little trouble, and the long cord is nice as it allows you to push the cable back behind the window posts to keep it concealed. I was surprised at how little trouble I had doing this, and physical setup of the unit is very easy.

It comes with a 4GB card, which really isn't very useful. I would definitely recommend getting a 32GB card if you want the option to review a variety of video clips over time. The unit records 5 minute clips and stores them as separate files until the card is full, then rewrites from the beginning. File sizes are kept to fairly consistent size in this way, allowing you to preserve a maximal number of video recordings.

The setup controls are somewhat confusing and a bit less than intuitive. Use the enclosed "cheater" card for quick start, and you shouldn't have too much trouble. Although the viewing angle isn't as impressive as an "action cam" type device, it is more than adequate, and video quality is excellent in daylight, and OK for night (a little on the dark side).

Other nice features: the unit has an onboard rechargeable battery which enables you to keep recording for a period of time after you've shut the engine off (a parking mode). It also enables recording at variable levels of G-shock in the event someone swipes you in a parking lot while you're in the store. Overall, at this price point, you can't beat this for easy and usability.
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Great DVR mirror with a few minor drawbacks and issues - UPDATES!
by voodoo (4 out of 5 stars)
January 27, 2014

I purchased the Abeo HDVR-150 on Oct 28th, 2013, and installed it a couple days after. I waited to write a review because you can read about all the features it does or does not have, but what you really want to know is, does it work for more than a few days?

Since installing the DVR mirror, it has been in use daily in my truck. My commute is just over 30 minutes each way, plus running around between job sites, and then once I get back home we're usually taking the truck to pick up kids, go to dinner, run errands, etc. My best estimate is that this DVR is running about 4 hours per day on average. On the weekends it probably runs longer since we take trips to see family regularly, which is about 1hr 45m each way, plus running around in between.

So far I've had only minor issues, and the camera has never failed to work or record properly. This includes running in our colder than normal weather we've had here lately, where some mornings it's been 6 degrees outside. One of the minor issues I'm referring to is every now and then when I get in the truck (I have remote start) the camera will be on and the display will be upside down. This has happened three times now, spaced pretty far apart. One morning it was pretty cold (about 30 degrees) but the other two mornings were warmer so I'm not sure that being cold is the factor. To fix the issue I simply powered the DVR mirror down, and back up again; problem solved. I have no idea what could cause this issue, but since it's easy to fix I haven't worried about it.

My other small gripe is that I wish the video were just a bit clearer. The video on 720p is very good (the framerate is way too slow at higher resolution), but I definitely cannot make out a license plate unless the car in front of me is stopped at a light and I get right up on their bumper. The video IS good enough that it's easy to make out makes/models of cars, and I think the video evidence would be more than adequate in something such as a court case. The recordings at night of course are terrible, but again when a car is right in front of you, in your headlights and especially in the city with a lot of ambient light then you can still identify cars/makes/models very easily.

The last drawback is that the DVR mirror attachment system is probably very good for regular mirrors, but for auto-dimming mirrors that are fatter with a curve to them, it doesn't fit quite as well. Having said that, it has not moved from the spot I put it in originally and, being in a truck, it's been down some bumpy roads. The mirror is less optically clear than my factory mirror and it's darker, but those are drawbacks I can live with.

Bottom line is that for the price this DVR camera mirror represents a really solid product that's easy to use, has proven durable in every day use for the past few months, and is a good solution for someone who wants to set it and forget it but have the protection of recording everything happening in front of them anytime they are in the vehicle.
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March 11th, 2014 UPDATE:

I just wanted to add that in addition to running for several hours per day, I have also never turned the inset video off during that time. So it has functioned with the video running since I installed it. Since the weather has warmed up I have not experienced any more upside down video on start up either, so I think it's related to the cold weather. It's still functioning perfectly and I'm still happy with the purchase.

Dec 13th, 2014 UPDATE:

Camera still working perfectly, has stayed attached to the mirror through all conditions. It still displays the image upside down every now and again on really cold mornings, but a quick restart fixes the issue. Completely satsified, would buy another if I needed.
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Abeo sold by KiWAV
by Squishy Witch (5 out of 5 stars)
February 15, 2014

I read practically all the product reviews before my purchase, as I knew there were many cheap and awful dash cams out there. I wanted one that wasn't a complete waste of money. As a warning, order this produce from KiWAV ONLY. The other reviews warn that other sellers are sending a cheap copy. I actually had to do "other sellers" because Amazon had another seller as "buy from" on the order menu.

When it arrived, I had the Class 10, 16 GB card ready, and knew what settings to change. I have had it installed for a month now and it's pristine. I thought the reflection was dark but it's not- in fact, I see clearer in it. The videos are great, after I watched other people's videos I was sold on it. I sometimes bring the card up and check on the videos, just to make sure they're good. So far, they have been just perfect. And audio is PRISTINE.

I actually installed this camera and took a spin around the apartment lot- I was driving less than 10mph and some kid with his dog ran out into the street two feet from my car- I almost hit them! I slammed on my breaks less than a foot from the dog. I immediately broke into hysterical laughter because THAT is why I bought the camera in the first place. I watched the video and everything is crisp and clear, including the giant f-bomb I dropped. If that didn't tell me why I needed the camera, I don't know what could.
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Review update
by Alan Bloom (1 out of 5 stars)
March 12, 2013

I liked this unit when I first got and gave it 4 stars. However now that I've had it for awhile two major problems have cropped up.

One is radio-frequency interference. I thought something had gone wrong with my car stereo because all of a sudden I could only receive the strong signals. Weaker signals were covered up by noise. I finally figured out it only did it when the dash cam was on. It blankets the entire FM broadcast band with noise. You can hear it on AM also, as heterodyne "whistles" when you try to listen to a station.

The other problem is that one day I suddenly got the "crash" detection notice on the screen. There was no crash - the car was parked at the time. Not only that, but I had turned off the crash detection in the menu so it shouldn't have happened anyway. Since that happened the camera eats SD cards. It damages the card in such a way that you can't erase any files or reformat the card, either in the camera or on a computer. It has done it now to two cards, the 4 GB one that came with the camera and a 32 GB one that I had purchased.

I tried changing every menu setting I could find, to no effect. I even tried the master reset, which was interesting because it resets the language to Chinese. I was eventually able to decode enough of the Kangi pictograms to figure out which menu entry to use to get it back to English, which was especially challenging since the documentation that came with the unit is for a different firmware version so all the menu entries are in different places.

The unit is now in the trash. I don't want to risk gtrying any more SD cards.

Here's a link to another dash cam that might be a better choice:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2XBEHYF24T0AS/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00E5FMDI8&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=

Here's my original review:
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The design of this camera assumes that it will be plugged into a cigarette lighter socket that turns off when the ignition is turned off. Otherwise the camera stays on all the time unless you unplug it from the lighter socket. Even with the recording disabled and the LCD monitor turned off it still draws about 90 mA from the battery. That's not a problem if you don't leave the car sitting for a long time without occasionally running it to recharge the battery. A standard small car battery is good for perhaps 45 Amp-hours, so a fully-charged battery would be dead in about 500 hours (20 days). If you aren't going to drive the car for a few days you should unplug the camera.

Otherwise I like the product. It has two spring clips that attach it to your car mirror. The right half sticks out past the edge of the car mirror so the camera can peek around the edge. The unit is about 12.5 inches (32 cm) wide, which is wide enough that on my car it sticks out a little on the left side as well.

The picture quality is pretty good. The wide-angle lens gives a large field of view at the expense of fine resolution. You have to be very close to a car to read the license plate number. The nighttime video is pretty dark, although there is a way to adjust the brightness in the menu, which I haven't tried. As is, it's good enough to basically see what's going on.

The 4 GB SD card that comes with it is good for about 25 minutes, which is actually perfectly adequate if you just want to use it to record an accident or traffic ticket. I went ahead and bought a 32 GB card for $20 just for grins.

The English in the documentation is a bit awkward but understandable.

*If this is not the "HDVR Rearview Mirror Car Accident Camera" product you were looking for, you can check the other results by clicking this link.  Details were last updated on Sep 19, 2024 12:37 +08.