Just bought this Xiaomi Yi Dashcam/DVR for about USD$55 to replace my aging G1W-C dashboard camera. Not a bad deal considering that it can do 1296p at 30fps and 1080p at 60fps, and video quality that is much better than the G1W-C.
Dashcams have improved alot the past few years. For the same amount of money, you get much better video quality and new features.
The Yi Dashcam has two versions, CN (Chinese) version and US (English) version. If you have CN version and want it to be in English, flashing to the US version is not a problem. Go to this
youtube link for the guide.
Yi Dashcam firmware links:
CN version ( latest )
US version
List of CN versions
Updating or flashing the firmwares is quite easy. You either use the APP (mobile) or flash/update manually. The Android APP can be installed from
Google Play Yi Dashcam, or if you have an Iphone goto
Apple iTunes Yi Dashcam. If you want to flash the firmware manually here's a
how-to guide.
Personally, I'd prefer to use the CN version because it has more options and bug fixes. The menu is pretty straight forward even if you don't know Mandarin.
Here are some photos of the Yi Dashcam/DVR. Will upload some video samples soon.
The box.
What's in the box.
Suction cup mount.
2 meters+ long USB-mini USB cable. Connects your car dashcam to the cigarette socket charger/adapter.
Top-side. Slot for the mount to fit in.
Micro-USB port and reset button hole.
Micro SD card slot.
The LCD screen with four buttons. LED light, left-recording indicator(yellow), right-charging indicator(red).
Lens.
USB charger for the car cigarette lighter socket. Their support team told me to use the port nearest to the LED light. Newer Yi Dashcams are bundled with a single port USB charger it seems.
G1W-C vs Yi Dashcam : Front
G1W-C vs Yi Dashcam : Side
G1W-C vs Yi Dashcam : Top
The Yi dashcam suction cup mount is smaller than the G1W-C's mount. Yi dashcam mount is flimsy. Getting a rear view mirror mount would be a good idea.
Sandisk Ultra Class 10 UHS-1 32GB card. Been using it on the Yi Dashcam for more than a week without problems ( in 1296p and 1080p 60fps).
*Update(6/7/2016): From my observation, 1296p and 1080p 30fps mode have better video quality compared to 1080p 60fps. This is on the latest firmware.
*Update(26 Feb 2017): The Sandisk Ultra UHS-1 microSD card is still working flawlessly for 8 months plus and another card in a different dashcam has yet to encounter problems despite some sites and youtube review recommending against buying Sandisk Ultra cards.
*Update(3 March 2018): The Sandisk Ultra UHS-1 microSD card is finally 'dead' and could not be detected by the dashcam. The card's lifespan is 1 year and 10 months for an average of 3-4 hours of driving everyday.
