Verdict
The Vantrue Element 3 dash Cam River may take care a bit eldritch , but it offers front , rearward and cabin recording , along with voice control and a remote control for a very competitive damage . While it miss out on driver - assistance features , it offers just about the most complete television coverage you’re able to get . That makes it great value for commercial driver , and for ride - share or for - hire driver who desire the special reassurance of cabin coverage Vantrue Element 3 – it ’s just a shame it ’s not better at night .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Vantrue Element 3 bolt River Cam is a three - duct gimmick , combining front , rear and cabin view cameras to put up pretty much the most concluded road and passenger reporting you may get .
It ’s not really purpose at private drivers – who ’re improbable to want cabin transcription – but it ’s ideal for professional ones , in particular if they want redundant reassurance when carrying passenger .
While it has GPS , Wi - Fi , and a gramme - detector manipulate parking fashion , it does n’t offer advanced driving features such as a lane - departure warning .
Design and features
The Vantrue Element 3 dash cam combine a front television camera , 6.4 cm CRT screen and rear - view television camera in a single machine , with the rear - view camera connected by cable length . It ’s packing in a muckle , so it ’s perhaps not surprising that it ’s self-aggrandizing than many dash River Cam I ’ve reviewed . The windscreen mount is rather low-set too , but it integrate the power connection , making it easier to snap the camera in and out when you want to .
This television camera follow with the usual cigaret mogul connector , which in this cause also provides a plain 2.4A USB port , which could be helpful if you involve to charge a smartphone . A heavily - wiring kit is available singly . Overall it ’s a rather odd - look gadget , especially from the front with its retro - looking stick - out lense . The Vantrue E3 look a lot fresh from the back , though .
You ’ll need to think carefully about where you put this dash cam . Tuck it too penny-pinching to your rear - view mirror and you might find this blocks the cabin tv camera ’s view of your passenger , or that the infrared LEDs reflect back into the lens of the eye .
The front lens can be aimed severally of the camera body , which should avail you move both to get good front and cabin sight .
I often flag up that rear - view tv camera come with many metres of overseas telegram , which can leave an excess that ’s tricky to hold back in a standard car . The Vantrue Element 3 comes with a fair duration that was about perfect to route via the windscreen pillar and base of my motorcar , but you might need a longer transmission line for a limo or minibus – fortunately it usesUSB - C , so it should n’t be backbreaking to find out one . This cable connects straightaway to the camera , so it ’s something to unhook when you need to dispatch it from the vehicle .
Vantrue ’s smartphone app makes it jolly easy to prepare up and adjust this flair River Cam , or you may do it directly from the photographic camera . It takes a while to get used to the odd layout of the buttons tuck below its screen , which itself calculate unbelievably busy . The menu is easy enough to habituate , it just takes a while to get the knack of it . One little grumble is that the emergency lock button to retain key recordings is on the camera ’s left side – that ’s not ideal for the UK ’s right - deal crusade car .
luckily , it does n’t matter much thanks to this dash River Cam ’s small distant ascendency , which you’re able to adhere somewhere commodious . This has buttons to turn audio transcription on and off , and to take a snapshot and protect recordings if there ’s an incident .
The Vantrue app is easy to use , providing live purview from all three camera , and admittance to the full compass of context . Particularly , there ’s comprehensive control of which entropy is stamp directly onto footage . I usually choose to enable GPS coordinates as well as velocity and time , as it provide everything you ’ll need to back up any video grounds . It ’s worth noting that , as with most other dash cams , it ’s only stamped onto the front - view video .
Performance and video quality
The Vantrue Element 3 dash cam apply a Sony STARVIS image sensor with an strange 2592×1944 solving , which is significantly more than 2 K , but well brusque of 4K. It ’s not the latest chip , but it was developed specifically for humble - sparkle CCTV and similar covering , so it ’s right at plate here .
In day , the front footage from the Element 3 was very in force . In promising overhead sunlight , it entrance the gamy shade of the sky without losing important details from heavily shaded areas of the road . Individual figure were reasonably crisp , meaning that I could resolve bit plates even where there was a fair closing speed .
When zoomed in , video did seem a little more blocky than from some similarly assign cameras , possibly due to compression rather than the source declaration .
Rear footage was also very undecomposed . Again it exhibited a wide dynamic range and reasonable sharpness , and again there was some blockiness when zooming in on act crustal plate . Interior footage was fine , clear capturing everything within the cabin photographic camera ’s occupation of sight . I appreciated that , with audio recording switched on , footage from all three television camera included cabin auditory sensation .
The Vantrue E3 has a circle of four inwards - face infrared LED , which fire up whenever want to light up the cabin . They make a huge remainder at night , allowing this tv camera to grab open interior footage even when it ’s pitch - black alfresco . Even better , there ’s no visible constituent to the light to cark you while driving – I was n’t even aware of the lighting until I looked at my test footage .
Dash cams always have to function hard at night , but the E3 was n’t the sound I ’ve test . Under lustrous streetlights , and when stationary , front footage was good . It offered heaps of sharply resolved item , and made it easy to name cars and many plate – though not when there was much of a closing speed .
However , the E3 did n’t stand out on my less well - lit test block , where I could n’t take any number plate . This is an exceptionally ambitious trial run that does bet to an extent on fortune , but individual frames were n’t as knifelike as I ’ve seen from some other dash cams such as theViofo A139 ProorRoad Angel Halo Ultra .
I was let down by the rear tv camera ’s dark prison term footage , which seemed underexposed when compare to that from the front . Even reasonably well - light street were dingy , with doorways and driveways pass quickly into bleak . I found it hard to make out number plates , although I could bottom some when my brake light source were lending a hand .
I should mention that all three Element 3 cameras have rather all-encompassing - slant electron lens : 160 ° front and rear , and 165 ° in the cabin . That ’s a good matter , meaning you ’re unlikely to miss anything because it falls too far to the side of the image .
It ’s also of import to know that the three cameras together rust through more than 250 MB of warehousing each minute . I ’d commend at least a 256 GB MicroSD card , which should last for around 16 hours before the oldest file need to be overwrite .
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Should you buy it?
By immix front , rear and cabin view camera , this is a comprehensive recording system for the money .
Low - light capture lineament was poor , making it unmanageable to determine licence plates after dark .
Final Thoughts
For the most part , Vantrue ’s Element 3 is an splendid dash Cam River frame-up for commercial-grade and rider - carrying drivers . Its internal camera is the best I ’ve tested yet , capturing HD video from almost the whole cabin , and go as well at night as it does in the day .
The front camera is great , and the rear is n’t bad at all , but neither is especially unspoilt at night – which could be a job for cabdriver . Still , they ’re sound enough to capture much of what ’s going on , leaving this a comprehensive and practiced economic value system for those who do need cabin transcription , and do n’t mind so - so nighttime time footage . If you ’re after better - lineament video then theNextbase 622GWmay be a better choice .
Trusted Score
How we test
We quiz every dash cam we look back thoroughly over an lengthened point of time . We use standard test to liken features decently . We ’ll always assure you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics insurance policy .
FAQs
calculate on the fate the law might not command you to do so , but you always should as a courtesy . There are strict principle around the use of CCTV in passenger - carrying vehicles , and regarding how businesses in peculiar handle any footage they record . There may be additional regulation impose by local council and other licensing confidence , so it ’s essential to check within the byplay , and with any relevant regulator .
Full Specs
