How To Make Long Video With Xiaomi Yi Dvr Dash Camera

Verdict

Pros

• Very inexpensive
• Congenital-in Wi-Fi
• Dual-USB ability adapter

Cons

• Chinese-only menu system and smartphone app
• Suction mount not very sticky
• No congenital-in GPS

Key Specifications

• Review Price: £57.47
• "Super HD" 1,296p dashboard photographic camera
• two.7-inch widescreen with 426 x 240 pixels
• Wi-Fi and smartphone app
• Six-style Yard-sensor
• ADAS safety features

What is the Xiaomi Yi?

The Xiaomi Yi is a dashboard camera at an unbelievably low toll. Costing less than £60, information technology's incredibly cheap in its class, where alternatives such as the Garmin Dash Cam 35 or RAC 05 GPS are more than twice as much. So what'southward missing from the Yi to make it so competitively priced, or is information technology just the Chinese manufacturing and branding?

If yous've heard of Xiaomi before, it will almost certainly be for its amazing-value smartphones, such equally the Mi4C. Notwithstanding, the company has also branched out into an activity photographic camera – which, confusingly, is besides called the Yi – and at present the dashboard camera on review hither.

It's available in two colours: grey or gold. I was sent the latter, but the former might be less probable to draw attention if y'all programme on leaving the camera in your car unattended. The torso is a footling plasticky, but the parcel overall doesn't feel particularly cheap.

Xiaomi Yi – Bundle and Windscreen Mounting

The Yi comes in a reasonably sturdy box, which certainly makes a decent starting time impression. Autonomously from the photographic camera itself, which is approximately GoPro-sized, there'due south a long USB cable you can route circular your windscreen, a suction mount and a not-captured power adapter. The latter is a particularly pleasing addition since it offers two USB ports, so you can power the Yi and your sat-nav from it at the aforementioned time – assuming the latter also uses a non-captured car power cable.

My sample unit, sent direct from China, also came with a 16GB microSD carte in the box, merely it looks similar this isn't included in the packet supplied by UK vendors. Still, the Yi is so cheap you could add a sizeable memory card and still be one-half the toll of the competition.

The windscreen mount is designed to hang down from the top of your window, as with nigh dashboard cameras. There are no fixings supplied for routing the power cablevision effectually the screen to stop information technology blocking your vision, though, then you'll need to supply this yourself. I found that the suction mount wasn't peculiarly effective. The camera kept falling off the windscreen during testing, which is a drawback for a device meant to provide a record in the issue of an accident.

Xiaomi Yi – Carte System

However, it'south as before long as yous showtime using the Yi that the biggest downside shows itself. The card is currently available only in Chinese. Initially, I thought this was considering I had a unit direct from China, just further investigation revealed that units purchased in the U.k. will suffer the same drawback. Unless yous can read Hanzi characters like a native, you'll struggle to understand the menus.

This could be a serious deal-breaker, and may well put off many in the U.k. from purchasing the Yi. However, since a dashboard camera is substantially a plug-in-and-forget device, the Yi retains the potential to fulfil its role – although some of the more than advanced facilities volition be difficult to employ, including the smartphone app, of which more later.

Fortunately, Western numbers are still used for recording resolution options, for example, so you tin can set these reasonably easily. The GearBest website list besides has a handy graphic that shows what the diverse carte icons hateful. The menu is accessed via the 2.vii-inch, 426 x 240-pixel screen, which is a reasonable size for a dashboard camera, using four buttons forth the bottom.

Xiaomi Yi – Safety Features

Another major omission, following the lack of English language linguistic communication support, is a congenital-in GPS. This is likely to be 1 of the master reasons why the Yi is so much cheaper than its competitors.

Your location isn't recorded alongside the video, which volition make its use as evidence in an accident a little more than problematic. There is a One thousand-sensor with three levels of sensitivity, which will store the current video recording in a special location on the memory bill of fare if it believes you've had an accident – or if the device has just fallen off the windscreen….

Similar a number of dashboard cameras on the market, the Yi also includes boosted safety features, which it is calling Advanced Commuter Assist Systems (ADAS). These include a lane-departure warning organization (LDWS) and forward-sensing system (FSS).

LDWS proved pretty effective during testing, correctly detecting lane changes on the motorway, but FSS was overzealous, sometimes warning me of impending collisions when there was clear road ahead. Enabling ADAS ways yous can shoot only in Full HD at thirty frames per second, not the other two options.

Xiaomi Yi – Wi-Fi, Smartphone App and Prototype Quality

The commencement thing you lot see when you turn on the Xiaomi Yi is a QR lawmaking that leads you to installing the smartphone application. Amazingly, because the cost, the Yi has built-in Wi-Fi, then y'all can connect to information technology wirelessly to trigger playback and configure settings.

Unfortunately, like the photographic camera itself, the app is in Chinese but – although the app for Xiaomi's action camera is bachelor in English language, so I'd hope the nuance cam one would follow suit somewhen.

At that place's no specific desktop software for the Yi, and in fact when you connect it to a computer via USB, information technology doesn't announced to testify upwards as an external storage device (unless this is something I missed considering I can't read Chinese). You tin plug the memory card direct into a computer to view or copy footage, however. At that place's no HDMI or other video output on the device itself.

A standard MP4 format is used, and a data rate of approximately 15Mbits/sec for 1080p/30 footage, which is reasonable. Shooting options include Full HD (1,920 x i,080) at both thirty and 60 frames per second, plus ii,304 x i,296 at thirty frames per second. The F1.8 lens offers a 165-degree field of view – which although pretty wide shows some baloney, particularly in Full Hd.

View sample footage shot with the Xiaomi Yi Car WiFi DVR here

Unfortunately, prototype quality actually isn't that great. Yous take to be quite close to vehicles to read their number plates. There are obvious signs of compression artefacts, and a generally soft look. It isn't the worst I've seen, and it'southward certainly okay for the money, but this isn't an area where the Yi punches particularly in a higher place its deal-basement cost.

Should I buy the Xiaomi Yi?

The Xiaomi Yi Machine WiFi DVR is temptingly cheap. If you're willing to forego trying to empathize what the camera and smartphone app menus are saying, or can read Chinese, it's nifty value. Even though video quality isn't particularly stunning, this may be plenty for your needs, and the lane-divergence alarm works quite well. The rather ineffective suction mount is a bit of a worry, however.

Verdict

The Xiaomi Yi is an unbelievably inexpensive dashboard photographic camera, although the current Chinese-only bill of fare will put off many.

Thanks to GearBest for supplying the Xiaomi Yi used in this review.

Trusted Score

Score in detail

• Design 5

• Image Quality 5

• Features 5

• Value 10

• Perfomance v

Lens Features

Optical Zoom (Times)	0x
Digital Zoom (Times)	0x

Video Recording

Recording Media	SD card
Video Capture Format	MP4
Image Stabilisation	No

General Features

LCD Screen Size (Inch)	2.7in
On-board Storage (Gigabyte)	NoGB
On-board Microphone	Mono

A/V ports

HDMI	No
USB two.0	Yes
Sound / Video Out	No
Audio / Video In	No

Source: https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/xiaomi-yi-car-wifi-dvr

Posted by: snyderficumard.blogspot.com

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