Blackvue DR970X Plus Review: Starvis 2 Finally!
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- Blackvue has joined the Starvis 2 party with the new DR970X Plus series dashcams. Let's see how good they are.
Purchase a Blackvue DR970X Plus:
1CH Front: geni.us/DR970X1CHPlus
2CH Front/Rear: geni.us/DR970X2CHPlus
2CH Front/Interior: geni.us/DR970X2CHIRPlus
LTE module: geni.us/BlackvueCM100GLTE
Purchase a DR970X LTE Plus:
North America: geni.us/DR970X2CHLTEPlus
Global: geni.us/DR970X2CHLTEPlusGL
Purchase a DR970X Box Plus:
2CH Front/Rear: geni.us/DR970X2CHBoxPlus
2CH Front/Interior: geni.us/DR970X2CHBoxIRPlus
Purchase a B-130X Battery Pack: geni.us/BlackvueB130X
Recommended Memory Card: geni.us/vr6y [Amazon]
Accessory compatibility: blackvue.com/dr970x-plus-dr97...
Other Dashcams Tested:
Viofo A229 Pro 2CH FR: geni.us/ViofoA229Pro2CH
Viofo A229 Pro 3CH: geni.us/ViofoA229Pro3CH
Thinkware U3000: geni.us/ThinkwareU3000-2CH
Subscribe to Vortex Radar: www.youtube.com/@VortexRadar/...
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0:00 Intro
1:17 Front Camera Changes
2:57 Rear Camera Changes
3:24 Front Video Quality
9:59 Rear Video Quality
11:02 Lens Focus Issues
12:57 Event Buffer
14:23 WiFi Hotspot
15:56 Other Features I Like
18:01 Features Removed
20:02 DR970X Plus Versions
21:34 Regular Model vs. LTE
23:04 Upgrade Compatibility
25:49 Final Thoughts
Best Radar Detectors: www.vortexradar.com/best-rada...
Best Laser Jammers: www.vortexradar.com/best-lase...
Best Dash Cameras: www.vortexradar.com/best-dash...
Recommended Equipment:
Radar Detector: geni.us/Redline360c
Laser Jammer: bit.ly/AntiLaserPriority
Dashcam: geni.us/ViofoA139Pro2CH
Dashcam battery pack: geni.us/Powercell8-A139
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Full disclosure: The purchase links in my videos are typically affiliate links and I may make a percentage when you buy. Whether I get paid or not (on some things I don’t), it’s important to me to ensure that I stay objective and unbiased and give you my honest opinion so you can make an educated decision as to what’s best for you. You deserve that and I wouldn’t have it any other way. :)
© 2024 Vortex Radar, LLC. All rights reserved.
#Dashcam #Blackvue #DR970XPlus #VortexRadar 
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Thank you for another thorough video! I'm a BlackVue fan for the form factor (I have a DR900S-2CH), but the Viofo A229 Pro is likely to be my next dashcam purchase, given the performance differences you demonstrated (the lower cost is also a point in its favor).
I'd like to support a non-Chinese company, but that's for a different discussion! 🤐
This is amazing that BlackVue was the slowest to integrate the new Sony Starvis 2 sensor but is still not as good as the Viofo. Incredibly disappointing considering the premium BlackVue charges too.
I currently have a DR900S-2CH that is stuck in a boot loop. No matter what I do, it won't break out of it. I've had it since May 2018. I've been looking at the DR970X+ to replace it. For the price, I can't justify its varying quality between units. I'm considering the VIOFO A229 Pro Duo as a replacement. I have Blackvue cameras in all of my family members' cars. If they keep removing features, I'll be switching brands when these cameras need upgrading.
Thank you for your time reviewing these Dashcams. Appreciate you
Your videos are always informative and useful. Watching from Uganda always 😊. Well done.
Oh wow Uganda! Great to hear from you! :)
Wow. I was about to pull the trigger on the DR970X Pro, but looks like Viofo still comes out on top. Thanks for delivering great content!
Agree, I want a nice dash cam to capture video while off roading so cloud connection is not a high priority. But overheating is a high priority.
The obvious downsides of Viofo are that it's Chinese and has an horrendous design. Other than that it really shoots well.
What do you think about the Vantrue 5?
So which one would you go with considering over heating in 115 degree days
The alert customisation is a key reason I recommend blackvue over thinkware, and I use the multiple hotspot feature on my current cams. I've been looking for shorter mounts to reduce glare, so will be interesting to try old mount with this cam if they add the lost features back.
Great job as always!
Thank you! I'm looking forward to seeing your video as well once you get some sharp copies that work in the US and you finish all your testing and analysis.
Seriously bad that they removed the ability to connect to multiple wifi points. I currently have mine connect to a hotspot in the car or to the home wifi when at home, exactly as described in the video, because my hotspot has a data cap. Might be a deal breaker that they removed that and the image quality is still better on the competition
Easy workaround change your in-car Wi-Fi to the same network name and password as your home. The device should always connect to the strongest signal which would be your home Wi-Fi when you're parked in the garage
I purchased the new DR970X Plus and installed it a few days ago in my RAV4. I'm upgrading from the 900X Plus. All the 900X Plus mounts and wires were compatible so it was just a matter of switching out the dashcams and connecting the external LTE module with the new dash cam. I'm so happy Vortex mentioned that the hotspot feature to connect a second dash cam is coming in a future update because I could not get it to work. Now I know why.
External LTE Module? Ohhh you didn't get the LTE version of the 970X? I'm also looking at upgrading from a 900X-2CH Plus as it seems to have died this week when at the dealership and so shopping around.
Vortex you have nailed this video with all the correct points. I’m trying to figure out a AT&T SIM card because the usage is so much. Also it would be helpful for more WiFi hotspot options. When the cars WiFi is not on, the camera eats up data. 1gig a night!!! Would have liked another hotspot connection when the cars in the garage. Great review Ariel!!! Keep up the awesome work.
Thanks for the great review, Vortex! I've been waiting for this dashcam to come out so I could put it in my wife's car. Now I'm not so sure about it. I'm disappointed to hear of the issues it seems to have. I had really high hopes for this one, but it appears to be falling well short.
*This is a huge pass*
Viofo is the way
Great review mate love how you had to make the Blackvue reference! 😅
Very nice in-depth review. Keep the pressure on Blackvue to improve the image quality. Curious, do you get unusual reactions from pedestrians passing by your vehicle when they see all those dash cams? Thanks for sharing.
Great review, as always!
It *just* takes implementing HDR to catch up with the competition, and I really can't understand why they didn't implement it with the IMX678. Hopefully, they could make it in future firmware updates.
I have a DR900X-2CH Plus on my dad RAV4 and it works great. And I'm planning to get the 970X but after seeing this and the Viofo A229 Pro video, I'm switching to Viofo for my next vehicle.
Thanks for the review. I've been waiting on this review because I was planning to buy a DRX970 Plus box version for the smaller cameras but the Viofo A229 pro clearly captures better images. I'm willing to trade size for better picture quality. I know that the box version hasn't been released yet so maybe Blackvue will fix some of the problems by then. I'm leaning toward the Viofo based on what I've seen so far.
Bravo!
Great video review.
Question, how do you power all those different dashcams for review? I would like to run 3 different dash cams in my vehicle..
Excellent review, you even covered the BlackMount part which I was interested in :)
Too bad BlackVue is not up to the image quality (and number of cameras) from a Viofo 229 Pro.
Do you think HDR is something Blackvue could come with a future OTA update ?
Interesting that the previous 970x can have better quality in some cases. I'm curious if Blackvue plans to release an updated "plus" of the 770x for those of us who don't really need 4k recording.
Looks like they need some software work to bring back those old features & fix that odd sharpness issue. The nighttime HDR compared to the Viofo is disappointing.
Idk why, but I feel like they will bring HDR in a newer model. Was hoping to upgrade my old 900S after all these years.
I really like the SOS button feature on the box units. I wish Blackvue would allow users to disable the manual button on the side of their dashcams and give us the ability to pair the SOS button instead. I hate having to lean forward while driving to tap my 900x to start a manual recording.
I'm concerned that if it's a road rage situation, the other driver could think I'm gesticulating at them!
@@ShawnD1027 Good point.
Nice review , would've liked if you would've touch if they update this to handle heat better my 900xplus couldn't handle high heat it's why i jumped to the u3000. For the features removed part typical blackvue 1 step forward 2 steps back well this time 3 the back is still 1080p
Great video! But other problems you did not mention:
- When the car (with engine running) is not moving for 5 minutes the DR970X LTE Plus connected via hardwire goes into Parking mode even though the ACC wire is still receiving 12V (engine is running) when waiting for someone/etc
- Live view is 480p on Wifi or via Cloud
- Incident videos (car hit during parking) are uploaded to cloud at 480p instead of 4K
So I’ve done countless Blackvue videos over the years and have addressed all that stuff many times. This video is specifically focused on the improvements compared to the previous model and maybe touching on key features. Doing a comprehensive review assuming no prior experience or familiarity with Blackvues would have to cover much much more. Stuff you mentioned is just the starting point lol, and doing a video like that every time they release a new model would be insane. 😄
Hi Ariel, thanks for sharing another great review video. One thing I wanted to point out is that the Viofo A229 Pro maxes out at 30 fps, not 60 fps, even in one-channel mode.
Right. I was referring to a max bitrate of 60 Mbps, not a max frame rate of 60 fps. Hopefully I didn’t misspeak and mix them up in the video?
My bad - you’re correct! I misread the details you had embedded in the comparison videos. I have been comparing the N4 Pro to the A229 Pro and wish one of these companies would bake all of the latest technology into one camera. It’s puzzling why Viofo is not offering h.265 codec, OTA firmware updates with phone, and 60 fps, which I know the Starvis 2 is capable of . Vantrue is close, but still no 60 fps.
Ariel, one other question- The A229 Pro uses the older h2.64 codec, which, as far as I know, doesn’t support HDR recording. HDR uses h2.65 HEVC codec, so is this camera truly an HDR camera?
Are there any external weatherproof cameras that could be used with this main camera or maybe even a VO A1 39 Pro I drive a semi truck and I want the best camera option that I can find
Great informative reviews as always..
Any new mirror dash cams for 2024?
I've researched a bunch and none of them have really impressed me. That said, the Nexigo D90 looks like it might be the best, at least based on specs. amzn.to/3Sbxj3e They have a Starvis 2 model in the works and when that's out, I'd like to take a look at it.
@wulfdanj@@VortexRadar What about 70mai S500? (Starvis2 IMX675 (5MP), F1.8, Supercapacitor)
Can you review the FitCamX? I like the idea of a custom install for my specific vehicle (Ford F150) but I dont want to buy without knowing how the video quality compares. (and I dont want to buy today if they will be releasing a new version with new camera chip soon)
Love you, man! But I ain’t paying $600 for a dash cam. Thanks for all the great work & reviews. 👍
lol fair enough. I'm not paying $300k for a supercar, but the videos are still fun to watch. :)
@@VortexRadar Indeed! Hope you and the family are having a great New Year! 👍
GREAT review as usual. QUESTION please... I already have a cell phone dedicated to the vehicle, can I simply use that as my Hotspot in order to connect two complete DR970X Plus systems to the cloud (so 4 cameras in total) ?
That could work. Do you need it for others to see when you drive or for you to access while you’re parked? Does the phone stay in the car or does it go with you when you leave?
@@VortexRadar Phone stays in vehicle at all times and acts as music server / storage and nothing else..., although I am able to access it via my daily carry android smart phone. 600 ah lithium battery on board with multiple charging options and so no worries as far as power goes. I do want a minimum of 4 cameras and wish they could all be Front firing versions (higher video quality), but not sure if that's possible?
blackvue or think ware? or what's the best dash cam out there? what about what you expect will be the best based on what may be released this year
24:16 did he say "that would work *turtlely* fine" ? Kowabunga, dude?
Was there ever a follow up full review for THINKWARE u3000?
Not yet sorry. I was troubleshooting issues with Thinkware and got busy with personal things. :( It’s still on the list, but not done yet.
With my regular 970x LTE, my playback thumbnails always show a pic of front cam view, regardless of front or rear motion trigger.
Even if it's rear footage that's captured. Which causes lots of data usage just to watch & find the correct selection of recent footage.
Do you experience this at all even with the Plus?
I'm in San Francisco so I have to go with the blackvue
Hi Ariel, I was waiting for the 970X Plus after the shortfalls of the 970X. Instead of the LTE model do you have a suggestion how I can tether my spare iPhone XR as a hotspot to the cam so both data and charging are utilized? The iPhone only have one Lightning plug and I looked at the Belkin Data and Charge accessory but with the USB c type it only works with iPhone 15. I rather not use WiFi because having it wired is more reliable. I also plan on using the new Blackvue B130X after seeing your video.
You can plug it into the B-130X and just ensure that tethering or “personal hotspot” stays enabled. I’m not sure if the top of my head if it turns itself off at some point, but you should be able to automate things with the Shortcuts app if you need to have it turn itself back on.
So by plugging the iPhone to the B130X it should keep the phone charged as well as provide continuous data connection for the cam?
Missing features are deal breaking 😮
I bought one at launch (a few weeks ago) and I'm not sure what to think of the rear camera quality.. seems lacking but I really. need to put it to the the test. The front camera seems really good so far though. One thing I continue to hate about blackvue is their APP, it's painful to deal with especially if you have multiple blackvue cameras.. I tried for 20 minutes to pull a clip last night and it's the only camera that seems to give me problems with accessing my videos...
Just curious. Is your problem camera connected via a Blackvue LTE module or WIFI hotspot? I'm asking because I recently tried out the 770x box and the cm100glte module. The module had a T-Mobile SIM and it seemed like retrieving videos went a lot smoother than when I used my AT&T hotspot. It could have been because the 770x box 1080p has smaller files than my 900x 4K camera. I don't know. It just seemed a lot smoother retrieving videos with the module. And the LTE module had a much slower connection than my AT&T hotspot.
How does the DR970X Plus compare to the DR900X Plus for image quality?
I have the 900X Plus and considering whether 970X Plus is worth the upgrade
Hello, I’m looking for an interior dash cam for rideshare purposes that is not gonna be very visible maybe something that I can hide or that wont attract much attention,and relatively decent quality do you have suggestions ?
What setup would you use if you wanted to setup a 3 channel system and have IR for cockpit coverage?
I’d go for the A229 Pro geni.us/ViofoA229Pro3CH
This settles all. Im going with the viofo
The Viofo A229 seems superior in every way. I messaged their support to see if there's a way to automate the file downloads, either via USB CardReader mode, or over Wi-Fi.
This can be support in the future via firmware and app udpate.
@@billkzhou I suppose I would base this off their past and current offerings. I tend not to trust manufacturers that claim a future update will do XYZ. Many times that does not happen.
Seems in this case, only CardReader mode will work, but that takes the unit offline. If I could connect to my in-car raspberry pi when I got home, then perhaps this would work, but not ideal. Very much need real-time downloads and alerts.
I spoke to the customer service they say they have no way to automatically update anything to back up anything it's a feature they're considering but currently they do not. The camera doesn't have Wi-Fi so you won't ever be able to add the function
@@bacin87 no WiFi? That seems like a glaring omission.
I have a 4K dashcam installed on my mom's car and it seems to get blurry when it heats up.
I believe that the heat causes it to expand which changes the flange distance.
I've seen that with certain units too. Which model do you have?
I hope they restore the multiple wifi hotspot feature. Weird to remove it.
As for staying quiet verbally, I wish there was a way to reduce false positives from opening and closing my hatchback without turning off gravity sensor sensitivity. Those false positives happen virtually every day and desensitize me to something that would require my attention.
Had some other hiccups with the 970x 2ch LTE system, but 1.007 firmware resolved them. Been a well-behaved system since.
From what I read is that the 900 and 970 have the same audio issues like my 750. For the price of the dash cams you'd think the audio recordings would not be distorted. My 650 audio had no distortion
I’m especially hearing it with the 970X Box Plus. I agree that Blackvue needs to get this stuff nailed already.
Ive been looking into the redtiger f7n do you have any information or opinions on it that you can share?
I’m not a fan of
I really hope that BlackVue will add the support for another BlackVue camera to connect to. I just can't forget the BlackVue battery B-130X commercial, where they showed a person parked at the beach, walking away from the vehicle, and being able to view the remaining battery charge of the B-130X, from inside the BlackVue app, over the cloud. This is something that is not yet available until now.
You can do that from a distance?
@@mikeprice8307No. they never implemented it.
@@mikeprice8307 No, they never implemented it.
The multiple hotspot feature is a HUGE miss. Makes this camera unpurchaseable
When’s the setup guide for the cobra 700i
Probably sometime after they release a firmware update for it.
After I posted my review a few weeks ago I downloaded a new firmware and now it doesn't seem to ever want to connect to the cloud. A viewer of mine also claimed the same thing. Have you experienced this? A new firmware since then seemed to fix it for a few days but now again it won't connect to the cloud.
Weird. I’ve seen some bugs with the new firmware, but mine still connect to the cloud with updated firmware.
Have you reviewed wolfbox? The G900 or what are your thoughts on those type of dash cams
I believe the G900 is yet another fake 4K dashcam.
Thank you glad I asked you I had that one sitting in my. Cart but wanted your opinion lol thank you
@@simonmixitupit is it uses Sony IMX335 which is a great sensor but it's 2.5k max resolution.
Only real 4k mirror dashcam I've seen so far is 70mai S500
@@HughesyTech thank you for that appreciate it
I think I’m still gonna stick with BlackVue since I do keep my car parked at a garage a few blocks away from my house and I occasionally do street parking here in New York. I think i like the idea of the cloud and notifications. So if something does happen I’ll know right away as opposed to going to the car and being surprised. There’s times where I may not use the car for a couple of days. So although VIOFO has better overall footage. I’m more concerned when I’m not near the car.
Yep when cloud is the priority, Blackvue is the way to go.
Does Blackvue offer upgrade options? I currently have the DR900X Plus and seems crazy just to buy a totally a new camera
Do you mean like a trade-in program? I haven't seen one. Usually people wind up selling their old models and then putting the funds towards a new one.
@@VortexRadar Yes, trade-in would be the right wording for it but thank you for answering my question.
( Pre review) This is literally the review ive been waiting for, before I make the purchase. Will comment again after I watch reivew. ( Post Review) I had a feeling this was going to be the case. Image qaulity is worse than the old 970 aside from the small bump in motion blur catching plates. Theres just so much noise in their images. It must be this way to support the cloud functionality. Maybe it’s how the video is being encoded or comepressed for uploading is creating the noise. Also, no HDR due to increasing file size which is negetive for cloud purposes.... I waited so long for the Starvis 2 Blackvue, and I must say im not excited about it...
So they do have a compressed version of the video for the cloud, that’s true, but the clips I shared in this video are the original high quality versions. They are working on a firmware update to help with the graininess. Hopefully it helps, and hopefully they decide to implement HDR at some point too.
When you go from an f/2.8 to f/1.7 your depth of field will shrink and you'll get softness in the out of focus areas. There is no free lunch. As long as the area you care about is in focus the far off buildings being a little soft is going to be the tradeoff
It’s not a huge issue with ultra wide lenses and focused to infinity no less. Some copies of the dashcam are sharp across the frame, others are not. It’s not a dof issue.
Please..how about more reviews on mirror dash cams for 2024?
Most of them stink and I’m tired of reviewing junky stuff. There’s one I’ve been eyeing that has better specs, the Neixgo D90, but I’m waiting for their upcoming Starvis 2 version.
Compared to Viofo A139 Pro? Which one is best?
The question is always best at what? Video quality? Viofo. Cloud stuff? Blackvue. Parking mode? I'd give the edge to Blackvue. Bang for the buck? Viofo. What makes something the best for you is different than what makes something the best for someone else.
Looks good. Shame Blackvue don’t ship to Australia anymore so we can’t order one! 💀
Anxiously waiting for the Box version with smaller, sturdier front cameras because the existing ones rattle like crazy on deep bass notes and it’s infuriating.
Do you need the LTE version in order to do live streaming and/or receive notifications?
You need internet one way or another, yes. It can either have its own LTE connection or connect to some other existing WiFi hotspot.
@@VortexRadar This is the only advantage of this BlackVue camera. But honestly, we have this in 10U$ IP cameras...
Does the viofo have cloud capability?
Nope
My biggest problem with Viofo A229 pro, is that I can only find the non-pro version. (Norway)
Some people prefer the Plus instead so that’s not necessarily a bad thing
@@VortexRadar No Plus either, just the "normal" version.
Booo. That’s a solid dashcam, but the Plus and Pro are a nice step up
What would you recommend for a 2CH under $300?
The A229 Pro I used for this video is hard to top for under $300. amzn.to/3uaLM7F
@VortexRadar I appreciate the response and I'll look into purchasing it soon
Agreed. Oversimplification is as bad (or even worse) as overcomplexity. At least, with overcomplexity, you can just leave defaults as they are if you are either lazy or simple-minded.
Have you ever thought about doing a series about law enforcement cameras like Motorla M500 or Axon Fleet 3? These cameras have LPR technology built in. Of course their price is off the charts but it would be interesting to know more about these type of cameras I guess.
That would be interesting. I’ve discussed the Axon cameras somewhat here: ruclips.net/video/SowUTOrhzOg/видео.htmlsi=C-LCkzeEF_BUstjx
Given how I already have my hands pretty full though, I don’t really have the time to add testing those to the list as well.
It is just impossible, it seems, to get great quality on all fronts in a cam not from China.
Despite the higher prices, the quality of the BlackVue is unacceptable.
Unless you are LE, why the heck do you want to capture license plate numbers. More importantly, what are you going to do with that information anyway? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hit and runs are the most common use case. Here’s a video on the topic. :) ruclips.net/video/C1OKJSp9opY/видео.htmlsi=fGxfqEy2YrHx0ZcM
I thought about buying the A229 Pro as my first dashcam. Based off this video, it’s the best for license plates day/night time seemingly and cabin radar detection for people scratching your car. Unless there’s a better dashcam in your opinion or an upcoming dashcam that could potentially be better? Can you help me out?
So there's no radar for the cabin camera, but it does have infrared LEDs to light up in the inside of the car. I'm working on a video now going over the best dashcams and yeah I think the A229 Pro is the best all-around dashcam. I plan on running the DR970X Plus for the cloud with an A229 Pro next to it for video quality.
There's a sale running on the A229 Pro this week for the Amazon spring sale so if you want one, it's a good time to pick up the dashcam. amzn.to/3Pyb2Mp