The Carsafe JW-V3 dashboard camera review
So, we bumped into the owner of the Carsafe brand at an exhibition here in sunny Bolton, UK. A young man by the name of Liam. I was intrigued to find out more about how he’d started off and why he had chosen to take some of the big players in the market on.
The first camera he offered me was the top of the range JW-V3. He was very enthusiastic about this model. One of the main reasons was storage. He went on to explain that the Nextbase 412GW, reviewed here a few weeks ago, only had a maximum capacity of 32GB of memory. I thought that 32GB of memory was pretty good until he explained the JW-V3 could take up to a 512GB card. You could record for pretty much a full week with that size of card!
So, how did the unit perform?
Really impressed with it overall. It comes in at an RRP of £160 with all the bits required. Which is a bit more than the Nextbase 412GW.
On first impressions though I’d be happy to pay a little extra for it. I’m always behind a self starter and a young person starting out on their own. Plus, it ticked pretty much every box we would expect of a leading Dashboad camera.
My only reservations would be, the instruction manual is written in what I would term ‘chinglesh’ and the GPS unit is a seperate box which need wiring into the unit.
So, what is the spec like?
Single Lense :
The JW-V3 only has one 170° lense, in comparison to the Nextbase duo which we reviewed previously. This being said the resolution of this unit is far superior with 1440p resolution and recording rate of 30 frames per second. Will provide you with crystal clear footage on the road ahead.
The unit can be used in 1080p mode if required to help get more life from the storage. All the footage is stored in MP4 format, so can be shared with anyone with ease.
GPS:
The external GPS unit will continuously monitor you whilst driving, should you have an accident, GPS information can help prove vital to defend how fast you were travelling, whether you were at a standstill etc. It will keep a log of speed you are travelling in too and can provide valuable evidence you weren’t in the wrong, should the worst happen.
2.7” LED screen:
A 2.7” LED screen lets you watch your footage in the quality it was supposed to be viewed. Check what just happened or run through some historic footage right there and then. This is not a touch screen like other makes and models but the buttons on the side of the units will provide enough functionality.
Micro SD Slot:
Can take a card up to 512GB. Giving you just over endless hours of recorded footage before it writes over the video. Vital for recording and storing the video you catch on your JW-V3.
G-Sensor:
Similar to the GPS in the unit the G-sensor is there to help provide evidence. Any sharp movements or unusual movements as a result of a direct impact, the JW-V3 will automatically lock the footage from shortly before and after the impact and cannot be recorded over. Perfect if someone happens to hit your car while you are not in it or it is parked on the street overnight.
30 minute backup inbuilt battery
Can provide that last bit of juice if and when needed.
Motion detection
Should you park your car in a car park, someone drives into the car whilst it is parked. The unit will wake and record that section so you have the footage you need to make sure you get the car repaired.
