Car dashboard recorders are slowly gaining popularity, as many evident from the many videos available on Facebook and Youtube. For this review, we shall take a close look at the Transcend DrivePro 220, aimed at the budget-conscious crowd.
The Transcend DrivePro features a 3 megapixel image sensor, 130° wide angle lens, F/1.8 aperture and a whole suite of safety features, like Lane Departure Warning System and Forward Collision Warning System. In addition to that, Parking Mode, Wi-Fi function, GPS Coordinates, Speed Alarm, G-Sensor and a built-in battery can be found in this compact dashcam.
Bundled inside the box is a 16GB MicroSD card, which is a welcomed addition. First time users are well taken care of, as bundling a memory card meant that they wouldn’t need to purchase one from outside, thus eliminating the risks of ending up with a subpar memory card. The bundled 16GB card allows users to record up to 2 hours and 20 minutes of 1080p clips or 4 hours and 20 minutes of 720p clips. Opting for a larger memory card allows the user to store more clips before the older clip gets overwritten. The dashcam allows for 1 minute, 3 minute and 5 minute clips to be recorded.
One of the biggest highlight of the Transcend DrivePro 220 is the availability of Lane Departure Warning and Forward Collision Warning. Like its name implies, Lane Departure Warning beeps when the car sways out of its lane, while Forward Collision Warning also beeps when the car gets too close to the vehicle in front of it. While the addition of these features are welcomed, actual implementation of these are far from perfect. The constant beeping from the camera meant that I ended turning these features off.
In terms of video quality, the Transcend DrivePro 220 delivers above average video quality. Number plates of other vehicles are not visible unless the driver is relatively close to the said vehicle, though colour reproduction is pretty decent. Sound quality from the DrivePro 220 should be sufficient for day-to-day use. Sample clips from the DrivePro 220 can be viewed below. Be sure to watch the sample clips in its native 1080p resolution.
All in all, the Transcend DrivePro 220 is a decent dashcam. The two-year warranty may be the selling point for some, while the added features like Lane Departure Warning and Forward Collision Warning could use some fine tuning. The Transcend DrivePro 220 certainly fits the bill for first time dashcam buyers with a limited budget. The recommended retail price (RRP) of the DrivePro 220 is RM649.
https://youtu.be/09DymN8Pm2E
https://youtu.be/jgMWaGdXK-o
