THINKWARE - ARC800 4K UHD Front and Full HD Rear Dash Cam with Built-In GPS and Wi-Fi, Compatible with iOS, Android, MacOS, Windows - Black

The Thinkware ARC 800 is a fairly low-maintenance dash cam that does exactly what a webcam should although it lacks some of the bells and whistles I’ve seen on other models over the years. In my case, I actually consider that somewhat of a positive. Dash cams seem to be notorious for having buggy apps and overly complicated features, and I’ve owned cameras in the past where I felt like I spent more time fighting with the software than actually using the camera. The ARC 800 includes both front and rear cameras. One thing worth pointing out is that there is no cabin facing camera. My biggest disappointment right out of the box was the included power options. It does not include an OBD-II power cable or a cigarette lighter adapter. Your options are essentially USB-C or the included hardwiring kit. I personally prefer using an OBD-II cable because it provides constant power for parking/security features without permanently hardwiring the camera into the vehicle. Unfortunately, my vehicle doesn’t have a USB-C power port, so until I get the adapter I need, I’ve actually been powering the camera with a portable Anker battery while using it. It works, but obviously isn’t how I intend to use it permanently. I really wish Thinkware had included an OBD-II cable or at least a traditional 12V adapter in the box. Physical installation is pretty straightforward, and Thinkware provides an installation video that is easy to follow. I did run into one frustrating issue, though. The video recommends connecting your phone to the camera while positioning it so you can see the camera’s live view. It specifically states cameras with wireless connectivity have this option. I can confirm that they don’t. Unfortunately, I figured out the work-around after the camera was installed. The way to view your camera while setting it up is to actually disconnect your camera from your phone, and tap the cameras touchscreen. However, before doing that, go into settings and change your LCD Auto-off to 1 or 10 minutes so you can find your desired view Thankfully, the actual video quality makes up for a lot of my complaints. The 4K footage is crystal clear and captures a tremendous amount of detail. The field of view is extremely wide, which looks a little unusual when you’re reviewing footage if you’re not accustomed to an ultra-wide dash cam, but it makes sense designed it this way. With a dash cam, capturing as much of what’s happening around the vehicle as possible is much more important than producing a perfectly natural-looking video. Accessing recordings through the app is fairly straightforward once you understand how everything works. You connect wirelessly to the camera, locate the clip you want, queue it for download, and then save it to your phone. You can also simply remove the SD card and view the files directly on a computer, which is probably what I’ll use when I need to go through a lot of footage. The Thinkware app itself works, but I wouldn’t call it particularly intuitive. It’s somewhat bare bones and took me a little while to figure out where everything was. I expected the main app view to provide more options than just a giant picture of the camera model I have and some tiny buttons in the corner. That said, the important distinction is that it works. I’ve owned a much more feature-packed dash cam where the app caused me constant headaches, so I’ll happily take a simpler app that reliably does what I need it to do. Overall, I think the ARC 800 is best suited for somebody who wants a good-quality dash cam they can basically set up and forget about. If you’re looking for tons of connected features, frequently checking a live view from your phone, or remotely monitoring what’s happening around your vehicle, this probably isn’t going to give you everything you’re looking for. For me, though, the simplicity is part of the appeal. The camera records excellent footage, gives me front and rear coverage, and doesn’t overwhelm me with features I’ll probably never use. I would have really liked an OBD-II power option in the box and a better way to preview the camera angle during installation, but once it’s installed and recording, it does its primary job very well.

From unboxing to working in less than 1 minute. The first time I used this dash cam, I was in a hurry and just wanted to get it up and recording. So I took it out of the box, plugged the power and rear camera wires in, stuck it up on my windshield, tossed the rear cam on my truck's back window, plugged the USB-C power cable into a port, and it powered on to a screen that said it needed a connection to get setup. I also noticed a small 'SKIP' option, so I tapped that to get through a few screens and the front/rear camera views came up on the display. Appearing to be working, I headed out on the road to get to where I needed to be, figuring I could clean up the dangling wires later. Later that day, after coming back home, I grabbed the 32GB MicroSD card that was included (and pre-installed) out of the dash cam, and put it into my laptop to see if it recorded anything, and that it did. I saw all the video files from both the front and rear cameras from the moment I first powered it on, and even found some locked "event" videos in the respective folder (I guess there were a couple big bumps I hit). Less than 1 minute, that's it, that's all it took for me to throw up the dash cam and it just worked. No formatting, no app downloaded, no setup. Clips were being saved and recorded, and in MP4 files making it easy to transfer and use in my laptop, again, without any setup or having to download anything. I don't know how, but even the date and time were already correct! The next day I routed the rear camera wire up between the headliner and trim/weatherstrip, and honestly that took me all of 2 minutes. Of course you will need to download the app, and properly connect the dash cam to make use of all of it's features, as well as hardwire the dash cam to use the parking feature, which will obviously take a little bit longer. But if you're someone who would prefer not to have to download extra apps, and only care about capturing front and rear dash cam footage while driving and nothing else, you can do so with this dash cam. It's high quality video at that too. Looking back at the footage, everything was crisp and clear, and I could easily make out license plate numbers, at least when they were closer in distance, but just about any dash cam out there has trouble with detail that fine at greater distances. For most situations where you need it though, like in an accident that you're involved in, you're going to be more than close enough to get the detail you need. Not long after, I was sitting in my truck waiting in a school pick-up line, and grabbed the dash cam to see what options and features it had available. To my surprise, there's actually quite a lot that you can do through the small touch screen on the cam. First, you can easily view recorded clips directly on the cam itself. You can also access most of the options and settings, some of which I hadn't really ever considered before with a dash cam, such as privacy recording. So instead of just recording everything until the memory card is full and then just looping and over-writing the oldest footage, you can set it to only save a few minutes of footage at a time. This isn't something I'll use as I like to be able to go back and find clips of things that occurred on the road, it's great for someone who only wants it for emergency recording and doesn't want private conversations or other things to be recorded. Additionally, you can set things like resolution (4K @ 30FPS or FHS @ 60FPS on the front camera), only record video but no audio, sensitivity for locked event recordings, HDR settings and more. Again, all of this without ever downloading the app. Hardwiring the camera opens up the parking features to help capture events while you're away, like someone attempting to steal your car, or stealing something out of it, and the settings are available for you directly on the dash cam. So if you're someone that doesn't like being forced to download an app just to use the basic features of a device you paid for, and you're in need of a good dash cam, I would definitely recommend this Thinkware ARC800. You get front and rear cameras, high quality video, easy access to recorded clips that are saved in a common format (versus other dash cams that save clips with uncommon file extensions that doesn't play nice with all video software), and even some bonus features on top of it all. Of course if you don't mind downloading an app, it makes everything even better, and easier. Instead of having to get into an awkward position to reach your dash cam, or having to pull it down, to manage the various settings, you can just do it all through the app. Best use of it though is for much easier access to recorded clips. The app lets you easily view all the footage, and download it directly to your phone allowing you to use that footage however you need to. This is especially handy in the situation most people have dash cams to begin with, which is in the case of an unfortunate accident. As soon as the accident happens, after making sure everyone is ok and you're in a safe location, you can access the footage, download it on your phone and have it ready to send to the insurance adjuster or just be able to instantly play it back for emergency responders and police for their report. Overall, this is a great dash cam and you really can't go wrong with it.

I have had several dash cams so far and this is one of my favorites in terms of design and video quality. The videos are highly detailed, and the app loads them up right away. The downsides are some issues with app connectivity and low audio if that is important to you. The dash cam included a 32GB mirco-SD but does not include a car adapter. Luckily I was able to use one from my previous dash cam, but you will have to hardwire this one with the included cables or purchase a car adapter separately. *Quality* The dash cams are well designed and easy to install. I really like the slanted design because it looks more discreet and visually integrated into the car. The wire for the back camera is extremely long. I definitely think it is enough for an SUV or van, it was far too much for my small car and took some work to hide it all. *Video* The cameras record at high quality, so the details are crisp and clear. The videos show up as lowly lit when I view them though, but I can edit and up their exposure and everything is clear. I do think this is preferable compared to recording at too high in exposure and risk clipping out whites – license plates in particular – due to it. *Audio* The audio recording is clear but very low. The volume must be set to the highest level to hear it well. *It talks/TTS* The camera talks by default and lets you know when it is recording what it perceived to be an “event.” It also tells you to have a safe drive every time you start the car. I found it annoying to have a robotic voice talking every time I started the car, so I muted it. *Touch Screen* The touch screen is responsive and intuitive once you get the hang of it. You wipe down to find the Wi-Fi and voice setting, swipe up for the other settings. *App* The app is simple and easy to navigate plus worked well up until the most recent update. The camera updated almost every time I connected to it, but the last one failed. Ever since then the Wi-Fi connection drops almost immediately after connecting. I can still access the videos via the micro-SD but certain settings can only be access through the app so hopefully the issue resolves soon. *Conclusion* Thus far, I have not had a dash cam with a stable app, so I can’t even detract too much from that issue. It is still by far the best app experience I have had. Overall, the videos are crisp and detailed, the camera has not failed to record while I drive, and it is sleek and low profile while still having a touch screen. This is by far my favorite one and I recommend it.

I’ve been wanting to get an automated dashcam for our vehicle, as there have been multiple cases where having a video from the drive would have been a huge help with the mess that followed. I wanted something that was easy to install and just worked while driving, I saw the Thinkware ARC800 that came with everything in the box! No buying an extra SD card or cable, it was all included. So, I decided to give it a try. Pros: - Easy to install & use. - Automatically captures footage. - Wide Angle & High-quality video. Cons: - Cannot automatically backup Recordings. - Included 32GB of storage quickly fills up & beings overwriting prior recordings. Included in the Box: Thinkware includes everything you need to get started in the box; Front and Rear cameras, pre-installed 32GB microSD card, 2 power cord options: USB-C or Hardwired, Micro USB cable for between main unit and rear camera, spare adhesive pads, and pry tool for getting the cameras off your windshield. I was glad to see there were spare adhesive pads in case I need to realign or swap vehicles. The packaging was well thought out and secure, ensuring nothing got damaged while being easy to unpack. Both the camera lens and touch screen had protective films to prevent scratches during packing and installation. Install & Setup: Honestly, the install was much simpler than I had expected. I downloaded the app and set up the front and rear camera before attaching them to ensure each worked properly first. The app is very simple, just download and open, then select your dashcam model and follow the guided steps. I had no issues connecting to the device or accessing the settings. Honestly, the hardest thing was climbing in and out of the vehicle to route the cables to the back. The cable clips included were nice to have, but the adhesive wouldn’t work too well for fabric ceilings, so I tucked the cable under the edge of the center light and edging of the ceiling. The rear camera is small enough that it doesn’t get in the way of viewing out of the rear window, I barely notice now. I chose to use the USB power method for now, as we usually park in a garage when not using the vehicle. Included in the box are two power options for the ARC800; USB-C or Hardwired. The benefit of USB-C is ease of install and use, as most USB plugs will work to power the system. The downside is that often the USB will not provide power when the car is turned off. Depending on your vehicle's make and model, you might have a built in USB port that can be used, otherwise you can use an adapter for the cigarette plug but, in most cases, these will not provide power when the vehicle is off. To enable continuous power even when the vehicle is off you will want to choose the Hardwired power method, which is simple to install but does require some knowledge of your car and spark plugs. App: The Thinkware Dash Cam Link app is very simple as apps come. After the system has been setup, to connect to the dashcam with the app, swipe down on the touch-screen on the front camera and enable the WiFi which will display a QR code. Open the app and select connect to dash cam, then scan the QR code. This will take a couple of seconds to connect, but then you will be able to view all the recordings for both the front and rear camera, with the app listing them from newest to oldest. The only downside is that you must go through these steps every time you want to review any recordings on the dash cam, as your phone disconnects from the system as soon as you close the app. It is easy to identify when an event worth checking occurred as the app adds a labeling of “Incident” to the recording, though this can be as simple as a car passing too close or a quick movement out of the corner of the view. Overall, the app is easy to use and navigate, while being nothing more than a portal to the dash cam recordings. My biggest complaint is that there isn’t a way to automatically sync recordings off the dash cam or backup the videos from the local SDcard except for manually downloading the video. Depending on how much you drive, this might mean you will start to overwrite prior videos within a single day as 4K footage fills up the provided 32GB storage quickly. Thinkware estimates 32GB can store 61 mins of recordings, which backs up what I’ve found through my week of testing, with my initial video clips being overwritten roughly a week later. If want to be able to review your recordings or back them up for your records, you will want to do so often and regularly to avoid the recordings being overwritten. Recordings: The front camera records by default at 4K 30fps, which is amazing quality for a dash cam. The 146 degrees of view from the wide-angle lens captures the full front of the vehicle, from edge to edge. This is very helpful because if you get hit on the side of the front, the only part that doesn’t have any coverage is the sides of the vehicle where the doors are. The front camera can be reduced to 2K resolution which offers a higher frame rate of 60fps. This offers smaller sized clips at a faster rate, that will be smoother for higher speeds where quick motion capture might be more important, think highway driving over city streets. The rear camera captures 1080 at 30fps, with a smaller angle of 125 degrees. This is plenty to capture any actual impacts or motion near the rear of the vehicle, while also not triggering on every single motion behind the vehicle. At first, I found the angle of the rear lens to not be very helpful, until I realized I could reposition further. Just rotate it firmly if you feel it stops, try moving the cable around as the resistance for me was caused by the angle of the cable and not the camera housing. Alongside the video recording, the system captures audio within the vehicle which helps add context to what is happening within the car where the camera cannot see. The audio is clear enough to understand even with music going or a noisy background, though it does sound far off and not sharp. But for the purpose of reviewing an event from a drive, it’s plenty fine. Conclusion: Overall, I’m impressed with the Thinkware ARC800, being easy to install and use, and providing amazing quality recordings. The wide viewing angle of the front camera captures everything in front of the vehicle, with the 4K resolution keeping it clear enough to make out. The rear camera works great in conjunction with the front camera, while being out of the way. The only drawback is that there is no automatic backing up of the recordings and the provided 32GB storage card fills up quickly, so you’d want to check the recording list often.

In today's world, I can't imagine you not wanting a little more piece of mind by having a dash camera. Now bring on Thinkware with their offering of a easy to install, good image quality, dual camera dash camera. At first unboxing, everything needed to install yourself is provided for you. I have a 5th generation Toyota 4Runner for this install. I was able to easily mount the main front facing camera right near the rear view mirror. I was able to route the USB c to USB a cable over the headliner, down the A pillar, and under the steeringg wheel panel to end at the center console USB port. As for the rear facing camera, that took a little more effort. You cannot mount the rear facing camera directly on the glass as the 4runner has a glass window you can roll down. The alternative was to route the included cable from the main front facing dash camera up over the headliner, through the driver's side A pillar, b pillar, and hatch headliner to the camera which I mounted temporarily with the included double sided tape to a plastic screw cap. Setup was easy enough to follow instructions and setup with the Thinkware app. You are able to modify settings in the app too but I like that you can do it on the main dash cam display. Now they do include a hardwire kit and recommend that a professional installer do it for you. If you have a little know how, just buy some fuse taps and install it yourself. Now for overall image quality I do think this AI post processing does a good job but it could try to do better in certain low lighting situations. I think a lot of dash cameras fall short with low light imaging. Now where I got annoyed was the app connectivity. I struggled to connect a few times and it is just a hassle really to have to manually scan the QR code for wifi connectivity. I'm hoping that with future updates, you can auto sync more easily. Auto syncing of important saved recordings would be a great option as well to minimize having to search for them later.