I have been considering installing a dash cam on my car for a long time but didn’t make up my mind until recently. What changed my mind are the stories I heard about how beneficial the dash cams are in providing evidence for the owners when the accidents occurred. Especially with this particular story, though not verified, a driver decided to stop rushing a red light halfway through the intersection and backed up the vehicle, and hit the car behind without paying attention. At the time driver who backed up the car admitted that he was at fault. Since it is so obvious as to who was at fault in this incident, the victimized driver didn’t think much about it after exchanging insurance information and is confident that the other driver’s insurance will cover the damage his vehicle suffered and there for didn’t get any written statement from the other driver or get a third party witness statement nor called the police and there is no surveillance camera at the intersection.

And of course, he was shocked to learn that the other driver told a completely different story to the insurance company and accused the other driver hit him from behind. Even though the story is not verified, this shows you how important to have a dash cam on the car. There would be no denying what exactly happened if there is a dash cam installed in the car. So, after hearing the story and the fact that road rage is on the increase, I decided to invest in a dash cam.

So I decided to do some research on Amazon to see which dash cam to get and the choices are plenty. There are cheap ones and expensive ones. I don’t need all the bells & whistles but too cheap is not desirable either as most often the quality suffers. Based on the review ratings, I finally set my eyes on the Rexing V1 2.4″ LCD FHD 1080p 170 Wide Angle Dashboard Camera Recorder Car Dash Cam with G-Sensor, WDR, Loop Recording. However, before I actually purchased the Rexig V1, I purchased a different dash cam because that dash cam has a wider view angle: 180 degrees v.s. Rexing V1’s 170 degrees and a little bit cheaper as well. The major differences between the two are the shape and attachment method. The attachment method is why I ultimately choose Rexing V1. The one I bought before the Rex V1 uses the suction cup to attach the dash cam to the car’s windshield. As you may find out, the best place to attach the dash cam is right behind the rearview mirror, and with most new model cars, that patch area has some protruded small dots on the surface of the glass and this makes the suction cup very difficult to stay put for an extended period of time, not to mention the frequent bumps on the road which will definitely make the dash cam staying put very difficult. To remediate this issue,  you can attach the dash cam below the protruded dots, but then it’s too low for my taste and it also obstructs the view and may not be legal in some states. And this placement also makes the dash cam more visible from the outside of the vehicle. So I returned that dash cam and bought the Rexing V1 and I am not disappointed but have some minor gripes.

As I mentioned above, what makes Rexing V1 different from other dash cams is how it is attached to the windshield, it uses adhesive tape instead of a suction cup. This makes it possible to be attached right behind the rearview mirror and just above the shaded area. This is a major plus for me. However, as I soon found out, this is also a potentially big issue when the weather gets hot which sometimes turns over 90 and 100 degrees in temperature and the adhesive tape material becomes liquefied causing the dash cam to fall off the windshield and this happened several times to me. My solution to this problem is to use the 3M Scotch 4011 Exterior Mounting Tape or similar double-sided tapes. All I did is just put the tape right on top of the original adhesive layer of the dash cam. The result so far is quite satisfactory, the dash cam is attached securely despite the recent scorching heat of over 90 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. However, I did put it under the shade of the trees, not sure if it will continue to stick if the car is parked under direct sunlight for a prolonged period of time with high heat. But I am happy with this solution so far.

The other good features of this dash cam include:

• wide 170-degree view angle.
• 1080P FHD resolution @ 30fps and other resolution choices. I am very impressed with the video’s clarity.
• Accepts the 128GB SD Memory Card, I recommend at least the 64GB SD card. With loop recording enabled, users will have the option to record videos in loops of 3, 5, or 10-minute video files. I found out that each 3-minute video file with the 1080P resolution is about 295MB. 
• It has the ACCIDENT AUTO DETECTION FEATURE (G-SENSOR), which will automatically lock and save any video file that was recorded when the camera detected abrupt displacement or drastic change of position.
• It has a built-in mic, you can turn the sound recording on or off.
• Its wedge shape form factor makes it less obstructive and less noticeable.
• and a few more features that I don’t want to elaborate on here.

As with any product, there are cons as well:

• The adhesive tape that comes with the dash cam is too weak.
• The built-in battery capacity is too small, it may last about 15 to 20 minutes at best, so the dash cam should be plugged in with the power supply cable when driving. But they do have the Rexing Hard Wire Kit for you to connect the dash cam to the car’s battery so that you can use the dash cam’s parking mode to monitor your car when it’s parked.
• The reflection of the dashboard gets into the recording, but this could be common with other dashcams as well.
• Not easy to transfer to a different car, and so far I have not been able to find a spare same-length power cable for sale.

Anyway, so far after a little over two months of using the Rexing V1 2.4″ LCD FHD 1080p 170 Wide Angle Dashboard Camera Recorder Car Dash Cam, I am quite happy with it and I do highly recommend it if you need one. Be safe! 🙂

Latest update (07/28/2019): I wish it didn’t happen, but this dash cam finally provided its worth. I got into an accident on the way back from LA on I-5 northbound in about two weeks ago. The driver in the right lane next to me drove into my lane. The driver-side mirror of his car hit my car’s front right passenger door. His side view mirror was gone and I got a long scratch on the door. The accident was all caught by my dash cam. The driver at fault said he didn’t see my car.  His statement saying it’s his fault was recorded by the dash cam as well. So as you may be expected, given the evidence provided by the dash cam, the insurance claim against the other driver’s insurance was smooth sailing. I had my car repaired in about a week and nothing came out of my pocket, including a rental car during the repair. If you drive safely, you definitely need a dash cam, because other drivers might drive recklessly.

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