BlackVue Dual Camera DR650GW-2CH

The product doesn't last long – Good customer service. I sent it to BlackBox in Perth to repair, the team had a prompt response and good communication for the issue, so everything was fixed very professionally also came back with a free tracking post. Show details ·  3

Customer Service from Autoblackbox WA (Aust Supplier) – In a previous review in regards to the BlackVue cameras, we had problems with reliability and problems with SD cards. Tom from Auto BlackBox contacted me personally to discuss the problems. After sending items back I was kept informed. I would note the DR650GW dual camera, 64gb card, tinted lens were the items sent. Although the DR650GW was… Read more ·  1

just over 2 years old the expectation from me is that I should get more than 2 years usage. The rear camera lens ended up being replaced, 64gb card (Blackvue) was also replaced (less than 12 months old which was a previous replacement) and the tinted lens cover which had started crazing was also replaced.

In a previous post, I also indicated cards should last more than 12 months due to the cost. Auto BlackBox also supplied a spare 32gb Blackvue card at no cost so thanks for that.

I would say the customer service was excellent from Tom and also Chaim.

As it stands we now disconnect all cameras at night or when the cars aren't being used when parked at home to help with the SD cards lasting longer.

We also carry a spare SD card in our cars (Driving School Cars) so if we have a "card issue" (card saying please check SD card) we can simply swap the card over to maintain the cameras operating whilst on driving lessons.

After using these cameras for a few years overall they work quite well but you do need to monitor your SD cards. By that, I mean regularly view the videos on a computer to ensure they are recording properly and the time zones don't change and there is no disruption to continuous recording. Broken recordings can mean you may need a new card. (Card formatting and checking firmware should be checked first)

Due to having dual cameras, the cards can rewrite quite quickly (when set at higher resolution) so a larger capacity card should be used especially if you leave your car in public car park. (Magic Pro required for operation when engine not running or parked for long period)

It's a shame they don't have a pivot so the camera can be turned to the sides when needed rather than fixed straight ahead or behind and maybe a "time-lapse" recording for parking as some other brands do.

At least it's good to see that the customer service is great and resolved our issues.

Well done to Autoblackboz in WA.

Geoff

Penrith Driving School

BlackVue DR650GW-2CH – Its a little late with my review of the DR650GW as it has been superseded however I'm sure this review would cover the latest model as well. I was very impressed with this dashcam camera and the quality of it. Very easy to use and setup and the fact I can look at the footage wirelessly without removing the SD card was a real bonus. Picture… Read more ·  1

quality is superb.

Initially I had it installed in my Honda Accord and because I parked in the City and City car parks I wanted to incorporate the PowerMagic option to keep an eye out if someone bumped into my car.

This was a big mistake.

Once installed and the PowerMagic set for the higher voltage and lower timeout I found my battery was continually going flat in spite of the battery being only 1 year old.

I had NRMA check the battery state thinking it was the battery but on each occasion (had it checked twice) the battery came up good.

Even had the installer recheck all the settings.

I have since had the DR650GW installed in my new car without the PowerMagic as I no longer park in the City.

I do recommend the Blackvue however if you want to keep an eye out on the car when parked I would suggest paying the extra for the Cellink-B battery pack.

I bought the unit from http://www.sportgps.com.au who have great customer service. Would recommend them if you are looking to buy a dashcam of whatever persuasion.

Turns off and has previously lost speaker – My BlackVue was just 1yeat old when the speaker failed. The speaker is also too quiet when it was working and difficult to hear if wifi is on or off as the recording is way to similar. BlackVue repaired the speaker and then when I was leaving the installer the BlackVue turned itself off. I went straight back and was told it was a loose connection.… Read more

Since then the BlackVue continues to freeze and not record. The buttons do nothing and the only way to fix it is to pull the plug out and wait a few minutes and plug back in. Then it may or may not restart. The BlackVue also just turns itself off without reason or warning. I purchased the battery protect but now it looks like it is interfering with the car battery/computer. This set up is very expensive to have so many faults in such a short time. My advise is buy a cheaper set up and replace it as new models become available and not invest in this as it is expensive and has manufacturing/tech faults that render it usless. They don't want to replace it they only want me to bring it back time after time and send it to WA for weeks at a time without providing a temp unit.

Perfect tools – I have this due camera for more than 2 years, and it's still perfect. I have installed 64gb as card in it and I have no issues at all. Highly recommended. Rear and front camera. It's has nice options and I can use it with clouds as well. All good Thanks.  Show reply

Piece of mind – Bought it 2 years ago for my new 4x4, really good quality and pay what you get for. Tucks well behind the rear view mirror. Only problem with it, it’s slow for download a video and SD card is too low at 16gb (2hrs usage before it rewrite over), Would love to have a 64 or 128gb.  Show reply

Best Dashcan – After doing a lot of research I bought this dashcam about 18months ago (and talked my 2 sons into buying one) prior to driving to central Australia. Recorded and downloaded the whole driving as i also bought additional 128gb sd cards.. Went back this year and whilst in Alice Springs it kept rebooting. As i was taking it out of cradle dashcam fell… Read more ·  1

onto centre console and stopped working. Would like to get it repaired or if too expensive happy to buy updated version where i can still use the same rear camera. Just need to know if there is any repair centre in Melbourne that can give me a quote for repairs. Thanks Pete M

Second time it's faulty! – This is the second time this camera is playing up. First time only GPS light was lighting up so it was fixed free of charge and chip replaced. Now the camera runs for a while then the GPS light stay alight and red recording light turns off. Also camera makes a funny noise. Unplug it and restart camera and same thing happens all over again. Not happy! Show details

Avoid this unit – The dash cam worked very well for a while then stopped working without any warning. Changing the SD card, rebooting, downloading and installing firmware are all complicated and time consuming. Theres a constant “invalid settings” warning. I’ll be looking to get my money back and get a more reliable dash cam.

Not happy – I purchased the 650GW 2ch some time ago. I was fine for about 13 months then the SD card problem started. I tried various SD cards including the one from Blackvue. I kept getting the "Please check the SD card" message. I'd re format the card once a week and kept getting the error message. I disconnected the rear camera and the problem stopped. I… Read more

payed for a 2ch dash cam but I've ended up with a 1 channel cam. Never again will i buy a Blackvue dash cam.

Works well, paid for itself, wireless no longer works – I received the two channel camera for my 60th birthday two years ago and it has worked very well, except now the wireless function has stopped working so I can no longer check the recordings from my phone, which is a small inconvenience as I have to take the SD card out and view the footage on my computer. Apart from that, it has worked well and… Read more ·  4

paid for itself. Not long after installing it (fairly easily I found), I was waiting at a traffic light to turn right when the car in front of me suddenly reversed into me. The driver insisted I had hit him, but I quickly showed him the footage from my camera revealing his reversing lights coming on and my velocity as zero which convinced him of the error of his ways.

Thinking of getting one for my wife's car too. Great product

Worked For A Total Of 4 Months Of True Time (Driving Equiv) Then Gps / Speed Failed – The camera was fine until blackvue started issuing firmware updates. It was updated to last v2.008 and speed read capture eventually stopped at some point. During the support trials of keep putting re formats of same firmware and then one attempt to do it via phone which the last method now has rendered it useless. Won't restart at all even the… Read more

the last instruct after the upload from the iphone app was to re boot it now sits all day with red/green alternating flashing light plus the blue blinker. The update via sd in pc won't save it either now. Reading all reviews google wide its a common fault over time. Why else was it superseded. No confidence in blackvue product line now on.

Excellent dashcam, highly recommend! – I purchased this dashcam on 14/10/2014 and overall I am very happy with it. The one thing that I love about this cam is that it sits nicely up behind the rear vision mirror out of sight with it's nice compact mount which not many other cams have. If they were not so expensive I would buy them for the whole family, 7 of them :-)  Show reply

Good camera but with issues – Have had the camera for nearly 2 years, but recently the time zone reverts back to incorrect time zone inspite of choosing the right time and have found that the internal battery needs replacing. Wasn't told this at the time of purchase and blackvue wants to charge upto $140 to fix the timezone, which is ridiculous. So anyone thinking of… Read more

buying one just be mindful that as soon as the warranty runs blackvue will cost you a fortune to get fixed.

Moreover it has to be sent to Perth at your own expense as they don't have any repair shops in other cities.

Outstanding service – Had to have the wife's BlackVue DR650GW -2CH camera repaired recently by autoBlackBox.com.au in WA and would like to say what a pleasure it was to deal with such a professional organisation that gave you a level of courteous service with a speedy turnaround time. Certainly would not hesitate to recommend this company to anyone.  Show reply

Had some issues at the start but been running fine ever since – Bought and had the Blackvue DR650GW-2CH cam and T-Power UPS hard wired into my Mercedes Benz W205 C250 around mid June 2015 by Maroochy Car Sound. Had some issues at the very start with the DTV as a result of the cable to rear camera not being shielded properly but once that was resolved its been running fine ever since. I like the fact that I can… Read more ·  1

now rely on it working every time I drive anywhere and it gives me peace of mind. I would never go back to the other brands. I have tried several other brands and they did not come close.

I like the fact that whilst the car is parked I have assurance that I am filming anyone that tries to scratch or steal anything.

Best Car Camera on the Market – The Blackvue is the best car camera on the market. Crystal clear picture, excellent features and easy to use software that easily bluetooths to your smartphone. If you're in the market for a car vamera, do yourself a favour and buy one of these for your vehicle, you wont regret it.  Show reply

A Definate Necessity – I have learnt quickly in Newcastle & Central Coast NSW that double centre lines, traffic lights and stop signs around here are only for be law abiding citizens. And sorry, that's very few, considering I see 70 year olds overtaking in school zones and back streets and 8/10 drivers heading towards you with their drivers side wheels 1/2 metre across… Read more ·  2

centre lines oblivious to their poor driving skills. In the UK, you would be arrested and charged. Anyway, I purchased this CAM out of necessity. The CAM works well and does the job its intended for.

Worked well at first, now causing problems – Worked great at first, but now continually telling me that it is 'restarting'. Put a new genuine micro SD into machine but same result. Ongoing attempt to update software, change mamory card, etc, now means that 12 month warranty is up. Will you replace the camera Blackvue, or shall we go statutory warranty?

Great Product! – Awesome service and support from Automotive Superstore, I now have a camera front and rear in each of my cars and feel much safer! Took a little while to install and setup but now I couldn't be without them. They're going to be invaluable in case of an accident. Over the Cloud is great for backup of important events too  Show reply

Very happy with my choice – Pretty happy with the BlackVue. It has great resolution, simple install and I thought the ability to watch video on the iPhone app was great too - I bought mine from www.automotivesuperstore.com.au and got a bargain with the hardwiring kit and SD card as a bundle with next day delivery. Would recommend.  Show reply

Great cameras – These cameras out perform all others i have used , installed in 9 vehicles they have worked without fail . I have tried the cheap ones only to get poor picture quality and failed to give a clear image to support our driver . Blackvue cameras are highly recommended thankyou AAA+++  Show reply

Excellent Customer Service – I received my dashcam as a Christmas gift in 2015. We had it professionally installed in Jan 2016. Thankfully haven't had any incidents where i've needed to use the footage besides showing the stupidity of some drivers. In dec 2016 it started frying any SD cards i put into it- we contacted Blackvue who guided us thru troubleshooting- when we… Read more ·  1

still couldn't find a fix- we sent it back to them. They agreed to replace the unit and sd cards without any hassle. Excellent service.

Great quality in car camera system – Purchased this system due to a few concerning road rage incidents. Paid for itself within a month, when a male damaged my vehicle. The footage provided to the police clearly identified his driving behaviour, registration number and him damaging my vehicle. Police have charged the male and we are awaiting court. Should get my insurance excess back upon his conviction. Money well spent and highly recommended system and supplier.  Show reply

Professional in-vehicle recording – I personally hard-wired the installation of these dual cameras into my vehicle, found it very easy to do (I'm not that technical either). The cameras provide a degree of security that is easily the best I have seen or used for in-vehicle use. When I thought I had an issue with the pixelation at first, Blackvue were more than happy to assist, in… Read more ·  1

fact offering a complete replacement with no issue at all. I did find the pixelation issue was something that I could actually rectify by re-sizing the picture content. Very happy and would recommend this to anyone who wants to protect their motor vehicle investment.

Perfect – I've just updated my front and rear to wifi dashcams as I'm on the road all day as delivery driver that if there are any incidents I can go back and check on my smartphone who caused the incident and I can save it for insurance purpose if required as their are to many idiots on the roads  Show reply

BlackVue Dual Camera - causes radio intereference (RFI) to car's Digital Radio (DAB) – I've had this problem for a while now - partial solution was to use iron a ferrite beads on the cables as a passive electric means to suppresses high frequency noise (RFI) in electronic circuits. But the problem remains - particularly annoying when the radio signal is week - the internal noise negates the DAB.  Show reply

Frustrating and pointless – I bought this wanting total peace of mind however the Cameras are useless to me without the parking mode. The power magic pro which is meant to be the solution is also useless if you have a standard 12volt battery. I want the cameras to record throughout the night and during the day but if I want to protect my battery I only get about one hour of… Read more

recording unless I want to change the setting and play chicken with the battery and have it recording for say 2 days. Then the battery may deplete to say 7 volts and then the car may not start. I wish I never bought it. At the high the price I thought I was getting the best.

This camera is more geared towards commercial vehicles I think.

I would return this to the shop in an instant if it wasn't hard wired in.

I can't find a solution to make this camera work as I thought it would. The only answer I can see is to have a separate portable battery which you can plug in for when the car is left for a long time but it's another 300 quid!!

I should have listened to my wife and paid half as much!

Blackvue people: help me!

Good at first but nothing but problems now – Bought 2 sets of the dashcam DR650GW/2CH about 12 months ago, one for my car one for my wife's car. All worked great for about 6 months. 5 months ago the rear cameras stopped working in both cars. I have even replaced the cable to the rear cameras with no result. 3 months ago the 64GB Sandisk SD card stopped working with a constant "check SD card"… Read more

message. Bought a new 64GB Toshiba SD card, formatted it, installed the firmware on it and still the same message from the dashcam "check SD card". Wife's dashcam won't do firmware update. At the moment the money spent feels like a waste of money for a 2 channel dashcams.

The Proof is in the Recording – I have purchased only my second BlackVue Dashcam and I can not tell you how reassuring it is to have a vision of an event recorded and downloadable instantly via wi-fi within 60 seconds. My current new purchase nor covers the rear as well as the front 1080P view along with the power Management System for Parking recording of my new Subaru. I wont… Read more

drive without it. My original camera is now sitting in my Mercedes Vito Van as it is only 720P. I am extremely happy with both and recommend EVERYONE uses them. No contest with others on the market, just set and forget and hope you never have to use it.

Do Not Buy One – We bought this a while ago and there has been nothing but trouble we have had it replaced 4 times and still not working very very bad camera BlackVue. It keeps saying ether firmware error or sd card not compatible when it's a blackvue sd card what a heap of crap.

Great camera - but better yet – Great camera - never really any issues... but better yet .... if you do have some issues [like I have with a few minor things being not that tech savvy] - Tom, from AutoBlackbox.com.au has saved my tail several times and really knows his stuff !!! Although the camera is great with awesome footage .. Tom is better ..!! Quick, efficient and gets any issues ironed out immediately. Cheers guys and have an awesome Christmas & New Year :)  Show reply

Constant problems – I also have constant problems with the SD card and Blackvue restarting all the time without any reason. The sticker is also terrible. Blackvue is dropping down in hot weather, so I have to stick it again to the windscreen all the time. In parking mode it is recording almost all the time despite the sensitivity sensor put to minimum.