The Ambarella A7LA50 is still used but in a slimmer casing using a different mounting bracket.
Product Highlights:
Ambarella A7LA50 (1296P) and OV4689 (4MP)
178 degree view angle, f1.8, 6G glass lens
2.7in LCD screen
Video Format: MPEG-4, H.264 compression
Audio: AAC (mp4a)
HDR
ADAS system
AV-OUT, HDMI
Battery: Although the box says "Lithium battery 250mAh" the battery is a 180mAh.
The box contains 1 x Camcorder, 1 x USB Cable, 1 x Car Charger, 1 x Suction Cup Mount, 1 x User Manual
Design:
While being essentially a G90 inside, the casing looks slimmer
The use of ink is less sensible here: there's a Full HD stamp on the front, the buttons have their function engraved instead of printed on the side. This is less readable and you'll make mistakes until you remember which button does what.
Compared to the G90, the G95 is actually slightly smaller, but once attached to the mounting bracket, it take more space behind the windscreen.
The shiny lens barrel and the FullHD stamp don't help in making it discrete. The suction mount is simple but stable, some says better than the one provided with the G90 despite the absence of USB connection (The cable must be plugged directly to the camera).
The 6 LED surrounding the lens is of questionable utility.I thought this was a thing of the past, the A7LA50 in particular really doesn't need any.
Video and Audio
The video quality is no surprise: excellent, clear night and day with effective de-warping and no gap between the segments.In my previous review of the G90-7S, I noticed that the famous background noise in the recording was only present when the power adapter was connected. The sound is crystal clear when the camera records on batteries! Sadly, this problem remains.
Best is to check the video below to hear what I mean.
(b)ADAS...
The various assistance features, namely LDWS, FCWS and FCMD, LLW are now grouped under the appellation "Advanced Driver Assistance System" or ADAS. The LCD screen shows the detection of road edges, lanes and traffic in front of the car. Distinct audible and visual alerts are supposed to fire each time you're drifting off your lane or get too close to another car.
In real situation, these alerts are frequent and rarely appropriate. As I commented in previous reviews, from a road safety point of view, this is just a potentially dangerous distraction.
Conclusion;
The G95A is built around the excellent Ambarella A7 chipset and does the job as a reliable dashcam, but it fails to bring any real improvement over its twin, the G90A:- The old fashioned casing design (LED, flashy FullHD stamp, shiny lens barrel) combined with the bulky mounting bracket does not help making the device discrete behind the windscreen.
- The sound quality is impaired by the interference caused by the power adapter.
- Despite the bigger battery, there's no noticeable improvement in the autonomy.
The initial price tag of $89.24 seems a bit high. Thankfully the coupon GBG95A from Gearbest brings the price down to a reasonable $69.99.