Nexar One Dashcam

[wreck99]

I've been looking into a few dashcams and I think I'm landing on this one, either the Nexar One or Nexar One Pro. I like a lot of the the features it has and some being very limited across most dashcams such as cloud abilities (live notifications, remote access, etc). My concerns are the size of this unit and having the standard adaptive cruise control box in the '24 models trying to figure where I would place this and not be an obstuction viewing out the windshield. Is anyone here running the Nexar One in their JL? I'd be curious to know what you think of it and how/where you installed it. I'm thinking to use the OBD adapter for power or hard wiring, so wires are hidden. I've seen lots of good reviews on this unit, including this guy who is pretty thorough.

Sponsored

 

[m3reno]

Just Googled reviews and this showed up.

The good: Camera records in 4k, amazing...

The bad: You must grant tons of permits on the phone to make this camera upload the videos to the cloud. If you do not give permission to all of them you cannot you are screwed. You grant all permits, Android Auto or Apple Car Play won't work wireless If you want to access the videos from the Micro SD card you can't!!!!!! They won't play on your PC no matter what. So if you need to show this to a cop on the spot... you are uffff Their customer service responds quickly, but pretty much nothing they can do, so in the end is a waste. This camera doesn't record short videos and doesn't give the option to modify the video length If you are parked for too long the bloody camera turns off and you have no mobile witness in case something happens

 

[AndySpill]

Sal's @m3reno's valid critique notwithstanding, I tried to read up on what powers this thing in parking mode? Is it the starter battery/ies or a battery it comes with that charges when the vehicle is on, or yet something else?

 

[wreck99]

Sal's @m3reno's valid critique notwithstanding, I tried to read up on what powers this thing in parking mode? Is it the starter battery/ies or a battery it comes with that charges when the vehicle is on, or yet something else?

It would be the OBD adapter, plugs into the OBD port. Alternatively you could buy the hardwire kit and plug it into the fuse box so it functions either in ACC mode or off the battery.

 

[wreck99]

Just Googled reviews and this showed up.

The good: Camera records in 4k, amazing...

The bad: You must grant tons of permits on the phone to make this camera upload the videos to the cloud. If you do not give permission to all of them you cannot you are screwed. You grant all permits, Android Auto or Apple Car Play won't work wireless If you want to access the videos from the Micro SD card you can't!!!!!! They won't play on your PC no matter what. So if you need to show this to a cop on the spot... you are uffff Their customer service responds quickly, but pretty much nothing they can do, so in the end is a waste. This camera doesn't record short videos and doesn't give the option to modify the video length If you are parked for too long the bloody camera turns off and you have no mobile witness in case something happens

Thank you for this research. I was also reading into a couple drawbacks I came across. One alternative with the wireless AA is to just plug in your phone instead, so if you're trying to access the camera software and AA at the same time, that's something you could do. Hopefully I don't need to show something to a cop on the spot, but it sounds like an option to get around that wifi limitation. As for the files, it is a bummer to not have direct access but I did some digging and found that you apparently can upload the video to another storage say Google Drive and then access it or d/l to computer that way? Obviously I don't have the unit hands on to test anything and wish I could trial run one first. These are valid critiques and I appreciate the feedback. I'm looking at alternative cameras too, this one just caught my eye with all the cloud features must dashcams don't have.

 

[AndySpill]

It would be the OBD adapter, plugs into the OBD port. Alternatively you could buy the hardwire kit and plug it into the fuse box so it functions either in ACC mode or off the battery.

Matthew: may I presume then (I couldn't find it in the literature) that the camera has the ability to--especially when energized in parking mode by the vehicle's starter battery/ies--- turn itself off when those batteries experience a voltage drop beyond some user chosen voltage threshold?

I read how the camera goes into this low power consumption dormant state in parking mode, woken for example with motion, but I imagine that even that dormant state has to consume some energy, and I know that my and many other cameras have the ability to shut off in parking mode based on some user chosen voltage threshold of the battery supplying the camera its electrical power.

I run my camera in parking mode off of a dedicated battery that's replenished from either the solar panel on my roof rack, the vehicle's alternator when its engine is cranked, or both.

Probably long since replaced by other models, I otherwise had good results buying from blackboxmycar.com with whom I have no financial relationship.

 

[wibornz]

I got rid of my Nexar Dash cam, because It used my phone. It eats up phone storage like crazy and I was alway having to go in a delete files. It would often make my phone run hot and always required me to plug my phone in while driving as it ate up my phone battery. I was not crazy about the software either.

 

[wreck99]

Matthew: may I presume then (I couldn't find it in the literature) that the camera has the ability to--especially when energized in parking mode by the vehicle's starter battery/ies--- turn itself off when those batteries experience a voltage drop beyond some user chosen voltage threshold?

I read how the camera goes into this low power consumption dormant state in parking mode, woken for example with motion, but I imagine that even that dormant state has to consume some energy, and I know that my and many other cameras have the ability to shut off in parking mode based on some user chosen voltage threshold of the battery supplying the camera its electrical power.

I run my camera in parking mode off of a dedicated battery that's replenished from either the solar panel on my roof rack, the vehicle's alternator when its engine is cranked, or both.

Probably long since replaced by other models, I otherwise had good results buying from blackboxmycar.com with whom I have no financial relationship.

Good question. I'm not entirely sure as I couldn't find much useful data on that either. I assumed it goes to sleep when in parking mode and wakes up when it detects something, but as you say it has to use some power to even know to wake up. I'm just speculating based on reviews I read and I didn't see any that complained about battery drain so I assume it's a non-issue but I have no facts to back that up. I know some units provide a seperate battery that drains for this purpose, but I don't think Nexar does.

I'm still looking at other dashcams too. That Thinkware model was recommended by this dashcam guy too. I've seen others on here boost on that Blackvue one as well, and it uses an extra battery for parking mode, but man is it expensive. I don't want to pay that much for a dashcam. I do like that those are slimmer so you can tuck them away more. That's one drawback I don't like about the Nexar, it's big. I also was intrigued by these that fit over the rear view mirror (i.e. WolfBox), as that eliminates the real estate concern all together, but I've yet to find one with all the cloud features I liked in the Nexar. It seems the search continues...

 

[wreck99]

I got rid of my Nexar Dash cam, because It used my phone. It eats up phone storage like crazy and I was alway having to go in a delete files. It would often make my phone run hot and always required me to plug my phone in while driving as it ate up my phone battery. I was not crazy about the software either.

I hadn't thought about usage and storage on the phone. Is the Nexar app on the phone in use all the time? I was hoping it was only when you wanted to look at it. As for storage, I regularly roll off my videos and photos to my NAS drive yearly, but this sounds like I'd have to do it more often?

 

[Tyderian]

I have a Nexar Beam, which only does 1080p which is good enough. No reason to have 4k clogging up my phone all the time. And as to that, in the app you have the option to use storage on your phone, 20%, 50% or 80% of available space. You can always add a microSD up to 256gb. If you don't want it doing stuff when you aren't connected, just turn off Background updates. Overall I'm satisfied with the Beam, and rarely get unusual notifications from it.

 

[rk911]

I have a Nexar Beam, which only does 1080p which is good enough. No reason to have 4k clogging up my phone all the time. And as to that, in the app you have the option to use storage on your phone, 20%, 50% or 80% of available space. You can always add a microSD up to 256gb. If you don't want it doing stuff when you aren't connected, just turn off Background updates. Overall I'm satisfied with the Beam, and rarely get unusual notifications from it.

How long does the Nexar Beam's Lithium battery last? How much hassle is it to power on/off?

 

[wibornz]

I hadn't thought about usage and storage on the phone. Is the Nexar app on the phone in use all the time? I was hoping it was only when you wanted to look at it. As for storage, I regularly roll off my videos and photos to my NAS drive yearly, but this sounds like I'd have to do it more often?

The app would run in the background.

I had set aside 125 gig of storage on my iPhone. I dumped the files about every week or so. It was just a hassle. Then there were times that the camera did not sync with my phone correctly and I would show a file, but there would be no data or way to view the file. I love having a dash cam. I did catch a couple cool things with it over the years. But I moved to Wolfbox G900. It does not require my phone. It will just keep overriding the files on the sd card, or in about two seconds, I can format the card from the dash cam. I found the Wolfbox to be more user friendly and more options.

I did write a review on the camera. Wolfbox G900 dash cam

 

[wreck99]

The app would run in the background.

I had set aside 125 gig of storage on my iPhone. I dumped the files about every week or so. It was just a hassle. Then there were times that the camera did not sync with my phone correctly and I would show a file, but there would be no data or way to view the file. I love having a dash cam. I did catch a couple cool things with it over the years. But I moved to Wolfbox G900. It does not require my phone. It will just keep overriding the files on the sd card, or in about two seconds, I can format the card from the dash cam. I found the Wolfbox to be more user friendly and more options.

I did write a review on the camera. Wolfbox G900 dash cam

I've been now looking at this Wolfbox G900. What do you think of it? Sounds like a great alternative for me. I like that it won't take up any windshield space. It seems to have near same features as Nexar, and some better like battery awareness is huge. I do want cloud functionality and parking mode. I'm not 100% sure on the hardwire install vs the OBD I liked with Nexar. I also see they sell a bunch of accessories like a license plate mount bracket for the rear camera. Or I can just get the pro version bundle which has it all looks like. Did you need any extensions for wiring or did the kit come with enough? How hard was it to wire up? I'm not about drilling into my dash so hopefully there's a better way. Sorry for all the questions.

By the way, love the footage! I've wanted a dashcam for a while but just never made the jump. Now I'm equally intrigued to capture some moments off the pavement.

 

[wibornz]

I've been now looking at this Wolfbox G900. What do you think of it? Sounds like a great alternative for me. I like that it won't take up any windshield space. It seems to have near same features as Nexar, and some better like battery awareness is huge. I do want cloud functionality and parking mode. I'm not 100% sure on the hardwire install vs the OBD I liked with Nexar. I also see they sell a bunch of accessories like a license plate mount bracket for the rear camera. Or I can just get the pro version bundle which has it all looks like. Did you need any extensions for wiring or did the kit come with enough? How hard was it to wire up? I'm not about drilling into my dash so hopefully there's a better way. Sorry for all the questions.

By the way, love the footage! I've wanted a dashcam for a while but just never made the jump. Now I'm equally intrigued to capture some moments off the pavement.

I wanted it mounted on the dash as I do not run a rear view mirror. The Wolfbox G900 is made to be attached to the rear mirror. You can install it without drilling your dash like I did. I like it a lot. I typically have it set to display the rear camera so I have a rear view mirror again. You can play back the videos and pictures through the display. I have a card reader for my iPhone. They are like $10 off amazon so if I needed a file I don't need a PC with me. 99% of all dash cam footage is just crap and I have no desire to have 15 terabytes of dash cam footage. I often just format the card. it take about 4 seconds to do it.

The wiring is in my opinion easy. I think that now that I have done it once, I could probably do it in under an hour. There is plenty of wiring and no need of any extensions. You can always just use the 12 volt cigarette plug to. I just don't like exposed wiring all over the place when it is so easy to hide. just know that in my first post on my thread, there is a link to Wolfbox and a discount code of TEDWIBORN to save you some money. I find myself taking a bunch of still photos with the dash cam too.

 

[Tyderian]

How long does the Nexar Beam's Lithium battery last? How much hassle is it to power on/off?

It's plugged into the cig socket, so it comes on when I start the Jeep. Never ran it on just the battery, so I don't know. But I know it stays on long enough to download the latest trip to my phone, which never takes more than my 30 second walk to the front door.

Sponsored