Many car drivers feel better if their vehicle is monitored by a camera that also records the entire journey in case of an accident. One of them is 70mai Dash Cam Omni X200, which we tested in detail. In addition to a modern and stylish design, it also brings AI functions and 360° rotation.
In the review, we will talk about how to install such a camera in the car, then we will focus on the image quality under different conditions, but we will also not forget about the control, application and setting options.
Where to buy 70mai Dash Cam Omni?
He provided us with the 70mai Dash Cam Omni for review official store of the manufacturer 70mai on Aliexpress. This is where you can buy a camera at the best market price, while it is often also available in a European warehouse. You can find current coupons in our article:
Current coupons for 70mai Dash Cam Omni
Technical specifications
| Model | 70mai Dash Cam Omni X200 |
|---|---|
| dimensions | 51.5 x 51.5 x 93.2 mm |
| Display size | 1.2" |
| Display technology | IPS |
| Display resolution | 240 x 240 px |
| Video resolution | 1920 x 1080 px |
| Image sensor | OS02K10 |
| Clone | f / 1.5 |
| Frames per second | 30 / 60 fps |
| Frequency | 50/55/60 Hz |
| Camera angle | 140° |
| processor | NT96580 |
| Drums | 300 mAh |
| Built-in GPS module | Yes |
Content and quality of packaging
We received the 70mai Dash Cam Omni in a slightly battered cardboard box. Inside, the product box of the camera was wrapped in bubble wrap and still in a silicone envelope.
The quality of security against damage during transport is thus very good. However, the free space in the box was not filled in any way, and therefore the outer box suffered some damage and was slightly deformed.
The package contains the camera itself in a very unconventional design. The package also includes a cable with a length of 3.5 m, a car charger for connecting to electricity, a small plastic lever for placing the cable in the car, a pair of transparent, antistatic stickers, and also a spare circular sticker.
We also got the so-called hardware kit, which consists of only one cable. It serves to make some monitoring functions available. This cable is also 3.5 m long.
Modern design
The 70mai Dash Cam Omni car camera has a very unconventional but modern design, which is why the manufacturer is clearly targeting the younger generation of customers. We chose the white-red color combination, but standard black is also available.
Unlike most common car cameras, the 70mai Dash Cam Omni is shaped like a pill. The lower part, which in our case is red, is rotatable and has a lens in the front part that complements the speaker at the very bottom.
At the interface of the individual parts, there is a thin backlit strip that signals the different states of the camera. The top part is home to a 1.2″ square-shaped display, a microphone, a USB-C port, and a trio of rubberized buttons.
On top of this camera there is a kind of holder that contains a self-adhesive tape that can be removed by simply turning it. Even after installation, the camera can be disconnected and removed from the car at any time without having to peel it off.
Installation in the car
As we mentioned above, the camera package contains everything necessary for its installation in the car. We have been using the 70mai Dash Cam Pro camera for several years, so we already have experience with the connection. However, this model has an older, micro USB port, so we had to stretch a new cable to connect the new product successfully.
So let's start from the beginning. The essence of mounting is choosing the right place for the camera. The recommended location is behind the center mirror on the windshield or on one of the sides next to it. Since we don't have much space behind the mirror, we placed the camera next to the mirror, on the passenger side.
The first step is to stick a transparent antistatic film on the windshield. The camera holder is then glued to this foil, ideally on the marked circular spot. The aforementioned camera holder contains a sticker, which can also be found in the extra package. It's the same with the film, so if you don't manage to stick the camera correctly, you have one more try.
However, we recommend paying attention and trying to stick the camera as straight as possible on the first try. Since the windshield has a certain slope, the camera can be tilted so that it is level. Then just connect one end of the cable to the camera and the other to the car charger. It has two USB ports.
As for the cable, you can hide it in the car in the gaps between the individual interior upholstery or plastic reinforcements and behind the rubber in the door frame. For easier handling, a plastic mounting lever is included in the package.
First turn on and connection with a smartphone
Since the camera itself has a fairly simple menu, we need an app for most of the settings. It has the same name, 70mai, and we can find it in the Play Store. The application can search for the camera using Bluetooth if it is near the smartphone. You can then confirm the pairing by pressing the on/off button on the camera.
Next comes the connection to the WiFi hotspot of the camera. We first had to turn it on manually using the menu, which can be accessed by pressing the button with the down arrow symbol. The rest of the process was automatic.
The application then guided us through instructional videos for mounting and connecting the camera. The following is an image test, where you can check whether you mounted the camera straight. The application immediately informed us that we did not use a hardware kit, so monitoring while parking the car would not be functional.
The information about the available voice commands, with which we can take a photo, record an emergency video or take a selfie, was also useful. We will talk about the complete options of voice commands in more detail later.
Image quality and recording
According to the default settings, immediately after turning the key in the car ignition, the camera will also turn on and start recording. The video is recorded continuously to the internal memory, which has 64 GB. We do not have the option of using memory cards here.
The default resolution is 1920 x 1080 px with 30 fps, which we can also switch to 60 fps. No other resolution is available. As for the image quality, it is very good. During the day, everything is beautifully visible, including car license plates. Although the image is somewhat artificially focused, which seems slightly unnatural, this is a car camera, not for filming family videos. For this purpose, the image is excellent.
The video shows the brand logo with the camera model, current speed, GPS coordinates, date and time. In the application, we can also switch to a more effective display with some additional data, but these are only displayed during playback in the application. However, once it happened to us that the GPS coordinates were missing from the video for some unknown reason.
Since we tested the camera at the beginning of April, when the weather changed from day to day, we recorded almost all types of weather on the videos - sunny, cloudy, rainy and even snowy. You can easily compare the image quality under different conditions.
Display and user interaction
The car camera 70mai Dash Cam Omni has a small display with a diagonal of 1.2″. It is an IPS display with a resolution of 240 x 240 px. The latter displays a recorded video or various emotions of the brand's mascot, which is called MaiX. However, the display is quite shiny, which impairs its visibility.
MaiX is a bear and we see his likeness in a simplified cartoon form on the camera display quite often. When turning the camera off and on, it waves at you, can smile at you or show a thumbs up. It's an interesting diversion, but we could do without it. But at least it will cheer up the children.
The backlit color strip around the perimeter of the camera also contributes to the interactions, the color of which signals various actions such as loading, error or successful completion of the operation being performed.
Voice commands
As we mentioned in one of the previous chapters, the camera can respond to some voice commands. These are firmly defined and are specifically the following:
- shoot left – turns the camera to the left and records a short video (9 seconds)
- shoot right – turns the camera to the right and records a short video
- take a photo – takes a photo
- shoot emergency video – records an emergency video
- take a selfie – turns inward and takes a photo
- vlog shoot – records a short video while slowly rotating around its axis
- shoot inside – turns towards the inside of the vehicle and starts recording the video
- stop audio – turns off the sound in the video
- audio record – turns on the sound in the video
- disable hotspot – turns off the WiFi hotspot
- enable hotspot – turns on the WiFi hotspot
The camera responds to voice commands very reliably and quickly. Despite the fact that they are only in English, their use is quite effective. It should be noted that we cannot perform most of these actions other than through voice commands. This especially applies to recording short videos.
ADAS system
Many of you are probably familiar with ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System), which helps drivers by alerting them to various risks. You simply activate this system in the application.
Subsequently, the camera requests the correct setting of the camera according to the horizontal line that appears on its display. It should copy the front edge of the car hood. We did not manage to tilt the camera exactly so that the hood was parallel to this line, and perhaps that is why the calibration took quite a long time.
Calibration takes place automatically at speeds above 40 km/h. We drove at this speed many times and the camera kept informing us that the ADAS system needed calibration and asking us to drive above 40 km/h repeatedly. After several attempts, the calibration was successful, activating the ADAS system.
He drew our attention to vehicles in particular nami, which we approached more quickly, on pedestrians in front of the vehicle or occasionally even on deviating from the driving lane. However, we must honestly say that this system did not bring us any added value. Warnings on the car before nami or pedestrians crossing the crossing are relatively useless.
On the car before nami namely, the camera alerted quite randomly when we approached the car in front nami. She warned us about pedestrians when we were almost at the crossing. Selected notifications that we do not want to receive in connection with the ADAS system can be turned off in the settings.
HW kit and its installation
The mentioned HW kit is necessary to activate the monitoring of the space in the field of view of the camera even during parking, when the engine is turned off. We can turn on these functions in the settings directly in the camera using its buttons. First, however, we have to connect the camera using the HW kit.
It has a USB-C cable at one end and three cables at the other end. They are marked as VCC+, ACC and GND. The red VCC+ wire requires a connection to a 12V voltage source that is available even when the ignition is off. The yellow ACC cable is connected to the source, which activates the 12 V voltage after turning the key. The black GND serves for grounding and connects to any metal part of the car.
The easiest way is to connect these cables to the fuses. You can find a detailed video on how to do it below:
We used a multimeter for the measurement, with which we identified the fuses, to which we then connected the cables. Only after proper connection did the camera allow us to activate the mentioned functions. But there is also a better connection solution, using the so-called fuse adapter, which then joins one of the free positions.
Let's also mention that you can also buy a 4G kit. This unlocks other very interesting functions such as live streaming, notifications to the application or the car location function and cloud storage.
Monitoring the space around the car
Unfortunately, monitoring during parking does not work best. The camera only recorded a few videos in several days and various attempts to start a recording of movement around the car, and mostly only when we were getting in and out of the car. By comparison, the 70mai Dash Cam Pro recorded dozens of videos while parking at the same high intensity.
However, if the 70mai Dash Cam Omni detects an event during parking, it will immediately start rotating around its axis. And this is precisely the huge advantage of the rotating camera. In the footage, we can clearly see the whole event around the car, not just what is happening in front of the car.
We suspect that the last update to version 1.1.32ww may have caused some problems, because after the update, the aforementioned connection between the camera and the smartphone started dropping.
Another interesting function that we can use after connecting the HW kit is timelapse. When the timelapse is turned on, the camera creates a time-lapse video during the entire parking time.
70mai Dash Cam Omni vs 70mai Dash Cam Pro
As we have mentioned several times, since we also own an older camera from the same manufacturer, the very popular 70mai Dash Cam Pro model, we have compared the recording quality of both cameras for you.
We will be brief and clear, already at first glance you can see that the image from the new 70mai Dash Cam Omni is cleaner, with higher contrast, better color rendering and better dynamitechnical scope. Below you can watch videos from both cameras separately.
The application environment and its reliability
The 70mai application has a quite simple and clear environment. On the initial screen we find our devices, where after selecting the 70mai Dash Cam Omni, a live video transmission will appear with several controls.
There is manually turning the camera sideways using the directional buttons, taking a photo, going to the album and calibrating the camera. That is all.
In the album, the videos are divided into individual categories. Normal driving videos are always 60 seconds long, and we can download them from the gallery to the smartphone's memory. There is also a timeline, where individual recording types are marked in color with the option of downloading a video with a length of 10 / 20 / 30 seconds or 1 / 2 / 3 minutes. It takes quite a long time to download and a one minute video is around 245MB.
Unfortunately, the reliability of the application is not the best. It often happened to us that the WiFi connection between the camera and the smartphone was interrupted while watching videos or making settings in the application. In addition, sometimes the application had problems with loading the initial screen itself.
Settings menu
The settings are available in the application from the screen where we see our paired devices. If we already choose one of them and go to the mode in which we see the live broadcast, we will not get to the settings here, which is rather illogical.
The offer is quite wide, so we will not describe all the options. However, you can find most of them in our screenshots and we will only mention the more interesting ones. This includes, for example, turning on the mentioned ADAS system, WiFi hot-spot, speed units, date format or volume.
There is also a resolution setting along with the number of frames per second (1920 x 1080 px at 30 or 60 fps), HDR or video compression. We can also change the length of individual videos that are recorded while driving, where the default value is 1 minute.
70mai Dash Cam Omni: Final review
The stylish car camera 70mai Dash Cam Omni X200 is a very interesting and modern novelty from the workshop of the popular brand 70mai. It immediately catches the eye with its atypical design with a rotating lens, thanks to which the camera can capture the entire surroundings of the car as well as the interior. It records video in FullHD resolution at 60 fps and the image quality is at a very good level.
They will also be pleased with voice commands and various interesting functions such as filming a vlog, monitoring the space during parking, the ADAS system or creating the so-called timelapse videos from photos.
Unfortunately, the just mentioned monitoring during parking is kind of out of tune. Despite its high sensitivity, the camera does not record almost anything happening in the surroundings except when getting in and out of the car. In addition, the WiFi connection between the camera and the smartphone often drops, so we can only believe that the manufacturer will eliminate these problems with a firmware update.
