Review on Vantrue E3 3-Way WiFi Dash Cam With GPS, Voice Control, And Night Vision - 2.5K Front And Dual 1080P Rear And Inside Cameras, 24-Hour Parking Mode, Supports Up To 512GB by Aaron Gonzales

As the parent of a new teen driver, safety while driving is of the utmost importance. I believe in the Ronald Reagan quote "Trust but verify". I trust my teen to follow the laws and driver training he has received but I also understand that he is a teenager so I was looking for a dash cam to be able to verify his behaviors while driving such as wearing a seatbelt, no cell phone use, limitations on passengers, and no speeding or reckless driving. I researched a number of different dash cams and ultimately landed on the Vantrue E3 as hitting the sweet spot between cost and features.I've been to the high school when students are leaving and have seen the craziness, so having a dash cam that not only recorded the front of the vehicle but also the rear was important to financially protect myself from a potential crash in the parking lot. The parking mode with both crash detection and motion detection was also a key selling feature as my son has told me about malicious damage done to other students cars in the parking lot. The E3 actually provides 4 different options for parking mode: crash detection, motion detection, low bitrate, and low framerate. I'm still testing each of these to determine which one works best in my situation as both low bitrate and low framerate continuously record, but at either reduced video quality or frames per second respectively. The ability of the E3 to support up to 512GB sd cards is extremely helpful in ensuring that I can utilize these features knowing that critical videos won't get overwritten when I need them.The installation of the dash cam was straight forward and simple. I purchased the hardwire harness to utilize parking mode without running down the car battery and was able to get it hooked up the first time without issues. The E3 package includes a trim tool which made hiding the wires for both the hardwire kit and the rear dash cam a cinch. I appreciated the extra 3M adhesive strips included in the packaging, as I positioned the camera too close to an obstacle the first time, blocking the easy insertion of the rear camera cord. It was easy to remove the camera with a twisting action on the window harness, then peel off the adhesive from the unit and retry with the spare. I also appreciate that the E3 front camera has a swiveling lens, allowing me to off-center the dash cam to the right of the rear view mirror, while still getting a full view out the front by rotating the lens.Placing the rear camera was a challenge due to the curvature of the vehicle window and the window defrost strips. I did the best I could with my situation, but you barely notice the strips on the video, so it won't present an issue. One thing I wish you could do is rotate the lense on the rear camera, either manually or artificially in the app. Based on how my window is shaped, the video is at a 10-15 degree angle to the left. I don't know if that's possible with the way the lense works, but that's one thing on my wish list.The night vision works great, providing a clear image of the inside of the cabin. As a parent, I also like the GPS tracking as well, allowing me to ensure that my teen is staying within the areas he's allowed to travel while he's still a novice driver. The E3 has built in WiFi, allowing you to review and download videos without removing the SD card. It provides both 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi for faster downloads. While you need to put the camera in WiFi mode manually through the push of some buttons, the range is good enough that I can review the videos from the comfort of my home as long as the car is parked in the driveway and I don't venture too far away. The only improvement would be if I could somehow initiate the WiFi connectivity without having to leave my home.My teen wasn't thrilled with this addition to the car, but I try to balance his safety with his privacy by only doing spot check reviews of the footage with him, making sure he knows that we could be watching, but also maintaining some level of privacy that is important at that age. Overall, I am extremely pleased with this unit which I feel provides the right features needed for teen safe driving and protection against claims in the event of a crash all at a fairly reasonable price. I would strongly recommend this to any parents of new teen drivers.