Thinkware X550 Dash Cam Video Review

Great specification, but really annoying safety features!

by Greg Hook
Tech Review

2

Thinkware X550 Dash Cam Video Review

What is the Thinkware X550?

Available from just £50 with Full HD recording, dash cams are now very affordable and quickly becoming an essential item for most drivers. With the cash for crash scams that seem to be prevalent these days, along with ensuring all the correct details are recorded in the event of an accident, a dashcam is a great way of insuring you are protected.

In the aftermath of an accident details can often be forgotten or once the insurance companies get involved whose fault it was can often be altered completely. Plus given the amount of awful and often dangerous driving we all see daily, having a dashcam is useful if only for capturing this and then posting to YouTube!

At £150 the Thinkware X550 that we have for review offers a lot for the money with Full HD recording, GPS, wide dynamic range, super night vision and a fully comprehensive driver safety system that includes speed camera warnings, front collision and lane departure warnings.

Read on and watch our video review as we put the Thinkware X550 through our tests.

Specifications

Detailed Specifications:
  • Camera: Sony Exmor Optic Sensor 1/2.9"
  • Recording: Full HD (1920 x 1080P) 30FPS
  • Capacity: Micro SD Card up to 64GB capacity
  • Recording Modes: Continuous Recording, Incident Recording, Manual Recording
  • Road Safety Warning System: Safety Camera, Lane Departure, Front Collision, Front Vehicle Departure
  • Sensor: 3-Axis G-Sensor
  • GPS: Embedded GPS
Thinkware X550

Dashcam Viewer PC Software

Via the very easy to use PC Viewer software, the recorded videos can be played simply and quickly and also shows information such as the G sensor activity, GPS information such as speed and location, along with a map to view your route.

The settings of the camera can also be changed via this software which is much easier to manage than trying to change them on the camera itself. Any settings changed will be uploaded to the camera the next time the power is on. The speed camera data and firmware are also easily updated, you simply download them onto the SD card and when the camera is next powered on it will automatically upgrade to the latest information.

Thinkware X550

Conclusion

Pros

  • Excellent safety camera alerts
  • Full HD recording
  • 16GB SD card supplied

Cons

  • Very annoying safety features
  • Non-suction windscreen mount

Thinkware X550 Dash Cam Video Review

The Thinkware X550 at £150 is full of some excellent features and has a high specification. Full HD recording, safety camera warnings, GPS, super night vision and wide dynamic range to name just a few. However the driver safety system is unfortunately far too annoying to be useful with constant beeps at odd times and generally just not a useful system to have enabled.

The X550 was very easy to setup and install, although the windscreen mount being a sticky type and not a suction type was not the greatest and using 3M tape, once it’s stuck it is not moving again! It also only had horizontal adjustment.

As we have found with our previous dash cam reviews, if you have a vehicle with a front heated windscreen you may find the GPS just never works. If this happens the excellent safety camera system is disabled, plus the other driver safety warning features will also not work which, depending on whether or not you have the same experience as us, is probably a good thing!

The X550 performs well overall with a decent recorded quality image and easy to use PC viewer software. For a Full HD dashcam at £150 there are a lot of alternatives such as the Mivue 658 and others which offer similar features along with plenty more at a cheaper price. We feel that the additional features the X550 provides makes it one worthy of consideration bearing in mind the issues we had.

Scores

Build Quality

.
.
8

Ease of Use

.
.
8

Features

.
9

Video Image Quality

.
.
.
7

Value for Money

.
.
.
7

Verdict

.
.
.
7
7
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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