The Pruveeo F5 is a great entry level dashboard camera that offers a comprehensive set of features that you would need. Pruveeo prides itself as being a discrete design camera that installs easily with an adhesive 3M mount to the top of the windshield. This is a single channel camera, meaning that it only records one view.
This camera is on the low price range at around $36.99USD – $39.99USD and may be viewed and purchased here.
What is included in the package:
- Pruveeo F5 dashboard camera
- 12 volt in-car charging cable with a micro USB
- 3M adhesive mount kit
- Cable Tray
- User Manual
The dimensions for the camera are 3.9″ x 1.7″ x 1.5″ inches / 9.91cm x 4.32cm x 3.81cm and it weighs 3.04oz / 0.19lbs / 86.18grams.
The battery’s life is almost non-existent, it may last for only a matter of few minutes, if at all. This means that the charging cable must always be connected to the camera. This is one of the downsides of this camera, as we will discuss shortly.
There are 2 mounting kits included in the package, which means that you could install this camera in 2 cars and
The cable tray is an enclosure that is attached to the camera providing you the capability to hide some of the cable inside it, which is a cleaner setup and a nice feature. It is not necessary to use the cable tray.
The user manual is basic and does cover certain aspects of the camera but it is not extensive, only English version is available.
Click here to download an online version of Pruveeo F5 manual.
Please note, this package does not include the memory card, you would need to buy it separately. More on the memory card shortly.
Discrete Design
One of the nice features about this camera is its discrete design. It is specifically designed to be compact and non-discrative while you’re driving. A well hidden witness that captures all events encountered on the road. Even though it is discrete, the nice thing is that it still allows you to interact with it when needed, in case you need to change a setting, etc.
Wi-Fi
The F5 has a built in Wi-Fi. This allows you to connect to the camera with your phone and view what your camera sees, view video recordings and photos, change settings and download recordings to your phone.
In order to connect to the Wi-Fi you would need to download the “GoPlus Cam” App.
iPhone users may download it from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goplus-cam/id1055541083
Android users may download it from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=generalplus.com.GPCamDemo
Screen
The screen is 1.5″ (3.81cm) LCD.
A feature that I like about the F5 is the option to set the “Screen Saver” to on. This means that the screen is turned off but the camera is still recording. This is a nice feature in case you find the screen to be distracting while you are driving or simply want to turn it off while the camera is still recording. There is a light indicating when the screen is recording and you could press any button to turn the screen back on.
Camera Lens
The camera glass lens offers 140ยบ wide angle view and up and down adjustment. It offers no adjustment to the sides.
Video Resolution
The F5 offers 2 resolutions, 720P and full HD 1080P. The default, and only, resolution that comes with the camera is the 720P. In order to utilize the full HD 1080P resolution you would need to do a hardware upgrade. While I could not find a link to download the firmware upgrade on the Pruveeo website, I did contact them and they sent me the firmware upgrade. You may download it from here.
I found the video resolution to be somewhat inadequate and at times I found it hard to see license plate numbers even in broad daylight. It does the main job well, of capturing your view while driving, but when it comes to the small details i think there is room for improvement. This is one of the reasons it is a budget camera and a more basic model.
Recording File Format
The file format for video is AVI and for pictures it is JPG.
Loop Recording
Loop recording is supported. This means that once you exhaust all of your storage on the SD card the camera would record over the oldest footage that you have.
Audio Recording
This device does record audio as you drive. You have the option to turn this feature off and not have the camera record any audio. You also have the option to connect an external microphone and/or speaker.
Date Time Mark
This is an important feature and one that all dashboard cameras should have. When the video is recorded the camera stamps the date and time on top of the video. This way you can identify when exactly a video was taken.
Power
As mentioned earlier, the camera needs to be connected to the power supply at all times. The battery there is almost non-existent and is there only to save files when the power is disconnected. The built in battery is 320 mA.
The camera is powered by a Micro USB cable. There are two ways of connecting it to your car.
The first is via the power cable that comes with the camera, it connects to your car’s lighter outlet. The downside to this is the cable will most likely be visible.
The second option is to get a hard wire kit and connect the camera directly to your fuse wall. This is a preferred method as it hides the wires away from your view, makes sure that your camera is always connected and doesn’t occupy the lighter outlet.
You may view and purchase the hard wire kit here
Memory Card
The memory card is not included in the package. The F5 Supports a Class10 Micro SD Card up to 32GB, it has to be FAT32 format.
I personally find this to be a slight disadvantage for this device, there are a number of reasons. First, I like to have larger cards for my devices, personal preference, i don’t like to be “limited” to using up to 32GB. Second, this means that you can only store a limited number of time on this card before the loop feature kicks in and erases your content. It gets even smaller as you switch to the 1080P resolution.
Night Vision
The camera does have a night vision mode. As I mentioned earlier, I find the quality during the day to not be as sharp as I would like it to be and during the night mode it is easier to see this. It does capture the important view so it is still adequate.
GPS
The F5 does not have a GPS.
Auto turn on/off recording
This is supported and I would say this is a very important feature. The video recording starts automatically as you turn on the car and stops when you turn off the car. This is great as you may accidentally forget to turn on the recording when it is needed, such as in case of an accident.
The downside, though, is that it has no capability to record further when you turn off the car. You would need to setup an additional battery for that. This means that if you get hit while you are parked, there is no way to get the footage for this.
Parking Mode
The F5 does not support the parking mode, which records footage when the car is turned off while you are parked. This is due to its battery which has a very limited function to only store the files when the power is turn off.
I would consider this to be a disadvantage for this device.
G-Sensor
The F5 does not have support for G-Sensor. This means that when the camera feels a certain level of force, such as in an accident, it marks this video and saves it for easier retrieval. This also prevents the looping feature from overwriting this video. Cameras that have this feature also allow you to specify the sensitivity of the G-Sensor.
I would consider this to be a disadvantage for this device.
Conclusion
I think this is a great camera for the price point, It does offer the vital features that a dashboard camera needs to have. I recommend it to anyone looking to get basic usage and cover the essentials. If you are looking for a much more comprehensive camera with parking mode, battery life, etc. then this is definitely not the camera for you.
I would give this camera 3 out of 5 stars.
This camera may be purchased here.
This firmware file appears to have semi bricked my camera. It can only show the menus now, no video is shown or recorded.