A lot of drivers invest in dashcams to capture unexpected incidents. The latest models use AI and other fancy features to help you detect hazards, animals, and pedestrians on the road. The Vantrue Pilot 2 takes it to the next level with a thermal camera module that helps you detect things that you would normally miss with a conventional camera. It also has front, cabin, and rear cameras, so you won’t have any blind spots. The good people at Vantrue were kind enough to send us one to test. Let’s see what was included:
These cameras are available in multiple kits. We received the complete package, which has the front/cabin camera unit, rear camera, and thermal unit. We also got a memory card and a 40 mm circular polarizing filter. When you get the package, it can be a bit intimidating looking at all the parts that are included, but we found the entire system to be easy to set up. The ports are all labeled, so you won’t have to guess which cable goes where. You also get cable ties, a cleaning cloth, a pry tool, sticky mounts, and all the accessories you need to get started. Here are the camera resolutions:
- Front camera: 1440p resolution
- Rear camera: 1440p resolution
- Cabin camera: 1080p resolution
You don’t need to hardwire this dashcam to get started. Just connect all the cameras to the main unit and plug it into your car’s 12V power socket. The main unit has a sleek display with a home button, shortcut key, power button, microSD slot, and connectors for the cameras. It also has a built-in speaker. There is also an Aux output that further integrates this dashcam with your car’s audio system.
This dashcam not only has a thermal camera but also advanced features that many of the new models offer. For starters, it is compatible with CarPlay and Android Auto. The interface is pretty intuitive. You can switch camera views, check front, thermal, and cabin camera feeds, view the compass, and access your apps with a tap. Loop recording up to 5 minutes is supported. At the top, you can see WiFi and GPS status.
If you have used a smartphone, you can use this dashcam. You can swipe left or right to switch camera views. If you want to focus on a single view, just tap on it. With a swipe down, you can access WiFi, GPS, voice control, and other settings. Brightness and volume can also be changed with simple swipe gestures.
The main unit has a sticky mount, so you can attach it to your dashboard effortlessly. You will want to use the included electrostatic stickers for your front and rear cameras. You will have to route your cables through your car to reach the rear camera, but that only took us a few minutes. Thermal camera installation requires a bit more effort. You will want to make sure it is installed in a way that doesn’t interfere with your windshield wipers. You should also make sure your car’s hood doesn’t appear in the frame. We preferred the hood mounting position, but you can also put it above your license plate.
The Pilot 2 has an iOS and Android app that lets you view videos, access GPS tracking, and set up CarPlay/Android Auto. The camera has adjustable settings, so you can set the resolution for your cameras and adjust collision sensitivity. For video quality, you have Standard and PlatePix modes to choose from. The latter comes in handy when you need better license plate clarity. Audio recording can be turned off as well.
This camera system not only records your adventures but also emergency situations and parking videos. These files are stored in separate folders to make organizing them easy. There are a lot of cameras that perform well in low-light conditions, but with the thermal mode, you will be able to see animals and pedestrians in rain and fog. The Pilot 2 can keep you out of trouble with forward collision warning and pedestrian detection if you drive in challenging conditions all the time. We were able to mount it to a tripod and use the thermal camera to find our backyard cats in the dark.
A lot of people buy these cameras to record evidence just in case they are in an accident. This model has emergency recording with manual and automatic lock modes. In manual mode, you will just have to press a button. In auto lock mode, the camera detects impacts and locks the current video. The Pilot 2 can also catch collisions when your car is parked. In case of a collision, a 30-second video is recorded and saved. Your files are organized, so you can distinguish between normal and emergency videos. You don’t necessarily need the Vantrue Player for Windows to view your files, but it shows your GPS location on a map that is synced to your videos.
The Pilot 2 relies on GPS to record your location and speed in your videos. It can track distance traveled, altitude, speed, and other data points. The app lets you export this data in multiple formats. We got a 64 GB memory card with our camera, but up to 1 TB cards are supported. All high-resolution cameras get warm after prolonged recording sessions but we didn’t sense anything abnormal when monitoring the temperature of the unit with our FLIR camera.
Overall, we found the Pilot 2 to be a nice upgrade over our previous dashcam. The thermal feature is underrated in challenging weather conditions. With pedestrian warnings and collision detection, you will be able to stay out of trouble and record accidents. This complete dashcam system is well worth the investment for anyone who does a lot of driving at night.
