# Can we use old phones as dashcam ?



## UberLAguy (Aug 2, 2015)

I wonder if we should just use two old phones as dash cam, each with a 256 gb micro SD. Any thoughts?


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## theMezz (Sep 29, 2018)

technically you can, but why? real dashcams are so cheap and nice these days.. and tax deductable


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## UberLAguy (Aug 2, 2015)

For a hundred dollars, you can buy a phone that is tax deductable. Just wondering.


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## Homie G (Oct 19, 2017)

UberLAguy said:


> I wonder if we should just use two old phones as dash cam, each with a 256 gb micro SD. Any thoughts?


Man that is genus material right there.

Mass market the hell outta that one.

I'll send you some start up $. I want in.

No serious, that shit would work. I'm gonna try that. Thanks man


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## Bob Driver (Sep 14, 2017)

The downside to using phones is that they heat up really fast in the sun.and the field of view is less than a regular dash cam. But the short answer is yes they do work and I use one with AutoBoy dashcam for android,


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

A lot of phones have firmware limiting the use of both the front & rear cameras at the same time.


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## 911 Guy (Feb 8, 2018)

Do you ever drive at night?


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## estore009 (Oct 14, 2017)

UberLAguy said:


> I wonder if we should just use two old phones as dash cam, each with a 256 gb micro SD. Any thoughts?


Cellphone camera view angle too narrow to work as a dashcam!


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

UberLAguy said:


> I wonder if we should just use two old phones as dash cam, each with a 256 gb micro SD. Any thoughts?


In theory you could record with the phone but it wont be close to the quality of even a cheap dash cam.

Get a dashcam. Blackboxmycar .com has some really good deals.


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## PlayLoud (Jan 11, 2019)

You COULD, but I wouldn't.

A good _real _dash cam gets you the following...

Records both directions at once.
IR lights provide excellent night viewing inside the cabin.
With a GPS mount, your current speed is displayed on the video. This could come in handy during a dispute.
My humble opinion is anybody who wants to drive should invest in a good dash cam. Would a phone be better than nothing? Sure. But something like a Vantrue N2 Pro and a 256GB Micro SD card can be purchased with the proceeds of a single weekend driving.


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## TemptingFate (May 2, 2019)

Bob Driver said:


> The downside to using phones is that they heat up really fast in the sun.and the field of view is less than a regular dash cam. But the short answer is yes they do work and I use one with AutoBoy dashcam for android,


Also, they have inadequate storage memory to keep a record of more than a few rides at a time before you have to delete. And you never know which ride will require evidence later that nothing happened.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

PlayLoud said:


> You COULD, but I wouldn't.
> 
> A good _real _dash cam gets you the following...
> 
> ...


The Vantrue N2 Pro is good but there is no way to veiw the footage without removing the card.

I have a blackvue with wireless connection, I can veiw and download without touching the card.


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## OldBay (Apr 1, 2019)

Phones heat up really hot when recording for hours at a time. probably wont last very long.


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## PlayLoud (Jan 11, 2019)

Boca Ratman said:


> The Vantrue N2 Pro is good but there is no way to veiw the footage without removing the card.
> 
> I have a blackvue with wireless connection, I can veiw and download without touching the card.


I don't care about viewing the footage so much as downloading it. It would be awesome if I could connect via WiFi without taking the camera off of the mount. That would be the one improvement I'd really like to see added to the Vantrue. Well, that and a little wider spread on the IR lights.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

PlayLoud said:


> I don't care about viewing the footage so much as downloading it. It would be awesome if I could connect via WiFi without taking the camera off of the mount. That would be the one improvement I'd really like to see added to the Vantrue. Well, that and a little wider spread on the IR lights.


Viewing and saving it go hand in hand. I can save footage to my phone wirelessly. My old camera I had to physically remove the card to download. When I bought the new one, being able to connect to my phone was definitely one of the priorities I was looking for.

Also, I don't like how the n2pro mounts. I'm in South Fl, the sun would cook that suction cup in no time.

The blackvue is a little more discreet from outside of the car you cant see it, from inside it's there but not in your face. It's a little more expense but worth it to me.


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## PlayLoud (Jan 11, 2019)

Boca Ratman said:


> Also, I don't like how the n2pro mounts. *I'm in South Fl, the sun would cook that suction cup in no time.*


I'm in Dallas, TX. I have a garage, and a parking structure at work, which helps. But I haven't had any problems.

But yeah, I do wish my Vantrue had wireless connection options. It's definitely something they should incorporate in the next model.


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## estore009 (Oct 14, 2017)

PlayLoud said:


> But yeah, I do wish my Vantrue had wireless connection options. It's definitely something they should incorporate in the next model.


Do you mean WiFi or Cloud features?


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

Can we use old phones as dashcam ?

I never knew that these phones has video capabilities.


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## jgiun1 (Oct 16, 2017)

This one has a built in phone stand


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## PlayLoud (Jan 11, 2019)

estore009 said:


> Do you mean WiFi or Cloud features?


Really both. I'd love both an ability to livestream (so somebody can't just steal my camera and remove evidence), and the ability to auto-transfer the full quality footage over WiFi when I get home without taking the camera out of the car.


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## uberist (Jul 14, 2016)

I use all my old cell phones with the alfred app


Homie G said:


> Man that is genus material right there.
> 
> Mass market the hell outta that one.
> 
> ...


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## Ignatowski (Mar 23, 2019)

Boca Ratman said:


> The Vantrue N2 Pro is good but there is no way to veiw the footage without removing the card.
> 
> I have a blackvue with wireless connection, I can veiw and download without touching the card.


I get about 50GB of data from one driving session. Do you copy all that to your phone over wifi? Seems like it would take a long time.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

No, I only save files if I feel I'll need them


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## woodywho (Sep 4, 2017)

Boca Ratman said:


> The Vantrue N2 Pro is good but there is no way to veiw the footage without removing the card.


You do have to remove the cam from the car but you hook up as a storage device to view all files on it...no need to remove sd card


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