B9 SQ5 Dashcam - Fitcamx Install and impressions

[Tom Sawyer]

Fairly new SQ5 owner (B9 2020) and wanted to share a nice OEM like Dashcam solution that I recently picked up. I had a typical stick on dashcam in the S4 with hardwiring and was pretty excited to find something that looks factory for the B9 platform.

Install took around 15 minutes tops and the kit came with nice trim tools that made the job easy and took away any worry about dinking up the plastic. For anyone interested, here is their website: https://fitcamx.com/ Easy ordering process and they will reach out to get your exact model/year to verify fitment. It was cheaper to order it directly from them than buy on Amazon, but it does take a little longer to get of course.

Things to note if you decide to grab one: Be sure to pop the large top panel off first. past that, either of the other pieces can come right off, but I went from large forward and it was a piece of cake. I went ahead and pulled out both of the wire connectors but if you have small enough fingers you could probably just pull the top one which is where the camera taps into.

As far as functionality, it broadcasts a private WiFi network (which you can change the name of once you get it set up the first time). App is straightforward and does allow you to view the camera feed live. You will most likely need to turn off 'use cellular data' for the app to view the stream. Camera supports g-force sensor locking of files to prevent overwrite and also a parking mode to start recording when a force is sensed. Have not tested that out yet. Did come with a 64gb micro SD card, but I swapped that out with a 128Gb Samsung durable card I used in my S4.

Video quality is sharp, clear, and vibrant. I'll try to upload a clip to YT and update this tread when I have that posted.

Pictures attached for your perusal, hope this is helpful and for sure I would recommend this... the clean look is really worth it and they do have a front + rear option as well. I went for front only as I'll probably pick up a cheap standalone unit for the rear to keep the wire running requirements to a minimum.

[subaruski]

Wow, that's super clean. How's the recorded resolution look? Is power supply plug and play?

[Tom Sawyer]

Wow, that's super clean. How's the recorded resolution look? Is power supply plug and play?

Recorded resolution is 4K and looks great, plenty of detail for a dashcam. Sure is, no extra wires, 100% plug and play. They even did a nice job wrapping the wires in typical felt/cloth wrap to avoid rattles.

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[DRkNESS]

I’ve sent them an email to see what they have for my 2021 A6…


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Hostile]

Oh nice! I’ve seen this and have been wondering how it is. Thanks for sharing!

They offer a rear camera option as well. I wonder how that install is.

[Tom Sawyer]

Oh nice! I’ve seen this and have been wondering how it is. Thanks for sharing!

They offer a rear camera option as well. I wonder how that install is.

My pleasure! Good question; from what I saw on a RAV4 setup, it was just another connector in the main camera harness that plugged the rear camera. Could vary on our platform of course.

As promised, here's a quick 1m clip from the cam. I've got it set to split at 1 minute per file but that can be adjusted of course. I stripped out the audio as I had music playing that I'm sure YouTube would have flagged.

[Hostile]

It looks like the rear camera is a universal camera that has to tap into a fuse panel.

EDIT: Actually for the integrated, vehicle-specific options it is only the single wire.

[Hostile]

Do you mind getting some night video as well?

[A4_n00b]

Very cool. I’ve been looking for something that’s a clean install and is fairly OEM looking like this.

Thanks for posting the pics and write up.

[Tom Sawyer]

Do you mind getting some night video as well?

Happy to... I'm settled in for the evening but I'll try to hop out tomorrow after dark. I'm curious to see how it does at night as well.

[Hostile]

I shot them an email with pics of the mirrors in both of our cars. My wife’s VW isn’t listed (surprising given VW sells 100s of millions of Golfs worldwide) but she has a rain sensor so they likely have a fit and just don’t have it listed.

[turbo_911]

Just to let everyone know, at night you can’t see license plates due to reflection from headlights. This is a concern that was brought up many times.
There is also plenty of YouTube videos about it as well.

[DiscoDan]

Anyone know the frame rate for the 4k front camera? The 2k front camera as well?

Both are using the same processor, but no where is the sensor listed that's being used.

ALso the site lists the "resolution" as "2160P (4k)" -- 4k is 4096x2160 pixels; and a 16:9 format is 3840x2160 pixels which is not 4k, that's actually called UltraHD. Clarification on the true "resolution" of the camera would also be worthwhile to know.

True 4k, or the lower UltraHD, with a low frame rate (less than 30 fps) would be sub-par regardless of the resolution of the sensor (which is not listed).

[Hostile]

Anyone know the frame rate for the 4k front camera? The 2k front camera as well?

Both are using the same processor, but no where is the sensor listed that's being used.

ALso the site lists the "resolution" as "2160P (4k)" -- 4k is 4096x2160 pixels; and a 16:9 format is 3840x2160 pixels which is not 4k, that's actually called UltraHD. Clarification on the true "resolution" of the camera would also be worthwhile to know.

True 4k, or the lower UltraHD, with a low frame rate (less than 30 fps) would be sub-par regardless of the resolution of the sensor (which is not listed).

Does it really even matter if it’s “true” 4k though? Neither your insurance company or the cops are going to find a 4k display to watch the footage if it comes to that.

The 1440p video the OP posted to YouTube is more than clear enough for insurance or accident purposes. /shrug

The price is also really good and it seamlessly integrates into the mirror mount. That’s a big bonus for me personally.

[Hostile]

I ordered the front and rear cameras for my car, "4k"/1080p. For $250 we'll see how it goes. If they're fine I'll order another set for my wife's Golf R. Even though her car has a rain sensor it still needs to get power from the fuse panel for the rear camera so the install is little more involved.

[Tom Sawyer]

I ordered the front and rear cameras for my car, "4k"/1080p. For $250 we'll see how it goes. If they're fine I'll order another set for my wife's Golf R. Even though her car has a rain sensor it still needs to get power from the fuse panel for the rear camera so the install is little more involved.

That's awesome, looking forward to hearing how the dual cam setup goes. I didn't get a chance to get some night footage l/n but will hopefully this evening.

[DiscoDan]

Does it really even matter if it’s “true” 4k though? Neither your insurance company or the cops are going to find a 4k display to watch the footage if it comes to that.

The 1440p video the OP posted to YouTube is more than clear enough for insurance or accident purposes. /shrug

The price is also really good and it seamlessly integrates into the mirror mount. That’s a big bonus for me personally.

No, I'm mostly interested in the fps at whatever the resolution is. I've generally always stuck with BlackVue or Thinkware cameras due to the higher quality and publishing of all hardware used. I'm open to this because I like the clean OEM-like look, but wish the seller/manufacturer would put up the specs that other reputable manufacturers post.

[Tom Sawyer]

Here is a quick night clip... YT is still rendering the HD (as of 7:15 AM CST) so it may be another 30m or so before the full resolution is online.

[itsmatt33]

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...hlight=dashcam started a thread a while back with a competitor oem fit cam. still working flawlessly.

[JayCar]

Daytime video looks good, night time video isn't great. Over saturation with lighting makes most things unreadable. Maybe they'll have a firmware update for it. Otherwise, nice product.

[Hostile]

Do NOT buy this camera. In the middle of the installation it literally caught on fucking fire.



The cabin was filled with smoke and burning electrical smell.

[NewYorkS6]

Do NOT buy this camera. In the middle of the installation it literally caught on fucking fire.



The cabin was filled with smoke and burning electrical smell.

12V connection, or 5v stepdown?

[Tom Sawyer]

Do NOT buy this camera. In the middle of the installation it literally caught on fucking fire.



The cabin was filled with smoke and burning electrical smell.

Wow, sorry to hear this happened! Definitely have had no issues with mine pre or post install. Spots for the wires to sit was not a problem, but only have the front cam version so definitely not as much going on. I don't recognize that block where it burned either. I'm sure they will give you a full refund, their CS was good ordering wise.

[turbo_911]

Do NOT buy this camera. In the middle of the installation it literally caught on fucking fire.



The cabin was filled with smoke and burning electrical smell.

Is that the front or rear? Mine should arrive tomorrow.

[Hostile]

12V connection, or 5v stepdown?

Neither, it's the wiring harness that connects to the factory connectors.

Wow, sorry to hear this happened! Definitely have had no issues with mine pre or post install. Spots for the wires to sit were not a problem, but only have the front cam version so definitely not as much going on. I don't recognize that block where it burned either. I'm sure they will give you a full refund, their CS seemed to be pretty good ordering wise.

I was finding the opposite, maybe because I had the second wire for the rear camera but there was no room for both cables. It was 10lb of shit in a 5lb bag.

Is that the front or rear? Mine should arrive tomorrow.

Front, it's the wiring harness that connects to the factory connections.

[turbo_911]

Front, it's the wiring harness that connects to the factory connections.

Oh boy.
The moment you turned on the car it started smoking? Just wanted to make sure I’ll watch out for that as well.

[Hostile]

Oh boy.
The moment you turned on the car it started smoking? Just wanted to make sure I’ll watch out for that as well.

No, it had actually been installed and had power off and on for about 10 minutes. I was re-attaching the OE plastic trim pieces around the the mirror base.

[itsmatt33]

stick with the one i already reviewed. see above link. no issues since install.

[Hostile]

stick with the one i already reviewed. see above link. no issues since install.

Doesn’t that one need to connect to the OBD2 port? No thanks.

[itsmatt33]

Doesn’t that one need to connect to the OBD2 port? No thanks.

per my thread that manufacturer also has a hard wire kit.

[Chris.green]

Doesn’t that one need to connect to the OBD2 port? No thanks.

I have that camera, and just hardwired it by cutting off the obd2 connection

[turbo_911]

No, it had actually been installed and had power off and on for about 10 minutes. I was re-attaching the OE plastic trim pieces around the the mirror base.

So, I just installed mine and mine doesn’t have the same wiring harness. I did get the front camera only. It had two plugs and that’s all.

The one thing I don’t like is how it looks from outside, the plastic sticks out past the blacked out glass. See pic. Also in the video you fully see heads-up display. Not sure if I’m fan of it, seems to be pointing too much down?

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[ragejed]

OP, now thats its been a year, hows the camera been working out for you?

[Tom Sawyer]

Time flies! Cam has been excellent and I have had to pull footage for an incident (witnessed, not involved thankfully), still no complaints other than less than stellar performance at night. Beyond that, unless something new is out there, this is still probably the best OEM look solution.

[turbo_911]

Same here, has been workin great for SQ5 and Q7 no issues. I am using Samsung 128GB SD card as the provided 64GB failed after a month of usage. Also one of them had problem with recording but after contacting manufacturing and doing firmware update, it's been working great.

[scottyuk]

Any interfence with DAB radio? I see many posts for dash cams in general where they have issues.

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Interference

[Local]

Is there a difference between that one and this one?


Other than maybe the one you buy from that place comes from America? It looks like the same unit as the Black AD03 Rain sensor model from Aliexpress for 60 bucks less.

Regards,

[turbo_911]

Is there a difference between that one and this one?


Other than maybe the one you buy from that place comes from America? It looks like the same unit as the Black AD03 Rain sensor model from Aliexpress for 60 bucks less.

Regards,

Probably no difference, all made in china and probably by the same company, just depends who sells it. With fitcamx you get actual support and they reply pretty quick, and if something doesn't work, they can send you updated firmware where from that other website, idk if there will be any support at all?

[Hostile]

While my experience with the FitCamX wasn’t great, their support was really good and they took care of my issue quickly.