The all-new 70mai Dash Cam Omni
AppleInsider may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made through links on our site.
If you're passionate about your car or truck, here's how you can keep it safe when parked or on the move using the 70mai Dash Cam Omni.
One of the hazards of car ownership is that other people use the roads. With crashes and other road incidents being a problem, dash cams have become a must-need accessory for multiple reasons.
The devices are exceptionally useful if you are involved in an accident, as it provides proof another vehicle pulled out in front of you, for example. Collecting that evidence can mean a lot when it comes to dealing with insurance companies and the police.
There's also security while parking to be considered, as a dash cam has the potential to reveal who tried breaking in, possibly leading to an arrest. However, not all dash cams provide all of the coverage around a vehicle that you could need.
Here's where the 70mai Dash Cam Omni steps in. It's the only one on the market that offers full 360-degree coverage, thanks to a camera with a wide 140-degree field of view and an integrated motor.
It's like having a small and mobile parking security guard constantly looking after your car.
VIDEO HERE
Getting set up
It's remarkably easy to get going with the Omni, with it requiring very few steps. To place it, all you need to do is remove the backing material, then stick it to the inside of your car's windshield.
After that, it's a case of routing around the included USB-C power cable to the bundled car power adapter. That's it for its basic installation.
It's a compact unit overall, measuring 3.6 inches long and 2 inches in diameter, so it doesn't take much space on the windshield.
Surrounding the unit is a looping light to show it's on, while the back also has a 1.2-inch 240x240-resolution display. As well as for control, that screen can show Omni's MaiX reactive emoji, turning the Omni into a digital travel companion.
If you want to take advantage of the Omni's 24-hour Parking Surveillance with Time-Lapse Recording, you will also need to install the hardwire kit, which constantly powers the camera.
After the hardware installation, you then need to download the free companion app, which will walk you through the rest of the setup process and allow you to configure the camera further.
High-quality any-direction footage
The Omni captures all of its footage in 1080p resolution at up to 60 frames per second, so you don't miss anything even if you do need to check the details of a fast-moving car.
Along with its wide viewing angle, it has an F/1.5 large aperture, which will help it enhance image quality in low-light conditions, along with its night vision feature. Using new PureCel Plus-S HDR technology, the Omni also automatically corrects its exposure levels, which further helps its best-in-class low-light performance.
The key feature of the Omni is its motorized 360-degree capture system, which turns the camera around to point in different directions. It will film the front of the car by default, like other dash cams, monitoring the road itself.
The motor kicks in when its Collision Detection feature kicks in, which will turn the camera in the direction where it detects an impact took place.
If a crash or other accident occurs, the Omni will automatically save the video for later retrieval. It has a 5-Seconds Recording Prior to Collision feature, so it will save the precious seconds before the impact occurred.
These will help determine what happened or who caused the accident, which are essential to know in the aftermath.
AI, Parking, and ADAS
Collision Detection isn't just for normal driving, as it is also handy for parking. It will not only record when someone hits your car in a parking lot, but its Exclusive AI Motion Detection will also follow suspicious people around your car, just in case.
While on the road, the 70mai Dash Cam Omni can also help the driver by providing more assistive features. The Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) will warn drivers of various road-based activities they should know about, but may not necessarily be aware of happening.
This includes warning if you're drifting between lanes, if there's a pedestrian or cyclist ahead of you, and if you're too close to the car in front.
Though some newer premium vehicles offer these sorts of features built-in, the 70mai Dash Cam Omni provides a great opportunity to add these functions to an older vehicle that cannot be upgraded in this way.
The onboard smarts even extend to how you control it by voice. You can say things like "take photo," "shoot right," or "shoot vlog," if you need to capture video while behind the wheel.
Useful in testing
When trying out something like a dash cam, you don't really want to end up in an accident to know it works. Unfortunately, that happened during our use of the 70mai Dash Cam Omni.
After parking the car and leaving it for a doctor's visit, it turned out that a new driver had inadvertently run into the front of the Jeep. Fortunately, her mother was a passenger and did the right thing, but other drivers may have taken off to avoid paying for repairs.
In this instance, the Omni caught the incident in its entirety. Even if the other vehicle drove away to escape, there would be enough evidence captured.
You never know what may happen, but the 70mai Dash Cam Omni helps you understand what DID happen - whether your car is parked or on the road.
Where to buy
The 70mai Dash Cam Omni is up for preorder on December 10. It retails for $149.99.
