INTRODUCTION

   My interest in car dash cameras begun roughly 4 years ago when i had the chance to visit Moscow after being invited by a good old friend of mine. Now you may not be aware of this but many people in Moscow have such cameras installed in their cars not only because it's obviously the best way to prove you are not at fault if an accident occurs (and you're really not the one who caused it) or someone tries to trick you (staged accidents) but also because several insurance companies in Russia offer discounts if you happen to own one such device and you have it installed in your car at all times. The same applies for many insurance companies around the world (although not everywhere) so it's not something most drivers should ignore since the total savings will certainly surpass the cost of a car dash camera (even if you can't find an insurance company that gives a discount the benefits alone are well worth it). Today we will be taking a look at one of the latest car dash cams to hit the market the XHD Marcus 3 by VicoVation.

   VICO is the core value of our brand. The four letters stand for Vision, Integration, Creativity and Observation. Our attitude toward the brand is sustaining development. We apply the latest technologies for all product development. Our management strategy focuses on both globalization and localization. We have great ability of integration toward optical related products. We choose the most competitive key components with best performance, such as lens, sensor, compression chipset, and accessories. As for the software, we communicate with component suppliers and do the deep integration to present the best user-friendly operation interface. We are the team with new ideas. All features and operation interfaces are the outputs of the brainstorming. We believe that the unique features are made by a team of creativity. We have sharp observation on market demands and trends. This makes us to develop the most updated and competitive products. VicoVation® products are always easy operated and useful in life. VicoVation® is the combination of Vico and Innovation. We manage to make innovation on top of our core value. VicoVation® only presents the most in and best performed products.

   XHD stands for Extreme High Definition and is used to describe the latest 1296p standard which can basically record video at a very high resolution of 2304x1296 at 30Fps. The Marcus 3 is amongst a handful of car dash camera models in the market capable of this resolution thanks to its Ambarella A7 image processor and the 3.1 megapixel CMOS sensor so the results of this review should be quite interesting (especially since we have two more 1296p compatible car dash cameras here). The A7LA SoC by Ambarella includes a high speed 700MHz ARM CPU and combines advanced image processing filters and technologies including High Dynamic Range (HDR), 3D Noise filtering, smart auto exposure , full-resolution over-sampling, WiFi connectivity for iOS and Android devices and a lane departure warning system. Of course the usual Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) and HD 720p (1280x720) resolutions are also supported at both 30 and 60fps but i really doubt someone would choose an XHD compatible car dash camera only to use it to record video at Full HD or HD (this is also why the recorded clips in this review are both at 1296p).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Marcus 3 arrived inside a long red box with a product drawing at the top along with the company name and the two main recording resolutions.

Listed at both the front and rear are the features of the Marcus 3.

At the bottom we see the specifications and bundle contents lists.

The bundle is safely placed inside the box although i have seen better packaging.

With the Marcus 3 car dash camera you will also get the cigar power adapter, suction cup mount, 3M sticker mount, extra 3M sticker, 52mm CPL filter mounting bracket, installation guide and a warranty card.

THE MARCUS 3

Measuring 74mm in height, 52mm in width and 34mm in thickness while weighing just 79g the Marcus 3 is a very compact car dash camera.

To get a better understanding of just how compact the Marcus 3 is we placed it right next to the Rollei S-50 Nitro Circus Edition action camera and the Pittasoft BlackVue DR550GW-2CH car dash camera.

The lens of the Marcus 3 can record XHD/FHD/HD video at a diagonal angle of 160 degrees with up to 60fps.

On the right side we find the mini USB charging port, HDMI output, GPS port (don't confuse it with the charging port) and one of the microphones.

The second microphone along with the microSD card slot is placed on the left side.

A 2 inch TFT color LCD screen is placed at the rear right above 5 navigation buttons.

Attaching the 52mm CPL filter mount is very easy but since haven't got that filter here we can't really comment on its usefulness.

The suction cap mount is very easy to use and quite smaller compared to other similar ones in the market (thus it takes less space on your windshield or your dashboard).

USING THE MARCUS 3

Prior to using the Marcus 3 I strongly suggest visiting the official support page to download the latest available firmware version.

As you can see from our pictures via the 2 inch TFT screen you can choose the desired recording resolution, adjust image brightness, enable/disable the G-Sensor and the speed/position overlay system, enable/disable the lane departure and speed warning systems, configure the LCD auto off and brightness, enable/disable audio recording and volume and setup the time zone. You can also enable/disable the GPS feature via the scree if the GPS device is plugged into the camera.

AUDIO/VIDEO QUALITY

As always to test this dash camera i used two cars both in day and night conditions which as always we uploaded on our own server and not YouTube in order to preserve the exact same quality. To download the two rather short clips (still roughly 110MB were required for both) directly just right click on the above images and then save target as.

CONCLUSION

   Although on paper the new XHD (or Super HD as some called it) 1296p resolution looks very promising judging by the end result i can say that it still needs work. That's not to say that it's not good but it's not that much different to the 1080p mode of the Marcus 3 and if we take into account the 1080p output of let's say the DR550GW-2CH the Marcus 3 even lags back a bit. Of course that also means that VicoVation may not be using the best possible lens so they should be able to further improve their 1296p products although that would probably mean increased costs. Regardless the Marcus 3 comes with a plethora of very useful features including a 2 inch TFT screen, GPS compatibility and several advanced settings thanks to the Ambarella A7 image processor. The compact body of the Marcus 3 is very sturdy although i have to admit that not everyone may like its "vertical" design. However my two main concerns with the Marcus 3 have to do with the lack of a built-in GPS system since that's something we see a lot lately by most car dash camera manufacturers. The external GPS allows for a much better placement of the unit (and a larger antenna) but it's certainly not as convenient so i do hope that VicoVation addresses that issue.

   Although the Marcus 3 XHD car dash camera by VicoVation is one of the very first ones in the market to feature the latest "standard" in video recording still it's quite affordable since it currently retails for USD260 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 215Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Needless to say that if you're not into gadgets and you just want a typical car dash camera then you can find many 1080p capable ones for roughly half of what VicoVation asks for their Marcus 3 (the Marcus 1 for example which we will be reviewing soon). Still we do feel that the future lies in much higher resolutions than just 1080p and although 1296p is not just there yet it does offer a glimpse to the future and since the Marcus 3 is a solid and feature-rich car dash camera it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Size
- 1296p30/1080p60 Recording
- Image Quality (Sharpness/Color Reproduction)
- Audio Quality
- Built-In G-Sensor
- Driver Assistance Features (Speed Warning/LDWS/FCWS/Radar Warning)
- 2" TFT Screen
- 52mm CPL Mount
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- No Built-In GPS & WiFi (For Some)
- Digital Noise (@1296p)