CONCLUSION

   First of all I need to point out that from all the car dash cameras I’ve reviewed and tested over the years the DR550GW-2CH was up until a few months back the one mounted in my car. That goes to show how much I liked that particular model although aside when testing it I never did use the rear HD camera (routing the coaxial cable in a roadster is a nightmare and in the end you just can’t hide it). That’s also part of the reason I was excited when the DR650GW-2CH landed in our lab. Unfortunately when I saw that Pittasoft saw fit to reduce the diagonal angle and to still stick with Full HD I became quite skeptical since almost 4 years after the release of the DR550GW-2CH I was expecting something better in every single field. Of course i knew that Pittasoft took that route to improve image quality but still by using the same 2.4MP Exmor CMOS sensor by SONY even with the reduced viewing/recording angle the DR650GW-2CH doesn’t really perform that much better compared to the DR550GW-2CH (that’s not really a bad thing since we still think the DR550GW-2CH and now the DR650GW-2CH are two of the best dash cameras money can buy today). Would a Ambarella processor improve things enough for us to consider it a brand new dash camera? Honestly I don’t think so since the Ambarella processor has many issues of its own but a better (higher MP) CMOS sensor by SONY would definitely make a huge difference (even though that would probably mean increased costs). The rear 720p camera was not a surprise either since it is virtually identical to that of the DR550GW-2CH and although it’s without doubt a valuable addition for most cars again it’s not the ideal solution for use with convertibles (you can always mount it on the wind screen but you can’t hide the cable). Still I was glad to see that the DR650GW-2CH shares the same features and the same enclosure as the DR550GW-2CH and thus it doesn’t require much space to mount. As for the software and android app they are both very easy to use and offer the end user a plethora of available settings to mess around with (although I’d also like to see more image quality settings like contrast, sharpness, de-noise, recording compression and WDR) and features like remote Cloud access.

   Pittasoft makes some of the best Dash Cameras in the world and that’s why their products don’t come cheap and neither does the DR650GW-2CH since it currently retails for USD311.07 inside the USA (Amazon.com – with 128GB microSD) and for 355Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk – with 16GB microSD). Of course that’s excluding the Magic Pro which will set you back roughly USD35/40Euros. In the end although I do hope Pittasoft releases a seriously upgraded version with a new CMOS sensor and why not Bluetooth connectivity between the front and rear cameras things can’t get much better than the DR650GW-2CH and that’s why it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design/Size
- Image Quality (Sharpness/Color Reproduction)
- Audio Quality
- Dual Camera Solution
- Built-In Wi-Fi/GPS/G-Sensor
- Range Of Motion (Tilt)
- Motion Sensor On/Off Audio Recording
- Software (PC/Android/iOS)
- Cloud Access
- Up To 128GB MicroSD Cards
- Power Magic Pro (Car Surveillance)

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Rear Camera IQ
- Not Convertible-Friendly
- Not A Significant Upgrade Over The DR550GW-2CH