DOD RC500S
Verified21 reviews
Can't recomend it – The front and rear cam combo was going well, until a firmware update where the image quality went down by around 30%. Car number-plates can still be made out, but it's no longer quality looking HD video. It often has those compression squares all over it. I initially purchased this expensive item because it created the beat quality footage. Not… Read more
anymore !
3 min video files were initially 326 Mb after I purchased it and was very happy with this. After the firmware 'update', they went down to 240 Mb.
Secondly, I contacted support and got someone named Paul. He did not help at all and ended ignoring my emails. I wanted to revert back to 326 Mb with an older firmware code.
Thirdly, the whole thing just stopped working so now I must test to see if it's the power supply only, or worse, the unit.
Not happy with the relatively expensive (~$400 AUD) dash-cam and the bad support, average image and now it doesn't even work. The worst thing about it though is the bad support.
Worked okay generally. However 'Dash-cam error' audio came up too many times though the whole experience from the start, no matter how many times one reformatted the memory card.
To get access to the footage, you need to pull out the tiny memory card and plug it into a computer.
Works well but too many bugs – Bought back in 2018 and it did the job well. The video quality is amazing I like how you can mute by pressing a button and the menu button is easy to use. However there are some issues. The time gets stuck on daylight savings so only 6 months of the year is the time accurate no matter what firmware I have it does not fix it. Also the cable is… Read more
flimsy. It does not last and when contacting the supplier they were of no help. It does fall off the windscreen in summer due to heat that’s annoying. It recently broke and is not repairable because the internal area where you plug in the power is quite flimsy. I was hoping to have this camera for a while longer but I’ve had to buy another one now.
Take your money and burn it at least you’re warm – I’m selling the car that I got this for which has triggered me as I long gave up on this stupid thing working. More often missed footage than capturing it. App would keep disconnecting when trying to download footage then you have to start again. Doesn’t work in summer. After about 2/3 years of not working at all she starts talking again last week. Should’ve bought a Blackvue.
- A V O I D - – Just stopped working (DOD Champion dashcam). Starting with no video, after that auto reset all of settings every time when cam start to recording and etc. In the begining the quality was exsellent, 2 years later a bit dark and not so sharp. The price of cam was solid, not good deal ! Show details
More like DUD – I have owned this camera for 2 years and have really tried to like it. There are multiple issues that DOD always has the same answer for: Update the firmware. The problem is that the firmware is sub-par. For a time the "sexy woman phone operator" voice prompts on one or two particular updates was extremely disconcerting too. Setting the camera… Read more
up is not easy. The camera does not always start up immediately, does not stop recording immediately upon pressing the wireless connectivity button or even activate the WiFi once it does so. The delays are unnecessary. Newer firmware reminds the driver/occupant to format the SD card regularly every time the camera starts - I know of no other brand that recommends a weekly format of the SD card or has corruption of the the card data if it is not formatted often enough, that results in the camera not recording at all. The newest firmware keeps power cycling the camera at random and I have had to roll it back to a previous firmware version.
The set up in the phone app is fine, when it works and remains connected to the camera WiFi base, however sometimes recording just resumes automatically and the connection drops out. The wireless needs to be turned back on, if the camera allows it - otherwise a power cycle might be required - then the app needs to be quit and re-entered to re-establish connection properly to the camera or it just faffs about seeing the camera but not interacting with it. In addition, the traffic camera warning setting does not seem to apply for Australia, much as the firmware indicates that it should. The system (shown by the map in the application) plants a marker that the camera thinks it is in another country - I think Taiwan. On review of footage, the coordinates shown in the video indicate the correct location, however. There are no traffic cameras wherever warnings are given because the camera is telling me about cameras in the country that the camera thinks it is in.
The desktop software is underwhelming, lacklustre and frustrating to use. Just don't bother with it.
If I have one good thing to say about this camera, it is that the quality of footage is good. No complaints at all. Rock solid, front and rear, even in dim lighting conditions. The physical camera hardware is very sensible out of the box with plenty of length of cable to use. These are the only redeeming things about it.
This camera has been helpful to have, sometimes, but the frustration has not been worth the price tag attached to it and has barely offset the peace of mind that it was supposed to bring.
Avoid Avoid – Purchased Jan 2018, one feature I wanted was parking surveillance. When unit is working it's good, but it is so unreliable that in every instance I've needed to review a near miss or when parked, the footage wasn't recorded. Unit randomly resets, almost weekly. Traffic warnings are generally always wrong, so turned that off. Unit will enter… Read more
Parking mode whilst driving. Have disable Parking mode altogether because it used to "Freeze" the unit and the only way to reset was to power off the unit. Happened almost weekly. Even with Parking Mode disabled because the units resets itself so often it turns itself back on, then while driving it happily says it's activating parking mode. I eventually after so many issues got another unit under warranty but this one is exactly the same. The wifi is extremely slow, over 10 minutes to download a 3 minute clip to your phone. So many issues and when you actually need to review footage, it for one reason or another hasn't recorded. Have wasted so much time trying to get this to work. Not fit for purpose, stay away.
Easy As – Installation was easy. Setting up the camera to the app was a little cumbersome at first, but once I worked out what was required it was an easy process. Image is clean and access to save footage easy. Show details
Unfit for purpose – I bought a car with rc500s installed and under warranty The dashcam requires regular maintenance to operate. A dashcam in my opinion is to operate when required, maintenance should exist but i believe no more frequently then annually. Unfortunately my Dashcam requires daily resets and frequent memory card change. I turned off traffic warnings as… Read more
it was incorrect. I have not bothered to use the cam in over 6 months. I upgraded software about 6 months ago, but still very poor results. I had contacted the DOD techs and their advice was to buy another memory card. Fortunately, when working the images captured are clear for front and rear cams, Viewing data on phone is good when connected. A dashcam is a safety and security system that must operated properly every day when im in my car and surveillance should work when required. This dashcam is unreliable, costly to operate (my time and memory card) and fails to meet my objectives of a dashcam.
Terrible Quality - Zero star – I purchased this DOD RC500S-2CH 18 months ago and I believe this is the time to really give my honest comments on that. since the very first days the camera goes freeze with no reason, stops working and I had to put a paper clip in my car to reset it every often. after some months when I contacted DOD they replaced it with a new one by one of… Read more
their retailers, however the new one was the same rubbish, stops recording even doing format the memory card every second day as per their recommendation! I am really regret for my decision to buy this dash cam as it is really wasting of time and money. I won't recommend this dash cam.
Sounded great but left me disappointed – The unit looks great. Very easy to install and use. Very user friendly setup. Decent images day and night. I bought it because it was wifi but the wifi is extraordinarily slow at over 10 minutes to download on 300mb 3 minute file. Front and back are separate files. Removing the micro SD is the best option. I've had issues with both the units I… Read more
bought where the micro SD becomes corrupted or the footage just hasn't saved. I've had to use scandisk in the PC to fix the cards.
I've contacted DOD (Canada) twice about issues. No reply.
One of my main gripes is that I have it set on 3 minute loops. If the incident I want to capture starts at 2.58 and I press the 'incident' button at 2.59 then the remainder of the incident isn't saved. It goes to the next file. Might sound ok but when you're on a multiple hour drive or haven't the time to download it, the footage you wanted is gone. I asked for the firmware to be altered to make the device save the adjacent footage in these cases, no reply.
Their customer service is non existent.
The camera itself has some good features but I believe there are much better options for less money.
Over-promised, UNDER-delivered – Like the last few reviews i only have negative things to say (unsurprising to see DOD not warranting a response either). Bought the unit around 1 year from DashCamsAustralia after being told this was the best. Whilst i agree the footage is indeed great (sharp, clear and great ISO in low light), this doesnt really matter if it wont capture… Read more
footage when you need it most (accident).
We were in a particular accident (behind a truck who lost its load and it ended up hitting our bonnet). After arriving home to review the footage, surprise surprise the SD card did not capture anything!
This would have made the insurance claim a whole lot easier and that was the prime reason i ended up forking $500+ for a dashcam.
More so the entire app is very non-intuitive. It's as if someone with no design background designed and programmed it.
My other car is running a Thinkware dashcam and i really wish i stuck with that brand!
Save yourself the troubles and look elsewhere!
Great Image but extremely unreliable – Purchased 2 of these cams about a year ago, installation was easy but immediately had issues with not recording when it should have been. Firmware update helped but still having to clear the memory every week, sometimes using a card reader as the app wont do it at times, other times it will. The video quality is excellent but that means nothing if… Read more
it wont record when you need it to! Stability issues when trying to connect the rear cam as the connectors are terrible. Tried a new top of the line micro sd in each but no improvement.
I had high expectations – I have probably had this about a year or a little more now. I have been really disappointed, I thought I had purchased what was supposed to be one of the top of the range cameras around. Very unreliable in recordings, I have gone to check recordings and for whatever reason it has not recorded a fair chunk of the day.even though the lights showed… Read more
it was on. Have had issues with rear camera not working , so I had to reload firmware twice . Initially lots of issues with the android app but that seems to be working better now. I wanted to run a larger 64gb card for whatever reason these cameras do not recognise the standard format of the 64gb card or higher so they recommend using a format tool to change the larger sd card to exfat which is what the 32gb cards are formatted to. Well had issues with the dod software to format the larger card and it ruined my new 64gb sd card. So I just use 32gb cards to save the hassle.
I also early on had problems with the optional d4 hard wiring kit, so removed it and worked better after that. Another waste of money.
Only good thing is the video quality is good but hopefully it has recorded when you need it. I personally would not buy this brand again. I feel like I have wasted my money and have no faith that if I am in an accident that it will have recorded it anyway.
Will see if there is any updated firmware for this, hopefully it improves it.
Find out how DOD RC500S compares to other Dash Cams
Know better, choose better.
DUD RC500S – We have recently purchased the DOD RC500S and have no idea how to use it and cannot get it to work. You have probably guessed that we are novice users and this is our first Dash Cam. The reason we bought it was because it was recommended by Dash Cam Owners Australia and secondly because we thought that it would be novice-friendly. Definitely not… Read more
the case.
The instructions that come with the box are very hard to follow as it is just mostly pictured. You then download the PDF instructions which are more descriptive, however, what it states and what actually is supposed to happen are two distinctly different things.
We have downloaded the app and connected wirelessly, although this does not seem to work properly. We cannot access the control settings as a result, the voice commands keep on telling us we are approaching traffic lights or something like this, even though we are parked in the garage.
Also, is the wireless feature just to change settings when you have the car at home. What is the purpose of it other than this, I don't understand as nothing is clearly explained??
As a consequence, we have a very expensive unit which cost $300 to install that is now disconnected. Maybe we should have gone the cheaper units?
The phone app and the camera firmware can do with some work but are usable – I only recently purchased the unit so I cannot comment on the long term reliability yet however currently it is working just fine. I will use a score out of 10 for each item and try to be unbiased. Noting that this is my first ever dash cam purchase. The Good: Packaging: 10/10 Not much to say except it is excellent. Cables: 8/10 I found that… Read more
the supplied cables were more than adequate in length for my Hyundai i30 and the Commodore station wagon. The only thing I would change is to make the connector that plugs into the rear camera a straight connector as opposed to a 90 degree angle. This would have made passing it through the rubber wiring loom covers on the i30 and Commodore hatch much easier. It took a lot of patience to get the connector through without breaking the rubber or damaging the look inside.
Product build: 10/10
The front and rear unit both have a good solid feel to them. I don’t see much going wrong there. They also have a clean low profile design that offers minimal interference out either wind screen.
Control buttons, status LEDs and interfaces. 9/10
The buttons are well placed and easy to use.
The status LEDs can do with a little work. I found that while driving or stopped I could not see the LEDs easily at a glance. This is more of an issue with this unit being new and me wanting to glance to see if the record LED was flashing. I don’t see myself doing that much anymore. I even asked a passenger if they could see it and they said no. Unless you looked directly at it or it is night time you simply cannot see it easily.
The female voice in the camera telling you the status of things like recording is starting, going into park mode, shutting down and that the WiFi is on is a very nice touch.
USB interfaces and microSD slot placement are excellent. Unlike some reviews I had no issues with inserting the microSD card. It is very obvious if you try and put it in the wrong way. Once in it stayed there.
The cables are designed to fit in snugly and firmly giving good confidence that they will not fall out in a hurry. The right angle on the front facing camera allows for the cables to be neatly tucked under the trim and are positioned such that when the camera is facing correctly they almost point directly at the trim.
The inclusion of plastic chisel like tools to allow you to easily lift the car trim to install the cables was a very welcome addition.
There is an adjustable polarising filter that can be mounted to either the front or rear unit. I placed it on the front and it allowed me to almost completely eliminate the glare from the front view. This inclusion gets 11/10
Installation:10/10
Aside from the plastic tools mentioned they do provide a spare set of adhesive pads just in case you mess up the position of the camera and need another pad. That said I did mess it up but I was able to very carefully pry the camera off the windscreen without ruining the original pad. The supplier I purchased it from, Dashcams Australia, threw in some adhesive clips. Nice but not necessary as I was able to tuck all the cables under the trim or inside rear panels. They even put in a strawberry and cream chupa-chup. Helped me contemplate how to run the cables.
Operation of the camera itself not the App: 10/10
I found the WiFi connectivity to my Samsung Galaxy S8 to be stable with none of the dropouts mentioned in other posts. The range is short but more than adequate to allow you to walk in front of the car and the rear to see how what your cameras are seeing in the live view. 10/10
Picture in Picture on my S8 was very clear.
The unit started recording almost immediately the ignition was turned on. Recorded video during night and day driving are very clear with all the performance shown in the advertising. 10/10
The phone App: 8/10
Operation
Even though the app is very unpolished and childlike in design each of the functions do work as described. Once you get past the confusing connection screen the main screen does show the important information with the Picture in Picture. There is one caveat. See my comments below regarding the installation of a new large capacity MicroSD card like a 128Gig.
The Not so Good:
Printed User Manual: 1/10
The paper user manual included in the box is rubbish. Looks like it was written by a 7 year old at best. Why did they even bother with it? Should have just given you a link or barcode to the web page for the online version
On-line user manual 8/10
The online version is better but it leaves out some simple things like how to install that wonderful polarising filter. It was not hard to work out once I noticed the thread on the filter and realised I had to unscrew the ring on the camera so I could screw in the filter. I also knew from other such filters that it probably had a rotating ring once screwed on the camera to adjust it. But that was just because I have used filters like this on my camera. The online manual does explain the operation of all the camera functions but is held back by the poor design of the App.
The phone App:
Design 4/10
Looks like it was created by an 8 year old in a discover App creation class at school not something I would expect from a premium product. Point in case. If I press the record button on the App why doesn’t it blink red like the LED on the unit to show it is recording? The icons are childish looking. I get that the company logo is lime green but that doesn’t mean the icons should all be lime green! Get an App designer in to make the App with the same quality as the hardware.
Functionality: 2/10
Connecting the phone to the unit via WiFi. I found the manual to be mostly accurate. They should have said to wait until the female voice announces the WiFi is on before opening the App and attempting to connect. The connection screen on the App is a terrible layout at best and totally confusing until you work out what is going on and I work in IT.
My main issue here was when I installed the 128Gig microSD card. The unit started trying to record immediately when the unit was powered on even though I had just installed an unformatted MicroSD card. It took me a lot of mucking around to get the unit to stop trying to record so I could format the MicroSD card. It will not record until it is formatted to FAT32. So I recommend you use a computer to format any new memory card to FAT32 before installing it.
Overall
Would I recommend this unit? Absolutely. Things like a rubbish App design can be fixed with an update. Let’s face it. You are not going to connect to this thing every time you get in the car. I will connect to it once a week for the first few months to confirm it is recording but after that it will be once a month to format the memory card. Manual says do this on a weekly basis but I don’t drive the car that often. The video quality is the main thing and that is excellent. Well worth the frustration of the App until they get that sorted.
December 6th 2018 Update: After Sales Service
One of the DOD RC500S units I purchased recently from Dashcams Australia failed. After sending it back and getting it checked out Dashcams Australia determined that the unit was indeed faulty and marked it as dead on arrival. It had in fact failed after using the unit for about one month. Dashcams Australia replaced the unit with a new one. So full marks for after sales service.
By the way. The first unit purchased in September when I wrote the first review and the replacement unit I have just mentioned have both experienced their first really warm conditions in the Car. Outside air temperature was 35C so in the car in full sun it was hot. Both units working fine.
Maybe oneday they will get it right! – So my RC500s Dual Camera is setup for continuous power as parking mode was an import feature to myself. The unit randomly stops recording without warning or letting you know, the traffic information in useless due to the many inaccurate locations in the Australian data, connection to the unit via wifi is flaky as with many disconnects, and… Read more
downloading via wifi off these units for a 300 mb or 3 min file will take the best part of 20 min with random disconnects to frustrate you. Overall I don’t believe many who have contributed these reviews have truly used the units. They have potential but the firmware release quality is terrible, I have missed recording events which were important because of the unreliability of this unit which is meant to be an insurance policy, a pricey one!
Excellent Quality – Hello, Both my neighbor and I picked up the RC500s. The quality of videos on his camera has been very impressive. Sadly though, I received a faulty piece which I have now sent back for replacement. Hopefully I get a replacement quite quickly. I will post a review once I get to test the replacement cameras. Cheers Alan
They have sent the same cameras back to me (no replacement) and I have had them back in the car for… Read more (+1 reply)
DOD RC 500S – If you want an easy to install (did it myself in about an hour) but very feature rich dashcam - this is the one to get. Truly a set and forget device with great clarity. Unobtrusive in the field of view you will forget it is there and you can turn off the annoying prompts and reminders (You will get tired of them very quickly) but they are there for the real geeks who love the tech. Highly recommended you will not buy better Show reply
Great Camera – I was not satisfied with the quality of my dash cam, so I decided to research dash cams. I found the DOD RC500S-dual. I thought it was a bit pricey in the beginning but the reviews helped me to take a decision. I am happy with the quality of the recording day and night. Installation is a breeze. And the App is very easy to use. I highly recommend it. It is worth every cent. Show reply
WOW!! DOD RC500S is the Ulimate Dash Cam Package – After owning 5 previous inferior dash cams thinking each time I was buying quality at $200, I was bitterly disappointed. After having enough of poor quality video, unwatchable night vision footage, I decided to research to find out why I was always watching great videos posted online, that were so clear both day and night. Before long it was… Read more · 2
obvious, I was continually buying absolute garbage quality dash cams. In order to witness a REAL Dashcam, I had to buy the DOD RC500S. Unbelievable. Build quality, lens quality, wide angle view, clarity I have never seen before is what makes up the DOD package. Stop wasting your money and time. Trust me, you will be amazed at the dual cameras. I set up my car with both cameras within20mins. Mind you I had experience form fitting the previous garbage time and time again. Apart from the shock of the brilliant clarity, you will then go on to learn about the DOD mobile phone app. It connects from the camera storage to your mobile wireless via the app. The features don't stop there. don't have any more time to tell you how good this unit is but can honestly say that you shouldn't be put off by the cost. This is a pay for what you get deal!!! Cheers
Perfect Dual Cam – Excellent Clarity both at Day & Night. It's a fabulous dash cam which can be operated by your Mobile phone via DOD app. The only downside is the price, but you get what you pay for, definitely a premium brand, I bought it with 128 GB card and the camera works even at Parking, if used with Hard wire Kit. Show reply
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Hi Dave, Thank you for taking the time to write a review… Read more (+2 replies)