In this day and age, drive recorders are necessary things to have in your car.
May it be for auto insurance purposes, your camera catching something that can be used for evidence and of course, if your car is hit or broken into, it will record that information.
But there are a lot of things that consumers may need to decide upon and as a person who has reviewed driving recording technology, I would like to share my thoughts and feelings in various brands.
And today, I am reviewing a Japanese drive recorder that can be used pretty much worldwide. It’s the Kenwood DRV-350 Drive Recorder which goes about under a $100 US from Amazon Japan.
So, for those who are not familiar with Kenwood, Kenwood is a Japanese brand of consumer electronics and is currently owned by JVCKenwood (Since 2011).
Probably best known for its AM/FM receivers, home audio electronics, Kenwood is also the #2 company in Japan for sales of drive recorders (#1 goes to Comtec).
Established back in 1946 as Kasuga Radio Co., in Kogane City, Nagano , the company renamed itself to Trio Corporation (featuring William “Bill” Kasuga, George Aratani and Yoichi Nakase as the trio) in 1960 and opened its first overseas office in Los Angeles.
Trio would import Japanese electronics to the US.
But where did the name Kenwood come from? Well, William Kasuga felt the common Japanese/English name “Ken” and “wood” from “Hollywood” would be good and sure enough, Kenwood became more popular than the Trio Corporation name during testing of the brands. And with Kenwood doing better than Trio, Trio bought Kenwood and renamed itself Kenwood. And Aratani would become the first chairman, followed by Kasuga.
I personally grew up as a fan of Kenwood, owned products from the company and had family who worked and retired from the company.
And in Japan, Kenwood is known for it’s Sai-Soku GPS navigation hardware (think Siri or Alexa, but for your vehicle, you call it “Sai-soku”), Coco Desu Portable Navigation, drive recorders, headphones/ear buds, air purifying, 2-way radios and more.
Today I am going to review the Kenwood DRV-350 Drive Recorder from Japan.
While there are Kenwood products in the USA, only a handful are sold and in this day and age where people can purchase things internationally from Amazon, Newegg or eBay, makes the options much more compelling. And shipping is fast and easy.
And the DRV-350 is one of Amazon’s best sellers because of its price, its small size, easy for users and you can easily detach it and not make it a permanent device that can be stuck on your windshield and destroyed by high heat or stolen by theft.
So, let’s take a look at this device.
Key Points:
- Comes with a variety of colors in black, blue and silver. It comes with a 16GB card (you will definitely want to purchase a 64GB or 128GB mini SDHC card).
- Costs only Y10,256 at this current time and that is $72.69 USD.
- Equipped with an emergency push recording button, push it in case of an emergency and the file will be moved to an event folder where it can not be overwritten.
- Not like old school drive recorders where memory cards need to be reformatted due to recording errors. Kenwood features a unique recording system that will less likely cause SD card errors.
- If you purchase an in-vehicle power cable CA-DR350 (sold separately), you can have your camera have 24 hours of impact and motion monitoring.When an impact or moving object is detected, it will record and save for a total of 60 seconds, 3 seconds before detection and 57 seconds after detection. In addition, if the “auto start setting” is set to either “high”, “medium” or “low”, if the vehicle does not vibrate for about 5 minutes, it is determined that the vehicle is parked and the vehicle is parked.
- Supports full HD recording (1920 x 1080 pixels)
- Ability to set recording time – The bigger the memory card the more it can save. With its 16GB card that is included, you can record 125 minutes to 165 minutes.
- Features a wide angle lens of 122 degrees (horizontal), 63 degrees (vertical) and 150 degrees (diagonal).
- Uses an F1.8 bright lens.
- Build in HDR (Equipped with HDR (high dynamic range) that is resistant to sudden changes in brightness. It suppresses “overexposure” and “underexposure” that occur in environments where there is a large difference in brightness, such as backlighting and tunnel entrances, and records clear images).
- Compatible with LED traffic lights – If the lighting of the LED traffic light and the recording cycle of the drive recorder match, the traffic light may not appear to be lit.
The DRV-350 prevents unlit traffic light recording by setting the number of frames to be shot per second appropriately. - Features noise countermeasures for terrestrial digital broadcasting reception – Noise reduction design is applied so as not to affect the operation of car navigation systems and receiving equipment for terrestrial digital broadcasting.
- G-Sensor Detection – In addition to the “G sensor” that detects impacts during event recording, it is equipped with “GPS” that measures the vehicle’s position information such as speed, latitude, and longitude.
- Continuous Recording – Continuous recording that automatically starts recording just by starting the engine. In case something happens, it always records video while driving. Even beginners can operate it easily.
- Equipped with a supercapacitor – So, if the engine is stopped, the super capacitor functions as a backup power to prevent file corruption during video recording and prepares for emergencies.
- Kenwood Route Watcher II is available fore free download (PC/MAC).
- It does come in three colors: Black, Blue and Silver but the black is the cheapest in price.
- For those in Japan, the drive recorder replacement compensation system at the time of a traffic accident is a system planned by the drive recorder association. If a vehicle equipped with a pre-registered drive recorder is involved in a traffic accident involving tow truck transportation, the drive recorder association will provide a flat fee of 40,000 yen for the purpose of compensating for the cost of repurchasing the drive recorder and other expenses. Compensation will be paid.
VIDEO RECORDING:
I was able to use a third party USB to Micro USB cable and make it a third drive recorder camera.
It’s not the most beautiful looking 1080p video but it is HD and it’s not 2K and 4K. If you want that, then you’re going to have to spend more money for the technology!
EASY TO REMOVE FROM YOUR CAR:
Yes. If you do not want to leave your device in your vehicle with worries of theft or high heat temperatures, you can definitely remove it easily from the mount.
I do recommend a different double stick tape that is a bit more resistant for high temperatures.
EASE OF USE OF CHANGING SETTINGS:
Very easy. At first, for those who can’t read Japanese, you can use the Google Translation app to translate the menu but you can switch it to English mode instead of Japanese, which will make it a lot easier. You can also set your time in your country and the date as well.
If you want to remove the GPS coordinates from the recording, you can as well.
The buttons are easy with up, down, OK and to record or power on. Very simple! And you have the emergency recording button underneath.
KENWOOD ROUTE WATCHER II
It’s easy to use. Pretty much install the software and open the video file and you will see a calendar, google map of your coordinates below and more. It’s a basic software but its easy for those who don’t have a dedicate video viewer and it makes it easier that the hardware uses Google Maps.
It’s important to find a good placement. This recorder is meant to be 20% from the top of the windshield, so right under where the window starts, you can place this. But if you have the vehicle sun shading dots covering it, then you can decide to put it more towards the top left or right areas and also on the dashboard (the video will rotate if you decide to go this way). But this camera was meant to be put on the top.
JUDGMENT CALL:
My thoughts on the Kenwood DRV-350 Drive Recorder is that for a drive recorder (front camera only), it’s probably one of the better ones at the $100-$150 pricepoint. In fact, because it’s under $100 due to the current dollar/yen currency differences, it’s near $75 USD which makes it awesome for the price!
The fact that it allows for English menus and ease to change the date and time for those who live outside of Japan is great.
Now one thing that is interesting is that it comes with a cigarette adapter to Mini-USB connector. I was able to switch it out with a third party USB to Mini-USB connector which worked perfectly, so this is great, so I can use this as a third camera (I have a mirror cam that takes front and rear). So, another reason why to get this camera!
But I also believe that permanent camera on a vehicle should be a “no”. Especially in the US where auto thefts can literally lead to a loss hardware and high heat can lead to malfunctions, having a small drive recorder that can be stored away and put back on is important.
The fact that it’s smaller, makes it a great use for a rear camera cam or a rear to front viewing camera as well.
I also like the fact that it records when the car is on, so if you do use it for another position, you don’t have to press a button to record. It automatically starts recording.
But it all comes down to video and does it capture license plates or clear video. This is where the “you get what you pay for” comes into play. If you want 2K to 4K recording, you’re going to have to spend much more money for the technology.
But the fact that it does record HD 1080p is great, as some other drive recorders out there are 720P. For its price point and what this drive recorder offers, it’s quite amazing.
But is there anything you will need to purchase? I do recommend getting a different double sided tape that is best for high temperatures, so the unit won’t fall off. Velcro is also an option.
The other cable is a CA-DR350 cable if you want 24 hour impact/motion monitoring. But for those who don’t want to do any wiring, cable hiding and fears they may kill their battery, then don’t use this and stay with the cigarette adapter (or third party USB adapter).
So, I do find a lot of value with this drive recorder. Small, easy to store, a lot of functions, great for international use, HD 1080p and inexpensive! it’s a solid product.
With that being said, I do like the camera but it’s in direct competition for one of the most popular companies right now, Vantrue with its N1 Pro Mini Dash Cam which sells for $80 USD and uses a suction cup connection and the company boasts its night vision with its Sony sensor. And Wolfbox with its 4K resolution and magnetic mount with its D07 which comes with a rear camera, WiFi capability as well, and it goes for a little over $100 USD.
But it all comes down to the functions and whether or not you want a Japanese or a Chinese product. Some people may be biased but the drive recorders coming out from Vantrue and Wolfbox are also catching attention not just in the US but also in Japan and they are going to be a force to be reckon with because they are providing 4K at an awesome price.
The other thing is that I’m a strong proponent for rear view mirror dash cameras, as the recordings are better and the pricing is very good for 4K mirror cams that capture license plate numbers better and much better detail. For me, I really like this Kenwood Drive Camera as a third camera option versus front or rear. The details are just not super clear enough to capture license plates because its only 1080p. It’s HD but if you see the differences compared to a 2K Camera vs. 1080p HD, you will see the difference.
But for others, using this as a front or rear camera option would suffice. Because the fact that you can use a third party mini USB cable (sold separately), makes a huge difference, and not need a cigarette adapter. But the ability to see a license plate and have more high quality detail is quite important to me and thus a 2K or 4K resolution is important vs. 1080p or 720p.
For its price and what it offers, the Kenwood DRV-350 Drive Recorder is highly recommended for those on a budget or those looking for an inexpensive third drive recorder camera.
