The $159 70mai Dash Cam Omni is an unusual entry in a crowded dash cam market filled with generic devices. The Omni has features that not only keep you and your car safe but actually add to your driving experience. Like any dash cam, the camera is the most important feature, but the Omni’s motorized wide-angle camera immediately catches your attention as it captures a 360-degree view.
Despite having a rotating camera, the Omni’s discreet size doesn’t obstruct the windshield view. The build quality is robust, giving the impression of a durable, not shoddy and reliable device. The Omni features a minimalist design and a small display, including power and rocker buttons. Plus, there’s an animated face on its screen that injects a touch of personality.
The Omni comes equipped with a range of advanced features. The advanced driver assistance system functions (called ADAS for short) including lane departure warnings and forward collision alerts, contribute to a safer driving experience. Should your car get hit, a collision detection system will automatically store the recording and rotate the camera in the direction of the impact. There’s also a parking surveillance mode that detects people outside the car, providing added security when the vehicle is stationary.
The camera has built-in GPS, too, and uses its info to add overlays to live footage with real-time speed, driving direction, altitude, and other effects. Users can even share a one-minute-long video on social media platforms. The Omni can also record a time-lapse video. Users can toggle all of these features on or off at any time.
Apart from taking selfies, you can use commands like “shoot left,” and the camera will rotate in that direction. However, the choice of words seems a little dangerous, especially in situations like being pulled over. It feels awkward to say, “shoot left,” as an officer approaches. Maybe with a firmware update, they can change it to “video left” or something like that.
The Omni supports other English-only voice commands, such as “vlog,” “emergency video,” “take a selfie” and “shoot left/right.” All data is stored on the dash cam’s internal eMMC 128GB storage, and you can access videos and photos through the 70mai app via the camera hotspot. Once the internal memory reaches capacity, the dash cam will automatically overwrite the oldest footage. You’ll want to be sure to copy any footage to your mobile device as soon as possible if you want to retain it. Within the app, you can save it to your camera roll. You can pinch to zoom in when reviewing your mobile photo library.
A glowing ring around the camera’s center indicates when it’s listening. The camera can be configured to record audio, and the identical ring can signal various events, such as Urgent, Success, Loading, etc., by illuminating in distinct colors. The Omni will also recommend taking a break if you’ve been driving for an extended period.