Technical Specifications
– Max. resolution: 1920×1080 @ 30fps
– Price: ~$40 Amazon US / UK – AliExpress – more countries & vendors (affiliate links)
– Aperture: F2.2
– Bit rate: 16 Mbps
– Wi-Fi
– Size: 100mm x 55mm x 32mm
– Weight: 70g
– Sony IMX323 sensor
– Processor: Mstar MSC8328P
– Angle of view: 130° diagonal
– Operating temperature: from -20°C to 60°C (-4°F to 140°F)
– Video format:
– Supports up to 64 GB MicroSD cards
– Time and date stamp on video
– Loop recording, auto on/off, G-Sensor
– Interface: USB
– Apps for Android / iOS
– 240mAh Li-ion battery
– Internal microphone and speaker
– Unique electrostatic mount
– Voice control
70mai 1S Review
70mai 1S is a tiny Chinese low-cost dash cam that supports Wi-Fi. The English version was released in mid 2018. While this camera is being marketed as “Xiaomi 70mai” by some vendors, we haven’t found it anywhere on Xiaomi’s web site. We have contacted Xiaomi and are currently waiting for a reply from them to confirm or deny whether this is actually a Xiaomi product.
We’ve found this camera’s video quality to be not the greatest. Video is quite blurry, and while it is good enough to read license plates of other cars during the day time (at least when driving at slow speeds), you won’t be able to make out most licenes plates at night.
On the plus side, the 70mai is very small and stealthy. It doesn’t have a screen, and only comes with two buttons: One for power, and one to reset it to factory default settings.
The power button also serves to toggle Wi-Fi and to format the SD-card. Otherwise, you control the camera either through voice commands, or by Wi-Fi using the smart phone app which is available for Android and iOS.
A green indicator LED shows you that the camera is recording normally. A red light indicates abnormal recording (i.e. some kind of fault), and blue color means the camera is starting up.
Voice commands let you order the camera to take a picture, record video, turn sound recording on or off, and toggle Wi-Fi on/off. Unfortunately, the camera’s speech detection is not very accurate, so it may at times perform random actions due to its misinterpretation of conversations or music in the car.
Wi-Fi control with the app (iPhone or Android) works pretty well, however the connection is not fast enough to comfortably watch video footage over wireless. If you ever want to look through more than a few video clips, its easiest to take out the card and stick it into a computer.
A troubleshooting tip: If you have installed the phone app but can’t connect to the camera via Wi-Fi, try turning off cellular data in your phone’s settings. This forces the phone to communicate with the dash cam’s wireless network only.
The camera has a G-sensor that will detect any potential impacts. The corresponding footage will be saved in a protected folder to keep it from becoming overwritten. There is no way to protect footage manually though.
The 70mai comes with a unique “electrostatic sticker” mount, which is kind of a hybrid between an adhesive and a suction cup mount. The electrostatic sticker mount looks somewhat similar to a suction mount that sticks to your windshield, but smaller and flatter. You then stick the camera to the electrostatic sticker with an adhesive pad, so there will be no marks on the windshield.
Opinions on the mount are divided: Some users like it, and it seems to work pretty well at high temperatures. Other users complain that the camera falls off the windshield though.
The user manual is available for viewing here if you’d like to have a look.
Summary
All in all, this is a very basic dashboard camera whose main features are stealth due to its low visual profile, and Wi-Fi so you can control it with your smart phone. It doesn’t support GPS or parking mode. Video quality is sub-par.
The 70mai 1S may suit you well if you are specifically looking for a cheap, Wi-Fi enabled cameras that isn’t too noticeable.
However, if you would rather buy a car DVR that’s a bit more reliable, check out the Yi dash cam which costs about the same, and produces notably better video. The Yi is larger and doesn’t support Wi-Fi, but has great user ratings for its price, and its screen and buttons that make it easier to set up and use.
70mai Video Samples
For full original video quality, make sure to watch on full screen and select maximum video resolution (use the cog icon in lower right corner). You may have to rewind the video after changing the resolution.
Day Time Video Sample
Day time video quality is fair. While the footage is not very sharp, license plates are easy enough to read at lower speeds. When driving at cruise speed though, the number plates of other cars are to blurry to make out.
Night Time Video Sample
NIght time video quality is only average. You can more or less see what’s going on on the road, but even the leading car’s license plates is barely readable.
Where To Buy
The 70mai 1S is available for sale from the following vendors:
Links to vendors are affiliate links, and help to support this site.
