Technical Details
– Dual channel dash cam
– Max. resolution: front 1080p, rear 1080p
– Price: n/a
– GPS
– WDR, Super Night Vision
– Wi-Fi
– 15 sec bootup time
– Supports up to 64 GB MicroSD cards
– Time, date, and speed stamp on video
– Loop recording, auto on/off, G-Sensor, buffered parking mode with motion detection
– Low voltage cutoff
– Operating temperature: -10˚C to 60°C (14˚F to 140°F)
– Buttons (underneath): Record, Voice Record (mute), Wi-Fi, Format Card, Power
– LEDs: Wi-Fi and GPS (underneath), Security LED (front)
– Lock file button (same as Record button)
– Player software for Windows / Mac
– Apps for Android / iOS
– Internal capacitor instead of battery
– Internal microphone and speaker
– Adhesive mount
– Optional CPL filter
– Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS)
– Front Collision Warning System (FCWS)
– Speed camera warning system
Front Camera:
– Max. resolution: 1920x1080p, 30fps
– Size: 110mm x 60mm x 32mm
– Weight: 131g
– 1/2.9″ Sony Exmor CMOS 2.19M sensor
– Angle of view: 140° diagonal
Rear camera (model: BCFH-150):
– Max. resolution: 1920x1080p, 30fps
– Size: 56 x 23 x 28 mm
– Cable length: 6.4m (21ft)
– 1/2.9″ Sony Exmor CMOS 2.19M sensor
– Angle of view: 144° diagonal
Thinkware F770 Review
The Thinkware F770 is a dual channel (front-and-rear) dash cam that was released in mid 2016 by the Korean company, Thinkware. It records at 1080p (1920×1080) resolution at 30 frames per second, both ways.
Video quality is good at day time, for both the front and rear cameras. At night, forward video quality is fair, however rear video quality is only average. Note that all current dual channel dash cams have difficulty recording rear video at night, due to lack of illumination and being blinded by headlights of other cars.
The F770 is quite elegantly designed, fitting smugly behind your car’s rear view mirror. Due to not having a screen, it is relatively small and very discreet due to its form factor. Seen from the front, it appears smaller than a BlackVue DR650S. Actually the F770 is a bit larger, but appears smaller due to its oblong shape.
This camera supports Wi-Fi, allowing you to review videos easily with an Android or Apple smart phone. Downloading takes a couple of minutes for a 1-minute clip, so if you’re going to go through more than a few clips, it will probably be easier to pop the card out of the camera and stick it into a computer.
Memory cards are supported up to 64GB officially, however, many users have reported being able to use a 128GB card without problems. The Thinkware F770 uses EXFAT formatting on the SD card, unlike most other dash cams which use FAT32. For best results, it is recommended to use Thinkware brand SD cards, which are a bit pricier than most other SD cards.
In addition to recording to the SD card, the saves a backup copy of recorded videos to its internal memory, which is extremely useful in the event that your SD card becomes corrupted. SD cards do have a limited number of writing cycles. (For more information, see the article Which SD Cards Last Longest In Dash Cams?)
The F770 is easy to install and use. Streaming to mobile apps works well, and decent desktop viewer applications are available for both Mac and PC. Apart from the typical ADAS systems such as LDWS and FCWS (which most drivers typically turn off), there’s a speed camera warning system that can actually be quite useful.
The camera supports buffered parking mode with video motion detection. When a movement is detected, the camera saves 10 seconds before and 10 seconds after the event to a separate folder on the SD card. Alternatively, you can use a time-lapse parking mode which records at 1fps, allowing to watch everything that happened around your car while you were parking.
For parking mode to be available, the camera needs to be hardwired to your car’s fuse box (cables included). Be sure to set the low-voltage cutoff value appropriately to avoid discharging the car battery.
The cable that connects the front and rear cameras is 6.4m (21ft) long, allowing you to run it comfortably to the rear window of most cars. Note that both the power and the rear video cable connect into recessed plugs, which makes for a cleaner looking installation, but also makes them more difficult to unplug should you want to remove the camera from your vehicle.
Some users have complained about intrusive voice prompts (i.e. GPS locking onto signal half a minute or so after you start driving) which cannot be turned off. However, you can turn the volume all the way down if you find that these bother you too much. Another complaint was that the rear camera cannot be flipped, so if you want to install it upside down you may have to use video editing software to adjust the video.
A more important negative is customer support, which is virtually non-existent for English speaking customers. There’s a one-year warranty, and installation and usage of the F770 are quite straightforward; however if you do have an issue with the device, you are left pretty much on your own.
Summary
All in all, the Thinkware F770 is a stylish, discreet, reliable, high quality dual dash cam from a renowned company. While video quality isn’t quite as good as that of the older Thinkware X500D, features like Wi-Fi and buffered parking mode are welcome improvements. The F770 also is a lot more stylish, more discreet, and supports better features than its predecessor.
Thinkware F770 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 Front Video Sample
Day time video quality of the front camera is good. License plates can be read easily when close, but once they are a bit further away they become out of focus and unreadable.
Day Time Rear Video Sample
Rear video is also good during the day, if a bit dark. Again, license plates are readable easily when close, but not when a bit further away or driving by at medium speed.
Night Time Front Video Sample
Night video quality is average for the front camera. Even though the street is well lit, the video is somewhat blurry. The license plate of the leading car can be made out when stopped at a traffic light, however the one of the car to the left is unreadable.
Night Time Rear Video Sample
At night, the rear camera’s video quality is average at best. It tends to get blinded by headlights of other cars, and details are hard to make out. The general picture is quite blurry. That being said, you will be able to generally make out what’s going on behind you. Also, recording rear video at night is tricky for all dash cams, due to the complicated lighting situation.
Where To Buy
The Thinkware F770 is no longer available for sale.
