myGEKOgear OwlScout dual dash cam review

REVIEW – I’ve reviewed a few dash cams in the past, but this time I tried out the myGEKOgear OwlScout dual dash cam. I’ve reviewed a few dash cams from this company, but none with dual built-in cameras. Let’s see how this one performs.

What is it?

The myGEKOgear OwlScout dual dash cam is a dual camera dash cam designed to record video of both the inside and outside of your vehicle simultaneously.

What’s in the box?

• OwlScount Camera
• Suction cup mount
• Car charger plug and cord
• Micro-USB Cable
• 16GB Micro-SD card
• Quick Start Manual

Hardware specs

Recording Resolution: 1080P + 1080P 30FPS
Imaging Sensor: Sony Exmor, Infrared Night Vision
Display Size: 2.7″ LCD
View Angle (F.O.V.): 145°+145° (F+V)
Max. Capacity of microSD card: 16GB microSD included
Batteries Included: 170mAh Li-ion battery embedded
Automatic Incident Detection (G-Sensor): Yes
Loop-Cycle Recording: Yes
Built-in Wi-Fi: Yes
Integrated Microphone: Yes
File Format: .mp4
Dimensions: (H x W x D) 3” x 3.7” x 1.3”

Design and features

The myGEKOgear OwlScout dual dash cam is a suction cup mounted dash cam that features a large 2.7″ LCD screen and both front facing and rear facing cameras. At the heart of each camera is a Sony Exmor imaging sensor that provides great video in both day and night conditions. The rear facing camera features infrared illumination. Both cameras feature a 145 degree field of view. Each camera’s video is saved to separate files on the memory card.

When recording video the rear facing video is displayed in the upper left quarter of the screen, allowing for easy positioning of the camera without having to press any buttons.

The micro-USB power cord is a welcome feature that allows you to use the provided car charger plug, or your own cable as you desire. A 170mAh embedded battery provides enough power to save video files when the camera is powered off via the ignition, or during a power loss in the event of a crash. In the event of a crash, the G-Sensor will detect the impact and automatically save the video so that it is not overwritten.

The OwlScout comes with a 16GB micro-sd card and features the ability to loop-record. Loop recording will save the video in 3, 5, or 10-minute clips, overwriting the oldest clips when the card is full.

I found the integrated microphone to be surprisingly good. The audio in my sample footage (below) is directly from the camera. I think the microphone should work great for capturing all conversations in the vehicle.

The camera has three modes: Video (dash cam), Photo, and Album. Photo mode takes up to 12MP images, and the Album mode is to view and playback photos and videos.

The OwlScout also has built-in Wi-Fi for connecting to the camera via an iPhone or Android smartphone. I found the app to be a bit limited, but sufficient to view and transfer videos or view live video. I did find though that the settings in the app would not correspond to settings that were already set in the camera, and the camera would revert some settings after the app was used. For example, I had the recording loop set for 3 minutes, and after going into the app and then disconnecting, the camera then showed a 10-minute loop interval.

There is a parking monitor feature that can be turned on which will start recording when an impact on the vehicle is detected.

I do like how the videos that are either automatically saved by the G-Sensor or by manually pressing the lock button are saved to a separate folder on the SD card, as well as accessible from the “Emergency” tab of the album view in the app.

The GPS logging feature mentioned on the website feature list was nowhere to be found in the camera or the app despite there being a GPS icon on the screen.

I did find that the playback operation was a bit confusing as to which button did what, such as play, fast forward, etc. I also found that after switching from video to photo to the album (playback) and then back to video, the dash cam video did not automatically start recording until I clicked the OK button. I lost quite a bit of video because of that. I think it should always revert to recording after a certain period of time when you are in video mode.

Here’s some sample video from the OwlScout camera, along with a few comments as I was driving. The video is unprocessed except that I overlayed one video on the other and spliced the 3-minute clips together. Other than that no video or audio editing was done.

What I like

• Simple to use menus
• Easy to see buttons
• Great microphone
• Wi-Fi connection with a smartphone
• Dual Cameras
• Range of motion for mount
• Micro USB connection
• Well named file names in the following format: yyyy_mmdd_hhmmss_001A

What needs to be improved

• Price – a little high for the feature set
• Confusing playback controls
• GPS logging feature missing from app

Final thoughts

Overall the I really liked the video display and its size, and the video quality from this camera was pretty good. The audio captured was fantastic. I think the price might be a little high for the feature set, as some cameras have more features, but may not have video as good as this one.

Price: $199.99
Where to buy: myGEKOgear
Source: The sample of this product was provided by myGEKOgear.