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I just bought a Viofo A129 Pro Duo - which basically means it's 4k native for the front camera and has a 2k rear camera, wifi connectivity to your cellphone and GPS tracking. But no "cloud" functions. The cloud functions sound great - and often are free from other top brands like Thinkware or Nexar - unfortunately they require an internet connection to actually work. So if you want to view your dashcam from work, or use vehicle tracking (aka theft recovery) or other GPS related features, you either need to leave your cellphone in the car or sign up for a dedicated monthly hotspot.
I realized I'd rather use a stand alone GPS tracker (or OnStar) for theft recovery rather than worry about that in my dash cam - so the Viofo A129 Pro does very well from a value standpoint once I make that distinction. I also added a CEllink Neo battery to run the dashcam off of, as it will eliminate the risk of running the car battery down.
I just installed it, so I am getting used to some features, but running the wires was actually pretty easy. I will update this post with details once I get a few pictures of the routing, etc.
The install:
First off, you can connect to the camera via wifi with your phone, so you can use that to figure out where you want the camera. In the V2, I would suggest driver's side behind the rear view mirror for the A129 model. It's thin enough to fit there perfectly with enough room left over to adjust the mirror, but different designs and drivers may vary. So definitely take time to figure this out. There are 3 additional adhesive strips in the box if you make a mistake.
Clean off the windshield well, then peel and stick.
![Azure Blue Automotive lighting Gadget Camera lens]()
![Automotive lighting Hood Automotive mirror Automotive design Automotive exterior]()
You'll notice the micro SD card on the side. It is a bit of a pain to install and remove as it's flush with the camera body - if you have fat fingers like me you'll need to use a coin or something to release it.
The ports for the rear camera and USB are on the passenger side (and the camera slides off the adhesive GPS base to the right), so leave a little room between the camera and the rear view mirror mount.
The wires will tuck up under the head liner easily - just push them in with a plastic tool. No need to remove anything for me. I have my radar detector mounted there also so it was a little more cramped than usual.
![Hood Automotive tire Automotive mirror Automotive design Automotive lighting]()
The wires for your battery connection and the rear camera will run along the passenger side headliner - again using a plastic tool, you can pry / bend the headliner down just enough to wedge the wire(s) behind them, along the A pillar, passenger door and B pillar to the rear of the car.
![Material property Vehicle door Gadget Tints and shades Automotive design]()
Then there's enough space to run down the side of the glove box - allowing you to stow the battery in the floor board, glove box or mount it somewhere. The battery doesn't seem to get hot but I'd still take care on placement for airflow.
![]()
Here's where it's a little more involved - there is a bolt behind that small access panel. Remove it, pop the B pillar cover off and that will allow you access to the rear of the headliner. In my case, with the Wagon, I also popped off the rear upper cargo trim to allow access to the rear hatch. It just pops off.
![Vehicle Seat belt Motor vehicle Automotive design Car]()
I ran the wires along the outer edge of the head liner to the rear hatch. I fed the single rear camera feed along the Wagon's hatch mount, securing with a zip tie, then the camera to the rear glass. Again, clean the glass, peel and stick. Avoid the defroster lines and check your orientation with the wifi and your cellphone. I just tucked the excess cable (around ~3-4 feet remaining) under the rear headliner.
![Automotive tire Hood Motor vehicle Light Blue]()
![Automotive lighting Hood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Automotive design]()
The rear cargo panel again just pops off. Pull it from the top. I notched mine where the wire tucks under to avoid chaffing over time.
![Hood Motor vehicle Automotive lighting Automotive tire Automotive design]()
OPTIONALLY, you can buy a stand-alone rechargeable battery (ie blackboxmycar.com, etc) - this will power the camera for several days in standby mode (parking mode), and prevents the dashcam from draining your car's battery. If you're a power user, you can even daisy-chain batteries for more capacity.
Currently, I have this battery plugged in to the cigarette lighter as it's accessory-only (off when the car is off), so the battery only charges while driving. I am going to install an add-a-circuit to the front fuse box to trigger a relay, then hard-wire the battery with the included harness to the terminals in the engine bay for faster charging. When hard-wired, it will draw 9 amps and charge fully in 40 minutes. Using the cigarette lighter, it's limited to 5 amps and takes 90+ minutes to charge. There is a switch on the battery where you can turn it off, or low/high charging. This is a manual switch so think about which one you pick - using "hi" mode on the cigarette lighter could blow a fuse potentially.
I'll probably store the battery in the glove compartment and run the wires through the door grommet in the same way I ran wires for my wide-band oxygen sensor.
![Ac adapter Adapter Automotive lighting Adapter Audio equipment]()
The voltage-selector harness you see is for the dashcam specifically, to be hard-wired to the car and is set to avoid draining your battery. Using the separate Cellink battery makes this moot.
View from the Driver's seat:
![]()
I realized I'd rather use a stand alone GPS tracker (or OnStar) for theft recovery rather than worry about that in my dash cam - so the Viofo A129 Pro does very well from a value standpoint once I make that distinction. I also added a CEllink Neo battery to run the dashcam off of, as it will eliminate the risk of running the car battery down.
I just installed it, so I am getting used to some features, but running the wires was actually pretty easy. I will update this post with details once I get a few pictures of the routing, etc.
The install:
First off, you can connect to the camera via wifi with your phone, so you can use that to figure out where you want the camera. In the V2, I would suggest driver's side behind the rear view mirror for the A129 model. It's thin enough to fit there perfectly with enough room left over to adjust the mirror, but different designs and drivers may vary. So definitely take time to figure this out. There are 3 additional adhesive strips in the box if you make a mistake.
Clean off the windshield well, then peel and stick.
You'll notice the micro SD card on the side. It is a bit of a pain to install and remove as it's flush with the camera body - if you have fat fingers like me you'll need to use a coin or something to release it.
The ports for the rear camera and USB are on the passenger side (and the camera slides off the adhesive GPS base to the right), so leave a little room between the camera and the rear view mirror mount.
The wires will tuck up under the head liner easily - just push them in with a plastic tool. No need to remove anything for me. I have my radar detector mounted there also so it was a little more cramped than usual.
The wires for your battery connection and the rear camera will run along the passenger side headliner - again using a plastic tool, you can pry / bend the headliner down just enough to wedge the wire(s) behind them, along the A pillar, passenger door and B pillar to the rear of the car.
Then there's enough space to run down the side of the glove box - allowing you to stow the battery in the floor board, glove box or mount it somewhere. The battery doesn't seem to get hot but I'd still take care on placement for airflow.
Here's where it's a little more involved - there is a bolt behind that small access panel. Remove it, pop the B pillar cover off and that will allow you access to the rear of the headliner. In my case, with the Wagon, I also popped off the rear upper cargo trim to allow access to the rear hatch. It just pops off.
I ran the wires along the outer edge of the head liner to the rear hatch. I fed the single rear camera feed along the Wagon's hatch mount, securing with a zip tie, then the camera to the rear glass. Again, clean the glass, peel and stick. Avoid the defroster lines and check your orientation with the wifi and your cellphone. I just tucked the excess cable (around ~3-4 feet remaining) under the rear headliner.
The rear cargo panel again just pops off. Pull it from the top. I notched mine where the wire tucks under to avoid chaffing over time.
OPTIONALLY, you can buy a stand-alone rechargeable battery (ie blackboxmycar.com, etc) - this will power the camera for several days in standby mode (parking mode), and prevents the dashcam from draining your car's battery. If you're a power user, you can even daisy-chain batteries for more capacity.
Currently, I have this battery plugged in to the cigarette lighter as it's accessory-only (off when the car is off), so the battery only charges while driving. I am going to install an add-a-circuit to the front fuse box to trigger a relay, then hard-wire the battery with the included harness to the terminals in the engine bay for faster charging. When hard-wired, it will draw 9 amps and charge fully in 40 minutes. Using the cigarette lighter, it's limited to 5 amps and takes 90+ minutes to charge. There is a switch on the battery where you can turn it off, or low/high charging. This is a manual switch so think about which one you pick - using "hi" mode on the cigarette lighter could blow a fuse potentially.
I'll probably store the battery in the glove compartment and run the wires through the door grommet in the same way I ran wires for my wide-band oxygen sensor.
The voltage-selector harness you see is for the dashcam specifically, to be hard-wired to the car and is set to avoid draining your battery. Using the separate Cellink battery makes this moot.
View from the Driver's seat:
