The HP F520G in car dash camera is one of the more expensive dash cams available.
It’s a compact little unit with a large screen on the back which isn’t a touch screen. Instead the manufacturer has opted for a row of buttons under the screen to control the various menu options.
The unit is made from plastic and feels good quality, apart from the buttons which don’t feel as high quality as you’d expect at this price.
In the box you get the HP F520G dash camera, a long power cable for use in your car and a screen mount. In addition to the standard kit supplied the unit available on Amazon.co.uk comes as a bundle with a case and a standard USB cable.
The F520G records on to a micro SD card (not supplied) which pops in at the side and is easy to remove should you want to retrieve files directly from the card. No need to clear the card when it’s full, the F520G automatically loops and records over the oldest file on the card so you
You’ll find two types of files area created, a video file and a GPS file. With a build in GPS receiver the F520G records the location of the footage, allowing you to open the GPS file with compatible software (or a website that can open it as in the review video) and see where you were travelling on a map when the footage was taken.
There are a multitude of options to look through and tinker with, in the review the out of the box settings have been used. Once setup you can forget all about the F520G, it automatically comes on when you start your car and will start recording.
There is an interesting option of changing the default screen view (what the camera sees) to a mini dashboard showing direction, speed and ?!
Footage is really good, copy it over to your PC and view it on a decent sized monitor and you’ll be impressed with the quality. The 156 degree ultra wide angle lens does a great job of capturing a wide field of vision, you can see pedestrians on the pavement or cars pulling out of side roads.
Note the camera was tested during the longest days of the year where it’s still light after 10pm so it’s not been tested in the dark.
The HP F520G is a solid performing camera that would benefit from the inclusion of a memory card and better quality buttons.
Available from Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/1NcZA0C and Amazon com: https://amzn.to/1I5JlCi
