We’ve got our hands on another dashboard camera and this time, it’s from Abee which is a Taiwanese brand that specializes in multi-functional consumer electronics. Does their M6 dash cam offer something new to the table in terms of design and performance?
Table of Contents
Design and Construction
The M6 carries an all-plastic body with a bit of a glossy finish. Unlike the Zumi and Polaroid C201 dash cams that have a rectangular physique, Abee’s M6 sports a square form factor with its size no larger than the palm of the hands. Mounting it is just an easy slide and clip together with the included suction attachment.
It features a 136-degree wide-angle lens that captures up to 1080p at 30 frames per second. It’s also worth mentioning that the housing of the camera, with its design, made the sensor to appear almost flat and not protruding. This implementation, in comparison to the previous dash cams that we reviewed, is more appealing to us than those with their cameras sticking out.
The left side of the device is where all the connectivity ports are as well as the reset pinhole.
At the rear is a 2.4-inch LCD display with the 4-piece navigation buttons just below it (Menu, Up, Down, Record)
Meanwhile, to the device’s right is the slot for a microSD and the main power button. Speaking of microSD, Abee’s page mentions that there will be an included 16GB microSD card in every bundle, although the demo unit sent to us didn’t have any.
The package comes with the accessories needed to use the dash cam. It has its own car charger and mount in addition to the camera itself.
Features
The M6 carries the usual features that make up a useful dashboard camera:
- G-Sensor – Automatically records when it detects a collision.
- Automatic Recording – Recording can be automatically started or stopped when your car is turned on or off.
- Circular Recording – Overwrite oldest unsaved files to maximize memory.
- Collision Detection – Gravity sensors save files automatically in case of collisions.
- Motion Detection – Activates camera upon detecting external movements.
- WDR Picture – Wide Dynamic Range captures images with balanced exposure.
- Built-in Microphone – Record all audio and sounds within range.
- Auto ON/OFF – Recording can be automatically started or stopped when your car is turned on or off.
With these lineup of functions, its users should rest assured that the dashboard camera will do its job when the features are turned on. Although, we experienced that its built-in G-sensor is a little too sensitive so that when we run over speed bumps on highways, the M6 recognizes it as a collision and starts its emergency recording.
This could potentially lead to filling up your storage with unneeded clips with no available space when a real accident does occur.
Video Quality
The dashboard camera features a 3-megapixel shooter with a 1/3.2-inch CMOS sensor so it should still preserve details even with a low-resolution count. Indeed, the picture quality is decent but don’t expect lively colors. Details are also satisfactory as you can clearly see and read the plate number of the vehicle in front.
As for using it at night, it was actually not bad as exposure and quality were kept intact and the majority of the signs were readable. Plate numbers, on the other hand, were not always legible and depended on the exposure of the current image. We have sample videos below.
Day:
Night:
We also experienced the camera freezing and restarting on us but that was just a one-time thing and it didn’t happen again. Navigating through its menu and tweaking the settings was pretty easy as the flow and design of the UI is straightforward.
Conclusion
The M6 is another contender in the budget dash cam segment with its useful features and straightforward functions. We liked that it automatically records as soon as the engine is powered on and the fact that its physical design tried to make the device look sleeker and didn’t make the camera protruding out of its body.
Although, we think that its G-sensor is too sensitive even at its lowest sensitivity settings and could pose a problem later on so you should keep that in mind. Navigation throughout its menu and submenus are easy and user-friendly and is done through the physical keys (no touchscreen here).
The Abee M6 is available for purchase at Php4,200. For more information, you may visit their local page at Abee Dashcam Philippines.
Abee M6 specs:
2.4 inch LCD display
3MP 1/3.2-inch CMOS sensor with F1.8 aperture
Up to Full HD video recording @ 30fps
136-degree wide-angle lens
Pros:
- Automatic recording
- Thought-out Physique
- Satisfactory image quality
- Decent low light performance
Cons:
- G-sensor too sensitive
Is it recommended to set the video settings to 1080p? will the memory be quickly filled up when max video quality is chosen? Do you have an estimated no. of minutes it can save if set to 1080p, 16gb memory ?
The quality looks great. The price the point is a little high until you need the video and then it doesn’t seem unreasonable. Garmin is always known to put out excellent products. Would love to see a sample video rather than stills, but great information.