In recent years, it seems that news is full of porcelain bumps and accidents, so drivers have a stronger desire to keep the scene and record clearly. The original recorder may only support VGA resolution level, and the wide-angle vision of the image is not high. But now 1080p resolution recording has become the standard configuration. The higher the resolution, the more details we can record during driving. Of course, in order to better tap the needs of users, intelligent tachographs have begun to appear in the market. So today I introduce igao7 (Lei Feng/ Love to play computer games ）Xplore M1 intelligent tachograph provided.

>>>Unpacking

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The Xplore cardboard shell is white packed, but the express delivery presses hard when it is received, resulting in slight deformation of the whole box. Personally, I think the packaging process of this box needs to be improved. The sticking of cardboard and white wrapping paper is uneven, and the fitting of edges and corners is not perfect. I hope mass production can improve this box.

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The gilded LOGO also has a texture. It also directly implies the appearance line of Xplore M1.

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The main body is wrapped with sponge inside, and the box on the right is the use instructions and other documents. Below the box are the vehicle charging head and charging line.

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Xplore M1 main body, bracket, Bluetooth flash button, vehicle charging head, charging line, two red direct replacement 3M stickers and one Bluetooth button sticker.

The host itself is made of anodized aluminum alloy, and the overall design style is very funny, which is different from the traditional and serious appearance of previous recorders. The black on the left is the power button, which can manually switch the recorder on and off.

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Although the design of this big eye is a bit scary, in fact, you can clearly see the camera body inside. The Xplore M1 supports F1.8 aperture (theoretically, it is better to shoot at night), 2.8mm focal length. The camera supports a horizontal 123 ° diagonal 155 ° shooting range.

There is no button design on the right.

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The right and left indicator lights, TF card slot, Mic for recorder (lower left corner) and reset button (lower right corner) are distributed right behind the fuselage.

Xplore M1 uses a magnetic bayonet charging interface, both positive and negative, and the power cord is directly connected to the bracket (as shown in the figure below), without affecting the recorder itself. It is convenient for users to disassemble.

This is the bracket, made of PVC. The built-in magnet in the connector part can hold the Xplore M1 and cooperate with the bayonet to make it more secure.

Some common accessories such as suction cups can be removed and installed for recording and other on-board equipment. The round head design can adjust the recording angle at will.

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Although the positive and negative connectors are not distinguished, for most vehicles, this connection mode is relatively normal. It can ensure the shooting angle of Xplore M1 is horizontal. (If it is sucked in the opposite direction, the recording angle of the recorder is lower)

Display on the back after connection.

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The Xplore M1 is equipped with a Bluetooth 3.0 flash button, which can be pasted in a place within reach of the car to facilitate emergency shooting of 12s video and retain emergency scene video data.

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Equipped with power switch, it can save power. Button battery power supply.

This car charger is very slim, but it also provides dual USB power supply interface. ‍

It supports 1.0A and 2.1A charging specifications to facilitate the charging needs of different devices.

>>>Actual situation of installation in the vehicle

After normal power on, it starts to work with a beep, and the left and right indicators represent the working status and power supply respectively.

The big eye outside the car window is also very distinctive, very pleasing appearance.

The Bluetooth flash button can be pasted at a place within reach, which is convenient for emergency photography and 12s short video recording. (When taking a picture, the work light will flash with beep sound)

The car charger has its own blue atmosphere light, which can add some atmosphere in the car at night. At the same time, it can also facilitate the user to plug and unplug the data cable.

>>>App application and recording experience

As an indispensable part of the intelligent tachograph, it supports the expansion of the App. Xplore's App is very simple, without too complicated interface and setting items. The main functions are:

Sharing blog: used to share and watch videos released by Xplore fans.

Camera: you can preview the recorder in real time, take photos in real time, download videos and other operations.

My: After registering an account, you can view the relevant settings, record and upgrade.

Xplore M1 needs to be connected through the built-in wifi signal. Click Connect Xplore to view the Wifi information of the current Xplore recorder. When the signal turns white, you can start the connection (it is recommended to make it green/blue, otherwise the status display is not very obvious). After the connection is successful, the pictures captured by the current record can be displayed in real time. The speed is very good, It is the recorder with the best connection fluency in my opinion. The memory card can view the content captured by the recorder, and the files can view the offline files and videos downloaded to the machine. Click the flash button to complete the same effect as the Bluetooth button.

Xplore M1 can be set through the gear mark in the upper right corner of the video real-time preview interface. However, there is not much currently available for setting. Common resolution settings and exposure settings are not provided (only 1080P is optional), but only G gravity sensitivity, time, name, password, device upgrade and TF card format operations are provided.

It is recommended to set the exposure level later so that it can be adjusted according to the actual situation.

Xplore advocates the concept of sharing, so one of the important functions of App is to complete simple video filter addition, splicing and background music settings. Currently, you can't choose custom music, only built-in music is supported. However, it seems that the font color for adding titles to videos cannot be set at present. The default color is white. The splicing can adjust the sequence and set the overall video length for intelligent splicing. At this time, you should be able to see the test video I shared in the community sharing!

However, it should be noted that the machine may beep continuously when used for the first time. At this time, the power output may be unstable because the car is not properly charged. Try to re plug or directly plug the USB power cable into the USB interface on the car (if provided). In addition, it is recommended to format the TF card at the computer end when using it for the first time, If the connection to Xplore record is successful, format the recorder short. These are some methods summarized by the author after encountering many problems, but I still encountered a thorny problem that after recording for one afternoon, the computer could not read the display error when I got the TF card back home. Finally, I had to use data recovery software to recover most of the videos. Otherwise, the hard work in the afternoon would be wasted. I hope Xplore can improve the stability of M1.

I selected three videos for different occasions, daytime, dark underground parking lot, night. Each will choose to compare with competing recorders (1080P, supporting wifi, Bluetooth price is around 499)

At 0:00s and 1:38s, the videos of competing recorders were switched for your reference. Although Xplore M1 has a large aperture of f1.8, due to the lack of exposure settings, the white balance is not very stable at present, resulting in a slightly blurred recording effect and poor identification of license plates during driving. I hope that Xplore can continue to optimize firmware in the future.

The above figure is Xplore, and the following figure is a competitive product. The display of the license plate recognition degree of the vehicle in motion is magnified by 300%. Because the code rate of Xplore is slightly low, the objects in motion may not be able to capture details better. However, in this regard, Xplore should improve the code rate of video recording.

The above figure is Xplore, and the following figure is a competitive product. The license plate of slow moving vehicles is photographed in different parking spaces after the license plate recognition degree is magnified by 300%. The image brightness of Xplore M1 is very good. For the trees in the center of the roundabout, the color of the street lights beside the road can be well displayed. However, for the two parking spaces on the left, the license plate recognition begins to decline, which seems to be a factor of poor edge imaging.

At 0:00s and 1:30s, there are competitive switching contrast videos. In the underground parking lot, Xplore M1 seems to be powerless. The brightness of the whole scene is low, and the license plate recognition of a nearby parking space is OK, but objects at a distance are not easy to identify. The focus of the Xplore M1 lens should be improved. At present, it feels a little short.

Both of them can display alphanumeric signs, but as mentioned above, noise and image clarity still need to be improved, and it can also be felt that the focus of Xplore M1 is short, leading to the lack of clarity of distant objects, and the focus adjustment needs to be adjusted by Xplore.

In the aspect of night scene, Xplore M1 is still ordinary in terms of noise, definition and image exposure brightness. Although the lower exposure level can well control the strong light, the problem is that the clarity of objects on both sides of the road decreases. Low bit rate is also a problem for night scenes. If you improve the high bit rate and exposure level, I believe this F1.8 aperture lens can record better pictures.

XploreM1 night scene static vehicle license plate shooting, it can be seen that the license plates on the left and right sides are slightly low due to the exposure control, resulting in a dark picture brightness, so the license plate content can not be easily distinguished. The exposure setting of the picture is provided, and the focus adjustment seems to be the focus of the Xplore M1.

>>>Summary

Disadvantages:

At present, Xplore M1 does not support settings such as exposure level, video specification, white balance, etc. The F1.8 aperture lens equipped can theoretically get better light input, and the recording effect should also be better with the above setting option M1. For my Xplore M1, customer service believes that there may be a slight problem with the factory focus setting, which leads to a false picture, So we should also take the actual product as the criterion! However, this trial also reminds Xplore to strengthen the process control of ex factory production.

advantage:

Of course, Xplore M1 is a highlight of the Wifi connection for traditional recorders. Fast Bluetooth shooting is a highlight. Low power Bluetooth button is convenient for emergency use, and power switch can be provided for a long standby. Moreover, the Wifi function of Xplore is well done. The speed of downloading recorded videos from M1 to mobile phone is very fast, which is much better than the competitive recorder I am using. In terms of design, it also has a distinctive big eye and cute design, which makes the recorder no longer monotonous.

The author also expects that Xplore M1 can give full play to its F1.8 large aperture sensor to record clearer and fuller videos. After all, advocating sharing is also a major concept of Xplore DASH CAM, which can show the beautiful scenery on the way to drive and add more charm to Xplore M1. ‍