By Contributor William Roberson
The Vantrue E360 camera captures a solid surround version of the situation inside and outside your … More vehicle.
William Roberson
Dash cams are improving all the time, but for a while now, they鈥檝e mostly been the same, just with better resolution and more cameras recording footage to a memory card or cloud storage, or both. However, there have been a few recent innovations, and one that has impressed me is the Vantrue E360. Taking inspiration from popular 鈥渟pherical鈥 video cameras like the Insta360 X5, the Vantrue E360 captures 360-degree video and stills鈥 just not in quite the same way as the Insta360 and other 360 cameras. But it still offers advantages over most typical dash cams, and I鈥檝e been testing it out lately both inside – and outside – of my own vehicle.
How The Vantrue E360 Works
Like the Insta360 cameras, the Vantrue E360 features dual fisheye camera lenses that capture video and still in 180-degree images and then stiches them together into a seamless video or image. The difference is that the Insta360, GoPro and other 360-degree cameras create a 鈥渟phere鈥 of imagery you can then browse around in during recording or playback.
The Vantrue E360 does not work quite in the same way. Instead, it鈥檚 more similar to the panorama feature on your smartphone: It creates a single image that is knitted together to form a photo or video that spans 360 degrees, but not in a sphere format, it鈥檚 flat, like a panorama photo (below).
While it might look odd, the entire inside and outside of the car is in this image.
However, you can still see everything happening in that image, there are no 鈥渂lank鈥 or unseen areas. In a typical installation, the E360 captures everything out the front and sides of the vehicle, as well as inside the car. This does leave the rear of the vehicle with less coverage (especially in a van or when the windows are obstructed), so Vantrue has wisely added a third camera that can be mounted inside or outside on the back of the vehicle, providing a 鈥渟econd” more detailed wide-angle view out the back of the vehicle.
Setup is fairly straightforward and a quick-release mount is standard so the camera can be used outside the vehicle. A small touchscreen on the camera module makes dialing in settings easy, and videos can be transferred to your phone using the built-in wifi on the camera and the Vantrue app. The camera will also record to memory cards up to 1tb in size for logging a lot of clips. It also has built-in GPS logging and a parking security function when hardwired to a vehicle battery.
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What鈥檚 The Advantage For Drivers?
Even the most high-resolution modern dashcams can have gaps in coverage, typically to the sides. The advantage of the E360 is that it covers those gaps, so if something happens off-angle, it鈥檚 still captured in the wide, wide 360-degree image. And with dual 4K sensors (the rear camera is 2k), the E360 captures a huge amount of detail, such as license plates or people using their phones instead of watching the road ahead.
But Wait, There鈥檚 More
Vantrue includes a wand with internal batteries for using the E360 outside a vehicle, plus a small … More folding tripod.
William Roberson
Since the E360 can record in 360, Vantrue includes a wand with a tripod base (above) for mounting the camera for use outside of the vehicle. A large battery in the wand powers the camera so you can capture adventures in 鈥渇lat鈥 360 degree video and photos, or in dual 180-degree videos and stills.
The wand does not telescope but it will power the E360 for a couple of hours of 360-degree recording … More fun.
William Roberson
Very clever and a good reason to splurge on this unique camera. Again, it does not stitch the images into a sphere like Insta360 cameras but the images it does produce are fun, useful and very clear.
Observations
The vertical format means it hangs down a bit from the mounting location.
It took about 30 minutes to run the wires under the headliner and out to the back of my car for the rear camera. Setup was simple using the small touchscreen and the E360 automatically linked to GPS to set the correct date and time. It can also log your location. After that, it began recording when I started the car and shut off when I got down driving. I used the 12-Volt plug adapter for power; users also have the option to hardwire the E360 to their vehicle鈥檚 battery to enable full-time monitoring while the vehicle is parked, a common feature on most dash cameras.
Overall I was impressed with the Vantrue E360鈥檚 crisp image detail and wrap-around 360 image capability. More than a novelty, that kind of coverage in a dash cam is extremely useful if an incident occurs as it can tell more of the story than dashcams with one, two or even three cameras that still don鈥檛 capture side angles inside and outside of the vehicle. Also, the Vantrue E360 gets high marks for ease of operation and that goes for the Vantrue app as well, which could use a little polish as far as translation goes but is otherwise easy to to use and reliable.
I really don鈥檛 have any complaints but uses should be aware that because of the E360鈥檚 鈥渧ertical鈥 design, it will hang down from its mounting spot lower than most horizontal format cameras, and lowering your sun shade will block the lens recording the car鈥檚 interior. Horizontal format cameras can be mounted (at least in my car, a typical economy car) is such a way that the sun shade can fold down and up in a way that allows the inside camera to continue to capture video. It鈥檚 not a big deal, just something to be aware of, and your vehicle may allow placement that avoids this issue. Otherwise, this is a great camera for rideshare drivers and other driving professionals to invest in, and the inclusion of the wand and tripod for use outside the vehicle is a bonus that further expands its capability and fun factor.
Recommended.
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