Digital Camera World Verdict

If you want a front and rear dashcam at a reasonable price, the 70mai A510 is perfect. For the price, you get a lot of extra functions and excellent video quality from the front camera. If it is more of a token effort, the back camera is still preferable to having no camera at all, even if its video quality is far less than that of the front camera. Consider the back cam more of an added benefit, given that the A510 set costs around the same as a basic dashcam with only the front camera.

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• PERFORMANCE

A manufacturer can cram a dash cam full of extra features, but what really matters is the camera's video quality - after all, that's what's going to be most important for an insurance company to determine who's at fault in a collision.

In daylight conditions the A510 front dash cam's image quality is very good. When set to the maximum 2592 x 1944 resolution, video is sharp and fine detail well resolved. Reading number plates of cars ahead is easy when they're directly in front of the camera, though plates on cars driving past on the opposite side of the road are harder to read. This is an issue with most cameras, as fast motion combined with video frame interlacing and digital compression causes moving text on the periphery of a video frame to suffer from motion blur. The camera's automatic exposure metering is accurate and reliable, and I was happy with the dynamic range captured by the STARVIS 2 image sensor.

A potential downside of this high definition recording is the video file size: each minute of footage consumes 172MB of card space, so a 1 hour drive will require around 10 gigabytes of storage. And don't forget the rear camera will also be recording simultaneously and consuming even more storage space, albeit not as much as the front cam (61MB/minute). It means the included 64GB microSD card fills up fast - we'd recommend upgrading to a 256GB card if you drive frequently and want more than a few days of archive footage before the camera automatically overwrites the oldest videos.

View from the rear dashcam - the registration plate on the following car is only just legible at this distance. (Image credit: Future)While the front camera's image quality is commendable, the rear's is far less impressive. Judging by its relative lack of detail and higher digital image noise, it's using a significantly smaller image sensor than than in the front cam. A following car will need to be within approximately 3-4 car lengths of you for its number plate to be legible, and the rear camera doesn't have the clarity for number plates on cars passing on the opposite side of the road to be easily readable. Dynamic range is also noticeably inferior to what's captured by the front cam, with highlights much more easily blown out and shadows lacking definition.Night view from the rear camera. This quality is about as good as it gets - if the white car was pointed directly at the camera, its headlights would overwhelm the camera's dynamic range and the already limited image detail would be obliterated.

Thankfully the front camera performs much better at night, thanks to its higher resolution and far better dynamic range. Number plates are still legible, albeit less so than by day, but it still gives you a fighting chance of identifying the details of an oncoming vehicle immediately prior to a night-time collision.We did not fit the optional hardwire kit as this involves additional modification of the car's electrical system and fuses, which I didn't feel comfortable performing on my car.

• VERDICT

A dashcam should really now be considered an essential element of driving safety. If you're involved in a collision, the ability to prove through video evidence that you're not at fault could be invaluable. I don't say this just because I work with cameras, but because my own car was recently rear-ended and consequently totalled/written-off. Had it been equipped with a front and rear dashcam, this would have irrefutably proven that I was not to blame. And it's thanks to dashcams like the 70mai A510 that we can now say that a dashcam is indeed "essential". Its low price is relatively insignificant when you consider all the other costs incurred when driving - fuel, insurance, etc - yet you still get two cameras and a host of extra features.I was impressed by the performance of the A510 front camera - its day- and night-time video quality is excellent for the money. I've been using the camera in my daily driver for over two months now and it's performed flawlessly. The rear camera is more of a token effort, however. Its video quality is far inferior to that produced by the front cam, but it's better than having no camera at all. Considering the A510 set costs about the same as an entry-level, front-only dashcam, think of the rear cam as more of a bonus. If you really want top-notch video quality from your rear camera, you'll need to spend extra cash on a more upmarket product. Overall, the 70mai A510 is excellent value and ideal if you want a low-cost front & rear dashcam.