Today I’ll be reviewing the Road Angel Halo View, a dual mirror dashcam. This is my second review for Road Angel, I recently reviewed the Road Angel Halo Ultra dashcam. That dashcam had no screen to see what was being recorded, and relied on the Road Angel app, whereas the Road Angel Halo View I’m reviewing today is the complete opposite, a touchscreen centre mirror, with both live front and rear footage displayed.
The Road Angel Halo View is a 4-in-1 product which compromises of a mirror, a front facing camera, a rear camera, and a reversing camera, with parking lines.
You get 24-hour parking recording (If you use the hardwire kit), plus the winter mode that I was impressed with previously with the Road Angel Halo View. That’s not all, you get a 1440p capable front camera, the rear camera captures in 1080p and is also IP65 rated, which means it’s both dust tight and can withstand water jets at 12.5 litres per minute, with a pressure of 30 kPa (4.4 psi), and at distance of 3 meters. So, basically, it’s more than capable of everyday use.
The front camera has a 130° wide-angled lens, whilst the rear has 125°, so combined you get a large front and rear area covered of your vehicle.
To enjoy fully the Road Angel Halo View, you need to hardwire the dashcam into your vehicle, and just like last time, Road Angel have kindly sent me a hardwire kit to enable me to fully test out all the features.
So, is the Road Angel Halo View any good? Time to test it out!
Packaging and Contents.
The Road Angel Halo View comes packaged in a black box which shows product images and specifications printed on it. The box measures 28.5cm x 8.0cm x 9.0cm. Inside the sleeved box your dashcam is positioned in internal packaging.
Inside the box you’ll find the following: 1x Mirrored Dashcam, 1x Rear Dashcam, 1x USB Power Adapter, 1x Front to Rear Cable, 1x Front Power Cable, 2x Mounting Bands, 1x Trim Tool, 1x Sticky Pad, 1x Quick Start User Guide.
You also require a Micro SD card to record footage, Road Angel sent me a 64GB card, which is suitable for the Road Angel Halo View dashcam. This is an additional cost of £34.99 from the Road Angel website, you may purchase your own Micro SD card from an online retailer such as Amazon, but you’ll need to ensure the card is:
- Suitable for 4K Ultra HD video capture
- UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) for quick transfer of files
- Read Speed: up to 90MB/Sec
- Write Speed: up to 45MB/Sec
You get just over 14 hours recordable footage on a 64GB card, but don’t worry, the dashcam has a loop overwrite feature, only permanently saving ‘incidents’ that trigger the G-sensor, this could include hitting a pothole, someone hitting your vehicle, or if you’re like me, teenagers slamming the bloody car doors 🙄.
Road Angel Halo View.
The Road Angel Halo View features a touchscreen mirrored main unit. This covers over your existing car’s centre mirror. You get two rubber bands that overhang around your existing mirror and holds the Road Angel Halo View in place.
The whole mirror is a 10-inch touch sensitive screen, and depending on where you press or swipe it changes views, settings and other features (more on that later).
On the main unit itself there’s a power button, this enables you to power on or off the display, when powered off the unit reverts to a traditional mirror. You get a built-in omnidirectional microphone to record audio, you’re able to turn off this feature via the Road Angel smartphone app.
Adjustments.
The main unit comes with some adjustment features, such as an extendable panel for the front facing camera. You’re supposed to be able manually adjust the front camera, but I found although I could adjust up/down, I was unable to move left/right as the camera lens hit the existing centre mirror, this prevented me from using the Road Angel Halo View as a traditional mirror as the dashcam mirror was in an awkward position, rendering it useless as a mirror. If I positioned the unit as a mirror, the front dashcam wouldn’t record in the required area. But I have a solution for Road Angel, the extension piece needs to be able to be adjusted in all directions, this would correct the issue, a simple tilt position would really help.
App and Installation of Hardwire Kit.
I covered in detail in my Road Angel Halo Ultra review about the Road Angel app and the installation of the hardwire kit. So, I won’t repeat what I’ve already mentioned, instead I’ll link to those sections below.
The differences between the hardwire kits of both dashcams is the Road Angel Halo View uses a Mini USB connection, whereas the Halo Ultra uses USB-C, both are installed in the same way as the Road Angel Halo Ultra, but features an additional cable, this cable runs from the mirror to the rear camera, this of course I’ll expand upon as its new content.
You’ll need the hardwire kit from Road Angel to fully get the most from your Halo View, the kit costs around £24.99 and enables you to take advantage of the winter mode, 24 hour parking, and parking mode.
You get supplied a trim tool; this is particularly useful when running cables in your vehicle.
Rear Camera Installation.
You’ll need to run the cable from the mirrored unit of the Road Angel Halo View (the cable measures around 4.8M) and was plenty for my Vauxhall Meriva. The installation image from Road Angel shows to install above the number plate, but my car features a boot release catch right about there, so I opted for an underneath installation. The rear camera can be installed in either direction, you can even adjust the camera within the app to ensure you get the right recording viewing. On the main mirror itself you can adjust the up/down position of the rear camera.
The rear camera can be manually adjusted by loosening the screws either side of the bracket, then simply retighten. You’ll need to use the supplied 3M sticky pad to adhere the camera properly.
Using the Road Angel Halo View.
Once set up, there’s all you need to do. Your Road Angel Halo View takes care of itself, only saving anything that triggers the G sensors. Recordings over the last 24 hours are stored and loop recorded to ensure you have plenty of memory remaining on your Micro SD card. It takes some getting used to seeing a CCTV image staring back at you instead of your usual mirrored image. Another thing that took some time for me was the rear wiper, I kept using it when it was raining, but of course it made no difference. Oh, on that subject, rain doesn’t affect the quality of the image, still nice and clear, even when the Great British decides to do what it does best.
I tested both daytime and night-time driving.
The night view is strange, even on a pitch-black back road, you can see some (although faint) road markings still, glare is reduced in comparison to your standard centre mirror. So, that’s great.
I managed to TikTok myself a video below for a short video demonstration of both front and rear camera quality.
@myhelpfulhints #Sponsored Road Angel Halo View dashcam front/rear synced footage. #MHHSBD #ProductReviews #Dashcam #RoadAngel ♬ Canyons – Official Sound Studio
You can see the image quality is clear, crisp and even when driving around on what these days seems like a typical UK road surface, the camera doesn’t shake about.
The rear camera works great, you get a wider view than your standard centre mirror, you’re able to see things below your rear screen, this provides an additional safety element to your driving.
You can download footage onto your smartphone via the Road Angel app. Once connected you need to view the live footage area. Then, switch between front and rear camera to view a list of recorded footage. Then, simply press the download icon and footage will be on your device.
Technical Specifications.
- Brand: Road Angel
- Model: Halo View Dashcam
- Manufacturer Code: HALO VIEW
- Manufacturer Reference: N/A
- EAN: 5060801411073
- ASIN: B09YYWVZ4L
- Recording Resolution: 2K 1440p (front) & 1080p (rear)
- Viewing Angle: 140oC (front) & 120oC (rear)
- Memory: Up to 128gb external microSD
- Sound: Optional Recording
- Connectivity: Mini USB
- Image Sensor: Omnivision OV04B10 (front) & GC2053 (rear)
- Battery Protection: Variable Voltage Battery Cut-Off
- Power Input: 5V Mini USB
- Processor: HiSilicon
- Compliance: CE, FCC, RoHS
Conclusion.
I like the Road Angel Halo View, but there’s room for improvement. For me there needs to be more flexibility on the front camera. You need to be able to position the camera lens and be able to use your mirror as a standard mirror still. All it needs is a simple twist upward/downward/inward/outward motion on the extension piece. A swivel type system would more than accommodate for this. But, aside from that, the whole system works well, the image quality being captured is amazing. You’re able to easily download footage and then capture stills and see number plates etc very clearly.
Nothing seems to affect the quality, weather, darkness, nothing.
Despite needing a few design modifications, I would still highly recommend the Road Angel Halo View.
If you’d like to purchase this item, please check out the purchasing options below. The RRP for this product is £199.99.
Road Angel Direct Best Option | Amazon | eBay |
Product sample provided by Road Angel in exchange for a detailed, unbiased review.
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