The 70mai Dash Cam Omni Is the Dashcam for Vloggers
70mai Dash Cam Omni
With its easy installation and onboard eMMC storage doing away with any need for a microSD card, I really wanted to like the 70mai Dash Cam Omni. It looks cute with its part-Minion, part-astromech droid design, but it takes this too far with the opaque emoji, unworkable ADAS mode, unreliable voice commands, and the rather silly vlog mode.
Dashcams should promote and improve road safety; I don’t think the 70mai Dash Cam Omni fulfills that role, although the 1080p footage and high frame rate are an advantage.
If you need a dashcam but windshield real estate is limited, a smaller camera seems ideal. If you don’t like routing cables around your car but need something that can record what’s happening behind you, a dashcam with an interior/rear facing camera sounds like a smart option.
What if you could combine both of these requirements into a single unit with voice control?
That’s essentially what the 70mai Dash Cam Omni is—and to top it of, it resembles a Star Wars droid (or a Minion)!
It’s a Dashcam That Looks Like R2-D2!
A weighty, barrel-shaped device that would look at home servicing starfighters a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the 70mai Dash Cam Omni features a rotating camera and dual-purpose display.
With a robot-esque face and some cute noises, this dashcam wants to be a part of your family. Once you say yes, it plans to record everything that happens while driving.
Now, that might sound a little sinister, so to calm your suspicions, I’ve been using the 70mai Dash Cam Omni. Does it do what you expect from a dashcam, or is it an inconsequential bit of frivolity?
Unboxing the 70mai Dash Cam Omni
Securely packaged in a little black box, the 70mai Dash Cam Omni includes the bare minimum for installation. There’s the USB-A to USB-C power cable with “cigarette lighter” car adapter and two anti-static sheets. These ensure that the windshield is gunk-free should you choose to remove or move the dashcam.
Also included is a user guide and a plastic lever for pushing the cable behind the car’s interior furnishings. As is common with dashcams these days, no adhesive plastic clips are included for helping to hide the power cable.
Finally, you’ll find two adhesive stickers and a mount which is already attached to the camera.
70mai Dash Cam Omni Device Specifications
This dashcam has a 1920x1080p resolution with 140-degree field of view (FOV) and focal length of f1.5. The lower portion of the unit, where the lens is mounted, rotates independently of the upper portion. It rotates to 340 degrees, resulting in potentially 360-degree coverage thanks to the wide FOV (though not all at the same time).
A small lithium polymer 300mAh battery is included, with power (5V 2A) supplied via a USB-C port. Meanwhile, there is no microSD slot; instead, the 70mai Dash Cam Omni has a built-in eMMC with 32GB of storage (64GB and 128GB variants are also available).
Three buttons are found on the left-hand side of the camera. First is a power and confirmation button, then up/down buttons to cycle through the camera’s display menus. This is a 1.2-inch IPS with 240x240p resolution, which is far too small to show what’s happening on the road (although it tries). However, what you will find easy to see on the display is MaiX… a bear.
70mai’s mascot is used to convey various information, purely through MaiX’s emoji. Some of this is useful, but most could be considered frivolous.
GPS is built into the camera, which measures 51.5 x 51.5 x 93.2mm.
1080p vs. 2K and 4K
Already a curious-looking device, the 70mai Dash Cam Omni has another odd feature. It only records at 1080p (aka “full HD”) resolution.
Over the past few years, the dashcams I’ve reviewed have boasted 2K—and more recently 4K—resolution. This device having standard high definition is a bit of a surprise, especially given it is a single-channel system (i.e., there are no additional cameras).
As you’ll see from the accompanying stills and the video review, the quality of the 1080p footage is reasonable, and it can record at 30 or 60FPS. The inclusion of HDR makes for clear night recording, though this is another feature that is pretty much standard on dashcams. But the lack of 2K or 4K was a surprise.
Setting Up and Installing the 70mai Dash Cam Omni
Installing the 70mai Dash Cam Omni might be tricky if you blindly follow the manual. Our family MPV has a huge windshield, so the camera could reasonably have been placed anywhere. However, the instructions specifically stated that it should be positioned alongside the rearview mirror on the passenger side.
Once attached to the windshield (I used the anti-static plastic mounting sheet) and the power cable tidily routed from the USB port to the camera, the device is ready to go.
You need the mobile app installed to register the device, a process that commences when you power it up. The phone’s Bluetooth radio detects the camera (after registration, Wi-Fi is used for data transfer), and a confirmation code is issued over email.
It’s a little more complex than with some dashcams I’ve used. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why so much effort is required for this process, but once its complete, that’s it.
You’re ready to set off with the 70mai Dash Cam Omni.
Driving With the 70mai Dash Cam Omni
As I followed the user guide closely, I initially set up the dashcam to the left of the rearview mirror.
However, this was bad advice. The Dash Cam Omni’s rotation and the position of the mirror sadly resulted in the mirror’s mount obscuring the camera when it faced right.
The solution to this was to move the camera to a position below the mirror. This turned out to be a far better position, offering complete coverage in all directions.
As mentioned, various “cute” expressions are displayed on the 70mai Dash Cam Omni’s display during use. These are not so bad as to be distracting, although working out their meaning can be unintentionally diverting; they’re not intuitive.
One journey in the rain resulted in several automatic snaps made by the Omni. I’m not sure why—one of them was when no cars were nearby, and no maneuvering was occurring—but it was one of those “surprise” moments that the camera is fond of.
Training and Using ADAS Mode for Safer Driving
I was a few days through using the Omni when I activated the ADAS mode. This Advanced Driver Assistance System (hence the acronym) features lane detection, vehicle proximity detection, and can spot pedestrians.
Well, that’s the idea, anyway.
ADAS mode isn’t activated by default. To use it, you need to train the camera, which means finding an open space to activate it (e.g. a remote area of a local car park) and then drive around at a speed of at least 40kph (just under 25mph) to optimize it.
This has several problems. First, it took an hour to optimize. Second, when it detects things, they’re often not there or entirely wrong. Third, despite several attempts to “drift” into the wrong lane, the lane departure feature stayed silent.
The most frustrating thing here is the lack of accuracy. Warnings about pedestrians crossing while the car is stationary are pointless. Declaring a red car is ahead when the only thing in front is a black van with its brake lights on is similarly annoying and distracting. I checked with the 70mai representative, and it turns out that the dash cam doesn’t have color detection. So, what is being said isn’t “warning: red car.” The announcement could be “warning: front car” but the diction of the recording—and perhaps compression and the quality of the speaker—make this largely unintelligible. It’s certainly not suitable in a potential emergency.
In fact, false observations and notifications from the Omni’s ADAS mode lead me to disable the feature.
Being distracted when driving is not good, certainly not when the system causing the distraction is intended to promote safer driving.
I’d recommend disabling the ADAS mode and relying on your vehicle’s sensors. The ADAS bundled into 70mai’s Dash Cam Omni is not up to the job.
Using Voice Commands for the 70mai Dash Cam Omni
A number of voice commands are supported by this dashcam. They enable you to specify focus on particular spots (left, right, and inside), all initiated with the precursor “dashcam shoot.”
However, the dashcam tends to do plenty of this independently, without prompting. I’m not sure that this is useful; a single camera device should surely be focused on the road ahead at all times.
Other options are available. you may activate the vlog (video blog) mode, enable Wi-Fi, and even enable and disable the mic. There are even voice commands for taking a photo, selfie, and shooting emergency videos.
However, I found voice instructions to be imprecise at times. This may be due to my accent, although it’s far from the broadest example of Yorkshire tongue, so it’s all a bit puzzling. I ended up switching off the car stereo for every command, but this didn’t always work, either.
Does a Dashcam Need a Vlog Mode?
While I wasn’t looking, vehicle vlogging became a thing. Consequently, the 70mai Dash Cam Omni features a vlog mode (because of course it does).
I discovered this feature by chance when attempting to convince the camera to “shoot left.” Disconcertingly, the 70mai Dash Cam Omni instead decided to “vlog mode” me, although in fairness, the radio was switched on, so perhaps the command was distorted.
The result is pleasing enough, if a little frivolous. But again, it’s a distracting feature that serves no real purpose. The mode only lasts a few seconds, so on one hand, it may not distract you; on the other hand, you might demand more time from it, which in turn…
You get the idea. And frankly, this isn’t a good one.
Viewing Footage From the 70mai Dash Cam Omni
The various footage types are stored in individual folders. So, there is a folder for standard footage, stills, “events” (automatic detection and those initiated by commands), and even vlogs.
One of the key features of this device is that there is no removable media. That’s right—no microSD card to eject and drop! MicroSD flash isn’t the most reliable media around, even with the advanced error correction available these days.
Some dashcams offer additional internal storage for holding footage in the event of card corruption. The 70mai Dash Cam Omni, as noted from the device specification, has built-in eMMC storage.
This provides 32GB of storage space, which isn’t a huge amount, even when recording at 1080p. For example, you wouldn’t get a whole day’s travel recorded without relying on time-lapse mode.
With GPS enabled, you should see a representation of your journey in the app. However, I found that all this did was draw a line on the downloaded footage, even with a Wi-Fi connection to my router established in place of the dashcam’s hotspot. With no actual map, it’s a bit useless.
Another thing is an “RS” visual effect mode, which spruces up the viewed videos (both streamed from the dashcam and when downloaded if desired). It’s okay to look at and makes your footage resemble a video game somewhat. While it helpfully displays speed and other information, it’s not particularly attractive.
Nice Dashcam, But a Bit Gimmicky
I really want to like the 70mai Dash Cam Omni. It’s not the smallest dashcam, but it packs a lot into its astromech droid chassis. While I had some frustrations with the positioning of the dashcam, I won’t hold this against the 70mai Dash Cam Omni. No; my main gripe is the distracting face, the slow spinning when interior footage is required, and the silly vlog mode.
The menu on the display is okay, but not good enough.
I’ve waited years for a dashcam with a decent-sized eMMC storage. That the first one I try is a disappointing novelty.
So, it’s ideal for small cars, and for anyone averse to routing cables around the car’s paneling. The 70mai Dash Cam Omni is a reasonably good dashcam with reliable storage that eschews the use of SD cards.
But its presence in the car is far too intrusive, key features border on the trivial, the ADAS mode is unreliable at best.
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