Review: Mio MiVue 388 Digital Drive Recorder

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Review: Mio MiVue 388 Digital Drive Recorder

Dash cams are quite popular in Russia where the videos recorded through these devices are used as evidence in the court of law in case of accidents. Companies have now started targeting the Middle East as a potential market for such devices. One of such companies is Mio, which is quite popular in this region for its GPS devices. The company has now launched the Mio MiVue 388 Digital Drive Recorder, which is a GPS-enabled video recording device for your car.

Review Central received the Mio MiVue 388 Drive Recorder for review and we took it out for a spin on a dark, rainy day. Many countries around the world have made it a norm to have a camcorder rolling in your car at all times such as Russia. This is because in such countries, victims of the accident usually face frequent claims of fault by people who deliberately caused such accidents to extort money or defraud insurance companies. While this may not necessarily be the case in the Middle East, it sometimes does happen from time to time.

Mio 388 - 3

In such a scenario, a device such as the MiVue 388 could really come in handy. And the device has got some bells and whistles, too. For starters, there’s video recording up to 1080p and 13Mbits per second. Then there’s GPS tracking that allows video footage to be tagged with speed, location, altitude and heading data. Being GPS-enabled means the Mio MiVue 388 knows where it is at all times. Add in a speed camera database and awareness of local speed limits and you can be warned when approaching cameras and provided with a reference of the maximum permissible speed.

In addition, the Mio MiVue 388 also comes with a g-sensor built-in which has been designed to effectively detect sudden motions such as impacts during accidents and emergency steering inputs. Then Mio MiVue 388 also has a 2.4-inch display, which is mainly useful for ensuring you have the camera pointing in the optimal direction. Rounding out the main feature set is mini HDMI for hooking up the Mio MiVue 388 directly to an HDTV.

Mio 388 - 2

What’s missing though is a USB cable that is required to connect the MiVue 388 to a computer if you want to transfer the videos onto the PC or an external storage device. The MiVue 388 uses a micro-SD card to record the videos in two video lengths – you can choose the video clips to be either 3-minutes long or 5-minutes long. While the device in itself has a GPS receiver built in, it doesn’t have any mapping facilities. The lens of the device has a 120-degree angle of view, so it captures quite a bit of what is happening either side of the car, as well as what is in front.

As mentioned earlier, the MiVue 388 uses a micro-SD card to record video clips. We used SanDisk’s Extreme Pro microSDHC UHS-I card (reviewed here separately) with a storage capacity of 8GB to test the MiVue 388 DDR. Using the device is a walk in the park – the device is quite intuitive to use. However, once, the storage is full, the device will simply start recording over the earliest files. So you will lose these, but won’t ever miss an event that has just occurred. Audio is also recorded, so you could narrate instructions as you drive, or create an audiovisual tour of an area.

MiVue Manager 1

The MiVue 388 also pops up warnings on the screen to tell you when you are approaching a speed camera and if you have exceeded the speed limit on a certain road. The MiVue 388 uses your car’s power output to charge itself. The device can also be charged using a separate USB cable and by connecting it to a computer. However, if you are on a long drive, you might want to use an adapter to power a sat-nav at the same time, if you want to use one for navigation.

The MiVue 388 also comes with brilliant software called MiVue Manager, which lets you browse the contents of the Drive Recorder, and play each clip back without having to copy it to a local drive first. Since the clips have been recorded alongside the GPS location, you can watch your progress on a map as the video plays back. In addition, you can also back up your Mio MiVue 388 Drive Recorder files locally using a USB cable, grab screenshots, and export the geographical data as KML files, which will allow it to be imported into applications such as Google Earth.

MiVue Manager 2

While the product in itself is quite intriguing – it’s incredibly easy to setup and use. It really is just a case of shoving in a memory card, sticking it to your windscreen and plugging in the power. Everything else is automatic. The video quality is good enough, the speed camera warnings work as advertised and the management software is a pleasant addition. You might want to buy this device if you want to be able to record journeys while on the road or use it as a backup proof in case you are involved in an accident.

Price: AED 749

Specifications:

  • Speed Camera Alerts
  • GPS Tracking
  • Advanced optics
  • Parking Mode
  • Event recording mode
  • G-Sensor
  • 120º viewing angle
  • HD Output
  • 1080p Full HD Recording
  • Rechargable Lithium Battery 470mAH
  • MiVue Manager

 

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