Test of the 70mai M300 video recorder, which the screen abandoned in favor of the application

Many video recorders came to us for tests, but so far none of them even resembled the 70mai M300 model. This video recorder without its own screen at a low price has combined interesting possibilities, although it looks like a simple rear window camera.

The company 70mai derived from Xiaomi has already positively surprised us with the model A400 and today it will try to do the same with the much cheaper M300 model, which you can buy for PLN 199, and even cheaper as part of the promotion. It may not be the cheapest video recorder of the company, because this title should be bought for PLN 179, but there are a lot of common physical features between these two models, and the most important difference comes down to the quality of the recordings. But let’s start from the beginning.

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What is hidden in the 70mai DashCam M300 video recorder?

70mai sells the M300 video recorder in a characteristic black box with golden accents. It definitely creates the brand image on the market, because it is distinguished by the packaging itself.

Inside it, in addition to the video recorder itself, you will find two electrostatic pieces of foil, an additional double-sided tape, user manual (also in Polish), a long cable in a rubber USB-A cover for microUSB and a plug for a car charger with a USB port.

The form of the M300 itself is interesting, because it has been reduced to a small metal cylinder mounted on a stand with a simple “up-down” adjustment, which is locked with a screw. On the cylinder itself there is a lens and a loudspeaker in the front, and the rear only has a simple sticker. On the left side of the 70mai it used a multifunction button, microphone and a function diode, and on one there was a power port, a MicroSD card slot and a hidden reset button. There are also air vents on the top and bottom.

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Installation of the 70mai M300 in the car is quick and efficient, because after running the cable under the upholstery (we can use the car USB port, for which you should get a huge plus), just stick the electrostatic foil behind the mirror and stick the dash cam stand in the middle of it.

Depending on your luck, the foil can be peeled off the glass several times, but its adhesion decreases each time it is peeled off. Finally, we set the slope of the M300 not by eye, but using the application available for Android and iOS, with which we connect using the built-in Wi-Fi module. This one is our “command center” due to the lack of a screen on the video recorder itself, which in my opinion is a great solution.

I use the screens of my video recorders, first of all, only during the first configuration and then I forget about them, so saving on the screen and menu with an extensive application is quite acceptable. Of course, unless in your case you do not need a screen built into the webcam.

Although 70mai does not require us to download the application (even the card format can be done with a combination of the main button clicks), but it is worth installing. Not only to set the perfect direction of the camera, but also to view photos or recordings of the video recorder, adjust the most important settings, including the sensitivity of the shock sensor, loop recording (recordings can last 1, 2 or 3 minutes), or activation of the microphone. Importantly, the M300 can also act as a watchman after parking, and although it has a 240 mAh battery, for this function it requires an additional paid adapter for PLN 79, which must be plugged into the car’s electrical system.

70mai M300 recordings

What you need to distinguish the M300 video recorder for is definitely the resolution in which it saves recordings. It is not the traditional Full HD (1920 × 1080), but the resolution of 2304 x 1296, which provides higher detail of materials. The 3-Mpx matrix of this model is placed under the lens with a 140-degree angle of view and F / 2.1 aperture, and the M300 software further improves the quality through noise-canceling technology and WDR support.

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So much in theory. In practice, this works out as follows:

Is it worth buying the 70mai M300?

The 70mai company definitely provides a breath of fresh air on the video recorder market, while being not some niche company, but a break from Xiaomi. The tested 70mai M300 model, as expected, turned out to be an interesting choice up to PLN 200, as long as you do not take offense at the lack of a control panel on the video recorder itself and swallow using the smartphone application.

However, this is what made the M300 so interesting, because thanks to the savings it allowed to raise the resolution over Full HD. However, this, unfortunately, does not significantly improve the overall quality, which is tormented by significant noises, visible mainly in the daylight, which at night makes it impossible to read the license plates of even parked cars while driving. It does not sound good, but for a video recorder for PLN 199, the matter is not that bad.