70mai 4K Omni review: the rotating dashcam that watches your car for you
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A clever rotating camera, strong night footage and full-time parking surveillance make this one of the smartest dashcams you can buy right now
I've lost count of the number of dashcams I've tested over the years. Some are brutally basic, some have an array of gadgets and features you'll never use, and then one comes along that surprises you.
It's the 70mai 4K Omni, and it's not the sort of dashcam I'd usually get excited about. I like small, simple, inexpensive dashcams, and they're the ones I choose to use in my own car.
I can't usually see the point in spending hundreds of pounds on what often turn out to be gimmicks. As long as it's got a decent image sensor, and it's accompanied by a good app, that's basically all I need.
The 70mai 4K Omni is far from basic. And it's far from cheap. In fact it's currently £239.99 on Amazon - if you can catch a limited-time deal. Normally it’s £299.99.
It's also quite a bulky thing. Shaped a bit like a Minion, it occupies quite a bit of space on the windscreen, and there's a small rear camera included, which will need to be mounted on the rear window.
But it's large because it's actually very clever. And not just clever in a "laced with gimmicks" way, it's clever because it has one amazing feature. It rotates.
And that means you have one of the best parking guards of any dashcam. Because when you leave your car unattended, it not only records a front and rear view, but it can pan around the front view in 360 degrees, watching any baddies who happen to be circling your vehicle.
It will then let you know, when you get back into the car, on its clever little screen, that there's been something fishy going on, and you can instantly watch it back in the app.
This is honestly such a clever feature, because anyone snooping around will see the bright red light to let them know they're being watched, and they'll also be able to see the camera panning around the base of the dashcam, so they know there's nowhere to hide.
The pan feature also lets you record the inside of your vehicle while you're driving. With a voice control you can turn it around and record your passenger doing something silly, or capture footage of your dog being cute. I'm sure there are more practical reasons for panning the camera on the move, but I can't think of any right now.
And then there’s the video quality. You'd expect a decent quality image from a 4K dashcam, and it does deliver, but it also uses the Sony Starvis 2 sensor, which is fast becoming the gold standard. It means footage is crisp and clear, it responds well to low lighting conditions, and it will give you the best possible chance of reading a number plate at a distance. Which can be the crucial element we all need from a dashcam.
The rear camera is only a 1080p unit, but it's nice and small, and it rotates on its sticky base to give you a decent view. Of course, the main camera can be pointed backwards, but it's better suited to monitoring the interior and the perimeter of the car.
To get the best out of the 70mai's