Black Box B40 A118-C Review - Spy Tec A118C Dash Cam
June 4, 2023 by John Booth
In 2014, a manufacturer named Tiesfong created a dash camera called the A118-C. This is a Chinese company and has recently abandoned the customer support for all their dash cameras. This dash cam has been sold under various names Black Box B40, Tiesfong B40, Skyview G6, and Spy tec A118 C. The product has some good aspects, but not many.
A strange thing about the A118-C, is that it doesn’t come with a mount for your car’s windshield. The company advises you to use sticky tape instead. For those of you who aren’t dash cam experts, that’s a huge no-no.
Now, let’s dive into my experience after using this camera for one whole month. I’ll review what’s good and what’s wrong with the product. Before we start, I’d like to stress this product is not as great as some people think.
Pros
- Form Factor Build Quality
- Low Price
- Front and Rear View Mirror Option
Cons
- Terrible G-Sensor
- Doesn't come with Micro SD Card
- Motion Detection didn't work
- Night Time Night Vision Horrible
- Power cord doesn't work for Parking Mode
- Cheap Build Quality
- Not Full HD
- Breaks after a few months
Product Highlights
My Experience with the Black Box B40 A118-C Dash Cam
When I first purchased the Black Box B40 A118-C, I was drawn in by the inexpensive camera. I thought it would be a great addition, capable of being positioned directly under my rear view mirror. With that being said, my excitement turned to disappointment within a day of using it.
I was hoping the night vision would help me capture clear footage on dark roads but it had extremely poor performance. For a company that boasts about their versatile mini video camera 170 super wide angle product, the video quality was awful.
It was difficult to make out important details in the recordings, especially at night, which defeated the whole purpose of me buying a dash cam in the first place. It all started with storage problems due to the size of the video files.
Takeaway: Video files are massive because of the obscure video format, which made managing them a hassle.
The cameras loop recording feature is supposed to overwrite old footage with new video when the storage is full. However, it didn’t always work and was very glitchy, causing me to lose some important recordings.
If you still decide to give this dash camera a try, I suggest quality SD card to ensure the best possible performance. However, even with a good SD card you’ll still get problems from the G-Sensor, which is supposed record video when impact is detected. Upon dismantling the A118 C, I found that it’s created with a low-quality G-Sensor.
The video output, when connected to my computer, was equally disappointing, making it difficult to review the footage on large screen.
Finally, the included adhesive mount system was a pain to work with. The camera didn’t come with a proper mount, so I had to rely on the adhesive to stick it to the windshield. This made it difficult to adjust or remove the camera when needed.
Overall, my experience with the Black Box B40 A118-C Dash Cam was filled with frustration.
Takeaway: I’d recommend looking at alternate dash cams that have received better ratings from the Dash Cam Discount team.
Features
The marketing team made several claims on the sales page this product. Some of the claims were: Rear view mirror video camera 170 super wide angle dash cam, advanced loop recording, unique form factor, 1080p HD video quality night vision capable of seeing license plates, and image sensor with motion detection while in parking mode. Let’s examine these claims one-by-one to see if they match up with my experience.
Poor Video Quality
The A118-C claims to use 1080p resolution for recording, which in retrospect is a sweet siren song that lured me into its trap. During daytime, the video quality is decent at best, a pale imitation of what I had envisioned.
At night, it was worse. Even with night vision mode enabled, the video quality is horrible. Each video segment, a fragment of my journey, was barely recognizable due to the huge shadows in the footage. The video samples I collected during my time using the A118-C dash cam were trapped in a video format and file size way too large for no reason!
The A118-C falls in the lower price range: cheaper than the G1W and more expensive than the Mini 0805. Its viewing angle is pretty large, which should’ve been a blessing, but instead, it cast a noticeable fish-eye appearance. I couldn’t see license plates in the footage, a crucial detail that was lost to the distorted lens.
Additionally he A118-C doesn’t have HD composite audio as claimed. Each license plate that passed wasn’t visible due to the camera’s unforgiving lens distorted clarity. It didn’t offer any stealthy mounting options, forcing me to rely on the included adhesive mount system. A stealthy mounting system is a great tool to prevent thieves from stealing your dash cam.
Related Post: Do People Steal Dash Cams?
Odd Video Files and Storage
The A118-C offers an adjustable setting where the length of video files can be set from 1 to 5 minutes. While this is now essentially standard among dash cams, it still offers some level of customization. The A118-C uses an Aptina AR0330 CMOS sensor and a Novatek NT96650 processor, creating the hardware foundation for the camera’s operation. With a 1.5-inch screen, the device seems like it has the potential to be a reliable companion on the road.
However, the G-Sensor records at roughly 15 mb per second, causing the storage to fill up rapidly. The A118-C is designed to function with a micro SD card of up to 32MB, but this size quickly becomes insufficient when dealing with large video files from the fish-eye lens.
A118C Firmware Issues
I ran into several firmware issues when using this dash cam. With the dash cam being released in 2014, the firmware that comes pre-installed is completely outdated. The device also features a parking mode, but with limited storage, it becomes a struggle to manage the recordings effectively.
The A118-C doesn’t work with a 64 mb memory card due to the card reader cap, restricting users to the default setting. This issue, combined with the low build quality, significantly hampers the overall experience. The power source, a battery version that comes with a USB cable, seems to be a weak link in the device’s specifications chipset.
Spy Tec A118-C Dash Cam Verdict
1.75 out of 5
1.75/5
In summary, despite the A118-C’s attempt to provide a decent dash cam experience with customization options, the odd video files and storage constraints hinder its performance. For the several reasons listed in this article, I’m rating this dash cam a 1.75 out of 5 stars.
The camera’s potential is stifled by its limitations, ultimately making it a less-than-ideal choice for those seeking reliable documentation of their drives. The G-Sensor didn’t work well whenever I had to suddenly brake and other events that should cause locking of recordings directly.
All in all, the A118C performed similar to the mini 0826 and Splashetech Mini 0806 in terms of performance. They all have one thing in common, they’re advertised as cheap dash cameras with above average recording capabilities. But from my experience, the A118-C didn’t have the power to back up its absurd marketing claims.
About Post Author
John Booth, CETma
John is our go-to guy for all the technical aspects of a dash cam. He's a happily retired Master Certified Electronics Technician (CETma) and pours his tech-loving soul into writing for Dash Cam Discount.
John's crazy about dash cams & thinks everyone should have one for road safety. He's breaks down the technical jargon into easy actionable advice. Contact him directly via his Reddit account or through email.
See authors posts
1 thought on “Black Box B40 A118C Review – Spy Tec A118-C Dash Cam”