Vsysto Motorcycle Dash Cam review | A good value unit delivering high-quality images day and night

10

If you are out riding and the worst happens, a dash cam like this one from Vsysto would have you covered and the video evidence would be acceptable to the police, your insurance company, and the courts. Dash cam images taken straight off the memory card don’t lie.

Related: Keeping young riders safe

Why use a dash cam?

Peace of mind, really. We share the roads with everything from two-wheelers to 16-wheelers, pedestrians to wild animals, and every version of human temperament. Somewhere in that mix is the potential for an incident and it’s good to know that we’ve got the evidence if needed. Some insurance companies offer a reduced premium if you have a dash cam installed. If you’re the victim of a road rage incident or had a close call by a dangerous driver you can present that evidence to the police and those drivers may well be prosecuted based on the video evidence.

Also, the fact that they record continuously means you can relive moments from some of your best rides. Even though they’re evidence gathering cameras, not action cameras, some clips can be useful in an edit.

What are the basics of the Vsysto dash cam?

Vsysto is a two-camera dash cam system, with one camera for the front of your motorcycle and the other for the back. Both cameras turn on and begin recording automatically when you power-up your bike, and switch off with the ignition. They record continuously as you ride. The recording loops, so when the memory card is full it goes back to the beginning and overwrites the old files.

How do you use the Vsysto dash cam?

Dash cams have to be wired into your bike’s electrical system – either the ignition or the battery. Once the system is wired in and the cameras, remote controller and the main unit are placed where you want them, you can pretty much forget about the dash cam. There’s nothing you have to do to operate it since it comes on and goes off with the bike. If you need to grab footage for any reason then just take the memory card out of the main unit, download what you need, then put the card back in. That’s basically it.

Related: How to look after your motorcycle’s battery

Are the installation and setup easy?

Since you’ve got to work with different lengths of cable, you’ll need to plan carefully where to put the cameras and the main unit. The cables are colour coded so there’s no guesswork as to which cables plug into which. The user manual has a diagram of the connections. My bike has convenient spots to mount the front and rear cameras, and I placed the main unit under the seat, since it was out of sight and was close to the battery. Because I’m not a motorcycle electrician I did get a friend to help me with the actual wiring into the battery and configuring the unit so it only comes on when the ignition is on. Otherwise every time you plug in your battery optimiser it will power up and begin recording.

(The driver of the car above decided that his light should have been green, not mine, so he drove defiantly across the junction. Luckily I saw him making his move so I waited)

What are the key features of the Vsysto dash cam?

The cameras record in 1080p which is full High Definition and is fine for collecting evidence. You’ll be able to see vehicles and their number plates clearly, and the 150° field of view gives you a nice wide angle image. If you were to have an accident the G-sensor feature would detect the collision and lock the footage on the memory card so it’s not lost by the sudden impact.

Like most dash cams, Vsysto supports loop recording. You’ll have the option to record videos in loops of 1/2/3/5 minutes, and when the SD card is full the earliest recorded videos will be overwritten, but the locked videos will not. It’s best to get a memory card with a decent amount of storage. I have a 256GB card in mine. 

(The lad above was in deep conversation on his phone whilst strolling across the road and didn’t look once. He obviously heard me gearing down which shook him out of his dream state so he reluctantly broke into a gentle jog)

The cameras are waterproof up to IP67 and the main unit up to IP65. The Night Vision function is acceptable in most cases, but not to the standard of a 4K action camera. This model is not GPS-enabled so you’ll have to purchase that as an optional extra.

How easy is the app to use?

The Vsysto app is available from both the App Store and Google Play. Once you’ve downloaded it connect your phone to the unit’s wifi, which begins with ‘MotoDV_…’ and then some letters and numbers after it. The universal password is: 1234567890. You’ll then get the home screen where you can preview the positioning of both cameras.

Using the phone app you can access the ‘Device’ tab to manually record a video loop or take a photo; check out your recordings via the ‘Online’ tab; access any recordings you’ve downloaded to your phone via the ‘Local’ tab; and make adjustments in the ‘Settings’ tab, such as how long you want each recording loop.

My verdict

At half the price of some other motorcycle dash cams on the market I think the Vsysto motorcycle dash cam is good value. The quality of the recorded images on both cameras is crisp and clear and you can take still images on both front and rear cameras with the little wired controller. Those images are then locked and can’t be written over if needed as evidence. As a bonus, I often use bits of the Vsysto footage to supplement clips from my action cameras.

Our scores explained

When we review a product, we award it a score out of five. In the ratings tab of a given product, you may also find more specific scores for the different aspects of a product’s performance to help you make an informed decision. Here’s a guide to what each number score means:

• 1 star – Poor performance in this category or overall. A product with a single star rating has fallen below the expected standard and should be avoided.
• 2 stars – Basic performance in this area or overall. A product with a two-star rating has managed to perform to a barely acceptable level and there is room for improvement.
• 3 stars – An average performance in this area or overall. A product with a three-star rating has achieved a basic level of performance and is deemed adequate.
• 4 stars – A product has performed over and above the accepted averaged in this category or overall. A product with a four-star rating has surpassed expectation and delivered in a particularly impressive way.
• 5 stars – A product has performed at the highest possible level in a particular category or overall. A product with a five-star rating has delivered to the highest possible level, impressing the tester with its performance. We would happily spend our own money on it.

- Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us.