We had the opportunity to try out a new dash camera provided by PAPAGO!. Their latest creation, the GoSafe S30, was the perfect addition to one of our test vehicles on a journey to the traffic-filled Atlanta, Georgia area.
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For some time, we have wanted to try out a dashcam but many offerings didn’t provide a simple plug-and-play solution. Moreover, many of the dashcams of yesterday were bulky and seemed rather inviting for thieves. Fortunately, for us, PAPAGO! reached out and offered their latest Dashcam featuring Sony’s Exmor chipset for consistently clear and high definition imagery.
The PAPAGO! GoSafe S30 dashcam captured clear images in full 1080p resolution at 30 frames-per-second (720p at 60 frames-per-second). The imagery, much more concise than we thought it would be, had enough detail to make out vehicle license plates, something that is essential in our book. After all, what’s the point in having a dashcam if you cannot make out the plates of vehicles in front of you?
The dashcam craze is heating up and for good reason. While I won’t divulge on the several media-specific reasons for having a dashcam, many of them are obvious and provide a peace of mind in knowing that in the event of an accident or witness to unfortunate circumstances on the road, you have video evidence that can be utilized in higher courts.
PAPAGO! has been in the business for providing dashcams since 2011. Since their conception and reach to the USA, PAPAGO! has gone through many revisions of their latest dashcam tech. In that, the latest S30 unit is as simple as I have seen. The plug, play, and go aspects of the new S30 are just what I want in a dashcam – no hassle with fine-tuning a camera nor allotting the countless hours of worrying if the dashcam is capturing video as I drive.
The many features and settings of the PAPAGO! GoSafe S30 prove a high level of versatility wrapped up in a surprisingly small package. Apart from high resolution video quality, the S30 offers a 2-inch color screen for live viewing and configuration of its settings, the ability to have up to a 64gb microSD card, automatic recording, G-sensor bump-security functions, driver assistance safety features (Stop and Go, light reminder, driver fatigue warning, stop sign recognition, motion detection) and nearly instantaneous EV value adjustments for bight days, cloudy skies and nighttime driving. I found that use of the stop sign recognition driver assistance safety feature to be somewhat of a hit or miss. Apart from that, the motion detection worked flawlessly when a live power source was provided in my vehicle.
The automatic recording of the S30 enabled a continuous use of the MicroSD Card where it would record videos in five minute increments. Once the card if filled, the camera will automatically start over and record over the oldest video file. Unfortunately, the video intervals cannot be changed. Use of a 64gb card should allow for up to 10 hours of video recording. The convenience of the far left button on the screen can mark a video to be saved in the emergency folder for quick access when retrieving videos.
What took me when first opening up the neatly-packed box of the S30 is how small the main unit is (2.16″ x 2.12″ x 1″) making it a seamless fixture to your windshield, or directly behind your rearview mirror. Being lightweight and compact make the S30 more discrete so onlookers or “curious minds” don’t get a wise idea of committing a thieving crime.
In all, the PAPAGO! GoSafe S30 is a decent value retailing for about $165. With that, you get two adjustable mounts (suction cup mount and 3M adhesive sticky pad mount), an exceptionally long USB power/data cord, cigarette lighter USB power adapter, and an 8GB MicroSD Card with SD Card adapter. The extra-long USB power/data cord came in handy for routing the cord out-of-the-way for a clean installation.
