Cobra SC 250R Sprint Cam assessment – Safety from the sudden

REVIEW – Who wants a splash cam? Effectively, who is aware of when a automotive accident will occur and whether or not the opposite driver will likely be sincere? You’ll be able to envision a ‘your phrase vs. theirs’ situation. The Cobra SC 250R Sprint Cam got here up for assessment and I used to be desperate to take this product on, primarily as a result of the Cobra identify is a model I acknowledged as a stable high quality radio electronics producer, but in addition as a result of the final sprint cam I reviewed failed after solely 2 years of use and needed to get recycled. I don’t see the Cobra SC 250R assembly that destiny.

What’s it?

The Cobra SC 250R Sprint Cam is a steady loop recording, entrance and rear automotive digicam set, supposed for entrance windshield and rear window mounting.

What’s included?

• Cobra SC 250R Sprint Cam
• Entrance digicam cable, USB-C to automotive accent plug
• Rear digicam
• Rear digicam cable
• 32GB SD card
• Cable administration clips
• Momentary set up movie
• Handbook and Fast begin information

Tech specs

Design and options

• Heads-Up Navigation
• Accent Digicam Succesful
• Loop-Cycle Recording
• 360 Alerts with the Drive Smarter® App
• Emergency Mayday Alert
• Automated Incident Detection & Reviews
• Parking Mode & Movement Detection
• Journey Clips
• Privateness Mode
• Excessive Temperature Safety
• Cloud Video Administration
• Evening Imaginative and prescient (Accent Inside Digicam)
• On-Display Show Languages: English, Spanish, French

The Cobra SC 250R sprint cam may be very nicely designed and constructed. The fabric match and end is superb. It amazes me how Cobra and different sprint cam producers use parts that may stand up to years of excessive temperatures, however it’s a reality. We’re on the finish of our summer time in my space and the SC 250R by no means gave a excessive temperature warning, which it’s outfitted to do. I’d bounce within the automotive to drive and the SC 250R by no means faltered after standing idle in what was most likely 130-140 diploma temperatures.

Whereas the SC 250R would work fantastic with out the companion Drive Smarter app, the app allows you to examine the digicam view in your telephone’s bigger display screen, plus make a number of settings, and consider the gallery of saved recordings your sprint cam has made.

When the SC 250R is on and also you’re driving, the sprint cam is recording entrance and rear view one minute steady recording loops on a rotating foundation.

What occurs within the occasion of a automotive crash? An emergency recording is triggered when the Motion Button is pressed or when the G-Sensor registers a big influence (laborious braking or collision). Emergency Recordings create locked recordsdata that aren’t overwritten by Steady Loop Recording. The SC 250R captures the earlier 30 seconds earlier than the incident and the incident itself. 

Extra on this from the SC 250R handbook:  “Your sprint cam is supplied with a built-in G-Sensor that may detect collisions. If a collision is detected, it robotically secures the recording throughout the incident. Moreover, if the occasion occurs inside 30 seconds of the beginning or finish of a clip, the adjoining recording can be locked. This ensures you all the time have at the least 30 seconds saved earlier than and after the occasion.
You’ll be able to regulate the G-Sensor sensitivity from low to excessive or flip it off. Excessive Sensitivity makes it best to activate the G-sensor, whereas Low Sensitivity solely locks movies within the case of essentially the most extreme impacts.
Movies locked resulting from G-sensor influence detection are saved within the Occasions folder on the SD card.

The SC 250R has a Mayday Notification characteristic. Within the occasion of a considerable G-sensor activation the telephone app will contact your pre-entered emergency contact with a textual content message and an e-mail. 

Cobra set the SC 250R to save lots of looped recordings to 66% of the included 32GB SD card and 34% of its reminiscence is devoted to everlasting storage of emergency recordings made throughout a crash or that you simply take by single-pressing the Motion Button, plus nonetheless photographs and recordings you designate as ‘Favorites’.  Steady loop recording whereas driving won’t overwrite recordings within the Occasions folder. 

Meeting, Set up, Setup

Setup of the Cobra SC 250R is just a matter of deciding the place to position the principle and rear digicam on the entrance and rear window glass and operating the cables to these places. I counsel operating cables earlier than sticking cameras to glass.

I tucked the rear digicam cable into my headliner on the windshield, then down the body to the again of the automotive. For the entrance digicam I ran the cable within the headliner to the passenger aspect, down the window submit to the ground, below the ground mat and up into my elbow relaxation console storage the place I’ve a secondary accent plug.

I discovered the rear digicam cable too quick for a run alongside the ground on the passenger aspect of my automotive. After I tried this setup I needed to mount the rear digicam to the far left of the rear glass as a result of cable shortness. Because of the curvature of the glass, the digicam view was skewed to the left, so this setup didn’t work. Fortunately I had caught the digicam to the short-term electrostatic mounting sheet and it eliminated fairly simply since it really works by cling vs. adhesive.

I subsequent pulled up the cable and tried a run alongside the automotive’s driver aspect flooring. Whereas I used to be in a position to mount the rear digicam extra in the direction of the middle of the rear window glass, I nonetheless couldn’t middle it, and the twine needed to run to the digicam at a forty five diploma angle from the highest of the motive force aspect rear passenger seat straight to the digicam. That’s a tad ugly. Cobra, artwork thou listening? The rear digicam cable isn’t lengthy sufficient, and I solely have a mid-sized sedan.

The rear digicam cable plug is on the left of the digicam, which appears odd as most customers would seemingly need to run the cable alongside the motive force’s aspect of the automotive as a result of minimal cable size. Why isn’t the plug on the appropriate aspect of the rear digicam? This appears a design oversight. The simplest manner for Cobra to repair this drawback is to incorporate an extended rear cable. There’s a danger that homeowners of quick SUVs or crossovers will likely be returning this sprint cam.

You’re pondering why didn’t I mount it with the jack on the appropriate? The rear digicam doesn’t have sufficient adjustment play to purpose out the again window if the jack is positioned on the appropriate. The rear digicam is designed to purpose correctly out the rear glass provided that the ability jack is on the left.

I considered fishing the rear digicam cable inside my headliner with a purpose to mount the rear digicam on the excessive middle of the rear glass, however having simply changed the headliner in my spouse’s automotive, the considered messing one thing up and the price of changing mine made me trash that concept.

Cable clips saved my and my passenger’s ft from disrupting my cable runs. 

Efficiency

Let me first say that Cedar / Cobra Assist was excellent. I made 4 calls throughout my assessment and spoke with 2 totally different people. Jose and Peter actually knew the product inside and outside, and talked me by means of the problems I introduced and the questions I had. Cedar / Cobra retains observe of calls to Assist primarily based on consumer’s telephone numbers so if they should discuss with earlier name notes they will.

The radar detector warning characteristic of the SC 250R sprint cam intrigued me. I found that it really works primarily based on customers of Cobra sprint cams who’ve linked their Cobra radar detectors to their sprint cams by means of the Drive Smarter telephone app, or from customers utilizing their Cobra sprint cam as their GPS. And it does that.

The SC 250R operates equally to Waze or Google Maps. Since my sprint cam is mounted excessive up on the windshield I’d not discover its display screen straightforward or handy to view. However the GPS characteristic is within the SC 250R. I feel you’d want a low windshield mount for the very best view of the GPS maps on the display screen of the SC 250R, however then you definitely’ll be blocking your view out the windshield.

If I’m utilizing the SC 250R for GPS driving path and I denote a velocity entice, like Waze GPS customers can do, then others utilizing their Cobra sprint cam GPS on the identical highway will see the warning that I generated.

However I already use Waze for GPS navigation so I’m not in nice want of the crowd-sourced options of the SC 250R sprint cam.

Right here is an instance of a recording from driving which I initiated by urgent the Motion Button. Please pardon the recorded cough. The SC250R data audio within the automotive too. 

What I like concerning the Cobra SC 250R sprint cam

• Very clear prime quality movies are recorded with entrance and rear cameras
• Digicam OS will not be sophisticated to grasp and function
• Wonderful construct high quality

What must be improved?

• An extended size of cable for the rear digicam will likely be wanted by many customers
• The rear digicam cable plug appears oddly positioned on the left of the digicam

Ultimate ideas

The Cobra SC 250R sprint cam is a solidly made, straightforward to make use of, dependable sprint cam. It by no means failed throughout my testing. Contemplate the Cobra SC 250R, in case you like the worth given its options.

Value: $239.95
The place to purchase: Cobra and Amazon
Supply: The pattern of this product was offered without cost by Cobra, and the corporate didn’t have a closing say on the assessment and didn’t preview the assessment earlier than it was printed.