INNOVV K2 Review

[Nexus]

I just installed my k2 about 3 weeks ago and so far so good. Picture quality is very good from both cameras and also look good at night. Installation was fairly straight forward. No battery issues to speak of ('cept while I was installing/testing) and the bike sat for about 5 days at one stretch.

The only issue I have right now is that it randomly sends files to the PARK folder (even while not parked). I guess I'll try changing the sensitivity and/or disabling the park feature to see if it helps.

 

[Grabcon]

I bought two of these for the wife and I. The installation was a piece of cake, both my VFR1200x and the wife's BMW F700GS have sub-harnesses that have switched circuits tying into those make life easy. The only issue I have is that I cannot get the wife's phone to connect to her unit through wifi. My phone works on both units so I did get things set up. I elected not to have the park function on so that is off along with the G-sensor. With the park and G-sensor off there is no battery drain.

The initial videos look good, in fact good enough to show my tip over where I broke my leg. So I have front and rear on both bikes just need to get it all put together in a video showing what happened. LOL you guys won't see it though.

Having 10 minutes clips is fine for a working size in my editing software.

 

[cjames431]

I bought two of these for the wife and I. The installation was a piece of cake, both my VFR1200x and the wife's BMW F700GS have sub-harnesses that have switched circuits tying into those make life easy. The only issue I have is that I cannot get the wife's phone to connect to her unit through wifi. My phone works on both units so I did get things set up. I elected not to have the park function on so that is off along with the G-sensor. With the park and G-sensor off there is no battery drain.

The initial videos look good, in fact good enough to show my tip over where I broke my leg. So I have front and rear on both bikes just need to get it all put together in a video showing what happened. LOL you guys won't see it though.

Having 10 minutes clips is fine for a working size in my editing software.

Oh, please, sir. Show us the video (Oliver Twist voice).

 

[ST Gui]

Oh, please, sir. Show us the video (Oliver Twist voice).

If he does I hope he observes the courtesy of a 'Fair Warning!' I had the misfortune back in '85 to see the Taylor vs Theisman play and that cured me forever of seeing videos of everything except dogs and cats!

 

[cjames431]

If he does I hope he observes the courtesy of a 'Fair Warning!' I had the misfortune back in '85 to see the Taylor vs Theisman play and that cured me forever of seeing videos of everything except dogs and cats!

I am young enough to not know that production, but with that fair warning I think I will go look at puppies or kittens on YouTube. I just need to remember I’m only a click away from the scary stuff

 

[ST Gui]

Reviving an old thread...

@SupraSabre - given the time you've spent on a lengthy commute and your experience with the INNOVV K2 - do you have a recommendation for a particular brand and size of mSD card? Obviously because of the looping capability the size isn't particularly critical.

For the moment I'm looking at the Samsung Pro Endurance 64G card based on the one data point of Car Cam Central. But I'm aware that some cameras don't play well with some brands of cards even though the specs seem appropriate. Any hints or kinks you've experienced? Any other thoughts on the K2 come to mind?

 

[SupraSabre]

Reviving an old thread...

@SupraSabre - given the time you've spent on a lengthy commute and your experience with the INNOVV K2 - do you have a recommendation for a particular brand and size of mSD card? Obviously because of the looping capability the size isn't particularly critical.

For the moment I'm looking at the Samsung Pro Endurance 64G card based on the one data point of Car Cam Central. But I'm aware that some cameras don't play well with some brands of cards even though the specs seem appropriate. Any hints or kinks you've experienced? Any other thoughts on the K2 come to mind?

I'm not even sure what card I have, but I think it's a SD 128?

 

[ad.hom]

From past conversations, my commute is about the same as Bob's. I don't have the INNOV unit, but do run a camera both on the bike and in the car.

Both of mine are happily using 64Gb Class 10 cards, and recording at 1080p@30fps. Higher resolution or frame rate increases the space you need, but when looping, anything more than 4Gb just means that you get to keep a number of iterations on the card. I think I get about an hour before it starts to overwrite.

You'll want Class 10 for the read/write speed, and honestly, go as big as you can afford & the manufacturer says will work (though usually, above their limit also works fine). Over time, the cards will start to fail due to the repeated overwriting. I'm on my 3rd card in the car, and the camera is starting to report corruption (well known brand, it's just a fact of life for SD cards).

 

[ST Gui]

You'll note the card in my link is a Class 10 U1. The K2 will take up to 256G but it'll take me a very long while to write a 64G card into corruption.

 

[Daboo]

In my experience, just relying on a Class 10 card, didn't work.

I bought the Halocam M1 a couple years ago now. It's purchased on Amazon and if you're familiar with Amazon, they often offer a bundle of things to purchase with your product. In this case, it was a Samsung EVO SD card. I thought that if it was bundled together with the camera, it must be designed to go with the camera. So I bought the Samsung EVO card as well.

Initial video from the dash cam came out looking great, but then I started getting corrupted video. To make a long story short, it turns out the vendor has no say about what Amazon bundles with their product, and the Samsung EVO card was not a good SD card for the camera. I did some testing, and I don't remember the numbers, but the data throughput with the size of files a dash cam makes...sucked. It was incredibly slow. Someone on a forum who had the same issue, found that Samsung actually said the card was not designed for dash cams. I ended up with a Sandisk Extreme Pro that has worked perfectly.

Bottom line...don't just go by the speed class. Do your homework.

Here's pictures of both. I think you'll find they both look good for use in a dash cam...but one wasn't, and one was.


Chris

 

[ST Gui]

Do your homework.

FFS I've been doing it. You just haven't noticed. To recap I post a link to a recommended C10 U1 card then "you'll want a C10. No kidding. I note the card of choice is a C10 and a link to why I'm looking at it. Then you tell me don't rely on just the speed as though I was. Did you find a problem with the Sammi I'm looking at?

A C10 where you start for high res video. Then I went a specific brand and model that's been tested and well reviewed. As neither one of the cards you show are the card I'm looking at I won't find whatever it is your hinting at because I won't be looking.

 

[Daboo]

The comment, "do your homework" was a generic "you". Not you specifically. And the comment about the speed was more for the edification of others who will read this thread, and not for you specifically. You found a card that worked. I just related an experience where I (a) trusted Amazon, and (b) was fooled into thinking I had a SD card that was plenty fast enough. I learned my lesson somewhat painfully. I was hoping that others would learn from that experience and not do something similar.

Sorry, Robert. Nothing was meant against anything you wrote.

Chris

 

[jfheath]

Bumping an old thread. I remember reading this in its early days, but I've just read all 5 pages. Thanks Bob - @SupraSabre - for posting with so much detail.

My current bullet cameras are dying. I had 4 and two have now failed, so I am looking for replacements. They have to be hard wired to come on with ignition. I think for the 3 wire issue with the K2, I would try connecting red to an 'on with accessories', and then just have a switch to turn the yellow trigger wire on and off. The problem would be remembering to turn it on after starting the engine and turning it off at least 10 seconds before turning off the ignition. Or simply connect red and yellow and sacrifice the last 10 minute file of every ride. I dont like the idea of a permanent live connection.

Can I ask - how are the wires secured to the cameras, gps unit and DVR. Are they secure or are they all hard wired together. I ask because my very first Dvr was an excellent unit, but it had simple USB connectors at the end of the camera cable which just plugged in to the DVR. They were always a problem as they moved and eventually the contacts became unreliable.

Its 2+ years later now. Are you still pleased with the InnovvK2 ?

John

 

[SupraSabre]

Bumping an old thread. I remember reading this in its early days, but I've just read all 5 pages. Thanks Bob - @SupraSabre - for posting with so much detail.

My current bullet cameras are dying. I had 4 and two have now failed, so I am looking for replacements. They have to be hard wired to come on with ignition. I think for the 3 wire issue with the K2, I would try connecting red to an 'on with accessories', and then just have a switch to turn the yellow trigger wire on and off. The problem would be remembering to turn it on after starting the engine and turning it off at least 10 seconds before turning off the ignition. Or simply connect red and yellow and sacrifice the last 10 minute file of every ride. I dont like the idea of a permanent live connection.

Can I ask - how are the wires secured to the cameras, gps unit and DVR. Are they secure or are they all hard wired together. I ask because my very first Dvr was an excellent unit, but it had simple USB connectors at the end of the camera cable which just plugged in to the DVR. They were always a problem as they moved and eventually the contacts became unreliable.

Its 2+ years later now. Are you still pleased with the InnovvK2 ?

John

Actually, I am still VERY satisfied with my K2 set up, it still works great! Unlike the K1s I had (I still have them, but I don't use them.)

The connections are Type C USB connectors, but they have a set screw to connect them to the DVR, which is operated with a phone app, that works very well. The other end of the cable is connected directly to the camera. Each camera has it's own cable & connector.

INNOVV K2

I just looked at their website and they updated the K2 to INNOVV K3. (No longer selling the K2), but the improvements look pretty good. They added a remote, for one thing.

And I don't think that the price is that bad considering what a GoPro will set you back!

Also, I never did set up the time delay disconnect for the power to the DVR, I just make sure the bike charger is always connected!

Good luck on your search!

 

[jfheath]

Brilliant - many thanks for replying.

My current bullet cameras turn on with ignition, but they have a rechargable battery so when I turn the ignition off, they get the signal to turn off, but still have power to spend a few seconds to power down properly after the ignition has been turned off.

John

 

[spiderman302]

There is also a INNOVV K5 that has 4K video for the front camera. I would like a GOPRO but It might be nice if it were a hidden camera. hmmm......

 

[Nexus]

I think for the 3 wire issue with the K2, I would try connecting red to an 'on with accessories', and then just have a switch to turn the yellow trigger wire on and off.

I would NOT do it this way. Connect the red wire to the battery, as it's supposed to be, and then 'trigger' the yellow. You can either connect it directly to the accessories or put a switch on it if you want to control when it comes on. The reason I would not have it come on with the accessories the file/video may or may not be saved correctly when the power is turned off. so you could use the last video you recorded. Essentially, when the yellow loses power, the system will stop recording and, properly, close its files. It NEEDS power from the red wire to do this.

Keep in mind that the yellow wire isn't an "instant on" as far as I can tell. The system needs to "boot" up, so it could be several seconds before it actually records.

Can I ask - how are the wires secured to the cameras, gps unit and DVR. Are they secure or are they all hard wired together. I ask because my very first Dvr was an excellent unit, but it had simple USB connectors at the end of the camera cable which just plugged in to the DVR. They were always a problem as they moved and eventually the contacts became unreliable.

So I'm not exactly sure what you are asking but, on the K2, there is a connector for power, a second one for the GPS antenna, and two USB C ports for the cameras. I, accidentally, fried my original unit, so I was able to plug the old (original) cameras directly into the new unit, but the power and GPS connectors have been updated so I had to use the new ones.

 

[jfheath]

Thanks Nexus. I've decided on the K3 and am currently finding places to mount cameras and fit the various components - the recorder, the GPS, the power unit and the cables.

All going well so far. ALthough I'm resorting to mounting things above the wheel arch - I have a Crobin saddle which has space there. I doubt the original seat would allow that fitment thought.

I know what you are saying about the trigger leads. Unlike my previous bullet cameras which had rechargable batteries built in, there is no power to the unit once the ignition is turned off if the unit isn't kept live all of the time. I just don't like to have devices on all of the time when the bike is unattended, if I can help it. My plan was to have the main unit come on with the ignition, and then to have the trigger on a switch that I could turn on 10 seconds later. But that would mean that I would have to remember not to turn off the ignition until after I had turned off the trigger switch. It wasn't going to work - or just sacrifice the last 10 minutes of video, as that file wouldn't close down properly. That would probably screw upt the file allcoation table on the SD card.

So I've decided on a different approach. I have a fused supply to the battery for my battery tender. That is well protected and is always live. I'll connect the K3 to that. Then I can unplug the power whenever I want to, simply by lifting the seat. I'll get some idea how much battery drain is on there. The documentation says that they have circuitry which minimises the drain on the K3, but I'd rather find out at home in the garage than away from home on the campsite or in an hotel's underground car park .

I'll put a review on here when I am done.

 

[SupraSabre]

W

Thanks Nexus. I've decided on the K3 and am currently finding places to mount cameras and fit the various components - the recorder, the GPS, the power unit and the cables.

All going well so far. ALthough I'm resorting to mounting things above the wheel arch - I have a Crobin saddle which has space there. I doubt the original seat would allow that fitment thought.

I know what you are saying about the trigger leads. Unlike my previous bullet cameras which had rechargable batteries built in, there is no power to the unit once the ignition is turned off if the unit isn't kept live all of the time. I just don't like to have devices on all of the time when the bike is unattended, if I can help it. My plan was to have the main unit come on with the ignition, and then to have the trigger on a switch that I could turn on 10 seconds later. But that would mean that I would have to remember not to turn off the ignition until after I had turned off the trigger switch. It wasn't going to work - or just sacrifice the last 10 minutes of video, as that file wouldn't close down properly. That would probably screw upt the file allcoation table on the SD card.

So I've decided on a different approach. I have a fused supply to the battery for my battery tender. That is well protected and is always live. I'll connect the K3 to that. Then I can unplug the power whenever I want to, simply by lifting the seat. I'll get some idea how much battery drain is on there. The documentation says that they have circuitry which minimises the drain on the K3, but I'd rather find out at home in the garage than away from home on the campsite or in an hotel's underground car park .

I'll put a review on here when I am done.

With my K2 unit, it usually took about 1 week for it to drain the battery enough to be too low to start the bike. So it is a slow drain, but enough to irritate one!