Summary
Highlights
The unboxing of the BlackVue ELITE 9 reveals a 4K front camera with a Sony Starvis 2 sensor and a QHD rear camera with a Starvis 2 sensor. The box also includes a quick start guide, a bag of accessories like a pry tool, adhesive pads, a dual-port cigar lighter adapter, cable clips, and a micro SD card. Essential cables provided are a USB-C power cable, a hardwire cable, and a new 6Gbps cable for connecting the front and rear cameras, designed for the higher bitrate of the QHD rear camera.
The ELITE 9 boasts a 4K front camera and a QHD rear camera, both with HDR recording and Sony Starvis 2 sensors (IMX 678 for front, 675 for rear). A faster chipset significantly enhances image quality and fine-tunes the image signal processor. It features 12-bit recording for 68 billion colors, resulting in more true-to-life footage, even when compressed to 8-bit. The dash cam supports HEVC (High-Efficiency Video Coding) for better quality and smaller file sizes, and HDR for superior nighttime recording and detail preservation in varied lighting. It also supports up to 1TB microSD cards.
The standout Power Saving Parking Mode allows the ELITE series to consume less than 1 milliamp of current, virtually eliminating battery drain. With its fast boot feature, the dash cam starts recording in under 1 second upon impact detection, then returns to power-saving mode. This mode also generates no heat, making it ideal for hot climates. The ELITE 9 includes high-temperature protection, automatically shutting down to prevent damage and restarting when temperatures normalize.
BlackVue Cloud offers push notifications for impacts on parked vehicles and remote live viewing from anywhere. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi hotspots or the CM 100G LTE module with a physical SIM card. While in Power Saving Parking Mode, remote live view is not immediately available, but upon an impact, the camera wakes up, uploads footage to the cloud, and allows for live viewing during the upload process before returning to sleep.
Optional accessories include the CPL filter, which reduces dashboard reflections on the windshield, though it's not recommended for night use due to light reduction. The remote button allows for manual event flagging while driving. A tamper-proof mount replaces the standard mount to secure cables and the micro SD card. For parking mode, the OBD2 power cable offers simple plug-and-play installation for automatic parking mode activation. The hardwire kit provides a specialized cable with five types of fuse taps for connecting to a vehicle's fuse box, enabling automatic parking mode control based on ignition status. The BlackVue Ultra battery (B-130A) powers the dash cam when the ignition is off, preventing drain on the car's battery and extending parking mode duration significantly, up to a year with power-saving mode.
For existing BlackVue users, power cables from models with 'X' in their name (e.g., 750X, 970X) are reusable with the ELITE 9. However, for optimum performance and signal clarity, it is highly recommended to use the new 6Gbps coaxial video cable included with the ELITE 9, even if older cables might technically work in a pinch.