Viofo

Viofo A119 V3

Name: Viofo A119 V3
Brand: Viofo
Price: 140 USD
Availability: InStock

No rating shown: we have no owner rating for this camera from a source we can cite. Why

Supercapacitor

The A119 V3 is the camera that built Viofo's reputation and it is still on sale largely unchanged. Its distinguishing trick is the sensor aspect ratio: it records 2560x1600 rather than the usual 2560x1440, which is a taller frame than everything around it. In practice that extra 160 lines of height buys you traffic lights at an intersection you are stopped at, and overhead signage, rather than more road. The optical package is a 5MP Sony STARVIS IMX335 behind an f/1.6 lens quoted at 140 degrees. What it does not have is the connectivity everything newer takes for granted: there is no Wi-Fi, so getting footage off it means pulling the card, and no voice control. The GPS logger and the 2-inch screen are built in, power is a supercapacitor with the usual -4 to 149 degree Fahrenheit rating, and parking modes work with the older mini-USB HK3 hardwire cable rather than the Type-C kits the rest of the current line uses. It is the honest budget answer for someone who will happily carry a card reader to the computer.

Approx. price: ~$140
Hot car: Supercapacitor; Supercapacitor, rated to 149°F
Parking tier: Buffered; Hardwire kit optional

Best for

A cheap, proven front camera for someone who does not mind pulling the card to get footage.

The description and the pros and cons above are written from published specifications, not from owner reports. Owner sentiment, where we have it, is in its own section below.

What the numbers mean here

The front camera records 2,560 horizontal pixels across a published 140-degree field of view, which is 18.3 pixels per degree — plate-legible close in. There is no rear channel on this model. How this is calculated, and what it does not tell you.

It runs on a supercapacitor rather than a lithium cell, so there is no battery to swell in a car parked in summer sun — the classic way a windshield-mounted camera dies. The maker publishes an operating range of -4°F to 149°F. Supercapacitors and heat.

Keeps a rolling buffer, so the seconds before an impact are saved as well as the impact itself. It is the most useful parking mode and the hungriest. The hardwire kit is a separate purchase, which is the line item people forget when budgeting. What each parking mode records.

Specifications

Manufacturer-published figures, recorded from Viofo’s own product page and a specialist retailer’s spec table. Fields the maker does not publish are omitted rather than guessed.

Type: Single-channel
Channels: 1
Front resolution: 1600p
Front frame rate: 30fps
Front sensor: Sony STARVIS IMX335
Front field of view: 140° (as published)
Front aperture: f/1.6
HDR: HDR
Power cell: Supercapacitor
Operating temperature: -4°F to 149°F
Parking modes: buffered, time-lapse, low-bitrate, motion
Hardwire kit: optional
GPS: built-in
Wi-Fi: None
LTE / cloud: None
Max storage: 256GB microSD
CPL filter: optional
Screen: 2.0-inch
Voice control: No
Form factor: wedge
Mount: adhesive
Release year: 2020

Features

2560x1600 at 30fps - a taller frame than 1440p cameras
Sony STARVIS IMX335 with an f/1.6 seven-element glass lens
Built-in GPS logger and a 2-inch review screen
Supercapacitor power, -4 to 149 degrees Fahrenheit
Buffered, time-lapse, low-bitrate and motion parking with the mini-USB HK3 cable
microSD cards up to 256GB

Where it is strong

The 2560x1600 sensor crop catches traffic lights and overhead signs that 16:9 cameras cut off
Years of firmware maturity - this is the least surprising camera in the catalog
Supercapacitor and a wide temperature rating at a price where lithium cells are normal
Costs about a third of the flagship and gives up less image quality than the price gap suggests

Where it gives way

No Wi-Fi at all: every clip you want means unplugging the camera or pulling the microSD card
No voice control, and the menus are button-driven
Caps out at a 256GB card, which is tight for continuous 1600p recording
Uses the older mini-USB hardwire cable, so it does not share kits with the current Type-C line
Original STARVIS rather than STARVIS 2 - noticeably noisier on unlit roads than the newer minis

What owners say

Summarised from public owner discussion. Nothing here is our own testing.

The A119 V3 is the camera that built Viofo's reputation and owner discussion reflects that: people who have had one for years recommend it for simplicity, and people who want an app do not buy it. The taller 1600-line frame gets specific praise for catching traffic lights at an intersection you are stopped at, which is a real advantage nobody advertises.

Its failure modes are well documented because so many have been sold. The two that dominate are a camera that will not wake after a cold night, and a late-life pattern of double-beeping with recordings that die after ten to fifteen seconds. Owners work through cards, GPS mounts and cables before concluding the unit itself is finished - typically several years in, which is a fair innings but worth expecting.

Cards are the other recurring theme. This camera is hard on them; owners treat a high-endurance card as a wear item and reformat regularly, and at least one had a premium endurance card die inside three months. If you hardwire it, be deliberate about whether the mini-USB goes to the camera or to the GPS mount, because getting that wrong is what produces the battery-drain reports.

What owners like

The camera longtime owners name when someone asks for simplicity and reliability rather than features
Several owners report years of uneventful service before anything went wrong, which is a longer track record than most of the catalog has
Owners who do not want an app at all treat the absence of Wi-Fi as a feature - the card comes out, the files are there
The taller 2560x1600 frame gets credited for catching traffic lights and overhead signage that 16:9 cameras cut off
Cheap enough that owners routinely buy a second one for another car in the household

Common complaints

The most reported failure is the camera refusing to start after a cold night, which owners see months or years into ownership and which usually signals the power cable or the supercapacitor
A widespread late-life symptom is incessant double-beeping with recordings that stop after ten to fifteen seconds; owners chase it through cards, GPS mounts and power cables and often end up replacing the camera
Memory cards fail in it often enough that owners treat a high-endurance card as a consumable - one reports a Samsung Pro Endurance dying inside three months
Hardwiring is confusing because the mini-USB can go into the camera or into the GPS mount, and owners who choose wrong find the battery draining after a day or two despite the cut-off box
No Wi-Fi means every clip needs the card pulled, which owners who came from a connected camera find genuinely annoying

What owners of the Viofo A119 V3 ask

Why won't my A119 V3 turn on after a cold night?

This is a common late-life symptom. Owners see it first as an intermittent failure to start after the car has sat in the cold overnight, and it usually points at the power cable or a supercapacitor that no longer holds charge in cold weather. Swapping the cable is the cheap thing to try first; if the camera is several years old, it is usually the capacitor.

What does the constant double-beeping mean?

Owners describe a pattern where the camera records for ten to fifteen seconds, stops, and beeps twice, repeating indefinitely. It is normally a card problem, so start with a fresh high-endurance card formatted in the camera. When a new card, a different power path and a factory reset all fail to fix it, owners generally conclude the unit has reached the end of its life.

Where does the mini-USB go when hardwiring?

Into the GPS mount, not the camera, if you want the GPS logger to work while hardwired. Owners who plug the hardwire cable straight into the camera body lose GPS and, in some setups, the parking-mode power management - which is what produces the reports of a battery draining after 24 to 36 hours despite an inline cut-off.

Does it have Wi-Fi?

No. The A119 V3 has a GPS logger and a screen but no Wi-Fi radio and no phone app, so getting footage off it means removing the microSD card or connecting the camera to a computer. Owners who want app access buy the A119 Mini 2 or the VS1 Mini instead.