My home of Los Angeles is a place where having a dashcam is almost a necessity. Between endless amounts of high-volume freeway traffic and drivers who are notorious for speeding, owning a dashcam can make the difference between thousands of dollars in car insurance fees and car repairs. The best dashcams aren’t too big and strike a balance between price and ease of setup and use.

That’s where Vantrue comes in with the Element 1 Pro 4K dashcam, an affordable dashcam powered by the Sony Starvis 2 IMX678 sensor which captures traffic footage at a resolution of 3840 x 2160 at 60 frames per second. There’s also a low-light mode for night driving, as well as an easy-to-use smartphone app that allows you to quickly capture videos. Additionally, the dashcam features a microSD card slot for video storage.

Number of Cameras

1

Front Camera Resolution

3840 x 2160

Field of View

158-degrees

Brand

Vantrue

The Vantrue Element 1 Pro is an excellent option for anyone searching for a 4K forward-facing dash cam. The camera shoots at a resolution of 3840 x 2160 thanks to the powerful Sony Starvis 2 IMX678 camera sensor. There’s also a low-light mode, which captures great nighttime driving footage. You can access your recorded content either from the microSD card or by using the smartphone app’s speedy Wi-Fi transfer.

Pros & Cons

• Easy installation and setup
• 4K resolution lens
• Compact size

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Price, specs, and availability

The Vantrue Element 1 Pro 4K dash cam is available for purchase directly from the manufacturer, but you can also find it on Amazon. It’s available for purchase for $150, making it one of the more affordable 4K dash cams on the market.

Vantrue sent me this model for review, and my review copy came with a 64GB microSD card and adapter, a lens filter, a phone charger, a USB cabling kit, and a hardwire kit.

What I liked about the Vantrue Element 1 Pro

Great recording quality, even at night

I decided to set up the E1 Pro the easy way for my review — using the USB cables and included phone charger adapter. It only took me about fifteen minutes to manage the cable thanks to the included cable clasps that are in the box alongside the E1 Pro. You do have the option to hardwire the E1 Pro with the included kit, which you will need to do if you want to take advantage of the always-on parking protection feature.

The overall build quality feels great. The camera itself is tiny, fitting neatly behind and next to my rearview mirror. I did notice that during operation, the camera would get a bit hot, but this could also be an issue with my dark car interior. Vantrue did a great job using an orange-colored power on and off button, making it easy to quickly see on the compact camera.

A huge bonus with the Vantrue E1 Pro is the excellent UI — there’s an included smartphone app, which is easy to set up with the E1 Pro’s built-in local area Wi-Fi. You can take photos from the app, as well as customize your settings. There’s 5GHz connectivity which allows you to quickly and easily move recording files from your E1 Pro to your smartphone.

I’ve been impressed with the camera quality and the settings to improve camera quality in low-light environments. In particular, I really appreciated the HDR shooting mode for low-light settings. A lot of the streets and freeways around me aren’t lit at night, and even with that being the case, the Vantrue E1 Pro had no issue capturing the space in front of my car while driving.

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What I didn’t like about the Vantrue Element 1 Pro

The app can be a bit troublesome to set up, but the hardware is great

For a budget dash cam, there’s almost nothing wrong with the camera itself. It does run a bit hot, but I have yet to find a dashcam that isn’t a bit warm during operation, given that they sit behind the rearview mirror and take in sunlight constantly. However, the smartphone app gave me a slight headache. At first, I couldn’t get the app to connect with the camera. I had to go through my phone’s wireless permissions before I could get it working, but once it connected, I had no problem staying connected via app to dashcam.

If you don’t hardwire the camera to your car, you’ll need to use the included USB-C cable and mobile charger adapter. The cable was a bit long, making cable management a headache, although the E1 Pro does include a few cable clamps in the box to make the process easier. Overall, I found very little to complain about when it came to the E1 Pro. It works exactly how I need it to, and the build quality is great.

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Should you buy the Vantrue E1 Pro?

An excellent dashcam on a budget

If you’re on the search for an affordable dash cam, the Vantrue Element 1 Pro is a perfect match. I loved using it, and found the set-up to be a relatively painless experience. While I had some struggles with the smartphone app, once I got it working it worked great.

For $150, this is one of the best dash cams at this price point on the market. If you’re looking for something compact and affordable, consider driving with the Vantrue E1 Pro. It gave me a lot of peace of mind while driving the Los Angeles streets, and hopefully you can experience the same serenity while driving.

Number of Cameras

1

Front Camera Resolution

3840 x 2160

The Vantrue Element 1 Pro is an excellent option for anyone searching for a 4K forward-facing dash cam. The camera shoots at a resolution of 3840 x 2160 thanks to the powerful Sony Starvis 2 IMX678 camera sensor. There’s also a low-light mode, which captures great nighttime driving footage. You can access your recorded content either from the microSD card or by using the smartphone app’s speedy Wi-Fi transfer.