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The VIOFO A229 Pro is the best no-frills dashcam money can buy at the moment if all you wanted was great image quality, a good parking mode in the form of low-bitrate recording, 5GHz WiFi connectivity for viewing recordings/changing settings on the phone app and 18 months warranty (via registration with VIOFO).
Contrary to some people's opinions, its not brand name (like Garmin, Blackvue, etc) that determines the image quality of the dashcam, its primary what image sensor is used followed by the quality of post-processing and HDR. The Viofo A229 Pro stands out from the competition as it uses best in class Sony Starvis 2 image sensors on both the front (4K IMX678) and rear (1440p IMX675) channels of the dashcam, plus it has HDR that actually functions well & the A229 Pro is well suited for Australian conditions with circular polarising lenses available for both the front and rear camera (front included but rear CPL sold separately) to reduce sun glare and uses a supercapacitor instead of a lithium battery so it won't swell/explode in Aussie heat. Note: the supercapacitor acts like a UPS by saving the recording when dashcam power is lost (e.g. when you switch the car off or if power is lost during a crash), it does not function as a battery to power parking mode recording.
The VIOFO A229 Pro doesn't have cellular connectivity to receive notifications or view footage from anywhere like the $1,179 BlackVue DR970X Plus LTE or onboard radar to detect crashes and provide ADAS features (lane-keeping, forward collision warning, etc) like the $1,299 Thinkware U3000 but I doubt 99.9% of people in the market for a dashcam would pay an extra $800+ just for that, considering the VIOFO A229 Pro provides same if not better license plate readability in all lightning conditions when compared to those cameras. Comparison footage for example
The VIOFO A229 Pro is the top recommended dashcam by many independent reviewers like VortexRadar, Safe Driving Solutions and on the Dashcamtalk forums however keep in mind the camera was only released 7 months ago so you won't find it in comparisons done by many larger channels such as LTT for example whose last video on the topic is from August 2022. Compared to the popular A139 Pro in previous deals, for an extra $15 you get a 2.4" LCD which is handy for aiming the dashcam without relying on a phone and changing settings on the fly, and it also gets a rear camera with a 1440p Starvis 2 sensor on the A229 Pro rear (Starvis2 IMX675 5MP) while the A139 Pro rear camera is a previous generation 1080p sensor (Starvis1 IMX291 2MP) - well worth the price difference honestly.
If you are planning on hardwiring the dashcam, you will need the HK4 hardwiring kit which is available on the Aliexpress listing for an extra $15 or so. It can be hardwired to the vehicle starter battery or a separate dashcam battery like the Cellink Neo 8+ (sold separately). You can get the 3CH variant with a IR interior camera but I don't really see the point unless if you are a rideshare driver. You could get a VIOFO branded microSD card as an option on the listing which is far less likely to be a fake, but its cheaper to get the only other VIOFO recommended microSD card (SanDisk Max Endurance) from Amazon. The rear camera CPL filter (Part CPL-300) isn't available on the aliexpress store but can be bought for $20 on Viofo.com.
Pricing wise, $385 delivered (with coupon code 05CD30) is cheaper than the normal on sale price of $479 from Australian distributors and I would not expect it to be cheaper on eBay during plus week as eBay listings for this dashcam are $549+. The last VIOFO A229 Pro I bought on sale from Viofo.com was $420 delivered so this is $35 cheaper than before.
Thanks for the detailed write up 👍