Pioneer Smart Dashcams With 4K Video, AI Capabilities and ADAS Features Unveiled in India: Price, Features

Pioneer Smart Dashcams have been launched in India. The devices are the latest automotive safety and mobility solutions from the Japan-based audio equipment company and come with several capabilities supported by artificial intelligence (AI). Some of the models also support video recording in 4K resolution, low-light video enhancements, and Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) features. The new portfolio comprises four models: VREC-H120SC, VREC-H320SC, VREC-H520DC, and VREC-Z820DC, catering to different price segments. All products are claimed to be designed and manufactured by the company's India-based research and development (R&D) centres.

Pioneer Smart Dashcams Price in India

The first offering in Pioneer Smart Dashcams is the VREC-H120SC, which is priced in India at Rs. 5,399. The second and third models, VREC-H320SC and VREC-H520DC, cost Rs. 11,399 and Rs. 18,499, respectively. The most premium offering is the VREC-Z820DC whose price has not been announced yet.

Pioneer India says its entire dashcam portfolio will be available for purchase in September.

Pioneer Smart Dashcams Features

Pioneer VREC-H120SC Smart Dashcam has been introduced as the most affordable option for entry-level buyers. It offers video recording with 1.5K resolution and a 120-degree field-of-view (FoV). The dashcam also supports a parking mode and event recording, in case of collisions. It has a maximum storage capacity of 128GB via a micro-SD card.

Pioneer Smart Dashcam VREC-H120SC

The Pioneer VREC-H120SC Smart Dashcam builds upon all of the features of the budget option, with the addition of a 7.6-inch screen. It can be rotated 360-degree and gets support for dual-channel input, time-lapse and loop recording and an expanded support of up to 512GB via microSD card. The dashcam also comes with in-built GPS which records precise location data for route and speed tracking. Another addition is ADAS support (via voice prompts only).

VREC-H520DC, which is positioned as a premium offering from Pioneer India, gets similar features to the above-mentioned model but improves the video recording resolution to 2K. It also expands ADAS capabilities with lane departure alert, forward collision alert and stop-and-go alert warnings. The dashcam also comes with halo reduction which is claimed to result in better footage, especially at night.

Pioneer Smart Dashcam VREC-Z820DC

The most premium offering from the company is the VREC-Z820DC, which comes with a 7.2-inch screen. The device gets a night vision camera with a Sony Starvis-2 image sensor and a 139-degree FoV. It can record videos in up to 4K resolution in HDR. Pioneer India says it leverages AI Night Vision to provide clarity, balance the exposure and enhance the video. Similar to the VREC-H520DC, this model also gets ADAS warning and GPS logging capabilities.

Using AI, it also supports road sign detection – a feature that usually seldom works in India due to graffiti or posters smearing the road signs. Talking to NDTV Gadgets 360 about addressing the issue, Manish Bhasin, Product and R&D at Pioneer India highlighted that its dashcams have been trained on a dataset of images that specifically cater to India and its road conditions. If humans can see and read the road sign, so will the AI, leveraging algorithms.

The company added that this model is powered by a neural processing unit (NPU) which handles the AI tasks on-device, with the data being stored locally.

The entire Pioneer Smart Dashcam range is claimed to be compatible with the ZenVue Dash Camera app. Users can limit distractions, toggle notifications and tweak other settings via the app.