Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsV5 pro 5 star product with 5 star Customer Service.... Thank You Vicky
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2021
i nit pick everything i purchase and will always say if something bothers me im good at being picky and can always tell as soon as i pick something up if its cheaply made or theres something not right with something.. and as soon as i opened the box i liked it. the First time i turned it on i was in love. This thing is a gem.
It's 100% awesome. I'm a 40 year old male fangirling over how cool and high quality it really is. i love everything about it.. literally its so cool in every aspect. everything works as its supposed to. Parking is way easier in my Element where as before I either had to adjust my side view mirrors so I could see the ground near the tire or i had to adjust it so i could see distance while driving. The V5 Pro is fast and responsive. The camera bump sensors gives it an added level of security. Its intuitive and not a buggy mess. install was only sort of difficult and the only hard part was removing interior panels to run the wires and we all know that always sucks.. you can use the mirror to move the view up or down from inside the car with just a swipe, adjust the parking lines etc. and more... there are plenty of reviews that teach how to use it but the learning curve is low which is a huge plus. The software you install on a computer or laptop seems responsive, works as intended and isnt confusing to learn at all.
for the sake of being critical if i must complain about something:
the camera though..... I don't know if its just me but its actually kind of too good... like... the recorded videos are high quality, the viewing software is pretty good and you can see literally everything on your computer at 1080p 30fps?... but on the mirror, driving at night is way easier. no more blinding ultra whites, no complaints about the way it works but its like the viewing angle you get from the camera is so big that it gives the impression that objects in the rear view mirror are way further than they appear, I'm probably not meant to use the rear camera while driving but hear me out: a car that looks 2 car lengths behind me in my side view looks 1/4 to 1/2 mile behind me in my rear view, its really hard to judge long range distance where as short range distance is perfect, and cars look tiny at that kind of far range.... like ants and that could just be my setup for all i know.... if I could just zoom in to where i like it and then when I shift in reverse it goes back to how it is now it would be perfect. now that I've had a few weeks to use it i have been full time using it as a screen that's not pointed as a rear view because, daytime reflections bugs your eyes out when you try to see through the video image and distinguish the difference between rear view reflection and camera video while driving. You can always turn on driving mode and use it just as a rear view mirror but i kind of like it as a screen so I've been trying to use it just as a screen... moving on; i wanted the camera mounted as close to the ground as possible so I could set the distances on the parking lines as close to accurate as possible but the software allows me to swipe up or down to adjust it on the fly which I didn't know at the time of installing. so far I have the adjustable parking line accuracy down to appx 2 inches at the red, yellow, and green, markers so I don't foresee parking will ever be a problem again in the E which used to be a big concern for me with how tall it is and how my side views have this huge vertical blind spot because they aren't tall enough...(i drove small cars since i was 16 and this is the biggest vehicle i have ever owned so maybe its something you get used to with time but for me I didn't like that I went from not curbing my tires/rims ever since my first car to curbing my Falken trail tires 2 times in the first week of owning this beast which is a big no for me and why I opted to get a reversing camera)
About the customer service:
i went to the Autovox page and i emailed customer service just curiously asking if the mirror had a zoom function and explained my distance issue/concern and this wonderful woman from Customer Service named Vicky went way above and beyond exceeding what was expected of her. I just asked if the firmware had that capability and if not could they possibly add it to suggestion box for firmware development in the future and after confirming that i purchased this mirror by looking at my invoice from Amazon from the AutoVox seller. Over the course of of the next 4 emails she proved she was polite and respectable, respectful, professional, courteous and thoughtful and just overall amazing at her job. To elaborate on the big stuff: 1) She told me she forwarded my suggestion to their design/manufacturing team and if that software update ever becomes available she'll send me an email about it personally. 2) extended my warranty from 12 to 18 months. I didn't ask for that i just asked a question but that extra piece of mind... *kisses fingers like an Italian* mwuahh I would plant kiss on her cheek for it if i could<3 lol how awesome is that? i mean I'm already happy with the product and that just made me happier Thank You Vicky 3) Maybe i shouldn't say this I don't want to get her in trouble but she did offer for me to buy a second camera/mirror gave me 2 product choices and offered to refund the money into my account once the purchase successfully went through and the product shipped. I declined because I didn't want to take advantage but the offer was there and that made all the difference and honestly I'm already happy so, that kind of excessive customer service earned a customer for life. I wont hesitate to go with an Autovox next time and neither should any of you out there on the internet 4) (this is the big one for me because I recently had a really unpleasant customer service issue for my android stereo, where it took 2 weeks to resolve my issue. I had to fight tooth and nail just for a firmware update from that company and wait 4 days in between each email and then when I got it, it wouldn't even install...) The wait time per return email from Vicky was only about 1/4 to 1/2 day. I believe that this woman deserves a raise and a promotion because she is literally the best at what she does and she's definitely an asset to her company, and in my opinion, one of the most crucial parts of what makes this company a no brainer when looking for reverse cameras.
Final Thoughts
If you're looking to get a good reversing camera that doesn't lag, does its job, doesn't have bugs in the software and have the piece of mind that its a high quality unit with the best possible customer service if something goes wrong. pull the trigger on this V5 pro you wont be disappointed.