360 G600 dashcam review: Safety concept is everywhere, and it is hard to find rivals in the industry

Nowadays, driving recorders have become a standard feature for car owners when they buy new cars. From an economic point of view, most car owners will choose to buy them themselves instead of having them installed directly in 4S stores.

It is in this realistic demand that the market for third-party dashcams with lower prices and more transparent configurations has begun to explode. According to data from the China Business Industry Research Institute, the scale of China's dashcam market is expected to exceed 33.4 billion yuan in 2020.

Among them, 360, a cybersecurity brand, has "accidentally" become a unique existence in the industry. It is unique because 360 ​​is not a traditional dashcam manufacturer, and it is "accidental" because of its extremely high market share. According to data from TouBao Research Institute, in 2019, 360 occupied more than 90% of the online channel market share of dashcams.

It can be said that just like in the field of network security, in the field of driving safety, 360, which focuses on security, has also demonstrated its kingly temperament.

So, as a non-traditional dashcam brand, what advantages did 360 have to dominate the industry? With this curiosity, today we will take 360's flagship product G600 4G as an example, and explore the product path of 360 in the latest BYD Han EV.

Appearance: Fits the function and scene

After unpacking, the G600 is divided into three parts: the main body with the camera, the adhesive bracket and a 3.5-meter power cord.

Unlike traditional compact dashcams, the G600 needs to accommodate more components and high-precision lenses, so its body is not small. The length, width and height are 100mm*64mm*14mm respectively. It is attached to the front windshield of the vehicle and can be seen from outside the car without blocking the driver's view.

The G600 has a curved body, with a flat 3.97-inch color display on the back and four touch buttons on the left edge. On the front is a very conspicuous camera with a world-class sensor built in, with a single pixel size of 2 μm, which can easily take ultra-high-definition pixel pictures.

In terms of connection, the G600 is very simple. We only need to connect its main body to the bracket and the power cord in sequence, then stick the bracket to the front windshield of the car through the mute sticker, connect the power cord to the USB port of the car's central control, and the machine can start working.

As mentioned above, compared with the high compatibility of the original car dashcam, car owners have a big concern about third-party dashcams, that is, they may not be perfectly matched with the vehicle. In fact, through G600, we will find that as long as it is properly installed, this concern basically does not exist.

Judging from the photos taken on site, although BYD Han EV is a highly modern product, the 360 ​​driving recorder G600's cool appearance and low-key color matching are highly compatible with the entire vehicle. When actually driving, the quiet G600 will blend into the entire vehicle without a strong sense of abruptness.

At the same time, 360 also took into account the different heights and front windshield inclinations of vehicles on the market, and gave the G600 the functions of large-angle rotation and upside-down flipping of the bracket to adapt to different vehicle conditions as much as possible.

Let’s take BYD Han EV as an example. Its height is 1495mm. It is indeed impossible to capture the ideal picture by directly sticking the G600 on the front panel. However, by adjusting the angle of the camera and the bracket, it is easy for the G600 to capture the ideal picture.

Is voice interaction only suitable for speakers? 360: There is also a dashcam

Although the function of the dash cam is very simple and there is no need to focus too much on the interaction, the suddenness of driving determines that it must have a simple interactive interface and the operation should not be cumbersome.

After years of exploration, touch buttons have become the mainstream interactive solution for driving recorders. However, it has been proven that this is not the best solution, because it is difficult for the owner to be distracted while the vehicle is driving, and it is also very dangerous to operate in the middle of the journey.

In fact, judging from most of the current products in the industry, they have not been able to fundamentally solve the user interaction pain points.

Perhaps because of this, 360 has independently explored a very simple and user-friendly dashcam interaction solution - in addition to traditional touch interaction, the G600 also supports voice interaction. Users only need to shout "Xiaobei Xiaobei" to wake up and realize "air" operation, issuing instructions for functions such as recording, taking pictures, and checking electronic dogs.

It turns out that voice control is a very suitable way of interaction while driving. For example, if we want to record an important video while driving, we only need to say "Xiaobei, Xiaobei, take a video" and the G600 will record a video in real time.

Industry analysts have previously stated that contactless voice interaction is the best interaction solution in the living room. However, combined testing shows that voice also performs very well in the car.

In traditional dashcams, the transfer and retrieval of pictures and videos has always relied on a memory card. The G600 also has a memory card, but in addition, 360 has also made use of its own Internet advantages to enable effective "cross-border" linkage between dashcams and smartphones. In actual operation, car owners only need to download the "360 Driving Assistant" App, connect the G600 in the app, and then remotely control the G600. Because the G600 itself supports 4G network, it is convenient enough for users to experience and use it in daily life.

After linking with the mobile phone, G600 can not only enable voice intercom, live broadcast, navigation and other functions, but also remotely retrieve driving videos. When we encounter special situations and need to retrieve video resources, traditional driving recorders need to remove the SD card first, and then find a computer to watch the video. On G600, we only need to open the App to play the corresponding video data in time.

Not only can it record in high definition, but it can also allow the car owner to become "Fujiwara Takumi"

There is no need to elaborate on the outstanding performance of G600 in appearance and interaction. In terms of its main function of "driving record", 360 has invested heavily and given G600 the best configuration. From the configuration of the camera alone, we can feel the sincerity of 360: the sensor quality is top-notch, and it can shoot up to 2560*1600@30FPS 2K+ and 139° ultra-wide-angle images.

From the actual test images, the G600's lens does perform very well, not only covering a very wide field of view, but also showing rich details. For example, if we look closely at the car in the lower right corner of the picture, although it is several meters away, the license plate is still clearly visible.

If the excellent lens is the core competitiveness of G600, then the functions that go beyond "driving record" are the key to its success.

What makes the G600 different from other brands is that it has also invested heavily in invisible configurations. It is equipped with a 6-axis gyroscope that can sensitively sense the vehicle's moving status. It can not only record videos when the vehicle is bumpy, but also detect the owner's dangerous driving behaviors such as sudden acceleration, sharp turns, and sudden braking in real time, and give timely safe driving tips.

Since our test vehicle is BYD Han EV, which accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.9 seconds, it is the perfect vehicle to test the G600's keen perception. In the acceleration test from 0 to 100 km/h, the push-back feeling came immediately, and the G600 also gave a warning immediately, with a sensitivity level of millisecond-level reaction.

Similar to the connectivity at the interactive level, G600 also supports online cloud electronic dogs and GPS, which further endows traditional cars with some digital capabilities. For example, when driving on the highway, if there is a sudden speed limit ahead, G600 will give the driver timely feedback through voice to avoid losses caused by speeding. When traveling, if the owner cannot find the parking lot, he only needs to open the App to "navigate" to the vicinity of his vehicle with one click.

Judging from the functions at these two levels, the G600 is obviously not content with being just a "dash cam". Instead, on the basis of completing the "dash cam" function, it is more inclined to become a digital center for traditional automotive products and a driving assistant for safety control.

More importantly, this product strategy of breaking through from the original function is fully reflected in the G600. Therefore, when we compare the G600 with other brands' products, we can easily find that the reason why 360 has gained an absolute advantage in the market is not "accidental", but a necessity, because whether it is products or concepts, 360 has formed a dimensionality reduction attack on competitors, at least in the G600 product, this crushing competitive advantage is fully reflected.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.