Sadly, accidents on Britain’s roads are becoming more common. Given the country’s appetite for legal action and claims, recording your journey has become more important than ever. With this in mind, I put the Thinkware M1 Camera System to the test.
Before buying any product, I do as much research as possible, reading technical reports from professionals and feedback from actual users to get a balanced opinion.
During my fact-finding mission, I talked to many people working in a variety of sectors. Some of these were Police motorcyclists who, in hindsight, should’ve probably been my first port of call. The most frequently suggested product was the Thinkware M1 dual-camera system.
Thinkware have been producing Dashcams for cars for many years, proving a popular choice for drivers. Their reliability and reputation frequently see them at the top of the recommended product lists compiled by various agencies.
I chose to personally fit the Thinkware M1 camera system myself rather than pay for a dealer to do it. The process was straight forward, but you do require knowledge of basic electrics.
I connected the power to supply to a switch and then the switch to the bike’s battery, the only bit of electrics required.
Thinkware recommends connecting the power supply to a live lead on the bike to power off when the bike does.
The cameras come with long leads to connect to the power supply, which I found fitted neatly under my bike’s seat. I secured the power unit, which is also the control unit with cable ties to the bike’s frame.
The Thinkware M1 Camera System fits into place via M3 sticky pads. Once you locate the ideal position, all you need to do is peel, push and place. As with everything, planning is critical and saves time. My advice is to plan the cables’ route to ensure they do not get caught on moving parts and are hidden.
After studying the instructions, planning and measuring distances, the fitting took me about 90 minutes which I consider a morning well spent.
Highlights of the Thinkware M1 Camera system:
- Full 1080p HD resolution recording during both daytime and nighttime comes from the CMOS Image Sensors. The wide-angle lens provides a view of 140-degrees. Minimising blind spots to ensure the recording of all events without fail.
- Superb water protection with a standard of International Electrotechnical Commission IP66 rating, the Thinkware M1 cameras are protected from dust ingress and high-pressure water jets from any direction. Whether you take your motorcycle on mountain roads, deserts, or commuting in heavy rain, your unit will not fail.
- A big plus with the Thinkware M1 comes when travelling at night, where it can record in a surprisingly high-quality. The reason the nighttime quality is so good is down to it utilising using excellent image signal processing technology.
- The camera system uses GPS data allowing you to plot your bike’s location, journey and driving speed on a map. This is extremely helpful in the unfortunate event of an accident where it will give you the vehicle speed, the direction of the collision and the severity of an impact.
The system can be connected to a phone app that allows you to set up the cameras via Liveview. The App also allows you to immediately view data files and share them if you need to. This is via its utilisation of an innovative file format and is an important feature should you be involved in an accident.
If the system loses all power following an accident, a fail-safe recording is enabled using the Super Capacitor for backup power to ensure safe storage of any recording in progress.
The Thinkware M1 is a high-quality system at a competitive price. It does away with the need to use cameras attached to helmets with limited battery and recording times. The quality of the film images captured is superb and straightforward to upload from the files stored to the App on your phone or even more easily from the SD card.
Thinkware M1 Cam – Where and How?
The dual-camera system has an RRP of £299. For more information about what it is capable of and to purchase the system, please visit thinkwaredashcam.eu.
Read more motorcycle guides, news and first-hand motorcycle and e-bike reviews performed by Jeremy Webb here.
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