AUTO-VOX M1 Backup Camera with 4.3'' Monitor Kit, Easy One-Wire Installation Car Back Up Camera Systems for Truck, IP68 Waterproof Revere Camera with Super Night Vision

The media could not be loaded. I think this is the 5th, maybe 6th camera kit I've installed this year. I've sort of become the family "expert" and word has gotten out that I know how to install them pretty well. I've put them in mine & my wife's vehicles (mine twice), my mom's car, and set up two trailers for my uncle. This backup camera kits has a lot of little features that I am impressed with compared to other kits I've used:• The small size of the connectors. The connectors that Auto-Vox uses are much smaller than the typical RCA type connectors most camera kits have. Where this really comes in handy is feeding the wire from the rear of the vehicle to the front. With the small connectors that Auto-Vox uses, most of the trim panels, door sill plates, etc. do not have to be removed in order to route the cable. Everything is small enough that it can be tucked under or fed through small gaps without needing to pull off interior pieces. This saves a lot of time and there is a lot less chance of breaking a trim clip or something.• The camera works really well. The camera is probably the most critical part of these kits. If the camera is low quality, it won’t look good even if you hook it up to the world’s best HD monitor. The camera in this kit has a wide viewing angle, colors are pretty much spot on, and it has a good low-light performance without needing LEDs (which seem to cause glare in my opinion).• The camera itself is quite small, so it’s not in the way or rear of the rear handle on my SUV. The bracket fits behind the license plate, I don’t have to worry about getting trouble from the cops here in NJ where obscuring a plate can get you pulled over. The camera is adjustable up/ down so I don’t have a problem seeing curbs even though my SUV sits pretty high.• The IP68 rating is worth mentioning. Most kits will have an IP67 rating. Both are sealed against dust well enough (the “6”after the IP), but an 8 rating when it comes to water ingress is far better than a seven. A seven rating in real world use is essentially splash resistant. An 8 is actually waterproof, able to be submerged. Since I don’t make a habit of submerging my vehicle this may seem excessive, but where this matters is car washes. I’ve seen a lot of people with fogged up wet cameras & most of them are due to water getting in from car wash sprayers. This IP68 camera should handle that just fine.I installed this kit in my Volvo XC90. When I bought the XC90, I knew it was going to need a backup camera. Since I had installed a different Auto-Vox kit in my last car, I decided to get this one & give it a shot. Installation was easy with the small connectors. It went pretty quick. Basically all there is to it was to tap into the reverse light bulb circuit for power, mount the camera (has strong 3M type tape so no drilling), run the cable to the front of the vehicle, and then plug in the monitor and mount where you want it. Finding the correct reverse wire is probably the hardest part. Google can help here or look for an access panel behind the rear lights and take a look which color the wires are for the reverse bulb. In my vehicle, I made the connection right behind the bulb holders inside the rear cargo area. The kit included “t-tap connectors” so there is no cutting, taping, soldering etc. needed. Easy enough that pretty much anyone could install this kit & wouldn’t need a bunch of tools to do it.

Solid Product: I did an extensive research on backup cameras and decided on the Auto-Vox M1 because of its easy "one wire" installation, high satisfaction reviews, and very high value (quality product for price). I chose a wired system versus wireless because of potential problems with RF interference and response lag; I want a picture to appear immediately when my car is in reverse.Installation (early 2018) was indeed easier than most other systems because of their "one-wire" cabling system. You still have to snake one wire from the trunk to the front dash, as expected. For a simple, non-digital system, the picture met all my expectations: quite sharp - good enough to see what I need, viewing angle could be wider (around 100 degrees) but more than adequate, and night vision was good enough although there is glare from headlights, as expected for a mid-range system. For the price, very happy with performance and reliability.World-Class Service: While I was very happy with the product, what blew me away was their customer service, specially from a person named, Will. The camera suddenly lost picture a few weeks ago so I emailed customer support, not expecting too much because my warranty was near the expiration period. I received a response within 24 hours from Will, asking me to perform some diagnostic testing to narrow down the problem. We went back and forth, tried a few things, but no fix. Response time was quick, always within 24 hours - super fast for industry standards, almost like having your own personal service - super pleased. Lacking any other ideas, Will did the most unexpected next step - he just outright sent me a whole new system (no hassles, period!.) - couldn't believe it, but he did! After several days of trying out the new monitor (no fix), new camera sensor (no fix), I pulled out the wiring harness and replaced it - Fix it! There was no visible damage to the old wiring harness, but replacing it fixed the problem. Happy camper again!Conclusion: Coming from a high-tech design/manufacturing/management background of all kinds of electronic products, one key differentiation when choosing a product that most people forget, is customer service. In reality, electronic products are fairly reliable, but they (even the best, the biggest brands) will fail eventually. That's when the quality of customer service is most important and Will has demonstrated the highest level of customer service that I have experienced.Bottom Line: Based on my experience with their customer service (Will), I would put Auto-Vox on the top of my list, assuming of course, they had the product features I needed.