Review: Owlcam installed on Honda Clarity

L

Lowell_Greenberg

Active Member
The Owlcam is a dashcam/security system. It is cloud based and is bundled with one year of ATT 4gLTE service. Builtin front camera is 1440P and rear 720P. It offers a live view in the front and inside of the vehicle at anytime, a 911 crash response service, GPS fixed location tracking, two way audio, ability to trigger video capture with a voice command, etc. The cloud network uses AI/neural net technology to automatically capture critical events. It has 64gb of storage, but this storage is only accessible via wifi or the cloud and then downloadable to your smartphone. It is always on and uses a blinking green LED and white LED lights facing the cabin to warn intruders. A supercapacitor helps insure a thief will be photographed after ripping out the unit.

Installation is a snap with the Clarity. It uses Owl's standard 5 inch bracket. It should be mounted at the center of the dashboard, though I have avoided overhanging the light sensor. It is powered by the Clarity's OBD port, though it only uses it to power the unit.

There are tradeoffs with any technology. There are no IR sensors, no 4K recording and the rear camera is part of the unit, offering a more limited view from the rear window. It is relatively expensive- though a good deal when all of its tech is factored in. It doesn't require an LTE service, but its neatest features such as live view and automatic cloud/cellphone download do require it. Owl guarantees privacy- except in the case of law enforcement demand.

It is disappointing Honda didn't offer 911 crash assistance and vehicle theft recovery with the Clarity. For $99 per year (after the initial 6 month), the Owlcam partially makes up for this. Considering its LTE and video capabilities it's Guard mode has benefits over Tesla's Sentry mode- though relies on only two cameras.

Overall I would recommend it. Its chief competitor- the Raven dashcam-offers more in some areas but may have hardware and OBD compatibility issues. I am unsure of this however.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
I have an Owl cam as well in my Clarity and love it... like you said, it was an easy install.
 
Although not a generic 911 feature, the Clarity does have crash detection / assistance.
Here is the relevant paragraph from the Owner's Manual:

■ Automatic collision notification
If your vehicle’s airbags deploy or if the unit
detects that the vehicle is severely impacted,
your vehicle automatically will attempt to
connect to the HondaLink operator. If
connected, information about your vehicle, its
location, and its condition can be sent to the
operator *1 ; you also can speak to the operator
when connected.
 
MrFixit said:
Although not a generic 911 feature, the Clarity does have crash detection / assistance.
Here is the relevant paragraph from the Owner's Manual:

■ Automatic collision notification
If your vehicle’s airbags deploy or if the unit
detects that the vehicle is severely impacted,
your vehicle automatically will attempt to
connect to the HondaLink operator. If
connected, information about your vehicle, its
location, and its condition can be sent to the
operator *1 ; you also can speak to the operator
when connected.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Will they dial 911 for you? Also, are you saying the car has two way communication capabilities? Also, what page in the owner's manual references this?
 
Yes, and Yes...
As you can see, there is a disclaimer (no guarantee of notification), but there is no guarantee with a cell phone either depending on tower coverage, etc.

It is on Page 366 of the Owner's Manual (the full one, not the abbreviated one)...

upload_2019-10-19_11-57-46.webp


What is not 100% clear to me is whether this feature is strictly the vehicle, or does it rely on the user's cell phone with either a Bluetooth or wired connection.

Does anyone know whether this is a function embedded in the vehicle?
 
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Not 100% clear but it may (in part, at least) be working through your phone since the note says “Depending on your phone and adequate cellular coverage, your vehicle’s location may not be sent to the operator.” (Emphasis added)
Or it could be that in the case of an accident, Honda allows voice communication like On-Star and just restricts it the rest of the time to save bandwidth and personnel costs.
Once again Honda reveals little and makes nothing clear for us.
 
KentuckyKen said:
Not 100% clear but it may (in part, at least) be working through your phone since the note says “Depending on your phone and adequate cellular coverage, your vehicle’s location may not be sent to the operator.” (Emphasis added)
Or it could be that in the case of an accident, Honda allows voice communication like On-Star and just restricts it the rest of the time to save bandwidth and personnel costs.
Once again Honda reveals little and makes nothing clear for us.
Click to expand...

I agree- Hondalink Assist clearly requires a bluetooth connection with the phone, and the footnote implies the necessity of cellphone coverage. https://www.dowhonda.com/2016/12/15/hondalink-assist-automatic-emergency-response-system/

Honda should give all of their cars the option to use the full suite of Hondalink services
https://hondalink.honda.com/#/compatibility?year=2019&model=Clarity Plug-In Hybrid
 
Yes, the Dow Honda link seems pretty clear doesn't it.
I started a seperate thread on this topic since it is a little out of scope from the original DashCam question.
 
I'm ambivalent about the loss of forward visibility; also, as you said, you have to place it off-center to avoid the light sensor - any downsides there?

Have also been considering the Rexing V2 front+back, but have never run so much cable and worry that the install will be a stopper for me. On the up side, the nearly $200 difference in price would cover my costs if I paid someone to do the install.

I like the cloud storage with the Owlcam, and the $99 annual fee in subsequent years isn't a show-stopper, but it does add to overall cost.

Tough call...
 
ClarityDoc said:
Have also been considering the Rexing V2 front+back, but have never run so much cable and worry that the install will be a stopper for me. On the up side, the nearly $200 difference in price would cover my costs if I paid someone to do the install.
Click to expand...

I have Rexing V2 front+back and it works well. I didn't want to deal with the wires, so I bought the hard wiring kit and took the whole package to a local car stereo shop. They did the install for $150 and all the wires are nicely hidden.

I also considered owlcam but a few things from the Amazon reviews made me decide against it:

1. The camera only pairs with one phone and if your phone's bluetooth doesn't connect when you go into the car, the anti-theft feature will activate and the screen will blind you.

2. The LTE subscription is a weird credit feature of 60 credits a month. Each credit is used for a one-minute download or some other feature. If you run out of credits in a given month you need to pay another $10 to buy another 60 credits.

3. The camera app's android version appears to have issues.

So I ended up getting the Rexing and have been happy with it so far. I especially like the rear camera because it could come in very handy in a fender bender.
 
Lurker2019 said:
I have Rexing V2 front+back and it works well. I didn't want to deal with the wires, so I bought the hard wiring kit and took the whole package to a local car stereo shop. They did the install for $150 and all the wires are nicely hidden.

I also considered owlcam but a few things from the Amazon reviews made me decide against it:

1. The camera only pairs with one phone and if your phone's bluetooth doesn't connect when you go into the car, the anti-theft feature will activate and the screen will blind you.

2. The LTE subscription is a weird credit feature of 60 credits a month. Each credit is used for a one-minute download or some other feature. If you run out of credits in a given month you need to pay another $10 to buy another 60 credits.

3. The camera app's android version appears to have issues.

So I ended up getting the Rexing and have been happy with it so far. I especially like the rear camera because it could come in very handy in a fender bender.
Click to expand...

Lurker2019 said:
I have Rexing V2 front+back and it works well. I didn't want to deal with the wires, so I bought the hard wiring kit and took the whole package to a local car stereo shop. They did the install for $150 and all the wires are nicely hidden.

I also considered owlcam but a few things from the Amazon reviews made me decide against it:

1. The camera only pairs with one phone and if your phone's bluetooth doesn't connect when you go into the car, the anti-theft feature will activate and the screen will blind you.

2. The LTE subscription is a weird credit feature of 60 credits a month. Each credit is used for a one-minute download or some other feature. If you run out of credits in a given month you need to pay another $10 to buy another 60 credits.

3. The camera app's android version appears to have issues.

So I ended up getting the Rexing and have been happy with it so far. I especially like the rear camera because it could come in very handy in a fender bender.
Click to expand...

You can add up to 4 family members to the Owl plan. The 60 credit limitation works for me so far. However, if you take a lot of voice actuated clips- it might not as each clip counts as one credit. An additional 60 credits/ minutes is $4.99. Credits rollover. Credits are per family, not per driver.

I am using the Android version and it seems fairly stable. However downloading history and clips over LTE
can be slow.

There are tradeoffs for any solution. If all one wants is a dashcam that takes clear and sharp videos night and day, there are probably cheaper alternatives. Also, any security system can be defeated if the thief is smart enough. :-)

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
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