Vantrue E1 4K Pro Review (2026): Small and High Definition

One way is to buy an optional $25 hardwire kit from Vantruewhich will connect the device directly to your fuse box. Note, however, that the camera draws about 25 to 35 milliamps while in parking mode (about 3 to 4 watts on a home outlet), and this can eventually drain your battery. It’s not a huge power draw, and you should be good for days or maybe weeks if your battery is healthy.

Still, I’d rather not use my car battery while my car is parked. I’d rather take the hardwire kit away and invest in it a good power bank. Even a $48 portable couch from Anker should be enough for about a week of continuous operation while parked, without ever having to worry about the battery draining your car.

Limitations and errors

For such a dinky device, the Vantrue still offers a real-time display. However, it’s doubtful you’ll use it to browse video. It is most useful to verify the framing on the ridge when you are gluing it to your windshield. The screen is a bit busy with information, and a lower resolution than the actual video.

If you check footage, you’ll do it on your phone using the app. But the screen is still useful for manually adjusting settings, should you need it urgently – although controlling the phone via the camera interface will be a bit clumsy and annoying. Again, it’s better to just connect the camera to your phone to change settings.

There are actually plenty of settings. Through the app you can track mileage, toggle GPS tracking, set the frame rate and resolution of the camera, and set whether you want the camera to use High Dynamic Range settings or PlatePix. The former will be most useful when light is dim.

It’s also a simple, single-camera device. Vantrue has more extensive (and more expensive and larger) multi-camera options with similar camera specs that I’m currently testing, including a Nexus 4 Pro with a lower resolution front camera and rear camera. ON 4-channel N5 adds an extra rear-cab channel for a wild amount of camera coverage, but at the expense of some image resolution.

PlatePix does help capture license plates, but it will do so at the expense of contrast on the rest of the image. It’s a commitment that matters most at night. Which is to say, you’re choosing between marginal license plate capture on a dark image, or worse, license plate capture on sharper night footage.