Vantrue N4 Pro S Review: Clear coverage with a rear camera that gets up close and personal

This triple-camera setup captures impressively clear footage of users' vehicles both inside and out, thanks to the external rear camera. Additionally, the setup remained stable throughout the day, providing video that was easily accessible through the app. Also, the included hard-wire kit was even easier to set up, thanks to Vantrue including two sets of fuse taps. However, given the tension screws on the rear camera strip easily, users may want to be gentle during the initial install. Overall, the Vantrue N4 Pro S delivers on its image quality claims and provides a polished app experience, with a number of great options to tailor the camera's capabilities to suit users' needs.

The Vantrue N4 Pro S is available on Amazon and on the Vantrue site. The review unit base, excluding the hardwire kit, SD card, and filter, retails for $419.00 but is currently on sale on both sites.

The Vantrue N4 Pro S is on the higher end of Vantrue's multi-camera dashcam system and comes equipped with many of its latest features. Featuring Sony's Starvis 2 night-vision sensors across all three channels, numerous accessory enhancements, and several specialized app features, the N4 Pro S aims to be a comprehensive dash cam solution for everyday drivers.

For this review, Vantrue provided the N4 Pro S, hardwire kit, a CPL Lens, and a Vantrue SD card. Everything came packaged well, including all the necessary items for a full hardwire installation. Fortunately, when unboxing the hardwire kit, it was discovered that Vantrue included multiple fuse tap pairs right in the box. This made tapping into the fuse box much easier, as taps were available for both battery power and ACC power without needing to strip or cut wires. With everything connected and the camera tested for power, the cable was routed into position to power the primary and external rear cameras.

The triple-camera install is straightforward, and Vantrue provides a couple of transparent stickers to ensure a secure fit when attaching the cameras to the windshield. Before the camera was attached, however, the circular polarizing filter was screwed onto the primary camera. Positioning the cameras is also simple, thanks to the ball mount providing the necessary rotation. However, users should be cautious with the rear camera, as the tension screws strip easily if overtightened. Furthermore, the cable was more than enough to connect the primary camera to the rear camera, and the test vehicle had cutouts to pass the wire to the exterior. Lastly, the boot setup is also quick, and the camera connected to the Vantrue app over WiFi with no issues. Although it is widely understood that 2.4 GHz WiFi is slower than 5 GHz, the video stream from the camera on the 2.4 GHz connection is painfully slow and often freezes. It is not a huge issue in the run, especially since the dashcam supports 5 GHz and has a built-in display, but users will find that the feature is largely unusable.

The Vantrue N4 Pro S produces excellent video, with image quality meeting expectations and delivering clear visuals, especially from the rear external camera. While small, the display did an adequate job of displaying the feeds and appears to be the same one found on the Vantrue N5S. Also similar to the N5S, hardware controls are easy to navigate. However, unlike the N5S, the vents near the controls did not get as warm and could be largely due to the unit not having to power as many cameras.

Both day and night, the Vantrue consistently produced clear video without any gaps, and colors were accentuated by the CPL filter. and recorded without any hiccups. As expected, the Starvis 2 sensors provided exceptional outdoor night vision, capturing details even in low-light environments, and because the camera is exterior, there were no glass reflections to obscure the footage. With the default settings, the camera and its sensors accurately tracked the test vehicle's location. However, it was noted that the default settings seemed slightly more sensitive on this model, triggering event recordings from minor bumps more frequently than expected. Those seeking fewer notifications can tailor the G-sensor sensitivity in the settings. The settings also contain many options, and users with the hardwire kit can take advantage of features such as motion detection and active monitoring. It should also be noted that the hardwire kit did not drain the test vehicle's battery and did not cause any issues during startup.

Overall, the Vantrue N4 Pro S offers a premium dashcam experience with solid, reliable performance. However, as with most Vantrue offers, features such as the LTE connectivity and cloud storage are available on a subscription basis. Nevertheless, the tested setup provided excellent, comprehensive video coverage of the vehicle with minimal fuss after setup.