Viofo A139 Pro 3CH dash cam review: price specification, features and image quality put to the test

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Viofo A139 Pro 3CH £295.39, Viofo.com

Viofo has been in the business of making dash cams for more than a decade and has been behind some of the most impressive recorders we’ve seen in recent years. 

The A229 Duo impressed us earlier in the year and now we’re looking at the A139 Pro 3-Channel - a step up from that unit, bringing 4K recording from the main camera and adding a third, interior-facing camera for complete coverage inside and out. 

As with Viofo’s other units, the A139 Pro has built-in GPS, two-channel wifi, a number of parking modes and the option to hardwire it into the car, as well as adding a dedicated night vision mode to the main camera. The usual fitting tools, power adapter and cables are included in the but you’ll have to buy the hardwiring kit and an SD card separately, with the A139 Pro supporting up to 256GB of storage.

The A139 Pro’s main camera design is different from other Viofo units, with the lens mounted to the side of the wide but flat camera body. It means the unit sits nice and flat to the glass without obscuring the driver’s view. Both rear cameras are compact cylinders that connect to the main unit via slimline coaxial cables. All three camera mounts use thin adhesive pads, meaning you need to be sure they’re correctly aligned before finalising their position. 

Unlike the A229, the A139 doesn’t bother with a rear screen, instead featuring five buttons for key functions and leaving image viewing and more in-depth setup to the mobile app, which is a simple and easy to use arrangement. Helpfully, the app allows you to view each camera feed individually or use a picture-in-picture mode to monitor all three inputs. 

Image quality from the front camera, equipped with Sony’s latest Starvis 2 sensor, is excellent. It’s crystal clear in daylight, with sharp bright images. The HDR processing and polarising filter which comes bundled with the device helps here, managing particularly bright scenarios well. You can make the footage even smoother by dropping the resolution and upping the frame rate. 

Footage from the rear camera is noticeably softer than the front. it’s not as crisp but still perfectly good in daylight conditions, and as good as the front-facing units on some basic cameras I’ve tested. 

Low-light performance from the front camera is also exceptional. Whatever tech underpins the Super Night Vision 2.0 mode works really well to get the absolute maximum from any available light, rendering images that are still remarkably clear and sharp. There is a drop in quality compared with daylight, as you’d expect, but it’s far from disastrous and the night time footage is some of the best I’ve seen recently. 

The rear camera suffers far more in low light, partly due to generally having less light to work with and partly due to its less sophisticated sensor. It’s noticeably grainy and blocky and provides little usable footage unless there's a direct light source - either a following car or street lights. This is a problem common to all two-channel units and overall the Viofo is still better than most.

Like the rear camera, the interior unit records at a sharp 1080p but also includes infra red LED lights to allow clear image capture even at night. It’s not a feature many private drivers will care about but could be a real bonus for taxi and minicab drivers. 

While other brands included inaccurate driver assistance systems in their dashcams, Viofo doesn’t bother, focusing on getting the basics right, which it has done again with the A139 Pro. This three-channel version is a compelling package for those looking for all round coverage. It’s neatly designed, with good connectivity, useful features and, most importantly, strong image quality from all three cameras.