Review of Pelsee P1 Duo Dash Camera

Hi friends, and thanks for stopping by to read my review of the Pelsee P1 Duo Dash Camera!

This is the review that Amazon does not want you to read!

Ha ha! No, seriously.

I bought the Pelsee P1 dash camera on Amazon and wrote a review giving it 4 out of 5 stars, so pretty good. And Amazon rejected my review saying it violated community guidelines but was not any more specific.

I have no idea why Amazon rejected my review. It was a clean review, no swearing. And just matter of fact about the camera and how it operates and how easy it was to install. The type of review and feedback that the vendor would have probably loved to see!

And this must be infuriating for Amazon vendors. Customers try to leave a decent review and it gets rejected. So how likely will the customer be to spend time writing thoughtful reviews for future products purchased on Amazon? In my case – ain’t happening!

Yi 1080 dash camera

I’ve had dash cameras before. It’s a good idea to have one in the car in the event of an accident with a driver who will lie about being at fault.

The worst dash camera I bought was also my first experience with a dash camera. It was made from a company called Yi and I bought it on Boxing Day. In Canada that is December 26, a day well known for sales.

The Yi dash camera I received was defective. I phoned Amazon for a replacement but this vendor did not allow this option. All Amazon could do was have me return the camera for a refund and buy another. The sale had ended and the Yi dash cam had returned to its regular price.

So, that’s no good! However the Amazon rep said to reach out to Yi about getting a replacement. Which I did and Yi offered to send me a new camera and even lied to me and said it had been mailed. However, all they did was jerk me around waiting for the month to run out so it would be too late to return the camera to Amazon for a refund.

At almost the last minute, I returned the Yi dash camera to Amazon and got a refund. And I was dinged the return shipping charges. So it was my loss buying that Yi dash camera.

I left a one star review on Amazon sharing my experience. So a one star review gets published but a four star review does not. Hmmm… interesting.

Review of Yi 1080 Dash Camera

Akaso dash camera

I replaced the defective Yi with an Akaso dash camera. I liked it, worked just fine. Plug and play. Decent quality videos.

Check out the video below which I took when the Greater Vancouver Area was getting socked in with smoke from the wildfires.

Changing needs

Although the Akaso dash camera worked fine enough, my needs were changing.

I wanted a dash camera that also had a rear view camera and WiFi so that I could immediately view and share a video in case I witnessed an accident.

As I’ve mentioned in other blog posts, I do enjoy watching car crash videos on YouTube. Not grisly car crashes. I don’t need to see carnage. Just bad drivers and lane changes and running lights.

I watched videos to see what dash cameras were being used and put them on my Amazon wishlist so I could track prices.

The day came for me to pull the plug and buy a new dash camera and I chose the Pelsee P1 duo dash camera. (Disclosure: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you click the link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for the referral.)

This dash camera’s price is often marked down and/or a money off coupon to click and receive a lower price when purchasing. For less than $100, it’s a good deal for a front and rear dash camera with WiFi and an app to view the videos.

Review of Pelsee P1 duo dash camera

OK, now let’s get to the review that Amazon doesn’t want you to see! Ha ha!

The Pelsee dash cam is easy enough to install. But I’ve had other dash cameras and know the routine of choosing a place on the window and tucking the wires into the weatherstripping. The only thing new to me was tucking in the wires for the rear dash camera. There was at least an extra 6 feet of cable to deal with that I had to cram down a panel at the back of the car.

Oh and my car? A Ford Escape.

With my Akaso dash camera I left it plugged into my cigarette lighter all the time. When I started my car the dash camera would turn on and start recording. When I turned off the car, the Akaso stopped recording about 10 seconds later.

I felt it was reasonable to expect the Pelsee dash camera to work in a similar fashion, especially since the instructions indicated that’s how it goes.

When I plugged the Pelsee into the cigarette lighter, it immediately turned on and started recording even though the car was not running. What’s going on? Have I missed a step somewhere?

I don’t need the camera video recording all the time taking hours of fascinating footage of a wall when I’m parked. Not to mention, will it run down the car battery? I have to plug the camera into the cigarette lighter when I turn the car on and unplug it when I stop. Which I don’t always remember to do.

The video quality is the same as on my Akaso. It’s decent. I can see the license plates of other vehicles, but the car has to be very close to me to actually read the numbers from the video recording. With the Pelsee app, I can use my fingers to make the image larger, but that also makes it more blurry.

Pelsee app

It’s free to download the Pelsee app onto the phone and is reasonably easy to set up and use.

If I want to view the video recordings, me and my phone have to be close to the camera for the WiFi to connect. I can download any of the videos onto the Pelsee album and from there I can download the video to my Photos app on my phone or email or message the video. It takes about 3 minutes to download a video file onto the album.

Like my previous camera, the video keeps recording in a loop, meaning the older videos will be recorded over if they’re not downloaded and saved. There is a voice app and I can instruct the camera to save a video. I haven’t specifically used this feature. There have been a few times when I’m having a conversation with a passenger and all of a sudden the camera will speak up and say it’s saving the video.

If I’m too far away from the dash camera and pull up the Pelsee app, I can not view any of the video recordings except the ones I’ve downloaded onto the album.

Contacting Pelsee customer service

Seeing as how the camera is always on and recording even though the car is turned off, I contacted Pelsee by email to see if I missed a step. Or if my new camera is just an over achiever.

Pelsee suggested I just keep doing what I’m doing, plugging the camera in and unplugging it.

Or… I can purchase a hardwire kit. This means buying the wiring to plug the camera into a fuse and it will be running all the time. Also known as recording in parking mode. This might decrease the possibility of draining the car battery.

Maybe not.

That kind of sucks for a few reasons. The hardwire kit costs almost as much as the savings from when I purchased the dash camera. Also I’m not that mechanically inclined and certainly I’m no electrician. I will have to hire someone to hardwire the dash camera.

And ultimately I know this is what I’ll have to do. That way I don’t have to think about plugging it in and unplugging it. And it will free up that cigarette lighter in case there’s something else I want to plug in while I’m driving. Like my GPS.

I think Pelsee should include the hardwire kit as part of their dash camera package.

Dash camera review in action

OK. Now is the time to see my dash camera review on YouTube!

After Amazon rejected my review, I made the video.

I’ve already installed the front and rear cameras and I point out where the wires are. At the end of the video is a demonstration of the dash camera in action and how it records when I’m on the road.

So what do you think? Why does Amazon not want potential customers to see my review of the Pelsee dash camera?

Keeping in mind that my critical one star review of the Yi 1080 Dash Camera was published, but that camera is no longer available for sale. All we have is my more lengthy review on this site about how Yi does not stand behind its products.

Have you purchased a Pelsee dash camera? How do you like it? And if you did a review on Amazon – did they publish it? Lay it on me and leave a comment below.

Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on March 15, 2025.