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Redtiger F77: One-minute review
The Redtiger F77 is a two-channel dash cam that, almost uniquely among its rivals, records 4K video to the front and rear of your car at the same time. Both cameras have a Soy Starvis 2 imaging sensors, and both record smooth, colorful footage that is packed with detail.
Although bulky, the F77 feels well made, and its extra size means the 4-inch touchscreen on the rear is more useful than those of smaller dash cams, especially when it comes to navigating the intuitive menu system and viewing recordings. Footage is saved to the F77’s 128GB of internal storage, then can either be transferred to a microSD card or sent to your phone via a 5GHz Wi-Fi connection.
If high-quality 4K video is what you want, the Redtiger F77 delivers exactly that – and at a competitive price.
Redtiger F77: Price & availability
At the time of writing, the F77 has been reduced in the US from $400 to $250, making it feel like excellent value for money. Sure, it isn’t the cheapest two-channel dash cam around, but it’s good value when you consider the dual 4K recording, wide lenses and 128GB of storage. In the UK the F77 is priced at £260 – although was reduced to £220 at the time of writing – and in Australia it retails for AUD$389.
Unlike some other dash cams, like the Nexar One and Nextbase iQ, there is no 4G connectivity or cloud storage, so there’s no ongoing subscriptions or fees to worry about.
Redtiger F77: Specs
|
Video |
4K (3840 x 2160) HDR, front and rear |
|
Field-of-view (FoV) |
170 degrees (front and rear) |
|
Storage |
128GB (integrated eMMC, non-expandable) |
|
GPS |
Yes |
|
Parking mode |
Yes (hardwiring required) |
|
App support |
Yes, RedTiger app |
|
Dimensions |
4.5 x 2.0 x 1.75 inches / 115 x 50 x 40 mm (front), 3.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 inches / 90 x 35 x 35 mm (rear) |
|
Weight |
6.7oz / 190g (front), 2.8oz / 79g (rear) |
|
Battery |
No |
Redtiger F77: Design
- Front camera with 4-inch screen
- Bulky design might not suit smaller vehicles
- 128GB of eMMC internal storage
The Redtiger F77 is a chunky dash cam, but for good reason. This is one of the first dash cams to record 4K video forwards and rearwards. We’ve seen the former for a while now, but to shoot continuous 4K footage at 30 frames per second through two cameras at once is no mean feat. It takes a fair bit of processing power and, naturally, creates a lot of heat – hence the bulky design.
This could be annoying for drivers of especially small cars, or those with shallow, steeply raked windshields. Ideally the front-facing camera fits neatly behind the central mirror, mostly out of sight, but this won’t be possible in every vehicle. Even the screen on the back is massive, for a dash cam, at 4.0 inches. That’s 15 percent larger than the display of the original iPhone, and on par with many smartphones from just a few years ago.
Redtiger has leaned into the bulky aesthetic, and the F77 is all straight lines, blunt edges and blocky. It looks fine and feels well made, but the many vents show the design was led by a need for cooling. The rear camera is much smaller, but still quite large compared to non-4K rivals, and mirrors the same industrial design as the main unit.
Both cameras attach to your windshield with an adhesive pad and there’s enough vertical adjustment to suit most vehicles. There’s no horizontal movement though, so you’ll want to install them as close to the center of each windshield as possible.
The main unit is powered by an included USB-C cable and lighter socket adaptor. The rear camera then plugs into the front camera with another USB-C cable. These cables are quite thick, especially the one powering the main unit, so aren’t as easy to tuck behind interior panelling than others.
Redtiger has fitted the F77 with 128GB of eMMC internal storage. And, while there’s a microSD card slot on the side, this is for transferring footage to a card, not recording directly to one in the first place.
Once saved to the internal storage, videos can be viewed on the touchscreen, or in the smartphone app, then transferred to your phone via Wi-Fi, or copied to a microSD card. Transferring them to an SD card can only be done from in the app. I’d prefer an option to do this from within the dash cam’s own interface.
Redtiger F77: Performance
- Both front and rear cameras shoot very sharp 4K video
- Both cameras have a wider-than-average 170-degree field of view
- Smooth recordings even when driving on bumpy surfaces
The F77 uses its dual Starvis 2 imaging sensors and 4K resolution to incredible effect. It produces some of the sharpest footage I have ever seen from any dash cam system, while also benefiting from both cameras shooting through wide, 170-degree lenses.
Colors are a little artificial, with the sky and greenery looking particularly saturated. But this footage isn’t intended for the movie theater; it’s to prove your innocence after a crash, so detail is the most important factor. The Redtiger F77 performs well here, thanks to shadows being raised, helping to bring details out from darker parts of the frame.
Footage is also pleasantly smooth, with none of the horizontal shuttering exhibited by some other dash cams, especially when fitted to firm-riding cars driven over poor road surfaces. The F77’s video stayed nice and smooth throughout my testing, even over London’s sizeable speed bumps and lunar-like potholes.
While the Redtiger’s sharpness is welcome, I’d actually go as far as to say footage is overly sharp. I spotted this more with the rear-facing camera than the front, and the result was a curious white outline appearing around passing vehicles. This was more apparent on sunny days, and made cars pop so much that they looked superimposed onto the background. This isn’t a deal-breaker, but I’d like Redtiger to add a setting for turning sharpness down to a more realistic level.
That aside, the footage is still very impressive for a dash cam. Key details like vehicle license plates, road markings and street signs are pin-sharp.
I was also impressed by how quick the F77 was to set up, and how the large touch screen makes it easy to navigate through the intuitive menu system. Adjusting settings, like turning the microphone off and telling the display to go blank after 10 seconds, instead of being constantly on while driving, is the work of a moment.
Less straightforward is transferring footage off the F77. Because it has internal storage, you can’t just pop out a microSD card and slot that into your computer. Instead, you’ve to either insert a blank memory card and transfer files to it off the dash cam, or connect your phone via 5GHz Wi-Fi and move recordings that way. Redtiger says the 128GB of storage is good for five hours of 4K video (from both cameras) before the oldest content is overwritten. As with other dash cams, footage captured after a collision, or after you press the red manual record button, is saved in a separate folder where it can’t be overwritten.
A parking mode is available, but that’s only enabled when using Redtiger’s hardwiring installation kit, sold separately. Like other parking modes, this constantly draws power from the car’s 12-volt battery via the fuse box, allowing the camera to spring into life and start recording when a collision is detected.
I like how Redtiger has kept things relatively simple with the F77, and instead of fitting the dash cam with lots of driver assistance systems – like inaccurate speed camera warnings and misfiring lane-departure alerts (that’s my experience with many other dash cams, at least) – it has focused on providing excellent video quality. There’s a driver fatigue function, but that merely suggests you take a break after a predefined length of time, rather than actively monitor your driving and alertness.
Redtiger F77: Sample video
Should you buy the Redtiger F77?
Buy it if…
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How I tested the Redtiger F77
- I installed the Redtiger F77 in my own car
- I used the dash cam on several journeys, taking in a variety of roads
- I transferred the footage to my phone and computer for a closer look
I installed both the front and rear cameras of the Redtiger F77 and used it as my own dash cam on multiple drives. Although it can be used without the company’s smartphone app, I installed that onto my iPhone and connected it to the F77. From there, I was able to adjust settings (instead of using the dash cam’s own touchscreen), view recordings, and transfer video either to a microSD card or directly to my phone.
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