There are some products which aren’t that famous but provide tremendous features under a stupendous price tag. Due to limited budget and low advertisement, these products get buried before they even rise. Such is the mini camera manufacturer Quelima. The freshman from the Chinese land has been providing some worthy mini cameras and DVR for cars but sadly the company isn’t getting that kind of publicity like it should be. So, The Phone Talks is here to enlight you with one of Quelima’s camera and our today’s protagonist in Quelima SQ12 Mini DVR review.

So, if you are wondering that is it possible to grab a Full-HD resolution DVR for your dashboard or rear of your car, under $15, then Quelima SQ12 is your first priority. To be honest, the price doesn’t define it but the features do. 2X better night vision than an ordinary mini camera, Full-HD view, wide-angle 155-degrees view, a freaking H.264 decoding, and last but not the least is the motion detection. This little guy has everything which is worth of trying, under $15. So, it’s a win-win situation

Quelima SQ12 Mini DVR Review

Design & Appearance

Let’s just put all the features aside and put the design under consideration. We might expect a hefty, cheap DVR under $15. But that’s not true. Instead, we have the most compact design ever, occupying an area of only 2.20 x 2.24 x 2.20 cm. In simple words, it’s a perfect 2.2 cm cube.

The material of Quelima SQ12 Mini DVR is plastic. We can’t expect anodized metal under $15. However, the camera doesn’t look that cheap as it sounds like. Instead, we have a nice rugged look.

On the front, we have the 2.33MM wide lens surrounded by two IR LEDs. Moreover, there are two buttons, present on the top.

Meanwhile, on the left, we have the Mini USB port for charging and an SD card slot supporting TF card up to 32GB.

Overall, the finishing is excellent. There’s a screw attachment at the bottom, in which we can attach the clips and other accessories which comes with the Mini DVR.

Hardware & Features

What can we expect from a $15 mini DVR? Well, pretty much. The manufacturer has integrated a Chinese chipset named Generalplus1248 because of the limited budget. The advanced H.264 photography compression technology keeps high-quality videos and plays a part in saving storage as well. Because of the two IR LEDs, the night vision is also supported and the background is much clear than other cheap DVRs.

Regardless of the small size, we get to experience these video modes:

• Lope Mode
• Time Lapse
• Loop-cycle Recording
• Picture mode

The special features of the Quelima SQ12 Mini DVR are:

• Night vision
• Motion Detection within 2 – 3 meters

Sadly, it isn’t anti-shake, nor it is waterproof. If you want these features then we have to spend more. However, even without these features, Quelima SQ12 Mini DVR remains a great Mini DVR under $15.

Camera & Battery

Now coming to the real aspect which is the video recording. The DVR records in two resolutions which are:

• 1080P (1920 x 1080)
• 720P (1280 x 720)

The frame rate is also satisfactory which is 30 fps. Daytime video is great and the DVR covers the most area because of the 155-degrees wide angle. However, we noticed some poor focusing because of the f2.5 aperture and the edges are also blur because of the wide angle.

The DVR can shoot 12MP resolution pictures, which to be honest are way better than the videos recorded.

Speaking about the battery, a 200mAh battery powers Quelima SQ12 Mini DVR. Due to the limited size, the battery is also limited. Still, the chipset is efficient and the battery timing is 60 minutes on 1080P and slightly more on 720P (70 minutes). The fact is that it takes more time in charging (2h) than in using (1h), but almost every DVR of that size has this downside.

The Selling Points

• Full-HD recording
• Compact Size
• Night vision
• Motion Detection
• Cheap Price Tag

The Down Points

• No Anti-Shake, no Waterproof
• Poor focusing on corners

Our Verdict

There’s no doubt that Quelima SQ12 Mini DVR is one of the best Chinese DVR to offer Full-HD recording for a stupendous price of $15. Plus, we get to enjoy additional features like night vision and motion detection. Even though there are some downsides of the DVR such as no anti-shake feature, poor focusing on the corners, and no waterproof but like we said for those you have to spend more than simply $15.

Price & Availability

You can buy Quelima SQ12 Mini DVR from Gearbest for a price of $13.99. It’s available in Black color only. Here’s the link to the store:

Let us know your experience regarding this DVR in the comment section below.