Road Angel is best known for its speed camera detectors, but has more recently branched out into the ever-increasing dash cam market. It currently offers six different models under the Halo brand, ranging from the Halo Go to the Halo Ultra, and also including a couple of models that incorporate a rear-view mirror.
The Halo Pro front-and-rear dash cam reviewed here sits towards the top of the range, sitting below the 4K-capable Halo Ultra.
This is a dash cam system that comes with a main unit facing forwards and a secondary, rear-facing camera that attaches with a long cable. The system carries a retail price of £200 in the UK, but can often be found for less if you shop around.
Road Angel Halo Pro: Specifications
Resolution: 2560 x 1440 2K (front), 1920 x 1080 Full HD (rear)
HDR: No
GPS: Yes
Voice control: No
Field of view: 140 degrees (front), 120 degrees (rear)
Display: No
Battery: No
Parking mode: Yes
Key features
The biggest features of the Halo Pro concern its video quality. The front-facing camera has a 2K resolution of 2560 x 1440, meaning it shoots video well above Full HD, but short of 4K – and it can be argued the latter isn’t really necessary for a dash cam, especially given the huge files such a high resolution creates. As such, 2K feels like the happy medium when it comes to dash cam resolution.
The rear-facing camera isn’t quite so sharp, but still records at a perfectly respectable 1920 x 1080, also known as 1080p or Full HD.
Another key feature of this dash cam is integrated GPS, which means it can add accurate speed and location information to video recordings, as well as the direction in which your vehicle is heading.
Although not a feature as such, it’s worth adding here that this dash cam does not have a display. While screens are useful during the initial set-up process of a dash cam, we often find them distracting while driving. As such, we think Road Angel’s decision to not fit a display is a good thing.
Lastly, a parking mode is available if you purchase and install the optional hard-wiring kit. This gives the dash cam a constant supply of power from your car’s 12-volt battery, allowing it to record in a time-lapse mode while parked, then jump into life and start recording video when a collision is detected.
Build and handling
As it doesn’t have a display, the Road Angel Halo Pro is nice and shallow, hugging the windscreen and taking up minimal space. The glossy grey finish looks and feels nice, but catches a lot of light and could be an annoyance in the corner of the driver’s eye. We prefer our dash cams to be stealthy in their appearance, but we appreciate why Road Angel would want to use a color that helps its products stand out in a crowded market.
The forward-facing lens has a good amount of adjustability – crucially for ensuring it has the correct view ahead, no matter the rake of your vehicle’s windscreen – and the overall feel is one of a quality, well-made product.
Road Angel has fitted a small and unobtrusive windscreen mount that sticks to the screen with an adhesive pad and then slots into place on the top of the dash cam itself.
There’s a microSD card slot beneath a plastic door on the side of the main unit (note that there’s no card included in the box) and a button for muting the microphone underneath. There are no other buttons, so unlike almost all other dash cams there’s no way to manually save footage – for example, if you witness a crash ahead and aren’t directly involved but want to gather evidence. This seems like a strange omission.
The rear camera is very compact, with 360 degrees of adjustment and an adhesive pad for sticking to the rear screen. Note that the camera cannot be removed from its mount, and make sure you install it the right way up (a sticker with an arrow is conveniently applied to help you).
Performance
A 1.5 star average user rating for Road Angel’s Halo app was cause for concern, but we quickly discovered this was due to poor performance a year ago that has since been addressed. The app is basic but functional, like most other examples of dash cam software.
The camera itself works very well indeed, recording excellent footage of high quality and containing great detail. This is reason enough to buy the camera, especially if you have no interest in the many driver assistance systems other dash cams have, but which this model lacks.
We would like to have seen wider lenses used by the Halo Pro, as 140 degrees is just about acceptable for a front camera, and 120 degrees is a little tight for the rear. For context, other dash cams can manage up to 180 degrees of coverage from each lens.
That said, the system still provides a good amount of coverage to the front and rear, and should satisfy most buyers.
Road Angel Halo Pro: Verdict
If you want high-quality video recording from a reputable brand name, and aren’t too bothered about additional functionality, the Halo Pro by Road Angel is a good option. This is a dash cam that shoots in 2K video to the front and Full HD to the rear, producing great footage containing plenty of key details like street signs and number plates.
The design is simple but smart, the setup process is fairly straightforward (and, mercifully, doesn’t ask you to create a user account), and both cameras are fairly compact. This kit also represents decent value for money, especially when you can find it for around £160 if you shop around.
The app isn’t much to write home about, but then dash cam software is never particularly good, and the rear lens could be wider. But on the whole this is a solid system that records high-quality video in a simple and dependable way, with no distracting extras like driver assistance and voice control. All that it’s really missing is a manual save button.
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