[Linda Robinson]

I’ve been using the DashOne Pro for a few months and mostly it does the job. But I’m wondering about the 4x digital zoom. When I zoom in on a plate, it gets pretty blurry. Is that just how it is or am I missing a setting? Not a huge deal, but curious if others bother with it.

[Sarah J]

I kind of disagree that the zoom being blurry is just how it is. Mine actually surprised me the first time I tried it. I was parked behind a car at a light and zoomed in on the plate just messing around, and I could read it fine when I pulled the card and looked on my laptop. On the little screen it looked rough but that screen is tiny anyway.

Where I notice it fall apart is if the car is moving or if it’s evening. Then yeah, forget it, it’s mush. So I think it depends way more on conditions than the zoom itself being useless. If you’re standing still in decent light I’d say try it again before writing it off. Not something I use daily but it’s saved me once when a guy backed into me in a lot, so I’m glad it’s there.

[Mike Casio]

The 4x zoom on mine is basically unusable, so I just leave it alone. Plates turn into mush and it’s not worth fiddling with settings. If I need a plate I’ll just pull the card and squint at the footage after.

[Pixel Pete]

I don’t think it’s a setting you’re missing, mine does the same thing. The zoom is fine for grabbing a general idea of what’s ahead, but expecting a readable plate at 4x is asking a lot from this thing. I mostly just leave it at 1x and crop the footage later if I need a closer look.

[Jenna Lee]

I’ve had mine since last fall and I mostly use the zoom when I’m stopped at a light and want to read a plate or a sign ahead. For me it depends a lot on the time of day and how close the car is. In good daylight and maybe two or three car lengths away, the 4x is actually okay enough that I can make out numbers if I pause the video on the little screen or pull the card and look at it on my laptop. It’s not crisp like a normal photo, but it’s readable more often than not.

Where it falls apart for me is at night or when there’s a lot of motion. Headlights wash everything out and the plate just turns into a bright blob. I also noticed that if I zoom while driving, the whole thing gets shaky and that makes it worse than the zoom itself. So now I only really bother with it when I’m sitting still.

I don’t think there’s a hidden setting that fixes it, at least not that I found. I poked around the menu a bit when I first got it and didn’t see anything that made a big difference. It’s just kind of a limited feature on this camera. I still use it sometimes because it’s handy for getting a rough idea of what’s ahead, but I don’t count on it for anything important. Curious if yours is worse in low light too or if it’s blurry even in the daytime.

[Marcus Reed]

I actually get decent results with the zoom if the plate is close enough and the car isn’t moving much. Reading it later on the computer screen helps too, way better than squinting at the little LCD. It’s not crystal clear but it’s gotten me a plate number more than once.

[Jess Runner]

Mine doesn’t get blurry at 4x, so I don’t think that’s just normal for this cam. I zoom in on signs and plates pretty often and it holds up fine for me. Maybe yours has a bad unit or the lens is dirty?

[Alex Morgan]

The zoom on mine has been fine for grabbing a house number or street sign when I’m creeping along in traffic. It’s not crisp like the normal view, but I can still make out what I need. Good enough for me.

[Jamie Kell]

I don’t think zoom is that useful for plates at all. Not what I’d base a purchase on anyway. I’m looking at this cam mostly for the parking mode and the wide angle, so 4x being soft doesn’t really move the needle for me.

[Jake Holloway]

Mine has the same mush at 4x but it’s way worse on the rear cam than the front, which nobody seems to bring up. Front zoom is at least usable for a second, rear is a joke. I just leave it at 1x now and crop later if I actually need to read something.

[Nina_gadget]

I was kind of assuming the 4x zoom was mostly a gimmick on these cams, so it’s interesting that some of you actually get usable results. I don’t own one yet, still comparing, but zoom clarity is one of those things I’d probably never trust from the product page alone. Might just be one of those specs that sounds better than it looks in practice.

[Dani Moon]

Pairing the 4x zoom with the photo mode is the only way I get anything legible. Freeze framing live video just smears everything. Half the time I don’t even bother, the normal wide view is usually good enough to make out what I need anyway.

[JSmith]

Mine gets soft once I zoom past 3x, so you’re not imagining it. I mostly just leave it at 2x if I need to read something. Above that it’s a coin flip depending on light.

[Ryan__T]

I’ve tried the zoom on mine and it’s about what you’d expect from digital zoom on a cheap dash cam. Cropping into a 1080p frame just doesn’t leave much detail for a plate. I don’t think there’s a hidden setting for it.

[Linda Robinson]

Figured as much, thanks for clearing it up.

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