Ever since the first Cycliq Fly 6 rear camera + rear light came out, I was surprised that there are so few competitors on the market. I believed that there is probably some kind of patent protecting this design, which is why there are no credible alternatives. I have used a few different generations of Cycliq Fly 6, can see the reviews here.
For such a device, the most important features are:
1) Clear video - Requires some kind of stabilization technology, as well as good low light performance.
2) Good rear light - Does not have to be super bright, but should be "good enough".
3) Relatively long battery life - At least 4 hours in my opinion, for a standard Sunday morning ride.
4) Water resistant - Needs to survive rain and wet rides.
Other features such as fast charging, quick release connection, compact size, Wifi connection, etc are good to have but not as important as the four I listed above. Without any one of the four features, the rear camera + rear light will not be good enough.
Recently I heard of the Seemee DV rear camera + rear light, which has some good reviews online. Decided to get it to try it out for myself, as it is just one-third the price of a Fly 6.
One thing to take note: The Seemee DV does NOT have audio recording. This probably makes it easy to seal against water ingress, but also means that there is no audio record of anything that happens.
Seemee DV Smart Tail Light
Made in China like most other consumer electronics.
Free saddle rail bracket given as a gift.
Unit is well protected and well packaged.
All the parts that come with the standard package
Weight of unit + seat post mount is 114 grams.
Weight wise, the Seemee DV is lighter than the Fly 6 (Gen 3), which weighs 113 (unit) + 15 (strap) = 128 grams. In any case, it is a small difference.
Looks like a mini Garmin mount. Enables the strap to stay on the seat post, while the unit is twisted off for charging.
Some lens specifications listed. Hope it is scratch-resistant as it is located at a position where lots of road debris is thrown up against it.
LEDs at the rear and also the sides, which is good for visibility.
Type C charging port covered by a rubber flap
Micro SD card slot located at the other side, also covered by a rubber flap.
The Micro SD card slot is a bit annoying, as the spring mechanism does not keep the SD card locked in properly. When closing the rubber flap, it tends to cause the SD card to pop out. Basically the rubber flap is critical to holding the SD card in place. Feels like it might vibrate loose during a ride and stop recording.
Mini Garmin mount to secure the unit to the seat post mount.
Buttons are on top! Power button and camera button, as well as status LEDs.
With the video recording on, and in Flash mode (my preferred option), it can supposedly last 9 hours! That is like double the Fly 6 runtime.
Colour of LED at different battery levels
Fly 6 Gen 3 vs Seemee DV. The Seemee DV is a lot longer, although slightly slimmer.
Seemee DV has a teardrop shape, and also side LEDs which are useful.
There is a ton of regulatory info on the large Fly 6 sticker, while there is none on the Seemee DV.
This probably means that the Seemee DV did not apply for regulatory approval in those territories and cannot be sold there.
Both use their own proprietary Garmin-style quarter-turn locking designs.
Top view. I prefer buttons on top like the Seemee DV.
Rear and side LEDs lighted! I like the additional side visibility.
Additional side visibility is always safer.
There is also a circling red light around the camera lens when it is recording, much like the Fly 6.
As mounted onto the seat post
Looks quite slim, I have no problems with the size.
The Seemee DV has good battery life as well as a good rear light. Not sure about water resistance, it will only be known after it goes through a wet ride.
However, I found the video quality to be quite poor, even under broad daylight. As shown below from the still shots taken from the videos, the car plate numbers are not legible at all.
These videos were taken when I was riding steadily on a smooth flat road, under good lighting conditions, and I still could not see the car plate numbers with the vehicles directly behind me. If that is the case, there is no hope for seeing the car plate numbers under less-than-ideal conditions.
It seems that the video image vibrates quite a bit even when rolling over smooth roads. From this, I can conclude that there is no effective video stabilization technology being used to smoothen out the videos.
From what I observe, another big contributor to the unstable video is the seat post mount. If you look at a few pictures above, where the Seemee DV is mounted onto the seat post, you will notice a few things that is different from the Fly 6 mount.
1) The mount is located at one end of the unit instead of in the middle, this enables the unit to vibrate more as it is not supported adequately.
2) Mount (mini Garmin) is very small, which enables the unit to shake more easily.
3) Strap of the mount is made of rubber, which is stretchy and also allows the light to shake more.
Together, these factors cause the Seemee DV unit to be "floppy", enabling it to bounce more than the bike itself. This can be shown by lifting up the bike from the ground, and letting it bounce on the tires. When I do that, the Seemee DV swings around a lot, which is terrible for video stability.
Conversely, the Fly 6 mount is larger, and uses a non-stretchy velcro strap to reduce vibration. The Fly 6 also has Electronic Image Stabilization which helps to steady the video.
The Seemee DV is a well-packaged rear camera + rear light, with good battery life and bright LEDs. Unfortunately, it is let down by a mount design that is not good enough. In my opinion, if the mount design is improved to be more beefy, as well as adding in some video stabilization technology, this Seemee DV will be a serious challenger to the Fly 6. However, in this current iteration, I cannot recommend it as the video quality is just not good enough.
