One year with Mini0806

WARNING: DO NOT BUY MINI0806 UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

You have been warned.

Here is simple reason why: out of 8 mini0806s that passed through my hands, 5 failed and one dying(failure rate >60%).

Here is the tally:

First ever mini0806 I got was on 01/05/2016.
I purchased it from gearbest.com on 31/03/2016, and got it after a month of being, what I assumed, shipped via a bottle thrown in the sea.
Immediately I noticed that it would crash when chosen any high resolution other than 2560x1080p30. Press stop/start recording 3 times and it would lockup (30s power button reset was the only way to recover it).
I created a ticket with gearbest only to be given run around. They suggested to get it fixed locally, and they will reimburse the bill. How many component level repair specialist that charge $5/hour are in New Zealand? After being offered 10% discount coupon, I decided to contact Megtech directly (the manufacturer of the camera).
After spending $40NZD (~30% of the cost of the camera) on shipping, in about one month I got the replacement. While waiting for the replacement I bought another mini0806 (I never learn ;)) this turned out to be the only reliable mini I personally owned).
The replacement from Megtech had exactly same problem. As if they simply returned my camera back, if it was not for protective film on LCD suggesting it is another new unit.
In between getting my faulty camera returned, I had the second camera running well, thus my friends decided to buy mini0806 for themselves (bad move).

Friend #1: 2x minis, both faulty (crash on power off, crash on running).
Friend #2: 1x faulty (crash on power off, crash on running), 1x OK (replacement) so far
Friend #3: 1x OK but never checked the recordings for missing data.

So total so far: 5/8 failed. My good mini0806 has low battery warning permanently on.

Megtech suggested bad Micro SD cards. Well, I tested the mini0806s with Samsung Pro, Transcend Ultimate 633x, Strontium Nitro, all class 10, most of them are MLC flash. All of these cards Work fine in Blackvue, Viofo, Navman (MiVue), GitUp cameras. All of these cards also work fine in good mini as well.

At this stage I removed my mini in favour of Viofo A119, which runs really well, has reasonable temperature ratings and no battery.

In conclusion do not buy anything that Megtech makes, or anything from gearbest.com.

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