The Box and Goodies -
The box that the P2 Pro comes in is fairly typical for most of your current electronics. You get a picture on the front, the name of the device, and most importantly some of the major highlights of the product. In this case we have full HD (1080p) recording, built-in GPS and a G-Sensor (which we will cover later).

The back of the box has an even longer list of features and also gives you one of the primary uses for this type of device: “Report bad drivers / road rage”.  That is probably the most important use of the P2 Pro and one we will be covering in much more detail later.

While the outside of the P2 Pro box is designed to get you interested in the product, what you really want to know about is what is inside. Here Papago gives you everything you need to get going with the recording of your daily drives.

You get a manual, a power cable (micro USB to 12 Volt car adapter), a mount and, of course, the P2 Pro dashcam. Papgo even lists a method for connecting the P2 Pro directly to your car, but they mention that it is not completely supported.

The Papago P2 Pro -
The Papago P2 Pro is a small device. This is by design because you would not want to have a huge camera in the middle of your front window. Still even with its size the Papago P2 Pro is a very capable device. Just looking at the specs show you that it has a ton of things going on under the hood.

LCD Display 2.4″ LCD panel 320 x 240 pixels resolution
Image Sensor Aptina 3.5 mega pixels 1/3″ CMOS sensor
Lens 130° wide viewing angle
Lens structure Composed with 6 piece glasses and 1 piece IR filter
GPS Receiver U-blox 6 latest GPS module Ceramic antenna 25 x 25 x 4 mm
G-Sensor Yaw /Pitch / Roll G-sensor
Video Format 1080p30 / .TS (AVC/H.264)
Storage Memory SDHC card (32GB Maxima)
HDMI HDMI 1.3
USB USB 2.0
LED Instruction Light Red and green indicator light
Power Supply 12-24V DC input / 5V / 1A output
Power Consumption 4.75V~5.25V /1A
Operating Temperature 32°~158°F
Storage Temperature -4 °~ 176°F
Dimension 3.75″ x 2.5″x 2.4″
Weight 0.3 lbs

The listed features are also quite impressive.
Advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) including Stop and Go, LDWS (Lane Departure Warning System) and FCWS (Front Collision Warning System)
Supports Driver Fatigue Alarm which drivers can set up the alarm for resting for long hour drive.
Device alerts you when headlights are necessary for driving conditions
Embedded GPS. Record coordinates, speed, direction and dates while driving.
Built-in G-sensor supports video file backup when an accident happens
Supports digital WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) and full HD 1080p high resolution video recording
Supports screen capture
Auto turn on once engine starts
HDMI output supports HDTV playback
Supports low and high temperature protection

Now that we have got your attention let’s do our walk around of the P2 Pro and show you the flow of the menu system. Since there is so much to talk about we thought a video along with a few pictures would serve much better than trying to type everything out.

Performance -
 Performance of a video device is not just about the picture quality. It is also about ease of use and how well any additional features integrate into the device. In the case of the P2 Pro we have to take all of the many extras into consideration while also dealing with how well the P2 Pro actually works as a recording device.

So let’s start off with the obvious, video quality.

As you saw in our walk through video, the quality of the P2 Pro is very good. You do see a high contrast ratio for tail and head lights, but that is not unexpected. For just about everything else it is very clean and clean. The running GPS location and time clock is very cool and would be great for insurance purposes. Where things get a little interesting is in the fact that the microphone records everything, including the beeps from the many active systems (like stop and go, lane tracking and front end collision detection). You will hear these quite clearly through the camera while other sounds are very muted including the radio and conversations inside the vehicle. On the one hand this is a good thing (would you really want all of your conversations recorded?) on the other it makes us wonder if the mic would be sensitive enough to capture conversation with someone outside the vehicle (in the case of a road rage incident). Still having the video of an incident is good and even with the lower audio, as it can almost always be improved to be clearer.

Lane drift detection -
I had high hopes for this feature as it can come in handy. Sadly, I found that it did not work all that well without constant adjustment. When I first calibrated it things seemed to work well with the exception of taking off/on ramps. When changing lanes into these the system would alert and often stay that way until the vehicle rounded the corner and was on the next straight road.  

Another issue with lane detection is when you need to remove the camera from the vehicle. There are times that you simply do not want to leave a camera on your window. This might be due to a fear of someone stealing it or damage from other factors (extreme heat etc.). When you do this you will need to recalibrate the lane detection feature simply because there is very little chance you will get the camera in exactly the same sport every time. It is not a deal breaker, but it might make someone stop using it due to the continual maintenance.

Stop and Go -
The Stop and Go feature is very cool. It is designed to keep an eye on cars in front of you when you are stopped. If you are stationary for more than 10 seconds the camera will note any objects in front of you and when they move the P2 Pro will make the sound of a car horn to let you know to get moving. In practice we found that this worked perfectly as long as you have a car in front of you. If you are at the front of the pack, well then you are on your own.

Front End Collision Detection –
Fortunately we did not have the chance to test this one as we did not get close enough to any vehicles (moving fast enough) to make the alarm go off. Still it is a great feature.

Speed Camera location -
Speed Cameras are not used in the area where we tested so we were not able to test this either. However it is still a nice feature and easy to set up.

Ease of use –
Although the menu and entries are not all that intuitive, the P2 Pro is fairly simple to get setup. We highly recommend finding a quiet spot to set this up. If you try to change things while moving you just might end up needing the G-Sensor feature.

Over all we were happy with the way the P2 Pro performed (with the few exceptions noted). The video quality is very clean and all of the features worked as expected.

Value -
Value is another very subjective topic. What is expensive to some might be a deal to others. You can look at this topic in multiple ways. One is raw price and the other is what you get for the money. Each is accurate and both are correct ways to look at price/value. We tend to look at features, performance and real-property when we discuss value. However, we also take into account the raw cash cost of the item.
We found the Papago P2 Pro for sale on the internet for around $195.00. Considering the features, performance and other options you get with the P2 Pro this is actually a very good price. There are other camera on the market for much more and they lack the same feature set we see in the P2 Pro. This makes the almost $200 you will spend seem like more of deal than the actual dollar amount would indicate.

Conclusion -
As we have already stated the concept of the consumer Dashcam might have originated with the thought of broadcasting every aspect of our lives, but it has since evolved into much more. The Papago P2 Pro is evidence of this evolution. You have a product that is just as at home making road trip videos as it is being used as evidence for your insurance. The video quality was solid and when combined with the excellent feature set you get a very impressive product. We do think that Papago should create an optional kit to allow for full installation in a vehicle. This option would give the P2 Pro and other cameras in their lineup even more value. Still even missing that we cannot complain too much about the lack of a hardwired option when the product you do get works so well.

It is that combination of features, performance and price that earned the Papago! P2 Pro our Editor's Choice award.

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