N9 Mini Full HD 1296P Body Mounted Camera

Your word against theirs, and nothing to show for it.

Something happens on shift. A near miss at the gate, a customer who gets in your face, damage to a vehicle that nobody owns up to. By the time it gets written up there are two versions of what happened and nothing to sort them out with.

So it runs on memory. Memory becomes a statement, the statement becomes an investigation, and the investigation gets settled by whoever sounded most certain in the interview. Best case that is a day of your life gone. Worst case you wear something you did not do, or the bloke who did it walks.

This is a small camera that clips to a shirt pocket, a vest or a belt and records the lot. The supplier puts it at 64 mm tall and 96 g — measuring less than 70 mm tall, it clips easily to your shirt without dragging a hi-vis out of shape or catching on everything you walk past. It records up to 1296P through a 165° lens, carries infrared LEDs either side of that lens for low light, and plays footage straight back on a 1.5 inch screen so you can check you actually got it before you walk away.

It is a consumer camera and we will not dress it up as anything else. There is no dock, no evidence-management software, no water rating, and what you are lawfully allowed to record is set where you live, not by us. That is all in the Limits tab. Read it before you buy rather than after.

What It Does

• Records the whole scene: a 165° lens is wide enough to hold a gate, a cab or the pair of you in frame instead of just the patch straight ahead.
• Sees in low light: six infrared LEDs sit either side of the lens for unlit yards, sheds and night shift. The manufacturer's manual puts them at up to 10 metres.
• Plays back on the spot: a 1.5 inch LCD screen and a menu button, so you can check the clip and change the settings without a computer.
• Stamps the footage: the supplier's screenshots show a date, a time and a unit ID number burnt into the frame.
• Runs a full shift: 8 hours at 1296P, 10 hours at 1080P and 12 hours at 720P with the screen off, and 72 hours sitting on standby.
• Mounts either way up: a long clip and a short clip in the box, both rotating a full turn, so the camera sits level whichever way the pocket runs.
• Flashes to be seen: a red and blue warning light on the front, switched on with a three-second press.

Where It Earns Its Keep

• Gate and access control: the conversation that turns bad at the boom gate is on file, not on your memory of it three days later.
• Working on your own: lone work on a remote site, where nobody else saw whatever it is you are going to be asked about.
• Service and delivery calls: you turn up, the damage is already there, and you have got the drive-up recorded rather than an argument about it.
• Farm and station work: gates left open, stock moved, a vehicle down the back paddock — a camera on your chest while you go and look.
• Night shift in an unlit yard: infrared instead of trying to hold a torch and a camera at the same time.

Key Features

• Video resolutions: 1296P, 1080P and 720P, selected from the camera's own menu. The manufacturer's manual gives 30 frames a second at all three, with 60 available at 1080P.
• Lens: 165° wide angle, as stated by the supplier.
• Night vision: six infrared LEDs either side of the lens, switched on manually. The manufacturer's manual states up to 10 metres.
• Screen: 1.5 inch LCD for playback and menu settings.
• Storage: micro SD card slot behind a rubber flap, up to 256 GB. The card is only in the box on the 64 GB option.
• Recording time: 8 hours at 1296P, 10 hours at 1080P, 12 hours at 720P, screen off. Standby 72 hours.
• Two clips supplied: a long 180° folding clip and a short clip, both rotating 360°.
• Warning light: red and blue flash on the front, held on with a three-second press.
• Listed modes: the supplier's artwork lists loop recording, a stealth mode, video fragments of up to 30 minutes, photo sequence, visual pre-recording and delayed recording.
• Charging: over the USB 2.0 cable supplied. No wall plug is included, and the manufacturer's manual says to charge from a wall adaptor rather than a computer's USB port.

Limits

Straight up, here is what this camera will not do and what we cannot tell you.

• Recording law is yours to know: what you may lawfully record, and whether everyone in frame has to be told about it, is set by each state and territory and changes with the circumstances. Those rules are yours to check and follow. Nothing this camera does changes them, and we are not the people to advise you on them.
• We make no evidence claim: we do not claim footage from it will be accepted by a court, a tribunal, an insurer or your employer, and nothing on this page should be read as saying it will.
• Not an enforcement device: the supplier's photographs show uniformed officers wearing it overseas. That is stock photography. It is not an endorsement, an approval or a certification, and it carries no authority with it.
• No water or dust rating: the supplier publishes no IP rating and no immersion figure. Treat it as a camera that does not want to be rained on, and do not put it anywhere near water.
• No card unless you pick the 64 GB option: the camera-only option ships with no memory card and will not record until you put one in. Micro SD, up to 256 GB.
• No spare battery: no removable battery, battery door or spare cell appears in any supplier image, and none is supplied. Assume it is charged over USB and not swapped mid-shift. The manufacturer's manual puts the cell at 2600 mAh lithium polymer; some sellers list 2400 mAh.
• Night vision is a stated 10 metres, not a measured one: the manufacturer's manual gives six infrared LEDs and up to 10 metres. That is their number. We have not measured it, and infrared falls away fast, so read 10 metres as the best case with something close enough to reflect off — not a working range across open ground.
• The 40M photo mode is not a 40 megapixel sensor: the camera's own menu offers a 40M photo setting and labels 1296P as the "apparent resolution". No image sensor is named anywhere we can verify — the manufacturer's manual lists the processor, an MSTAR8328P, and says nothing about the sensor behind it. Treat 40M as a software-enlarged number.
• Nothing leaves the camera on its own: no wifi, app, GPS, mobile connection or cloud upload is shown or specified. Footage comes off the card or over the cable.
• The battery figures assume the screen is off: the supplier's own panel says so. Leave the screen running and you will get less.
• The temperature range is the manufacturer's, not ours: the manual states -30 °C to 55 °C. We have not tested either end and we would not lean on the top of it. It is a lithium battery in a plastic case — a closed cab in a Pilbara summer is hard on both.

Q & A

Is it legal for me to record people with this?

That is not a question we are able to answer for you. Recording rules differ between states and territories and they shift with the situation — where you are, who is in frame, whether sound is being captured, and what you do with the footage afterwards. Some situations need everyone's consent and some do not. Check the rules that apply where you are, and follow them. We are not the people to advise you on what they say, and we make no claim about how footage from this camera would be treated by anyone else.

Does it come with a memory card?

Only on one option. Pick "Camera with 64GB" and a 64 GB card is included. Pick "Only Camera" and there is no card in the box — it is a micro SD slot and it takes up to 256 GB, so you can fit whatever you already have.

Can I change the battery?

Not as far as we can tell. No battery door, removable pack or spare cell appears in any of the supplier's photographs, and none comes in the box. Plan around charging it over USB rather than carrying a second battery. The manufacturer's manual puts it at 2600 mAh lithium polymer, though some sellers list 2400 mAh.

How far does the night vision actually see?

The manufacturer's manual gives six infrared LEDs and up to 10 metres. That is their figure and not one we have measured, and infrared drops off fast, so read 10 metres as the best case rather than what you will get in an open yard. It lights a room, a doorway or the front of a vehicle. It does not light a paddock.

Is it waterproof?

No rating is published, so no. There is a rubber flap over the card slot and that is the extent of what we can see. Do not swim with it, do not hose it, and do not count on it in steady rain.

What is in the box?

The camera, a USB cable, a long clip, a short clip and a manual — plus a 64 GB micro SD card if you pick that option. No wall charger.

How long is delivery?

Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you place the order, and up to three weeks to be safe. Regional and remote addresses take longer again. Delivery is free to Australia and New Zealand.

Specs