Sun at 7:21 pm
[Disclaimer: Wolfbox reached out to me on this forum and offered to send me a free G900 Tripro with hardwire kit if I would review their product. I let them know I would be excited to try it out, and that I would share an honest review, including critical feedback they can use to improve the product.]
Two years ago I installed a Brandmotion Fullvue digital rearview mirror, hoping to solve for nonexistent rearward visibility with my soft top folded down. The screen was too dim to be visible in direct sunlight, and the rearview camera was easily overwhelmed by headlights at night. Together, these issues rendered the product useless except as a dash cam. Considering the time and complexity of the installation - and the fact that the manufacturer did not provide usable directions for installation in a Bronco - I was not thrilled.
Unboxing
The packaging is really well done, with every component in a clearly labeled bag that helps you find everything as you need it during the installation. It seems that they put a lot of thought into making this an orderly experience, with high quality technical writing and labeling. My unit was well-packed and arrived in perfect condition.
Let's Start with the Specs
TL;DR: the Wolfbox cameras are far higher resolution than what Brandmotion offers, and the sensors are able to cope with night driving much better. I do not get any of the glare or wash-out from the Wolfbox rear camera that rendered the Brandmotion rear camera unusable with other drivers behind me at night.
The other big difference is in connectivity. The Wolfbox unit uses an ad hoc wi-fi connection to stream live and recorded footage directly to your phone, whereas the Brandmotion unit requires that you physically remove the microSD card to read the data. This is a huge problem if you have an accident and need the footage right away to show police. My Bronco was broken into last year, and it took me forever to find a microSD card adapter to extract the footage to file a police report.
Daylight Driving
Even with the soft top open, the display is clearly visible while wearing polarized glasses. Colors are vivid, and the refresh rate is slightly better than on the Brandmotion Fullvue. A smoother image feels more natural, and helped me trust the system without feeling the need to turn it off to use the "dumb mirror" mode.
Nighttime Driving
I'm really happy with the night vision and white balance on the front and rear cameras (haven't tested the interior camera). Even with headlights directly pointed at the sensor, it's still able to make out colors. Useful, if you need to be able to describe the color of a vehicle if you ever have or witness an accident.
Voice Command
The commands register very quickly, with no noticeable delay. You can issue a handful of basic voice commands to have the Wolfbox turn the screen on or off, control wi-fi connectivity, lock the current video, take a photo, turn sound on/off, etc. All very handy if you need to be certain you're capturing an urgent moment, or want to quickly turn off audio and/or recording to protect the privacy of your passengers.
Area for Improvement: I do wish there was an option to disable specific voice commands, since I listen to a lot of news and audiobooks that accidentally trigger the "take a picture" function.
Installation (you absolutely need to use this guide, custom made by @Bee Bop )
@WolfBox , this is where I think you can save Bronco owners the most headache! The lack of first-party installation instructions for a Bronco was a challenge, and buyers should be made aware of the specific accessories they'll need to buy for the installation method they choose. Maybe offer some guidance for hard top vs soft top buyers to show them what their options are.
Considerations
Power: 12v cigarette lighter adapter (included, with bonus USB-C port) OR hardwire to fuse box. I chose to hardwire.
Rearview mirror mounting: you can use the included rubber straps to slap the Wolfbox on top of your existing mirror, which I find very ugly and ungainly. For some, it might be a practical option.
Camera mounting: as mentioned above, you can run the rear view camera through the seams of your trim panels or through the body of the vehicle by removing the trim panels. The camera itself can be affixed to a license plate bracket (not included), your tailgate glass, or the spare tire carrier (3rd party mount required, not included). Some have installed the camera directly on the rear bumper, but I have found this offsets the camera image significantly.
GPS module mounting: super easy to do with adhesive backing, though the cable is a bit long. I reused some twist ties from the packaging for this.
Soft Top
Wolfbox allows a lot of flexibility in the installation if you have a hard top Bronco, though soft top owners needing the rear view camera will want to run the rear camera wiring along the wiring harnesses that pass through the side of the frame, and come out near the tailgate wiring. Note that this does require you partially dismount your side curtain airbags to run the power and video cables through the overhead console (1st picture below), and that you remove your rear spare tire if you want to mount the camera externally (3rd picture below). You'll want plenty of zip ties to this, and will need to buy special torx screws for removing the sun visor bolts.
Hard Top
While hard top owners can of course run the wiring through the body of the Bronco, a far easier option is tucking the rear camera cabling along the edge of your windshielf and through the interior trim panels to the back of your Bronco, and installing the rear view camera on your tailgate glass. This allows you to perfectly center the camera, and removes the need for a more invasive wiring through your tailgate.
Room for Improvement:
There are no OEM directions for installation in a Bronco, though Wolfbox is heavily marketing towards Bronco drivers. They shared a couple of videos YouTubers had made on their own to demo the process, but I found that I had to rely on multiple videos for all of the details I needed for my install.
I wish Wolfbox had mentioned that to retail the use of your sun visors, you will need their OEM Bracket (sold separately) to extend the neck of the rearview mirror, or that mounting on the spare tire or rear license plate requires yet another separate purchase of their Reverse Camera Plate Bracket (sold separately). Their customer support advised me on this, but I did buy the OEM Bracket with my own money. There also was not a bracket for mounting the rear camera the spare tire, so I simply reused the one I had already installed from my Brandmotion Fullvue.
Lastly, while I appreciate the option to choose how to power the mirror and to plug/unplug the rear and extra camera, I wish it was all tidily run through a single USB-C harness for simplicity.
Above, you can see the number of cables required for the GPS sensor, power, and the 2 remotely wired cameras (rear, extra). It's not impossible to tuck everything neatly behind the mirror, but it would be nice to see all of these routed through a single USB harness.
Overall
This is what a digital rearview system should be. It isn't perfect, but it offers a ton of installation flexibility, high quality sensors, and even comes with a 256GB microSD card that fully meets the read/write speed requirements of the unit. App connectivity and voice command features make it very easy to manage footage and control recording, and there is even a tiny backup power supply built into the mirror unit to keep the g-shock sensor working during park mode. Overall I genuinely love this product, having spent 2 years with a similar system that did not live up to any of its promises. While not perfect, I was about to buy it with my own money anyway before Wolfbox offered me a free unit for this review, and I think I would still buy it even if they hadn't.
Two years ago I installed a Brandmotion Fullvue digital rearview mirror, hoping to solve for nonexistent rearward visibility with my soft top folded down. The screen was too dim to be visible in direct sunlight, and the rearview camera was easily overwhelmed by headlights at night. Together, these issues rendered the product useless except as a dash cam. Considering the time and complexity of the installation - and the fact that the manufacturer did not provide usable directions for installation in a Bronco - I was not thrilled.
Unboxing
The packaging is really well done, with every component in a clearly labeled bag that helps you find everything as you need it during the installation. It seems that they put a lot of thought into making this an orderly experience, with high quality technical writing and labeling. My unit was well-packed and arrived in perfect condition.
Let's Start with the Specs
TL;DR: the Wolfbox cameras are far higher resolution than what Brandmotion offers, and the sensors are able to cope with night driving much better. I do not get any of the glare or wash-out from the Wolfbox rear camera that rendered the Brandmotion rear camera unusable with other drivers behind me at night.
The other big difference is in connectivity. The Wolfbox unit uses an ad hoc wi-fi connection to stream live and recorded footage directly to your phone, whereas the Brandmotion unit requires that you physically remove the microSD card to read the data. This is a huge problem if you have an accident and need the footage right away to show police. My Bronco was broken into last year, and it took me forever to find a microSD card adapter to extract the footage to file a police report.
Daylight Driving
Even with the soft top open, the display is clearly visible while wearing polarized glasses. Colors are vivid, and the refresh rate is slightly better than on the Brandmotion Fullvue. A smoother image feels more natural, and helped me trust the system without feeling the need to turn it off to use the "dumb mirror" mode.
Nighttime Driving
I'm really happy with the night vision and white balance on the front and rear cameras (haven't tested the interior camera). Even with headlights directly pointed at the sensor, it's still able to make out colors. Useful, if you need to be able to describe the color of a vehicle if you ever have or witness an accident.
Voice Command
The commands register very quickly, with no noticeable delay. You can issue a handful of basic voice commands to have the Wolfbox turn the screen on or off, control wi-fi connectivity, lock the current video, take a photo, turn sound on/off, etc. All very handy if you need to be certain you're capturing an urgent moment, or want to quickly turn off audio and/or recording to protect the privacy of your passengers.
Area for Improvement: I do wish there was an option to disable specific voice commands, since I listen to a lot of news and audiobooks that accidentally trigger the "take a picture" function.
Installation (you absolutely need to use this guide, custom made by @Bee Bop )
@WolfBox , this is where I think you can save Bronco owners the most headache! The lack of first-party installation instructions for a Bronco was a challenge, and buyers should be made aware of the specific accessories they'll need to buy for the installation method they choose. Maybe offer some guidance for hard top vs soft top buyers to show them what their options are.
Considerations
Power: 12v cigarette lighter adapter (included, with bonus USB-C port) OR hardwire to fuse box. I chose to hardwire.
Rearview mirror mounting: you can use the included rubber straps to slap the Wolfbox on top of your existing mirror, which I find very ugly and ungainly. For some, it might be a practical option.
Camera mounting: as mentioned above, you can run the rear view camera through the seams of your trim panels or through the body of the vehicle by removing the trim panels. The camera itself can be affixed to a license plate bracket (not included), your tailgate glass, or the spare tire carrier (3rd party mount required, not included). Some have installed the camera directly on the rear bumper, but I have found this offsets the camera image significantly.
GPS module mounting: super easy to do with adhesive backing, though the cable is a bit long. I reused some twist ties from the packaging for this.
Soft Top
Wolfbox allows a lot of flexibility in the installation if you have a hard top Bronco, though soft top owners needing the rear view camera will want to run the rear camera wiring along the wiring harnesses that pass through the side of the frame, and come out near the tailgate wiring. Note that this does require you partially dismount your side curtain airbags to run the power and video cables through the overhead console (1st picture below), and that you remove your rear spare tire if you want to mount the camera externally (3rd picture below). You'll want plenty of zip ties to this, and will need to buy special torx screws for removing the sun visor bolts.
Hard Top
While hard top owners can of course run the wiring through the body of the Bronco, a far easier option is tucking the rear camera cabling along the edge of your windshielf and through the interior trim panels to the back of your Bronco, and installing the rear view camera on your tailgate glass. This allows you to perfectly center the camera, and removes the need for a more invasive wiring through your tailgate.
Room for Improvement:
There are no OEM directions for installation in a Bronco, though Wolfbox is heavily marketing towards Bronco drivers. They shared a couple of videos YouTubers had made on their own to demo the process, but I found that I had to rely on multiple videos for all of the details I needed for my install.
I wish Wolfbox had mentioned that to retail the use of your sun visors, you will need their OEM Bracket (sold separately) to extend the neck of the rearview mirror, or that mounting on the spare tire or rear license plate requires yet another separate purchase of their Reverse Camera Plate Bracket (sold separately). Their customer support advised me on this, but I did buy the OEM Bracket with my own money. There also was not a bracket for mounting the rear camera the spare tire, so I simply reused the one I had already installed from my Brandmotion Fullvue.
Lastly, while I appreciate the option to choose how to power the mirror and to plug/unplug the rear and extra camera, I wish it was all tidily run through a single USB-C harness for simplicity.
Above, you can see the number of cables required for the GPS sensor, power, and the 2 remotely wired cameras (rear, extra). It's not impossible to tuck everything neatly behind the mirror, but it would be nice to see all of these routed through a single USB harness.
Overall
This is what a digital rearview system should be. It isn't perfect, but it offers a ton of installation flexibility, high quality sensors, and even comes with a 256GB microSD card that fully meets the read/write speed requirements of the unit. App connectivity and voice command features make it very easy to manage footage and control recording, and there is even a tiny backup power supply built into the mirror unit to keep the g-shock sensor working during park mode. Overall I genuinely love this product, having spent 2 years with a similar system that did not live up to any of its promises. While not perfect, I was about to buy it with my own money anyway before Wolfbox offered me a free unit for this review, and I think I would still buy it even if they hadn't.
Deano Bronc, Mal