Zona Rear View Camera Review

Putting this review up for those whom are still considering buying one or those whom did not fit one yet.


Let me start with this, all in all unit works but there are problems with it that are kind off normal to 1st release of a product. Good start but product not finished yet.


Unit arrives in a nice box, properly packed so no worry it will get damaged. Box does not feel luxurious, cheap is right word but is fit for purpose. When you however have a first look at the content you instantly drop the feel of it being a cheap one.


Camera is well built, looks and feels sturdy, cabling looks of good quality. That is sadly the end of luxury feel.


Camera is good, cabling good but it is quite thick so hard to hide main problem however is …. it is to short for many bikes.

As an example, not possible to fit without modifying to any new ducati monster, panigale, many ktm’s, 999/749, 1098/848, SF and so on. Basically, unless your bike has battery under the seat cable is too short.


Bracket used to mount the camera next to licence plate is of good design however quite cheap material so does not look nice fitted. Alloy would have been better. It is also designed to fit “most” bikes but with stock licence plate it did not fit monster 1200r or 999. With smaller plate it looks ugly as sticks out beyond plate. Still this is more of a drawback then fault, you cannot design one to fit all so I made my own.

Calibrating camera to level it out is easy but tricky as minimal movement takes it out of alignment. Try few times and you will get it in to place.

Camera has no on/off it turns on when bike is moved, turns off after few minutes of inactivity. Ok if bike is a weekend toy, problem when commuting. Also, hard to remove so might get stolen.


Helmet display itself. Wireless so no need to run cable. Battery and receiver get glued at back of helmet using supplied Velcro. Holds well.

Rubber power button comes inserted wrong way round!! Cable at the receiver/battery end is of good quality but shrink tube that is used to waterproof it is not going in to the housing of battery itself, so it moved and slid down almost instantly.

As there is only on/off button operation is easy.

Display that goes in to helmet seems good quality on outside. It is a flexible arm with display on one end. Sadly, there is nowhere enough flexibility in it. I am still struggling to fit it well.

When you move it to bottom of helmet it does not tilt up enough and if you force it well it gradually goes back down. If you move it all the way up it’s internal gyro keeps flipping my screen thinking unit is mounted on left side. No way to lock it to one side.

When I put it in middle it is ok, but I do not feel safe as when doing shoulder check on side it is mounted at I have obstructed view.


Camera/screen itself when used during day is good. You can see cars from distance, you have no blind spot for most cars (maybe smart would hide but they do not overtake me ). Before end of car disappears from camera view it appears in my peripheral vision.

Vibration is well dampened but could be better.


At night things turn for worse. Car at distance you will notice much faster but when it gets closer to you that is it. You see nothing anymore. It is quite dangerous as you cannot see either line (if there are 2 or more) so when changing lanes, you do it without mirrors.

It seems more of a software issue as there are moments camera adjusts and all is ok then few seconds later nothing.


Battery in display is rated to last 8-10h. After 3h riding no battery bars went down. There is 5 of them.

Frankly unit needs work. Power button needs sorting, unit waterproofing at battery end needs addressing, flexibility of the arm needs to be reviewed. Vibration damping, and light sensitivity of camera needs to be improved. Bracket should be of better quality.


Nice things to add for next release:

1. Ability to remove camera in seconds

2. Ability to remove the receiver and disconnect from cable to display. That way one paired unit can be used with multiple helmets but also battery can be replaced.

3. Screen arm needs to be more flexible or alternatively there should be few options so one can choose right one for the job.

4. It would be great if unit could Bluetooth to phone and display gps navigation arrows and speed via dedicated app.


At this stage unit should not be priced at more then 189 retail. If you add points 1-3 200 retail.

Adding point 4 I would be happy to pay up to 300.

http://zona-store.com/

 

Bike looks better with no mirrors, blind spot is gone, to glance back you do not take eyes of road and no matter where your head is pointing at time you always have rear view on. Sounds like fab idea to me.

 

Also most Ducati mirrors are shit all time lol

 

Not in line of sight but in infinite vision spot.
It has not killed combat pilots since 1980s so it's quite safe. When you look in to mirror you do not look ahead and you should check mirrors regularly. With this 2 birds one stone

 

Also what you said does not address bikes look with no mirrors.

Finally no one forcing you to use it. Do not like it walk away and stop trolling cause you do not like idea or disagree. It is a review not question time