REVIEW: Papago GoSafe 30G Dash Cam & TireSafe D10E TPMS

Papago kindly provided us these products in order to facilitate this review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

We test Papago’s latest and greatest dash cam, while taking a much-needed break from it all.

In case you’re not aware, coming up with fresh content for a website like ours is hard work. Whether it’s the latest DIY craft, the tastiest dairy-free recipe, or testing the newest family SUV, we’re constantly on the go, constantly learning, and we never, ever, ever, stop taking photos.

Despite constantly traveling for work, we hadn’t gone on a proper put-cameras-and-phones-away family vacation in at least two years. Clearly, we were more than overdue for one. Just as we began our search for the perfect destination, a promotional mailer for a cruise company came in via snail mail. It seemed to be the perfect decision, as it would force us to unplug from the world and actually enjoy our time together. But, there was one small detail.

The cruise ship we chose departed from Charleston, South Carolina, which is roughly 750 miles from our home in Indianapolis. It seemed that we were in for an 11-hour family road trip before the real vacation started.

The process of packing up the car, and performing a basic safety check up is crucial before a road trip. We take our trips seriously, and so should you. It’s imperative to check the engine’s vital fluids, as well as tire pressure, and visually inspecting your roadside tools such as jack, spare tire, etc.

Another item we added to our list of road trip gear was the Papago GoSafe 30G dash cam, and the TireSafe D10E TPMS (tire pressure monitoring sensors). To some, having a camera recording your every move might seem “over the top,” but the fact is that with today’s somewhat volatile society, you can never be too safe. Plus, we saw recording our drive through the stunning Tennessee mountains as a way to have another keepsake of our journey, rather than doing it strictly for safety or “gotcha on camera” reasons.

The GoSafe 30G

Most dash cams on the market can already do pretty impressive stuff, but Papago’s GoSafe 30G takes things to a whole new level. For example, the 30G features a built-in GPS, which accurately records tracking information. How is this helpful? Well, if you were to need your dash cam footage for legal reasons, it could prove exactly where the video was recorded, and even how fast you were traveling.

When it comes to video recording quality, check out some of our footage below. We created a video with several key moments of our trip, in order to show you video quality during sunny, cloudy, and even nighttime scenarios.

Should the unexpected happen, the GoSafe 30G is equipped with a built-in gravity sensor. That means that in the case of a collision, the dash cam automatically locks and saves the video file.

The TireSafe D10E

Having tested a handful of Papago’s dash cams, I appreciated the 30G, but I was truly excited about these little sensors.

As you may already know, we test nearly 50 brand-new vehicles every year. Most vehicles nowadays feature built-in TPMS, but if you go back two or three years, most cars only warned you when the tire’s air pressure dropped to unsafe levels. Meaning that you only knew about it once it was (almost) too late. Furthermore, cars older than five years don’t even feature this system, except for some high-end models.

Our 2012 Honda Civic we drove to South Carolina only warns us once the tire pressure dips below a certain level, but after installing the TireSafe D10 I could check tire pressure and temperature in real time. In addition, I was able to setup an alert, so if the tire pressure dipped below 25 psi the Papago dash cam would audibly notify me.

How is this helpful? Well, considering your car can’t serve its most basic purpose without properly functioning tires, keeping a close eye on them is never a bad idea!

Installation

Installing the 30G dash cam is as easy as popping in the memory card and attaching the suction cup mount on the windshield. Running the charger neatly through inside of the headliner takes a bit of time if done right, but you’ll be glad you did.

Installing the TireSafe D10E TPMS sensors took us about 20 minutes, but the process is very straight forward. Simply follow the directions to install the new valve caps on your tires, plug in the receiver to the dash cam, mount the receiver to the windshield, and you’re good to go.

Perhaps the only downside to the TPMS sensors being external, is that if someone truly wanted to be an a-hole, they could easily remove them from your tires and you’d be left forking out the money for a new set.

You can pick up a Papago GoSafe 30G for around $170 bucks, and the TireSafe D10E for $139.99. You’ll be glad you did!