It’s no surprise that I am a personal fan of BlackVue and their car dashcams. From their familiar black tubular design to the well structured mobile app, BlackVue offers an insurance-like product that protects you when you need it most.
Living in Southeastern Wisconsin, we’ve seen an increase in car thefts and break-ins lately, especially around the downtown area. These “Kia Boys” have no respect for you or your personal property, but these break-ins are often happening while people are away from their car.
A car’s battery isn’t designed to sustain accessory equipment running for continuous use after the driver has walked away. This includes a dashcam.
To help protect your property, BlackVue offers their Power Magic lineup which is a long-lasting, fast-charging external battery for your dashcam and today we’re taking a look at the Ultra B-130X model.
Welcome to my overview of the Power Magic Ultra B-130X.
Unboxing
You know how some companies are about sending you the bare minimum with their products that you purchased? Not BlackVue.
Every unboxing I do, they include everything you could possibly need for a successful installation for any vehicle. Inside the box comes an accessories pack which includes multiple methods on connecting the Power Magic Ultra to your car’s power system.
There is a standard cigarette lighter plug power cable, a direct to battery power cable, and multiple types of fuse-tap adapters. BlackVue even goes above and beyond by including multiple types of fuses that may be needed.
Underneath the accessory pack is the B-130X itself surrounded by soft-secure foam to ensure safe delivery of the battery.
Lastly, BlackVue provides a multi-language User Manual that is well written, color-printed, and picture oriented. The English is proper, the diagrams are clear, and frequently asked questions are explained and easy to locate within the manual.
A small detail that most may not ever notice, but one that is welcomed for those new to installing an external battery pack inside the car.
Functionality
The, relatively thin, high-capacity Ultra battery is made from an ultra-durable plastic that is then wrapped with what feels like a non-slip rubberized cover to add protection, heat dissipation, and a clean matte black aesthetic.
When held in the hand, it feels really good. The weight, durability, and design just scream premium feeling.
Shaped like a hard-cover book, the design choice of the B-130X is well thought of and optimized to fit into a glove box, under a car seat, or hidden away behind an interior plastic panel inside the car.
On the upper side of the B-130X, you’ll find a power switch, a full-sized USB-A port, the dash camera hookup adapter, and the DC power input from whichever method used earlier.
In addition, BlackVue includes status LEDs to display power levels. A speaker within the B-130X will emit sound for general notifications and Bluetooth pairing.
Getting started is fairly straight forward. Either refer to the forementioned manual for help or easy-to-follow YouTube videos are always the best space to start.
Once installed, it’s best to pair the B-130X to your BlackVue mobile app. Here, you’ll find useful information such as time remaining, current capacity, output voltage, and charging voltage. You can also disable the speaker if desired.
The B-130X is designed to connect to a BlackVue dashcam through the dashcam’s original cigarette lighter plug with the included B-130X adapter. If you have previous BlackVue dashcam and cut off the end of this plug in favor of a fuse tap, like I did, you can opt to just resolder the two wires to the adapter as well.
The 7500 mAh LiFePO4 battery provides up to 30 hours of offline power to the dashcam for parking-mode recordings. Once you get back in, it can fully recharge in under 50 minutes when hardwired to the car or 90 minutes on the cigarette lighter.
Don’t forget that the USB-A port acts as emergency power for your phone or tablet if you’re on a long drive or in a hurry for power.
I paired the B-130X with an upcoming BlackVue review of their DR970X-2CH and with the DR970X’s 4G LTE connectivity, I now have constant monitoring of my car in a scary world.
My Final Thoughts
Made in Korea by a long-lasting, honorable, and amazing brand, BlackVue’s Power Magic Ultra B-130X is a great accessory to their lineup and adds yet another layer of defense for your personal property.
Priced at $360, it may seem like an expensive accessory, especially given BlackVue’s entire dashcams aren’t much more in price themselves, but having 30 hours of parking footage can be difference between an insurance claim and not.
If you don’t need the Ultra power of the B-130X, BlackVue also offers a Pro and Standard Power Magic accessory.
As with my BlackVue reviews, I’m impressed, happy, and easily would recommend this to anyone looking for such a device.
© 2023 Justin Vendette