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For starters, you get a choice of recording in 4K at 30fps or 1440p at 60fps. You can even have 1080p at 120fps, which might come in handy if you want to watch it in slow motion after an incident (or just for fun). You can’t fit a dash cam centrally: With no sideways adjustment, the E1 needs to be mounted to the middle of your windshield, otherwise footage won’t be level. Using a dash cam is generally legal in both the UK and the US. In fact, certain bodies in both countries actively encourage the use of dash cams to reduce insurance premiums. That said, there are a few basic rules to follow to ensure your dash cam usage stays on the right side of the law. You want built-in rear recording: There are rivals for a similar price with rear-view cameras as standard, but it's an optional add-on for the 622GW.
Furthermore, many dash cams come with additional driver assistance features. These include alerts to let you know about nearby speed cameras and red light cameras, plus a prompt to tell you the vehicle in front has set off – just in case you weren’t paying attention while sat in traffic. Aimed at those who spend extended periods behind the wheel, the Nexar Pro is a dual-cam solution that can record video both inside and outside a vehicle. Comprised of two separate camera units connected by a cable, we found the setup to be pretty neat, even if it took up a fair bit of screen real estate. If the worst were to happen, and you need to prove your innocence, the dash cam’s footage could do exactly that. This footage can also be set to include your speed, along with the time and date to help reinforce the validity of your evidence if blame is disputed by the other party. As well as monitoring the road ahead, dash cams can be used to record out of the rear windscreen too, recording footage if you are unfortunate enough to be rear-ended by another motorist. Capable yet accessible, Thinkware’s X1000 comes bundled with everything you need to record front and rear. Our tests found a lot to like about the X1000. Its best attribute is its ease of use: with a large 3.5-inch touchscreen and icon-based interface, it’s simple to configure and there’s no need to rely on a smartphone partner app.Lastly, some dash cams can be permanently installed in your vehicle and hard-wired, giving them a constant power supply. When paired with a special parking mode, this enables the camera to sense impacts and record footage while the car is parked, potentially gathering useful evidence of your neighbor’s poor parking. Can a dash cam drain your car battery? Field of view – A good field of view is important as you won’t want to miss anything that may have occurred on the periphery of your camera’s range. We would recommend at least 120 degrees to cover the majority of your windscreen. The camera records to the micro SD card, then transfers to the phone as time allows (it’s near-real-time), then gives you the opportunity to save them to the cloud. You can limit the Beam’s use of phone storage to 20-, 50-, or 80 percent of what’s available; once it hits that limit, it will overwrite previous videos. There’s also automatic upload triggered by the G-sensor, as with the Owl. It worked perfectly in my exclusive, proprietary bang-the-dash-cam-on-the-desk tests, and it didn’t trigger falsely while on the road. IDG The captured footage is impressive. In terms of clarity and detail, it’s a cut above anything we’ve seen, although it’s a toss-up whether the extra resolution of 4K or the faster frame rate of 1440p is more worthwhile. And you still get access to all of Nextbase’s advanced features, including Alexa connectivity and a Hyper-Sync Wi-Fi connection to the MyNextbase smartphone app.
Yes, absolutely. Some drivers might not like the idea of a camera constantly monitoring their vehicle, but some models of dash cam (like the Garmin Dash Cam Mini 2) are compact and subtle enough to almost disappear behind the central rear view mirror. In other words, once they are up and running you soon forget about them; they just sit there, quietly keeping an eye out, ready to save footage if you’re caught in an accident. You want Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity: The N2 Pro doesn’t have Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, so transferring video files means removing the microSD card.You only need a simple setup: Its comprehensive feature list makes the Dual Dash Cam good value, but its skills will be overkill for many users. We wouldn’t recommend buying a card smaller than 32GB because you could end up running out of space. Today’s high-resolution dash cams can use anywhere between 100MB and 500MB per minute, depending on their resolution, so even a 32GB card might only give you up to four hours of recording before it starts overwriting the existing files. It also uses image stabilisation to reduce the impact of vibrations for a smoother, clearer image. Throw in a new Extreme Weather Mode with defogging for misty and rainy days, and you won’t beat this dash cam for picture quality. GoPro cameras are some of the best action cameras you can buy. They can be easily mounted to your dashboard and set to record video on a rolling loop. Because GoPro cameras are compact, they shouldn’t obstruct your view of the road ahead, while the latest models are capable of capturing videos at resolutions sharper than 4K. We’re still not convinced by the Alexa support, but this is definitively the best dash cam that money can buy.
You don’t drive for a living: Most road users don’t need interior recording, so unless you’re ferrying passengers for pay, you might find better value elsewhere. Parking protection to record what’s going on around your car can be a bonus, provided you don’t use it in an area where the sight of your dash cam is more likely to get your car broken in to and the dash cam stolen. If you use the cigarette lighter/USB port to power your dash cam, then leaving it plugged in overnight might drain your car battery, depending on if your vehicle supplies constant power to the ports. Hard-wired dash cams can be set up to switch on with the car ignition in some vehicles to save battery, too.
This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best dash cams. Go there for information on competing products and how we tested them. Design and features A rise in popularity of voice control has also made its way over to the humble dash cam, so expect Alexa integration and other such voice-activated technology at the very pinnacle of the range. Need an SD card? We’ve put together a short guide on SD cards to help you out. The best dash cam features to consider:
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