What Are The Best Dash Cams To Buy?
Friday, 10. May 2019
Did you know that some insurers reduce their premiums by up to 20% if you have a dash cam fitted in your car? I personally believe that fitting a dash cam as standard in a car should be a legal requirement and could be fitted into the rear of the rear view mirror.
Years ago cars didn’t have immobilisers fitted but they are now a statutory requirement along with a car alarm. And it would cost considerably less than the cost of fitting an aftermarket unit.
Dash cams can be incredibly useful in the event of an accident in order to help the driver prove his case and the incidents of ‘Cash For Crash’, where a driver pulls in front of an innocent driver and brakes hard causing the car behind to hit the car in front, then every person in the car in front making a whiplash claim, has reduced as a result of dashcams.
Dashcam footage has also helped police to apprehend dangerous drivers and drunk drivers following erratic and dangerous driving. But for the cameras to be effective they must be capable of creating clear footage with easy transfer to a mobile device.
With this in mind AutoExpress have tested out some of the popular brands and come up with their top 3 cameras.
Their Best Buy was the Nextbase 612GW, priced at £249.99. It has a 150 degree lens capture with recording in 4K Ultra HD. In the tests number plates were easy to read as were road signs and pedestrians could be seen I a low light. A polarised filter enhanced colour quality and settings were easily adjusted on the move. The BlackVue had better picture quality but the price difference gave the Nextbase the edge.
Recommended was the Blackvue DR900S-1CH with the best picture quality but priced at £399.95. It has a 162 degree lens capture with recording in 4K Ultra HD at 30 frames per second making it the most accurate. In the tests this cam recorded pedestrians and number plates well even in low light as a result of the 8megapixel camera. Settings are changed via a downloadable app. It is WiFi enabled so recordings can be uploaded from the camera to Cloud Storage. In summary the cam and the features justify the high cost – loved by the testers.
Also recommended was the Thinkware Q800 Pro at a cost of £269. The unit looks a little messy as it comes with a hardwire lead powered by a plug and play 12v unit. There is no screen and and footage is accessed by the Thinkware app. The unit comes with a Sony Exmor R Starvis sensor to record 1440p quad HD quality footage at 30 frames per second. The review describes the quality as good but behind the first two. Lowlight conditions are the strength of the Thinkware with Night Vision 2.0 is excellent.
If you want to see all of the reviews you need to get your hands on the 1st May edition of Auto Express. By Graham Hill
