Top 10 Tried and Tested Dash Cameras for 2018

Updated: June 1, 2023

Dash cam is a digital video camera that is mounted on the dashboard of a car. The car dash cam records the driver’s journey right from the time the car is turned on and is moving. Other than the recording facility, the dash camera plays a crucial role in ensuring safety on the road.

Moreover, the dash cam recordings can be used as an evidence for expediting the court proceedings and for settling claims at insurance companies in case of an accident. The car dash cam performs some crucial roles, which is why these devices have proven to be a handy kit for most car owners.

Old dash cameras required the user to manually save the correct clip in the event of an accident, but now with the G-sensor based incident detection technology, this is done automatically. Most dash cameras available in the market use similar technologies. Some cameras come with a few additional features like rear-facing coverage, HD recording, improved sensor, built-in Wi-Fi for better file transfer, numerous parking modes with time-lapse feature and night vision to name a few. For anyone who spends a lot of time travelling should invest in a good dash cam for their car.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST DASH CAM FOR YOUR CAR?

There are numerous dash cam brands available in the market, but you should look at the features and benefits before you decide to get one for your car. There are dash cameras with screens and without too. Ones with screens are easy to setup and view, but the ones without are a lot less intrusive. Both, these are good, but one with screen is good for the occasional recording. The type of mounting is also an important feature to consider, some stick to the windscreen with a suction mount while others have 3M mounts. Dash cams with Wi-Fi connectivity are easier to share and download the footage. While most of them are battery powered with less than 30-minute battery life, which means you will require a power cable similar to the Sat nav.

Best Dash Cam for your car in 2018

1. Garmin Dash Cam 35

Features
Pros
1080p Full HD Video
113 degree Viewing angle
GPS Tracker
Micro SD Card
Simple Touch Screen Interface
Excellent Audio

Cons
Hypersensitive Warning System
Narrow Field of View

Garmin has applied its technological knowledge of action cameras and fitness trackers to the car dash cameras. This model is a mid-range model that offers razor sharp imagery and various other additional features that makes it a great choice. The field of view may be narrow compared to the other brands available in the market. The audio and video quality are excellent while the GPS positioning technology allows you to record speed, location, time and date information accurately.

The Vital-clips are recorded automatically and stored through a Built-in-G-Sensor technology. The Garmin Dash Cam Player software makes organizing, reviewing and saving the footage easy. The additional feature of digital map helps you pinpoint where the incident has occurred. The speed trap warning system uses the audible beeps to alert the driver’s attention. You can turn off this feature in the settings if you find it too annoying.

2. Cobra CDR 840

Features
Pros
1080p Full HD
118 Viewing Angles
GPS Tracker
MicroSD card included
Economically priced
Stylish
Cons
Not great at low lights
Unreliable GPS

The Dash Cam is never purchased for its aesthetics, but this one excels in that. The Cobra CDR840 beats its competitors with its designer looks. The rear touch screen is small, but the navigation is sharp because of the simple joypad –style switch interface that is clearly labeled with a bright red button for saving the clips manually. The built-in navigation system takes care of the speed and location while the G-Sensor technology saves clips automatically in case of an accident. The GPS system is not very reliable, especially when the weather is bad or if satellites are difficult to reach. The Cobra CDR840 is pretty easy to setup and requires very little attention.

3. PROOFCAM RAC 05

The PROOFCAM RAC 05 is one of the most feature rich dash cams around.

Features
– Pros –
150 degree FOV, Super HD 1296p Camera
2.7-inch LCD TFT Screen
GPS
Simple to use with great features
Lifetime Speed Camera warnings
8 GB MicroSD card

– Cons –
Zero Battery Life
No great safety features

Just like the Garmin Dash Cam55, the RAC 05, is the fully featured dash cameras around. The features of both these dash cams are quite similar, like the GPS tracker, lifetime safety camera, speed alerts, forward collision and lane departure warning. The only drawback of this dash cam is that there is no Wi-Fi and Smartphone companion app making it difficult to get the footage, the mount is suction, which is more intrusive. The best part of this dash cam is the night recording, large screen making viewing a pleasure and just like the Garmin, the RAC 05 comes with an 8GB MicroSD card.

4. Thinkware TW-F770

Features
– Pros –
1080p Full HD recording
140 degree viewing angle
GPS tracker
MicroSD card and internal memory
Crystal Clear Footage
Clear Night mode
– Cons –
No rear view camera
Less user friendly buttons
Just like the Garmin Dash Cam55, the RAC 05, is the fully featured dash cameras around. The features of both these dash cams are quite similar, like the GPS tracker, lifetime safety camera, speed alerts, forward collision and lane departure warning. The only drawback of this dash cam is that there is no Wi-Fi and Smartphone companion app making it difficult to get the footage, the mount is suction, which is more intrusive. The best part of this dash cam is the night recording, large screen making viewing a pleasure and just like the Garmin, the RAC 05 comes with an 8GB MicroSD card.

5. Mio MiVue 698 Dual 1080p

Features
-Pros-
1080p Full HD Video
150 degree viewing angle
GPS tracker
MicroSD Card
All round package
Crystal Clear Video quality
-Cons-
No Memory Card Included
Slightly older
Even though the Mio MiVue 698 has been around for a year now, it still packs in a punch of features that remains one of the best, offering some great video quality, front and rear coverage, and simple to use clear touch screen. The screen automatically blacks out when it detects any movement to avoid distractions and to abide by the laws of some countries. The clear audio prompt warns of any upcoming speed traps once the screen is dimmed. The built-in GPS takes care of the speed and the location video overlays. The built-in Wi-Fi allows smooth transfer of images to Smartphone and other devices. The 150 degree lens does an excellent job of capturing the action around and the high-end sensors ensure the videos captured are of high resolution and some of the best.

6. BlackVue DR650S-2CH 32G Dash Cam

Features
-Pros-
1080p Full HD Video
129 degree viewing angle
GPS tracker
MicroSD card included
Perfect for professional drivers
Full HD Recording
-Cons-
Pricey
Setting up can be trickyThe BlackVue dash cam is suited for regular as well as professional drivers with an array of features that justify its high price tag. To ensure proper functioning of the camera with the detailed parking surveillance mode, the cameras need to be hard-wired to the cars power supply. BlackVue makes this easier with an OBDII converter, which plugs to most vehicles on-board diagnostics port with ease. The 2mp CMOS sensor and the 129 degree lens capture excellent HD video from the front camera while the small camera at the rear records in 720p. It comes with an incident detection technology that automatically flags the correct video footage. One of the main advantages of this dash cam over other brands is its Over-the-Cloud abilities, which means you can check live footage from the car through a Smartphone, PC or laptop even when it is parked. This dash cam is aesthetically designed making it perfect for any vehicle, although the lack of screen and limited buttons means, it does need Smartphone tethering to adjust the settings.

7. Z-Edge Z3

Features
-Pros-
2k and 1080p Full HD Video quality
145 degree viewing angle
MicroSD card included
Superb Image Quality
Easy Auto Operation
-Cons-
No GPS tracker
Fewer features than other brands
The Z3 is a simple to use dash cam and comes with a sharp Ultra 2K HD image quality, broad 145 degree field of view and simple user interface. The Z3 has been voted one of the best dash cams in its class. The CMOS sensor and the advanced image processing system ensure the footage captured is sharp. It can read license plates and capture incidents clearly. Interacting with the camera is pretty easy with the 3-inch touch screen display. Most of the functionality is automatic, making it pretty easy to use and setup. Like most brands, the camera will start recording as soon as you start the ignition and turnoff when it is switched off. The memory is managed by the loop recording feature and incident detection ensures vital images are not erased. In-short this is a great camera for anyone who wants a device that is less fussy, but delivers quality images.

8. TaoTronics TT-CD06

Features
-Pros-
2K and 1080p Full HD Video quality
160 degree viewing angle
MicroSD card included
Super Wide view angle
Good Low-Light Capabilities
-Cons-
No GPS tracker
Small Buttons
For the price, it is difficult to find out any faults in the TaoTronics TT-CD06, even if doesn’t feature the GPS tracker for speed and location recording. It doesn’t have some pricey features of other brands, but for the price it does the job well. The TaoTronics cam comes with some features that need a mention here, like the adhesive mounts, extra-long power cable, and 12V lighter socket adapter with two ports, which means you can charge your phone while the dash cam is running. The unit comes with a G-sensor for automatic saving of the incidents as well as the super 160-degree field of view that enables it to capture five lanes of traffic. The audio quality is very good and the low-light video footage is also great. There are a few minor features that may go against this dash cam, which includes small and difficult to use buttons and lack of GPS.

9. REXING V1 3RD Generation

Features
-Pros-
4K recording quality (2160p)
Built-in Wi-Fi
G-Sensor Technology
170 degree wide angle view
-Cons-
No Parking mode
The REXING V1 3rd generation is the new edition of the best selling Rexing V1. The best part of this dash cam is that it records in 4k quality along with the features of the previous generation. It comes with a built-in Wi-Fi, Smartphone monitoring, loop recording and the G-sensor technology to detect any collisions automatically. The wide angle lens captures the sweeping view of the surroundings. The discreet design allows it to be a well-hidden witness to the road ahead. The Ultra-HD wide dynamic range allows the camera to perform optimally at low light by adjusting the exposure to capture a balanced image.

10. STERIO 4K

Features
-Pros-
– Record 4k (2880x2160p)
– Built-in Wi-Fi
– GPS tracker
– G-Sensor
-Cons-
– No Memory Card

The STERIO 4kDash Cam is an excellent dashboard camera with high quality recording without being pricy. The device is feature rich and includes GPS tracking Wi-Fi, with dynamic range for night vision, parking mode that keeps your car protected when the engines are turned off, G-Sensor for automatically saving the footage and loop record. You can choose the different resolutions depending on your needs. You can control the dash cam with your Smartphone and download pictures and videos from the cam to your phone effortlessly. The STERIO 4 K Dash cam is a great device with some good positive reviews from the users.

Hopefully, the above article will help you decide from one of the best dash cams for your car. These are tried and tested by users and have got some great reviews online. Cars and cameras have become an integral part of driving and a good car dash cam will allow you to resolve a lot of issues related to driving.