Dash Cams

[CDsDontBurn]

In this day and age, I'm looking to buy a dash cam for both my vehicles. Ideally, I'm looking for these features / functions:

• Front and rear camera
• Ideally, powered, not battery operated
  • If battery powered, long intervals between charges
• Can withstand harsh desert summer conditions for many years
• Has mic for cabin
• Other features that are good / cool to have that I might not know about?

With so many options out there, I'm not sure what's good and what's not. Based on Amazon reviews, I've seen THIS camera, but I'm not sure if these are standard features at a good price or not.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I’ve been shopping them too.

I’m looking at:

The new VIOFO A329 it’s 4K 60fps and has a Starvis 2 sensor
The VANTRU N4 PRO
The CANSONIC Ultradash Z3+ it has two cameras, one as a zoom for reading license plates. It has a 1440p (4K) sensor.

VIOFO is a good brand. Make sure that you get one with a Sony STARVIS 2 sensor.

 

[CDsDontBurn]

So the one I picked out is a good brand then, eh?

So STARVIS 2 allows for less motion blur, great night time image capture, ability to capture subject behind bright light, etc. This is good to know!

And with Viofo being a good brand, then the Viofo A229 Plus and A229 Pro would be good picks.

And it looks like they (dash cams in general) just mount using stickers? And to the rear, I sometimes see rear facing cams on license plates. The Viofo rear facing cams ones don't seem to be mounted that way?

 

[Irv]

Rear-mounted dashcams go on the rear glass. If you see a camera on a license plate bracket, that's a backup camera.

Viofo is pretty well regarded for dashcams below $200. Once you go above that though, there's stronger competition. I've thought about getting a dashcam for years, but it's a very low priority for me. Last time I was browsing for them, I was considering some of the mid-high end BlackVue and Thinkware dual-channel units with a battery backup.

 

[Vicinity]

When I was looking last, I was trying to find the most properly concealed unit because one can probably trade them for crack. I gave up because I wasn't thrilled about how invasive it would have been to tuck the wire

 

[97teebs]

Don't get a Garmin... My work truck has one and it sucks always disconnects and other multiple issues

 

[CDsDontBurn]

The more I read on Viofo, the more confident feel on them. And @Trunk Monkey suggestion for the Starvis 2 feature, regardless of brand, is an added thing to be aware of for me now.

 

[Derphound01]

I have a Garmin DC47 in the front and the little mini in the rear. Both are powered by their OBD2 adapter. No issues.

I have them both connected to the in-car hotspot so videos are uploaded instantly. You do need to keep the app running on your phone for the best results though if you don't have in-car internet.