The Best Dash Cams You Can Buy

With more cars crowding the roads than ever before, dash cams are becoming a must-have item in cars. You could be working as a rideshare driver. You could be managing a fleet. You could want that extra security blanket for your daily driving routine. Maybe you just want to capture funny vanity plates or start your own Russian dashcam-like YouTube channel for others’ amusement. We’re not here to judge.

Whatever your reasoning, dash cams are incredibly useful, and having one may save you some money and headaches later down the road. Thanks to the advent of cheaper camera technology and their popularity, the market is abundant with dash camera systems for all uses and budgets, making it easy to add one to your car.

What to Look for in a Dash Cam

Camera Quality

Most if not all dash cameras record at least 1080p definition video. These days, however, the majority of the top-selling units record 4K video up front and 1080p out back, and they’re not particularly expensive either. Still, some cheaper no-name units may just record 1080p. If you’re an enterprise and need the cheapest thing possible, that may be a fit for you. Otherwise, just aim for the 4K video dashcams. Typically, the more expensive 4K dashcams have better and larger camera sensors, which result in a better quality video while the cheaper 4K units can sometimes “simulate” or upscale its imaging to provide a 4K-like picture in terms of pixel dimensions but may lack the actual definition quality. Thus, it’s important to consult the comments in customer feedback.

Number of Cameras

Basic dash cams feature front-facing recorders while two-camera systems with a rear-facing unit could be had for not much more money. Some rear-facing cameras are meant to record the passenger cabin for rideshare drivers, while others record the rear of the vehicle. Some dash cams feature all three views, but those tend to be the most expensive.

Feature Set

Because of the saturated and competitive dash cam market, pretty much all the top-selling dash cams come with built-in Wi-Fi for smartphone connectivity, GPS for collision location and speed detection, gyroscopic sensors that can detect vehicle impacts and crashes, continuous “loop” video recording, supercapacitor (basically a fancier, more compact battery), intelligent parking sensing and monitoring, and expandable storage. Stick to the popular units and you’ll get all these neat features.

GPS and Wifi-Compatibility

Not all dashcam units come with integrated GPS. But as mentioned above, most of the top-selling ones do, and GPS is important to have and is one of the pluses of having a dash cam. In the event of an incident, dashcams with GPS will record the specific location of the incident if equipped with accident detection. It can also record speed in the event you get wrongfully ticketed for speeding.

Expandable Storage

Pretty much all dash cams utilize microSD expandable storage on top of a small integrated memory unit. Depending on which dash cam your purchase, it’s important to consult the owner’s manual for recommended microSD specifications and cards for best results. Otherwise, recording 4K video may be inhibited due to inadequate microSD read and write speeds. In most cases, an extra microSD card is not included.

How We Tested

Amazon

Best Overall Dash Cam

Kingslim D4 4K Dual Dash Cam

• $128.00 at Amazon
  $140.00 (8% off)

• Cameras: 4K front, 1080p rear
• View: 170º front, 150º rear
• Screen: 3-inch LCD

The Kingslim D4 is an affordable feature-rich dash camera system that’s incredibly hard to beat. With a 4K front camera and a 1080p rear with good quality recording, expandable microSD storage, a touchscreen display, 24-hour parking monitoring, smartphone app integration, and built-in Wi-Fi and GPS. The rear camera can even be wired as a backup camera.

Our tester owns this unit and appreciates the abundance of features you get for the money with this dash cam. Though he finds the smartphone app to be rudimentary and has been unimpressed with the audio quality of the recording.

Amazon

Best Upgrade Dash Cam

Nextbase 622GW Front and Rear Dash Cam True 4K 3

• $500.00 at Amazon

• Cameras: 4K front, 1080p rear
• Views: 140º front and rear
• Screen: 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen

You’ve probably seen their advertisements, and for a good reason. Nextbase has been building itself as one of the premier brands for dashcam systems. Their flagship, the 622GW, is their true 4K recording unit with a full feature set plus image stabilization, slow-motion recording, extreme weather image processing, and Alexa and what3words integration.

Our tester found that support for Wi-Fi connection to the Nextbase app makes it much easier to mess with the settings of your cam and extract footage once its mounted, instead of contorting to press its buttons or take it down. Theoretically, you shouldn’t have to do this often, but it’s extremely nice at setup.

He didn’t find the 4K resolution isn’t strictly necessary (it’s more important to just have a dash cam at all), but the resolution does make license plates more legible at a distance, which is a nice bit of insurance. The Nextbase 622GW supports a (separately purchased) rear-facing camera. There’s a clearly marked hardware button you can press to protect recent footage from deletion, which our tester found handy.

Amazon

Best Budget Dash Cam

Nextbase 222 Dash Cam

• $100.00 at Amazon

• Camera: 1080p front
• View: 140º front
• Screen: 2.5-inch IPS

The Nextbase 222 dash cam is a great budget dash cam option. Our tester found it to be a no-brainer pickup for the price point. He said the unit was dead simple to set up — just plug it in, pop in the card and take a quick blast through the settings menu. He also liked that it came with a suction cup mount to avoid using adhesive on the windshield. The 1080p at 30FPS resolution should be sufficient for most needs.

The Nextbase 222 does not support a rear-facing camera extension — though you may not need a dash camera to determine fault if someone hits you from behind. The Nextbase 222 does support a Parking Mode, but the camera needs to be hardwired.

Escort

Best All-In-One Dash Cam

Escort MAXcam 360C Laser Radar Detector and Dash Camera

• $730.00 at Walmart
  $850.00 (14% off)

• Cameras: 1440p front, no rear
• View: 120º
• Screen: None

You don’t want too many devices clogging up your dashboard. We tested Escort’s all-in-one option, the MAXcam 360c, which pairs their excellent MAX 360c radar detector with a built-in dash cam. Our tester used it daily for about a week while driving a press car.

Our tester found physical installation to be very easy. And Escort’s EZ Mag Mount allows you to easily remove and reattach the unit itself without detaching the suction cup. Pairing the unit with Escort’s Drive Smarter app — required to use the camera features as there is no display or dedicated buttons for the camera was a bit trickier. The 1440p video quality is clear. And it comes with helpful features like an adjustable G-Sensor and Parking Mode that automatically flag and save incidents.

Once paired, our tester found that the Drive Smarter app setting up controls like the G-Sensor went smoothly and easily. However, once he tried to access and manipulate videos, the app became slow and crashy. Our tester also found the Drive Smarter app to be a major iPhone battery drainer when allowed to run in the background. The camera does come with a 16GB Micro SD card for storage. But frequent dash cam users will probably want a much larger one.

The price point is a definite consideration here. Our tester ended up stashing the MAXcam 360c in the glove box when parked rather than using the Parking Mode. The $895 device doesn’t make an optimal sentry when it is the device you’re worried about thieves stealing.

Amazon

Best App-Integrated Dash Cam

Amazon Ring Car Cam

• $250.00 at Amazon

• Cameras: 1080p front, 1080p rear
• View: 111.5º front, 148º rear
• Screen: None

Amazon expanded its Ring camera offerings to your vehicle with the sleek, low-profile Ring Car Cam. It offers some cool Amazon-only features like integration with the Ring app, two-way talk with other family members and Alexa integration with voice commands. And if you’re not keen on being watched and heard at all times, there’s a physical privacy filter.

Unfortunately, you have to pay an additional Ring Protect Go monthly subscription to access the coolest features and even basic ones like downloading photos. And 1080p does not match up to the 4K front footage quality of other options on this list.

Amazon

Best Dash Cam for RVs

Garmin RV Cam

• $500.00 at Amazon
  $600.00 (17% off)

• Camera: 4K front (records in 1080p)
• View: 140º front
• Screen: 7-inch GPS

Garmin is known for its GPS-based navigation tech but for its RV Cam, the company decided to combine the best of both worlds, integrating a front-facing dash camera into Garmin’s latest and greatest portable sat-nav units. The RV Cam comes in various sizes and features front collision and lane departure warnings.

But above all, if you’re an avid RV’er, the Garmin RV Cam also comes preinstalled with RV-friendly routing and points of interest. But this unit is unique in that it’s mostly a portable sat-nav unit first and a dashcam second, which is reflected in its steep price, especially when it only records 1080p.

Amazon

Rexing V1PGW-4K

• $220.00 at Amazon
  $240.00 (8% off)

• Cameras: 4K front, 1080p rear
• View: 170º front, 170º rear
• Screen: 2.4-inch LCD

The Rexing V1PGW-4K is just as feature-rich as the Kingslim D4. But it’s packaged neatly in a windshield-mounted module with a high-definition LCD and tactile menu and control buttons. It, too, comes with a rear-facing camera, GPS, and Wi-Fi, as well as a downloadable smartphone app. However, it is on the pricier side of the spectrum.

Amazon

Best Affordable Dash Cam for Rideshare Drivers

Lamonke 4K Dual Dash Cam

• $140.00 at Amazon

• Cameras: 4K front, 1080p rear (cabin)
• View: 170º front, 150º rear
• Screen: 2-inch LCD

The Lamonke dashcam is a great and affordable choice for rideshare drivers as its rear-facing camera is mounted on the front-facing unit and records the passenger cabin. With 4K footage, Wi-Fi, night vision, and even a gyroscopic sensor with parking monitoring, it’s another quality, value-driven proposition.

Amazon

Redtiger Dash Cam Front Rear Camera

• $150.00 at Amazon
  $199.00 (25% off)

• Cameras: 4K front, 1080p rear
• View: 170º front, 140º rear
• Screen: 3.16-inch LCD

Like the Kingslim D4, the REDTIGER F7N comes with a 4K/2.5K front- and a 1080p rear-facing unit with Wi-Fi, GPS, and expandable microSD storage supporting up to 256GB. Additionally, loop recording, parking monitoring and smartphone app integration are bundled in this package for under $150, making the REDTIGER F7N another high-quality, value-packed dash camera system worthy of consideration. Though it does offer a more discreet profile than the Kingslim, its smaller size means a smaller touchscreen LCD, which some may find hard to navigate.

Amazon

Rove R2- 4K Dash Cam

• $105.00 at Amazon
  $120.00 (13% off)

• Camera: 4K front
• View: 150º

A household name in the dashcam space, Rove’s R2-4K remains one of Amazon’s top sellers for a good reason. It’s a solid front-facing dashcam with the entire suite: Wi-Fi, GPS, night vision, parking monitoring, a smartphone app, and 4K video. With a review score of 4.5 stars out of five from over 25,600 customers, it’s a hard choice to contest. However, some have noted that with newer and more updated competitors arriving on the market, camera quality is starting to become average.

Amazon

Aubnico Dash Cam 1080P

• $34.00 at Amazon

• Camera: 1080p front
• View: 120º
• Screen: 3-inchLCD

Need something cheap, simple, but still feature-rich? The AUBNICO is a solid 1080p front-facing dashcam with all the works for less than $50. It has all the workings of a properly well-rounded dash cam but in a single, slim package with a high-definition widescreen LCD for easy reading and viewing.

Amazon

Best Dash Cam for Rideshare Drivers

Vantrue 2 Channel WiFi Uber Dual Dash Cam with GPS

• $160.00 at Amazon

• Cameras: 4K front, 1080p rear cabin
• View: 160º front, 140º rear cabin
• Screen: 3-inch HD LCD touchscreen

Are you a rideshare driver needing the best dashcam that records the passenger cabin? The Vantrue 2 Channel is hard to beat. In addition to coming with the typical laundry list of features, the Vantrue also comes with a rear-facing camera, which is integrated into a single form factor. It may be larger than other dashcams. But in return for its larger footprint, the Vantrue comes with a large high-definition LCD screen so drivers can have a constant view of the rear passengers.

Cobra

Cobra SC 200D Smart Dash Cam

• $200.00 at Amazon

• Cameras: QHD 1600p front, HD 1080p rear
• View: 140º front, 160º rear
• Screen: 3-inch LCD

The Cobra SC 200D is a solid, affordable dash camera option. It offers a Quad HD front (no 4K) and HD rear camera and can be operated hands-free with voice commands while driving. It offers built-in wifi and GPS as well as a G-Sensor and Parking Modes. The 3-inch LCD screen can also be used for turn-by-turn navigation and police alerts — although some reviewers have noted that functionality can be spotty. It does come with a 16GB Micro SD card. But buyers may want to upgrade that.

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