How to Choose the Best Dashcam for Your Car

Unofficially, the dashcam has its roots in the dashboard-mounted cameras of police cars. For decades, they have been a very useful tool for law enforcement agencies, and the images they captured – at first on VHS cassettes – have been crucial in solving many cases.

For civilian use, the dashcam’s origins could be traced to the rise of the GoPro and similar technologies a few years back. However, videos captured with in-car devices dating as back as the 1950s have surfaced in recent times.

Why Use a Dashcam

In some parts of the world dashcams are more appreciated than others. Russians, for instance, have developed quite a taste for them, while the rest of Europe is a tad more reserved in adopting this technology.

In most countries the use of a dashcam is not explicitly prohibited, but there are limitations on what drivers can do with the images they record, like in GDRP-suffocated Europe for instance.

There are a few good reasons to choose a dashcam for your car.

The first is the most benign of all: remembering a great trip. There are countless breathtaking roads to go around, and recording a drive on any of them is a great idea if you plan to have something to look back on later.

There could also be some glory involved in owning a dashcam. Provided you are in the right place at the right time, you could capture on camera something so incredible Youtube views alone could make you famous.

Last, but perhaps most importantly, they are a safety measure: dashcams are ideal and impartial witnesses to road incidents. In places where the use of such footage in court is allowed, a short video could mean the difference between a fine and no fine, or even worse, between freedom and jail time.

How to Choose the Best Dashcam?

That’s a question for the ages. It is literally impossible to say which camera is the best, mainly because most of them are designed to do the same thing, using more or less the same parts.

But since we’re human and we like placing tags on things, some dashcams have grown more popular than others. And one of the main reason for this is the snowballing effect of customer reviews.

When in the market for a new dashcam, make sure you are on the lookout for three major features of a dashcam: looping capability, g-force sensors, and if possible night-time vision.

A looping capability rids you of the hassle of having to periodically delete the SD card or transfer the data from it. A loop feature allows the camera to record over previously stored footage when there’s no more space. Make sure however to back up those videos from time to time, in case you want to review something that might otherwise be deleted.

A G-force sensor is a tool that allows the camera to protect a recorded video as soon as sudden deceleration is detected. That means the video of a crash the car is involved it will be safe from overwriting, at least until the owner decides otherwise.

Regardless of what camera you choose, make sure you take a good look at what others have to say about the chosen device. To give you a head start, we selected 5 of the best-reviewed dashcams now selling on Amazon and listed them in the section below.

Rexing V1 (ad) – this tool is a high-power dashcam that doubles as a parking surveillance tool. Equipped with a Sony IMX323 image sensor and 170-degree ultra wide angle lens, it records at 1080p and displays images on an LCD screen.

Its abilities include loop recording, and a parking surveillance mode. In case of a crash, a gravity sensor fitted inside tells the camera to automatically lock the video being recorded so that it is not overwritten.

The Rexing V1 camera can be mounted virtually anywhere, but the manufacturer provides an adhesive mount for the windscreen.

The camera needs a Class 10 / UHS-I or higher MicroSD/SDHC/SDXC memory card of up to 256 GB to work that is not included in the package.

On Amazon the Rexing V1 sells from $99.99.

WheelWitness HD PRO (ad) - powered by an Ambarella A7LA50 processor and using a 3-inch LCD screen, the WheelWitness also comes with a 170-degree angle camera, but offers a 2304x1296p resolution for the videos it records.

The camera works just as well during the night thanks to the WDR technology. It also offers loop recording, GPS tracking (optional, just as with the Rexing) and video protection for when an accident is detected.

WheelWitness sells with no SD card, and no upper limit for it is required. This dashcam sells for $124.99.

Garmin Dash Cam 55 (ad) – selling for much more than the two other dashcams mentioned above, the Garmin Dash Cam 55 does seem to bring a lot of extras too.

The 3.7-megapixel wide-angle lens camera can record with 1440p even in low-light conditions, and comes with included GPS. The built-in wi-fi and the available VIRB App allows it to be controlled via a smartphone, thus making video sharing with interested parties as easy as possible.

This camera too comes with accident detection that prevents overwriting an important video, but adds some features that are not available on other devices.

First off, there’s the lane departure warning that works just as the factory-supplied systems in more recent cars. There’s even a collision warning if the camera detects the car in front is too close for comfort.

And, the cherry on the cake, this camera can be voice controlled.

On Amazon the Garmin Dash Cam 55 sells for $188.99.

Apeman C450 (ad) – with a price tag of only $44.99, the Apeman is one of the cheapest dashcam options available, while offering about the same things as the others out there.

Using a 3-inch screen to display images recorded through a wide-angle lens at 1080p, Apeman offers the possibility of filming the trip at night and comes with parking monitoring, There’s no voice control, and works only with a Class 10 microSD card with up to 32 GB, but what more can you ask from it?

Vantrue N2 Pro (ad) – by far the fanciest of the dashcams included in our list, the Vantrue has been specifically designed to be used by rideshare drivers working for the likes of Uber or Lyft. It uses a 170-degree front-facing camera and a 140 degree rear facing one to ensure the safety of the driver from perils both inside and out.

Moreover, the camera also records sound and is equipped with a GPS sensor. Infrared night vision, parking mode and date and time stamps are also offered to go with the N2 Pro.

Being so fancy and demanding, the Vantrue only works with genuine Samsung cards with up to 256 GB.

Being designed more as a professional tool than anything else, this dashcam is the most expensive of all in our list: $199.99.