Dashcam recommendations

[Steve McF]

It's number 1 son's birthday this week, and the boss suggested I look fora dashcam for him. Problem is, we don't even have a dashcam ourselves, so I
 don't know what to look for 

Has anyone got any advice, tips or recommendations on what to look for? 

[Audax]

I'm currently considering upgrading my dashcam, I'm looking at a viofo A229 front and rear but didn't decide on what to buy quite yet. I'd be interested to hear other opinions, I wouldn't get just a front cam now I would get both front and rear. Mostly as it would make submitting anything to operation snap much easier and give better context if you were involved in an accident.

[Geoff1951]

I've been using Nextbase dashcams for a few years, currently a couple of 422s in my Audi A4 Avant and my OH's VW Up. I also have a 322 in my Audi's rear screen. Other good brands are Garmin, Blackvue, but they can be very expensive. I'd stick to these three brands.

Mine were fairly easy to hardwire install (tap into the under dash or footwell fusebox as appropriate, most car forums will cover the topic) and neat and compact in appearance. Some brands look really clunky.  You can use a permanent live feed so the camera acts a security device, branded hardwire fitting kits monitor voltage drop so they turn off if the car's battery drops. I've wired into a fuse that's only live when the ignition's on (rear wiper is a common one used) so there's no need to switch on/off or plug in every time. Some cars' lighter sockets are permanently live, my daughter's 2010 Mini was one such.
Whatever brand you choose, hard installations generally follow the same procedure, just careful planning. And it's worth doing rather than relying on cables dangling down from the windscreen and plugged into a lighter socket.

You don't need the expensive dashcam-branded MicroSD cards, whatever they say - Sandisk are a good brand and well priced on Amazon.

If you subscribe to Which? or know someone who does, they have an excellent article about "best dashcams 2026" which is very helpful on all the various features. It doesn't cover every camera by every brand, but does give you advice on some to avoid - some big expensive names but also generally avoid really cheap ones. They're not happy about the security of some, around transferring files over the internet, similar to phone or laptop security worries.

I haven't come across the Viofo that Audax mentions - might be worth a look.

Sorry this is a bit scattergun! 

[sgould]

I have had a Nextbase beside the rear view mirror for several years.  They are still running well.  They come with a sucker to fix to the screen.  I replaced this with a stick-on one after both cameras fell off in hot sun.

The cameras are run from a 5v USB feed and come with a transformer to drop the voltage from 12v.  I hid the transformer beside the dashboard fusebox.  They have a micro SD card  which can be removed and the video downloaded to a computer.  The card is big enough to record three hours, then it overwrites from the beginning, but there's a button you can press to save a 10 minute section.  There are other functions like impact.  If the car is hit while parked, the camera wakes up and records, powered from the inbuilt battery.

The camera can be slid out of the screen holder without requiring any unplugging the wires.

Here's one of mine from last Saturday uploaded to YouTube https://youtu.be/YT9qdpOfbmM

And a picture of the transformer in the Saab fusebox.

[Audax]

You don't need the expensive dashcam-branded MicroSD cards, whatever they say - Sandisk are a good brand and well priced on Amazon.

I would go for a high endurance sandisk card, 128GB is £27 in their normal range and about £38 in the high endurance range. Having dealt with flash failures from people buying low endurance SSD at work I figure a few pounds more to get a card that you can rely on is worth it.