Dash cam advice/recommendations? (Long and detailed)

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tony1679

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My sister was recently involved in an accident that was not her fault (she was hit head-on in her own lane by someone driving without ins/reg), and she somehow was deemed at fault (the police determined she was traveling from a completely different direction, backed by a "witness"). I'll spare the long story, but she now NEEDS a dash cam. She purchased a Kenwood DRV-320 from Best Buy for $129 (which will be post-sale price matched to Amazon for $105). Unfortunately she already likes it (it's her first ever dash cam, so anything seems amazing). I think it's total garbage and she got completely ripped off. 100° FOV,
What she NEEDS:
GPS (included or add-on)
2"+ Display
64GB+ SD card capacity
G-sensor with some sort of emergency recording mode
1080p+
Adhesive mount, not suction

What she WANTS:
Travel speed sensor (I agree, and we're aware of the potential self-incrimination)
Parking mode (I disagree, and think it's somewhat useless)
Audio recording (not sure why)
A manual recording mode (again, not sure why. Just shake the camera, it will go into emergency mode)

After doing some research, what I feel is a GOOD IDEA:
1080p@30+fps, preferably closer to 60fps
Capacitor, no batteries or doesn't rely on a battery (is it one or the other or both? I'm a noob, please explain?)
140-170° FOV, less won't show side impacts, more won't see very well in front. I think ~160° is good?
A cam that doesn't include an SD card, considering I'd upgrade to it's maximum. Not a deal breaker.
A separately purchased high endurance SD card (are these truly superior to a class 10/uhs-1 or 3?)
The more storage capacity, the better. Ideally 128GB.
Night vision
NO accident prevention/driver awareness/driver alerts/speed camera alerts
NO proprietary cables (Garmin)

$$$Price$$$:
Her budget is about $125. I understand all of these features in one cam at that price is highly unlikely, but I feel I can get most. Cheaper is always good if there aren't many sacrifices.



Based on some noob research, I feel there are a few decent (not perfect for the reasons above) candidates. My front-runners:

*The Aukey DR01 or DR02 - Both seem excellent, the DR02 at a glance seems better.
*As a huge Anker fan, I'm entertaining the Anker/Roav family of cams, but they seem inferior to the Aukeys. Maybe I'm wrong? Which one is best?

I'm still entertaining everything at this point though. Please recommend some I may not know about. I'd love to hear your
49.gif
. Recommendations, criticism, experiences, important specs I'm not considering, anything... I want to hear all of it. Huge thanks in advance, and sorry for the novel!
 
Not sure why you need the large screen? as long as you can tell its working I view the videos on my computer.

If you want a 1080p camera there is plenty in the $40-$60

The only reason I would pay more is for 1440p or 4k

Depending on your microsd card you could end up with half your budget just for that.

If 1080p a 32GB is fine.

Some of the priciest models (4k too) usually have h.265 encoding to save space.. which is necessary since 4k recording is 4x the size of 1080p

I have https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M592J9C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

in my car paid $49 using a regular 64GB card I had lying around

GF has this one
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072FVX74Q/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Which I paid $79 for including the 32GB card.

Capacitor is mainly so the battery doesnt blowup in the summer sun inside hot car.
 
tony 1679,

I hope your Sister was not seriously injured.
Some times these injuries show up several Months later.
I have a Dash Cam (5 years) and think everyone should have one.

Adhesive mount, not suction
Mine has a suction cup and I use a cable tie connected to rear-view mirror (because suction cups DO loose their grip)
Another nice feature is a Swivel Mount (mine does NOT have one) / Police pull you over, turn Camea towards drivers window
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The more storage capacity, the better. Ideally 128GB
Not really necessary because the camera will rewrite over the SD Card (constant loop)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capacitor, no batteries or doesn't rely on a battery (is it one or the other or both? I'm a noob, please explain?
Mine has a capacitor only, which I prefer (why deal with batteries)

When comparing cameras, check the temperature range in which they work.
Not only heat, but ALSO cold temps.

I mentioned to my Brother how nice Dash Cams are, of coarse he did NOT buy one.
Six Months later, a drunk driver hit his car (totals it) and takes off.

Last Month my Nephew was hit by a driver who went thru a red-light.
My Nephew DID have a dash-cam.
 
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Originally Posted by DzoG20

There are youtube videos - one can check day/night performance


Just a warning youtube HEAVILY compresses videos so while you can check the day/night performance.. the actual video quality will be terrible compared to actual video files produced by the camera.
 
I have dashcams in both of our cars. The Aukey DR02 (1 year) and Papago GS200 ( 3 years). I don't use any of the features other than recording w/o sound while driving. No GPS. Both have survived the TX summer heat. Never had to use the video though. I prefer the DR02 since it's more discrete and better picture quality over the Papago - and cheaper to boot.

My advice is to monitor the deal sites like Slickdeals and grab a decent 1080p for ~ $50 when on sale. NAND flash is super cheap now, so a standard 64GB micro SD card can be found for $15. I wouldn't pay a premium for the "media" SD cards, my standard Samsung 32gb card is working fine in the Papago after 3yrs.

It's easy to spend a lot on these dashcam setups but the benefits of higher priced models doesn't seem to offer much value over the $50 - $60 price point for a non-commercial driver.
 
I don't know if you want GPS as that could hurt the driver as much as help; I believe the unit will display speed as well as date/time. So, for example, had your sister been speeding, that would have been recorded along with the crash and despite the other driver being in the wrong lane, someone would use the fact that the unit recorded her speeding and she'd likely be assigned part of the blame even though it would have had little to contribute to the accident.

My
49.gif


I hope things work out for your sister.
 
Super large memory card really shouldn't be needed. Get in a crash, pop the card out, give it to the officer. Am I missing something? They constantly rewrite over themselves, so as long as you have 4 hours or so of retention, you should be good.
 
Originally Posted by Rand
Sky is the limit you can go $500 for this one for example
https://www.blackvue.com/product/dr900s-2ch/

but as mentioned the 1080p with regular 32GB card for around $70 all in works just fine.

This is the one I have and would have recommended it but it doesn't have a screen other than being able to access it on your phone / smart device. Super happy with it.

I'm currently suing the person that hit my Journey and almost killed me. The person is trying to blame me when I had a green light clearly on the video and they ran the red.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Rand
Not sure why you need the large screen? as long as you can tell its working I view the videos on my computer.
She doesn't own a computer, that's the reasoning. Everyone in the family does though, so she could easily retrieve data in any event. 2" screens seem to be normal, if not on the smaller side.
Originally Posted by Rand
I have https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M592J9C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

in my car paid $49 using a regular 64GB card I had lying around

GF has this one
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072FVX74Q/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Which I paid $79 for including the 32GB card.
Both of those are ones I'm interested in. Which do you like better? Which one seems to be of higher quality and which one seems like it will last longer? And the important question, which one captures the highest quality video (not on paper, but in your opinion)? Anker/Roav wasn't too transparent with their specs...

Thanks for the input!
 
Originally Posted by MasterSolenoid
tony 1679,

I hope your Sister was not seriously injured.
Some times these injuries show up several Months later.
I have a Dash Cam (5 years) and think everyone should have one.

Adhesive mount, not suction
Mine has a suction cup and I use a cable tie connected to rear-view mirror (because suction cups DO loose their grip)
Another nice feature is a Swivel Mount (mine does NOT have one) / Police pull you over, turn Camea towards drivers window
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The more storage capacity, the better. Ideally 128GB
Not really necessary because the camera will rewrite over the SD Card (constant loop)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Capacitor, no batteries or doesn't rely on a battery (is it one or the other or both? I'm a noob, please explain?
Mine has a capacitor only, which I prefer (why deal with batteries)

When comparing cameras, check the temperature range in which they work.
Not only heat, but ALSO cold temps.
Thanks for the tips! She was luckily barely injured. It was a partial-overlap crash for both vehicles involved, driver front fender to driver front fender. She only suffered a moderate amount of seat belt rash.

She's firmly against suction mounts, for that very reason (loosening). Swivel mount is interesting, wouldn't have thought of that. I want higher storage capacity because from what I understand 8GB loosely translates to ~1 hour of 1080p footage. I feel 6 hours is a decent margin of error in case she takes a longer drive, plus any "emergency mode" locked footage that may arise, 8x6=48, plus some room for locked footage. That's how I came to a 64GB minimum (which i know is slightly overkill, but quality SD cards are ridiculously cheap right now). I know it records in constant loop, but want it to take a while to overwrite a potentialy important file. And yes, temperature is a high consideration. We can get down to zero, and as high as 105-110°, which means it's even hotter in the car.

Which cam do you have that is capacitor only? I'm curious.
 
Originally Posted by DzoG20
I have my eyes set on VIOFO A119 family of dashcams

https://www.amazon.com/VIOFO-Included-Optional-included-Certified/dp/B07CKD92VM?th=1

They seem to use the latest image sensors, good FW support/updates

Cameras are typically 1440p, can do 1080p@60
GPS module is an option
CPL filter to help with dash glare
There are models with 130 and 160 degree FOV
There are youtube videos - one can check day/night performance
I'll take a look as soon as I'm done replying to everyone here (didn't expect this many responses!). Thanks!
 
Originally Posted by WagonWheel
I have dashcams in both of our cars. The Aukey DR02 (1 year) and Papago GS200 ( 3 years). I don't use any of the features other than recording w/o sound while driving. No GPS. Both have survived the TX summer heat. Never had to use the video though. I prefer the DR02 since it's more discrete and better picture quality over the Papago - and cheaper to boot.

My advice is to monitor the deal sites like Slickdeals and grab a decent 1080p for ~ $50 when on sale. NAND flash is super cheap now, so a standard 64GB micro SD card can be found for $15. I wouldn't pay a premium for the "media" SD cards, my standard Samsung 32gb card is working fine in the Papago after 3yrs.

It's easy to spend a lot on these dashcam setups but the benefits of higher priced models doesn't seem to offer much value over the $50 - $60 price point for a non-commercial driver.

This is invaluable info regarding the DR02. You answered the questions I was going to ask (heat sensitivity, camera quality). Yes, I'm a very active Slickdeals folower haha. So just one question, is the DR02 as good as they say/would you buy another? Thanks!
 
Originally Posted by opus1
I don't know if you want GPS as that could hurt the driver as much as help; I believe the unit will display speed as well as date/time. So, for example, had your sister been speeding, that would have been recorded along with the crash and despite the other driver being in the wrong lane, someone would use the fact that the unit recorded her speeding and she'd likely be assigned part of the blame even though it would have had little to contribute to the accident.

My
49.gif


I hope things work out for your sister.
Yes, we're both 100% aware of how the GPS can be self-incriminating, however based on her experience with this most recent crash, she REFUSES to go without it. My sister is incredibly directionally challenged. She only knows how to go one way between her apartment and my mom's house. She wouldn't have taken another route, because she'd be lost. However, the police determined she took a different route due to a "witness" that stated she did. They're both 10000% wrong, because the damage clearly validates my sister's route (driver front fender damage on both cars, no other front bumper damage on both cars, no driver's side door/rear fender damage on both cars, no hood damage on my sister's car, only the drivers side of the hood damaged in the other car (she just started to turn in front of my sister). This clearly indicates a head-on, partial overlap collision on both vehicles. The police/witness claim my sister was at-fault and turned right 90° WITHIN the intersection and somehow still carried 40mph of momentum. Impossible...
29.gif
Especially considering the other car was the first vehicle in the left turn lane, and the alleged right turn lane my sister was in before "turning" (perpendicular to it), the right edge of it, if continuing into the intersection, meets up perfectly flush with the white "stop" line of said turn lane. So she would have had to literally turn on a dime's width at 40mph in order to not inflict driver side damage on the other vehicle as well as not inflict front bumper damage to hers. The police said regardless of he witness, there were "yaw" skid marks (not braking skid marks) leading from the alleged turn lane that led right to where her car stopped. Another lie, I took very clear pictures 1 hour later. No marks at all. The only marks present came from a very heavy duty dually with a very agressive tread pattern (trash/tow truck). Needless to say, she is definitely fighting this one...).

That's the reason she won't go without GPS now, it clearly would have blown a hundred shotgun shells through this phony case.
 
Originally Posted by bubbatime
Super large memory card really shouldn't be needed. Get in a crash, pop the card out, give it to the officer. Am I missing something? They constantly rewrite over themselves, so as long as you have 4 hours or so of retention, you should be good.

Agreed, however it's my understanding that 8GB loosely translates to 1hr of footage at 1080p. 4 hours would be 32GB. But that's not counting any manual recording or "emergency mode" recordings that are locked and can't be overwritten. That's how I came to the 64GB conclusion, as there's nothing between 32 and 64.
 
I like both, both are adhesive mounts but only one adjustable the other is fixed.

The ROAV has much more features and smartphone integration etc.. but the anker just works .. and well too.

IIRC my 32GB translated to around 5.5hours in my G1W(1080p)

I would skip the GPS IMO.
 
I'm not understanding what's wrong with her current one? Why does it need so many gizmos?

Mine is a $20 dash cam from Amazon. Works perfect, has survived 2 Phoenix summers in the sun.

Why would it need to record the sides of the car? As long as it shows you in your own lane doing what's right, that's all that matters to me.
 
Originally Posted by tony1679

This is invaluable info regarding the DR02. You answered the questions I was going to ask (heat sensitivity, camera quality). Yes, I'm a very active Slickdeals folower haha. So just one question, is the DR02 as good as they say/would you buy another? Thanks!


Np! Yes would probably get the DR02 agaiin. The 4K ones seem to not be as reliable at this price point. I would recommend hard wiring, the cig adapter sometimes "backs out" and you don't know it's now powering up. I miss the chime like the Papago plays at power up.
 
Go to dashcamtalk.com and look at all the options. I just purchased a Viofo A119s to replace an older Street Guardian (which is going in the rear window to replace a flaky A118c). I don't want GPS/parking modes/etc, just a basic dashcam. Wife's car has a Viofo A119 which has been working flawlessly. All the cams use a 64gb card which is more than enough. I've been using dashcams for about 6 years now and twice they saved my insurance rates (one collision and one where a dump truck was dropping debris all over the highway).
 
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