Dash cams give you peace of mind. You never know when you'll need footage from your windshield – but you'll be glad to have it if you do.
Today we're going to be taking close look at the range of Dash cams available today in NZ, checking which ones offer the best value at various recording quality settings or include great features - filtering down the options while creating a quick list for five of the best Dash Cam options you can get today!
Shopping for a great dashcam is thankfully a much easier process nowadays because the technology within a Dash Cam has matured to a point at which the best models have very similar features. There's no shortage of models to choose from either, and this competitive market has made getting a Dash Cam for your car (or even two for front/back coverage) a less expensive purchase than you might have experienced previously.
1. Xiaomi Mi Home Starvis Smart Car Dash Cam 1S
This Mi Dash Cam is available at an incredible price, and it's got the features we want for while providing great quality 1080P recording.
- 140 degrees wide-angle
- 1920x1080P resolution
- Loop-cycle recording
- Auto power on
- Parking monitoring
A couple of these features are pretty great and deserve further explanation.
Parking Monitoring: The dash cam automatically enters the parking monitoring mode after the vehicle is turned off. The accelerometer of the driving recorder continuously monitors the state of the vehicle and automatically records when it sensors abnormal vibrations. This could capture someone doing a crash and dash, or just some kids messing around near your car... whatever the case you'll have footage.
Loop-cycle recording: It's important to note you'll need to buy a memory card to store footage on your dash cam, but with loop-cycle recording the camera will overwrite the oldest footage for a consistent loop - meaning you won't miss out on capture because your memory card was full!
2. Transcend DrivePro 550 Dash Cam with Dual Lens
This next dashcam from Transcend is the perfect option for those who want to keep an eye on what's happening in the car too, making it ideal for Uber drivers, taxi fleets or similar business uses.
- Two cameras - Front: 160 degrees wide-angle / Back: 110 degrees wide-angle
- Two cameras - Front: 1920x1080P resolution / Back 1280x720P resolution
- Loop-cycle recording
- Includes the Micro SD Card!
- Sentry Mode (same as the parking monitoring feature above)
3. Uniden IGO CAM 325 Black Box Car Dash Cam
The Uniden Dash Cam presents an alternative to the Mi option above, cheap and cheerful this makes the camera ideal for recreational drivers such as 4WD enthusiasts, parents wishing to monitor the safety of younger drivers or commercial fleet managers who seek to keep track of employees while on the road.
- Compact design
- 1280x720P resolution
- Loop-cycle recording
- Auto power on
- Motion Detection (same as the parking monitoring feature above)
4. Black Vue DR590W-1CH Dash Cam
This dash cam is fairly new to NZ and will let you easily change your BlackVue configuration settings and browse through your videos in an intuitive way. With the BlackVue App, you can connect to your BlackVue via Wi-Fi to access files and check realtime Live View for easy setup and positioning of your dash cam. Both the BlackVue App and Viewer are free to download and use.
- 140 degrees wide-angle
- 1920x1080P resolution
- Loop-cycle recording
- Auto power on
- Parking Mode (same as the parking monitoring feature above)
5. Black Vue DR900S-1CH Dash Cam
4K gives you 4x the resolution of 1080p, making footage significantly clearer when you need to pull something like a number plate out of the recording. With built-in GPS, a users speed data can be overlaid in the video too making it ideal for business use.
- 162 degrees wide-angle
- 3840x2160P resolution
- Supports remote live view and cloud backup
- Integrated microphone and speakers
- Loop-cycle recording
- Auto power on
- Motion Detection (same as the parking monitoring feature above)
The integration of microphone and speakers also allows for two-way communication with drivers. The cloud features will require the dash cam to be connected to the internet, for example, your home or work wifi while in the garage. With this you can remotely login and check what's going on - it can even send you push notifications!
Having a dash cam will help to avoids the You say/They say moments by actually showing what happened during the incident. Making the insurance process much easier, in fact, a lot of car insurance companies recommend a dash cam for this reason.
Another bonus of having one is every now and then something frankly unbelievable happens on the road - and instead of having friends give you a doubting look as you tell your amazing tale, you can show your friends the proof - remember that unbelievable nose to tail video in which the driver speed off leaving their passenger behind, or that meteorite footage - the most dramatic footage came from dash cams, not TV crews!
So there we have it, great to have and more affordable than ever! Shop the full range of car Dash-Cams and get one for yourself today!
