There's two things we can all agree on about dashcams.
First is that they are absolutely necessary if you've ever been in or witnessed an accident,
which specifically speaking is you and everyone you know.
The second is that regardless of the price, they all look pretty terrible.
Even when I picked a winner three years ago, there were absolutely edge cases
where it clearly fell short. And I know short.
But technology march is ever onward, right? So we bought today's bestselling
and most highly reviewed dashcams to see if finally I can be satisfied.
Are there features other than image quality that'll make a difference to our top choice?
Do you basically get what you pay for? Or are there some diamonds in the rough?
And how is it that this one costs 30 times as much
as this one? So many questions. Like, how will I segue to our sponsor?
As you might expect, deploying 10 dashcameras at once
for a review means we needed a large windshield and a good power source.
We settled on our work truck, a Ford F-150 with a Sabrant 16-in-1 USB hub
plugged into a Jackery Explorer 2000 Pro. Due to the long wiring runs and the importance
of not losing power to any of our cameras, we used nine of our new four meter LTT cables
available now at LTTstore.com. Now it is worth noting that some of our dashcams
included additional rear or interior cameras
for multi-channel operation. These can be super handy for rear enders
and passenger-related incidents. However, they're always lower resolution
than the front camera, so our image quality comparisons are going to focus on the primary.
With that out of the way, our first three contestants are Lordy.
How am I supposed to pronounce this? E-E-E-WAH?
Maybe it doesn't matter. All three are attractively priced
around $50 to $100 on promo, so I think I can forgive them for being a little lighter
on the features and a little higher on the jank and weird names, like this box.
To Jan Vim's credit, they do at least have a website, but the box for their two-channel camera system
includes instructions that appear to be for a completely different brand, Jan World.
Oh, are you? Stepping up a little bit in price, we get the three-channel Subcon.
Aside from an additional camera, its main standout feature is the inclusion of HDR
or high dynamic range, but at this price,
using a low-tier image sensor, it may be combining multiple exposures
to better capture the brightest and darkest parts of the scene, but it's unlikely to be doing so well.
Finally, there's the four-channel E-E-Wee.
Its main claim to fame is lots and lots of cameras. Front, back, and two of these funky flexible ones
that can pan and tilt 180 degrees. Since the main unit is so wide,
we have to mount it a little lower on the windshield, but for anyone who isn't running 10 dash cams,
that probably won't be a problem. It's the first to include Wi-Fi,
and it also ships with a 128-gig card, helping propel it to the fourth best-selling dash cam
on Amazon. If only that were an indication of quality.
It claims to have WDR, but dash cam manufacturers use terms like HDR and WDR
pretty loosely. So why don't we talk about what they mean? Newer tech, like Sony's Clear HDR
on their Starvis 2 sensors, captures two different images.
One high gain and one low gain for post-processing,
which can add a little bit of noise and clarity loss, but can produce an overall more detailed image.
The Starvis 2 also supports digital overlap HDR,
which uses sequential short and then long exposures,
which can add motion blur. Which of these implementations gets used
can significantly affect quality, and we've also found cases where HDR claims are made
with absolutely no evidence of them doing either of those things.
Then there's WDR. In theory, it performs the same function as HDR,
using hardware and software to capture and combine multiple near-simultaneous exposures
for a more balanced image. This is to help preserve detail in both the highlights
and in the shadows. However, many vendors use digital WDR,
a cheaper, less effective solution that uses only software to adjust shadows and highlights.
So we're not gonna pay too much attention to these feature claims,
because real world image quality is what matters. Let's take a look.
All three of our under $100 cameras are pretty much equal at reading license plates in motion.
Equally bad. If I had to choose one,
maybe the IE has the better overall image quality,
the sky isn't quite as overexposed, and the power lines are more visible here.
The Subcon manages a pretty pleasing image with a vibrant blue sky and green grass,
and they all look pretty equal to me for the legibility of the van's letters here.
Moving on to Twilight, the IE has the best static focus
with the 198 sign being the most clear out of the three.
But while the Yonvim's lack of even pretend HDR
results in the sky being darker than the other two, it comes out ahead on the readability
of the truck's letters here when it drives by, and that's because of its higher 30 FPS capture.
The Subcon meanwhile is unremarkable in our Twilight test.
Moving on to nighttime, this footage is very interesting.
Again, the Yonvim with its higher frame rate wins the day with the clearest image.
The 151.9 price on the street sign is more legible than the others,
and as for the Subcon, it's definitely the loser here
without a focus and blurry video. After testing all the lower tier and cheaper cameras then,
our top pick kinda depends on your needs. For capturing motion video,
we recommend the Yonvim. However, if your main priority is parking surveillance mode,
the IWI is substantially more expensive, but likely a better fit,
recording with nearly 360 degree coverage. Both use a sticker style mount though,
and if you prefer a reusable suction cup, then the Subcon might stand out for that reason.
Realistically, none of them wowed me though. Raising the question,
could I just get the basic functionality that I need for less?
Let's find out by tightening our budget and taking a look at the $19 Mayquills dash cam.
It's not especially well reviewed, it's not especially popular.
But 19 bucks is 19 bucks. So if this thing is any good,
we could save our viewers anywhere from three to four happy meals. Unfortunately, it's not good.
The cheap plastic mount broke before we could even install it, and the packaging is so generic
that it literally says brand on it. What the hell is 1296p?
As for the image quality, ooh, I mean, I know it's cheap,
but like, remember how there was text on the side of this van here?
And this is our daylight clip. Moving on to twilight, it's even worse.
That doesn't sparkle at all. As for nighttime, no wonder they call it brand.
In conclusion, there's a minimum floor for what you should probably spend on a dash cam.
But is there a maximum? Let's juice up our budget
and see if this trio of 4K cameras
is worth the extra money or not extra money.
See in theory, these are priced anywhere from $100 to $200,
but all of them were available on a discount, putting them pretty much in direct competition
with the iUi, bad news for the iUi, because instead of mystery meat image sensors,
all of our next tier cameras boast a Sony StarVis II sensor.
With that said, not all StarVis IIs are made equal.
So it's kind of like saying a gaming PC uses GeForce.
Which one? Well, Red Tiger wouldn't tell us,
but it doesn't seem to be holding back their sales. The F7 NP is the number three best seller on Amazon
with dual channel recording and a front camera that boasts up to 4K 30
or 1080p 120 FPS. However, despite achieving 4K 30 FPS
during our daylight test, our camera automatically and without warning
dropped to 25 FPS for twilight and nighttime shots.
More like red kitten. Our second hundred plus dollar model
was the Rove R2 4K dual. This was Amazon's second best selling dash cam
when we bought it. And despite its confusing name, it is not in fact a dual 4K camera.
The rear camera is only 1080p. But on paper, the value is still there
with an IMX675 primary sensor, not to mention some nice extras
like a free 128 gig micro SD card.
The final camera in this group is the JZones V630.
It also claims to use a StarVis IMX675 and is the only three channel camera in this group,
which could be a nice extra value. On top of that, they claim to have a lifetime warranty.
But good luck with that, everybody. Right away, these cameras stand out from our budget options
with the Rove achieving better daylight performance with clearer license plates than the red tiger.
The JZones, meanwhile, seems overexposed here.
While the Rove shows sun flare, it manages to keep the van's letters slightly clearer.
In our twilight video, the Rove again comes out in front
with a still image that has little flare and better detail in dark areas.
It even focuses well on the smaller text next to the 198 on the street sign.
We can clearly see the YAC letters on the side of the truck with the Rove,
but the red tiger and the JZones struggle to give us a clear picture.
At night, however, the red tiger wakes up, beating the Rove in sharpness on the gas price sign.
With that said, none of these are miracle products and all three of them can't seem to focus well
on the license plates here. The JZones seems to particularly struggle at night.
Once again, then, the right camera is gonna depend on your needs. If nighttime is your top priority
or if you like a nice compact camera unit, red tiger might be worth a look.
But we liked the Rove overall better for its well-rounded performance
and its inclusion of both a sticker and suction cup mount.
If an additional recording channel is a must-have for you and you absolutely can't spend more,
then the JZones isn't terrible either, but it didn't really stand out.
Now, it's time to move up in the world.
We're getting to the big dogs. Not in terms of price, but in terms of reputation.
The Viofo A119 Mini 2 costs just $10 more
than that last trio and was named Best Bang for Your Buck
by Dashcam Talk in both 2024 and 2025.
And I can really see why they like this thing. It is super compact, just like the name says,
which is great for minimizing distractions and it features a tiny one and a half inch diagonal screen
and records at a middle of the road 2592 by 1944 resolution,
which is, in my opinion, more than enough. But with competitors doing 1440p60,
I am a little disappointed to see it limited to just 30 frames per second.
Also, it's just single channel and neither of the Viofo cameras that we checked out
come with SD cards, so you'll need to adjust your budget accordingly.
With all of that said, the image quality is just obviously better than anything we've seen so far.
In our daytime shots, there's no overexposure on the sun and clouds
and the power lines are totally visible. The truck's writing is quite clear too.
The squarish four by three aspect ratio is probably gonna be a love it or hate it thing,
but I personally think that it's pretty cool. Clarity is great at dusk too.
The 198 street sign is legible and the letters on the side of the truck are very focused.
Not much to complain about here, but just be aware of where you install it.
Maybe avoid the side of the windshield where we had ours and you'll likely get even better results.
Finally, this is a very clear night video. The signs are focused
and the license plate on the car in front of us is a little challenging to read,
but it isn't overexposed. This is pretty much a best case scenario.
We really like this camera and can comfortably recommend it if you want a quality single camera solution
and you don't need some of the extras that we saw earlier. Also, Viofo, Biofo,
they might have a gibberish Amazon brand name, but they've been around long enough
to build a reputation for actually having post-sale support,
which is easily worth a few bucks extra to me.
But what if you wanted to spend a lot more than a few bucks extra?
That's where the Thinkware U3000 comes in.
This is another dash cam talk recommendation that I just had to see for myself.
$380 for a dash cam
and I need to use their special snowflake power cable instead of standard USB.
This thing better be pretty special. And it kind of is. It's loaded with features,
though it's up to you whether those features are important.
One of the most interesting to me is the audible advanced driver assistance systems,
such as lane departure warning, which if you have an older vehicle
that doesn't include that, well, this is a pretty low budget way to add it.
And for power efficiency, the camera uses front and rear radar
to monitor motion and parking mode. As for image quality, it's good,
but didn't blow us away either. Good focus on the license plates
for the cars in front of us, but the sky here is overexposed
and the power wires are being lost in the sun. There is clarity on the van's words though
and the color saturation is surprisingly good, if that matters for your use case.
In our Twilight shot, the 198 sign is very clear,
as is the smaller text next to it. However, we have seen clearer shots
of the YAC letters on the truck in motion. It is still usable though.
Finally, nighttime quality was pretty disappointing with overexposure on the signs and license plates.
The gasoline price is blurry and it looks like it reads 161
instead of 151, giving me nightmares here you guys.
Overall, this has a lot of extra features, but its video quality is a bit of a mixed bag,
making it pretty hard to recommend for pure dash cam use.
I'd almost rather have one of our budget multi-channel kits
plus an A119 Mini 2 for its better forward-facing image quality.
That is unless there was a way to have it all in one kit.
That is the promise of the VFO A329T.
It is at the very high end of our price range,
but it's unique with two separate front-facing cameras.
The main front camera records 4K at 60fps with HDR off
or 30fps with HDR on like we recorded.
The secondary camera is a 4x optical zoom telephoto unit
and adding to its bag of tricks, this camera supports an external SSD
for more reliable recording. But for $600,
I better see image quality that absolutely blows my mind.
And all right, consider my mind blown.
I can clearly see both license plates on the cars in front of us.
There's no overexposure in the sky and the power lines are clearly visible in the bright sun.
All the writing on the side of the truck is legible, even the smallest text.
And this is the telephoto lens. Wow, that's awesome.
I can clearly see all three of those cars license plates
and something that no other camera even came close to. Check out the license plate on the van.
We could have aimed the camera a bit higher, but it's still great moving to twilight.
Again, this is the clearest video of this intersection we've seen. The 198 sign is super clear
and the 56th Avenue Cross Street sign is also legible.
Wow, the license plate on the truck is almost legible here too,
but that part of the image is too small and the YAC text is blurry here as well.
Pulling out the telephoto though, look at that license plate on the truck.
This image is so clear that we can see it before it gets to the intersection.
The YAC letters are still blurry with this lens though. Finally at night, we once again get great video capture.
The signs are clear and the license plate on the car in front is totally legible.
That's not even the money shot yet. Here's the telephoto at night time.
Not only is the gas station price crystal clear,
but look at those license plates. At night, it clearly captures all the plates
in the same lane as us and we even get somewhat usable images of plates
in the opposite lane. That is quite remarkable.
So this is one of those times when you clearly get what you pay for,
even if you're paying a lot. In summary then, if simply proving fault in an accident
is your main concern, an affordable HD camera will probably do you just fine.
If you need to catch key details like a license plate after a hit and run,
you'll definitely want to spend extra on a 4K resolution dash cam
with the highest frame rate you can get. And if you want extra bells or whistles
like ADAS or cloud storage, there are some good options out there,
but you might end up opening your wallet more than you might have thought
to get one that also offers compelling image quality.
Tell us what's important to you guys in a dash cam and leave a comment below.
Are you looking for image quality first or features?
Or is it just enough video to prove that you weren't at fault?
Are you maybe looking for a segue to our sponsor? If you guys enjoyed this video,
check out our recent webcam roundup. It's not the most glamorous of work,
but someone's gotta do it.