Best dash cams 2026
Whether you’re on the road or parked, a dash cam can capture vital evidence of any incidents. We put eight to the test to find the best
Once you’ve had a dash cam, you feel almost naked without one. A trawl through social media channels will reveal hours of footage showing poor driving and criminality, which would often have been unprovable without a camera. It’s not just your no-claims bonus that could be saved – video evidence can be used to dispute traffic and parking fines.
Tech is moving fast in the dash-cam market, making the cameras cheaper at the entry level and more sophisticated at the top end. For this test we have gathered a selection ranging from one costing less than a sandwich shop lunch up to high-resolution multi-lens units aimed at professional drivers.
While most can be simply powered from a 12V socket or USB source, we’d recommend you invest in a hardwire kit to make the installation neater and give protection when the car is parked. Which dash cam is top of the shots?
How we tested
We attached the cameras inside the windscreen of a car, which was then driven in a variety of conditions – including a tunnel test – to see how the products coped with rapidly changing light.
The footage was then downloaded onto a desktop computer and any included apps to check for clarity and information. Devices with more than one camera view were tried with the extra cameras fitted and again with just the front lens operating. Finally, we took into account the value for money and useful extra features that are included in the price.
Dash cam test results
Below are the results of our latest dash cam group test with eight top models tested head-to-head.
Miofive S1
- Price: around £69.99 (including 32GB SD card)
- Resolution: 4K
- Contact: miofive.com
- Rating: 5.0 stars
Used - available now
2025 Volkswagen
T-Roc
26,563 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L
Cash £21,800
2024 BMW
2 Series Gran Coupe
25,553 milesAutomaticPetrol1.5L
Cash £20,100
2023 Nissan
Juke
20,822 milesManualPetrol1.0L
Cash £13,500
2023 Polestar
2
44,556 milesAutomaticElectric
Cash £16,400Miofive’s S1 ticks all of our boxes for features, with 4K footage quality, GPS speed and location data stamping, easy-to-use menus on a big screen and quick connection to a dedicated app. There is also the option to have audible speed-camera warnings.
The footage isn’t quite up with the Viofo’s, but it’s not too far behind – unlike the price, which looks like a bargain, especially with a 32GB SD card included. Add a 2K rear camera and the overall price is still less than £100.
70mai Dash Cam A810S
- Price: around £168.59 (including 128GB SD card)
- Resolution: 4K + 1080P
- Contact: uk.70mai.store
- Rating: 4.0 stars
In addition to all the features we like in a dash cam, the A810S has other tech that lifts it above rivals at this price level. The driver-assist warnings are not essential, but it claims to use AI to recognise registration numbers and make images clearer in low light.
Opt for the hardwired option and it will even recognise people acting suspiciously around your parked car. Our only reservations with the 70mai are the average rear-camera footage quality and unusually wide field of vision, which can make it look as though you’re driving faster.
Viofo A229 Pro 2CH
- Price: around £289.95 (plus SD card)
- Resolution: 4K + 2K
- Contact: viofo.com
- Rating: 4.0 stars
While 4K footage is expected at this price point, the A229 can record at 60 frames per second. That’s twice the rate of any other camera here and means the Viofo’s video quality is the best we’ve ever seen from a dash cam. There’s a polarising filter as part of the package too, so the footage is glare-free.
There is a catch, though: the Viofo’s processor can’t cope with 60FPS when a rear camera is connected and reverts to 30FPS. The back view is recorded in 2K resolution, though, which is a step up from the 1080P of rivals.
Nextbase A622GW Elite Package
- Price: around £299 (including 256GB SD card)
- Resolution: 4K + 1080P
- Contact: nextbase.co.uk
- Rating: 3.5 stars
Nextbase has some sophisticated and innovative connected cameras, but it seems buyers still prefer an old favourite of ours, the A622GW.
This package includes a carry case, huge 256GB SD card and the company’s ‘eyeball’ rear camera, which is easy to install but easily dislodged on a hatchback or estate. It might be old in tech terms, but it can still hold its own in terms of footage quality from the front camera.
Kenwood DRV-A510W
- Price: around £179.95 (including 32GB SD card)
- Resolution: 2K
- Contact: kenwoodshop.co.uk
- Rating: 3.5 stars
The DRV-A510W’s main attraction is its compact size, which makes it easy to fit behind a mirror and forget until it’s needed. Despite its dimensions, it has a colour screen, a GPS sensor and a high-quality processor that coped well with vibrations and light changes.
But the footage captured isn’t as good as its 4K rivals, and there has been a sharp price rise since we last tested the Kenwood.
Osram ROADsight 3500R
- Price: £135.48 (plus SD card)
- Resolution: 1296P+1080P
- Contact: osram.co.uk
- Rating: 3.0 stars
As you might expect from a brand best known for its bulbs, the Osram’s main quality is its ability to deal with changing light conditions. It also has a GPS sensor to record the car’s speed and location information, plus there is a big three-inch screen that shows views from both the front and rear cameras.
But while the ROADsight’s footage quality is a step up from the most basic cameras that are available, it’s not good enough to justify the asking price.
Simply Dual Lens Dash Camera
- Price: around £52 (plus SD card)
- Resolution: 1080P + 420P
- Contact: simply-brands.com
- Rating: 2.5 stars
It was a surprise to see that the Simply Dual Lens actually has three cameras, despite its name. There’s the usual one facing the front, another built into the main body that faces the interior, and a separate rear camera, which can be mounted on the outside of the car and can double up as a reversing camera. But the footage captured is of poor quality and there is no GPS sensor to record location details, either.
Temu Dual Lens Dashcam
- Price: around £10.65 (Plus SD card)
- Resolution: 1080P
- Contact: temu.com
- Rating: 2.0 stars
The Temu camera is the cheapest we’ve seen, although you’ll have to spend at least the same again to buy an SD card to fit. This model even has two camera views, allowing it to record the interior as well as the view outside the car.
As you’d expect, it lacks any technical sophistication, and the footage quality is poor in anything but ideal conditions.
Verdict
The Miofive S1 has everything we value in a dash cam at a price that makes most others look very expensive. It’s our Best Buy. If you want the ultimate in footage quality, then the Viofo A229 Pro offers the option of recording in 60FPS, which makes a real difference when capturing fast-moving traffic. The 70mai can’t match that, but its clever technology helps record important details.
More dash cameras test results
If the above selections don’t quite take your fancy, here are some alternative dash cams which we’ve previously tested that are worth considering.
Iiwey D2-Pro
- Price: around £89.99 (including 64GB SD card)
- Resolution: 4K+1080P
- Contact: amazon.co.uk
The D2-Pro offers a 4K front and 1080P rear camera, complete with a 64GB SD card and most of the other features we like for £89.99. That’s cheaper than some one-channel rivals that record at lower resolutions.
The Iiway has a chunky look, with its GPS and power sockets neatly built into the mount, but you can’t remove it once it’s stuck to the windscreen. The footage is good quality, although it’s slower to respond to changing light conditions and struggles to cope with glare from headlights and streetlamps.
Redtiger F7NP
- Price: around £94.99 (including 32GB SD card)
- Resolution: 4K+1080P
- Contact: eu.redtigercam.com
Decipher the bewildering offers on the Redtiger website and you’ll eventually find it’s great value for a 4K dual-channel camera. The package includes a 32GB SD card, or a £60 upgrade buys a 128GB card, hardwire kit and a polarising filter.
It’s the only camera here that has a suction-cup windscreen mount, meaning you can swap the F7NP between cars. The footage has an unusually wide angle, making the video look slightly distorted, but providing more coverage when you’re at junctions.
Road Angel Halo Play
- Price: around £149.99 (plus SD card)
- Resolution: 4K + 1080P
- Contact: halfords.com
The Halo Play is good value at less than £150 for a 4K camera with a rear channel, even if you will need to add your own SD card. Buy the optional hardwire kit and you’ll get parking protection, and we like the ‘winter mode’, which warms the camera up to melt ice from the windscreen.
A screen makes it easy to access menus and set up the camera, but it turns off after a few seconds to prevent distractions. The footage is clear, but it takes a fraction longer than the best rivals to react to changing light conditions.
Kenwood DRV610
- Price: around £229.95 (including 64GB SD card)
- Resolution: 4K
- Contact: kenwoodshop.co.uk
ThIs Kenwood looks identical to the DRV-A510W, with the same tiny dimensions that make it easy to fit and forget. However, it crams full 4K capability into the box. If you’re using a hardwire and enable parking mode, the unit uses a motion sensor to record when your car is approached rather than waiting until it is hit.
The DRV610 isn’t at its strongest when looked at in isolation, but when the camera is bundled together in a package with a hardwire kit and rear camera, it makes much more financial sense.
Nextbase iQ
- Price: around £444.50 (including 64GB SD card)
- Resolution: 4K
- Contact: nextbase.co.uk
Nextbase’s iQ looks very expensive, and the subscriptions you’ll need to use all the features mean it will continue to drain your wallet. But its connectivity offers something unique.
The 64GB SD card is backed up by a mobile data connection that constantly downloads footage and lets you check in on your car from your smartphone at any time. The iQ also goes beyond providing footage, and can create a full ‘incident report’ for an insurance firm. The camera is huge though, and the footage quality is behind the best in this test.
Nextbase Piqo Pro
- Price: around £119 (including 32GB SD card)
- Resolution: 2K
- Contact: nextbase.co.uk
Rather than chase after the ultimate in footage quality, Nextbase has gone in a different direction with the Piqo, taking some features from its iQ and shrinking them into a cheaper unit.
There’s no screen, but the Nextbase app makes it easy to download and share footage. You can even link Piqos wirelessly to record different views. When linked to your phone, if you have the necessary subscription, the Piqo will automatically call the emergency services after an accident. If you want a camera that’s simple to use, then this is it.
Vantrue Nexus 4 Pro
- Price: around £279.99 (plus SD card)
- Resolution: 4K front, 1080P rear, 1080P interior
- Contact: vantrue.com
The Vantrue is aimed at professional drivers who need an internal-facing camera in addition to the front and rear views. The cabin cam is built into the chunky main unit, making it much neater than separate wired units.
There’s a wide screen for viewing footage and the menu, but you must use physical buttons rather than a touchscreen to scroll through options. Voice control for some functions is offered when on the move, while the front footage is recorded in 4K at 30FPS and impressive in all but very bright sunlight.
Garmin X310
- Price: around £349.99 (plus SD card)
- Resolution: 4K
- Contact: garmin.com
There’s a lot to like about this Garmin. It is small, yet has an easy-to-use colour touchscreen and voice activation for the main features. The X310 can synchronise electronically with up to four other Garmin cameras to give all-round coverage, too.
The 4K footage was among the clearest in the test, partly thanks to a built-in polarising filter. We also liked the magnetic mount, which makes the unit easy to remove for security. But the X310 didn’t excel in any area, which makes it impossible to justify the price.
How to fit your dash cam
It’s possible to fit a dash cam just by sticking it to the windscreen and dangling the wire to the power outlet, but if you intend to keep it in your car permanently, you will want to make the effort to make it look neater.
First, you will need to clean the glass well to ensure the adhesive will stick. It works best on a warm day, or when the heater has been on after a drive.
The power cable – and any feed to a rear camera – can be tucked up into the headlining and then run down the door seal to the passenger footwell. There it can be hidden underneath a floor mat, or clipped underneath the dash, and run to the power socket or fuse box.
If you’re not confident doing the job yourself, professional fitting will typically cost you between £50 and £150, depending on the car and camera set-up needed.
Guide to common dash cam terms
App links
As with most gadgets available these days, all but the most basic dash cams will have an app that allows you to access the menus, view footage and download files to your phone. This will either be in addition to a screen on the back of the camera, or instead of it.
The apps will be linked by either Bluetooth or the camera’s own WiFi link, which tends to be faster. Some units will also feature a built-in SIM card, which allows you to access footage captured by the dash cam – and even a live feed – from anywhere you might be.
Hard wire
Most dash cams will come as standard with an adaptor so they can be powered using either a 12V socket or a USB outlet. This may be fine for some cars where the sockets are in a discreet place on the dashboard, but it could be difficult for other models where the wires might get in the way or look untidy.
Hard wiring means the camera takes a feed directly from the car’s fuse box, so it is always on and looks far neater. It is possible to fit a hard wire kit as a DIY job, but most people will leave the installation to an expert.
Memory
The majority of dash cams use a micro SD card to store footage. This can be removed so you can view and download on your computer, or you’ll usually be able to connect to the camera using a wireless link to a smartphone app.
A two-channel camera recording at 60FPS in 4K is going to create a lot of data on a long journey, so you’ll need to budget for a bigger-capacity card, or look for cameras that allow connection to a hard drive. Some models download via a mobile data connection to a cloud, but they charge you a fee for doing so.
Mountings
If you have a small or shallow windscreen, such as in an MX-5 or a MINI, you’ll want to ensure you have a bracket that is compact and doesn’t dangle too far. All the cameras here use adhesive fixings, but some have suction mounts available as an option.
Also think about how often you will need to remove the camera, to connect it to a PC for example. Magnetic mounts are the easiest for this. A simple sliding clip is fine, too, but bear in mind which way it releases before sticking the camera in place, or it could be trapped.
Night vision
A good camera will be able to see better than you in the dark. While driving, you’ll expect the dash cam to be able to cope with changing light conditions, because it will be faced with blinding headlights one second
and then pitch black the next.
When your car is stopped and the parking mode is operating, the camera will have to pick up as much detail as possible, too, possibly using infra-red. This will also be needed for cabin-facing cameras, because there will be little light inside the car while driving at night.
Parking mode
If your camera is hard wired, it will remain switched on while the car is parked. This will record parking knocks or other nefarious behaviour taking place around the vehicle.
But this can use a lot of power or memory space, so the more sophisticated devices use a time-lapse setting, which only records full video if a vibration is sensed when the ignition is turned off. Most cameras with
a parking mode will also switch off if they detect the car’s power dipping below 12V,
in order to save you from a flat battery.
Polarising filter
Direct sunlight or bright lights cause glare and can ruin the footage that your dash cam captures. You might also find that reflections from your car’s dashboard make it tricky to make out details in your video.
To get around these annoying issues, some manufacturers offer a polarising filter either as standard on their cameras or as an optional extra. We think it’s worth having a polarising filter on your dash cam, especially if you havea vehicle with a large windscreen, which may pick up reflections.
Resolution/FPS
If you zoom in on a photo taken with an old phone, you’ll see that it starts to look blocky – this is because it’s a low-resolution file. The dash cams tested here have minimum of 1920 x 1080 pixels per frame and the best have 3840 x 2160, known as 4K. The extra clarity means you are more likely to make out crucial details such as registration numbers.
You will also need to bear in mind the Frames Per Second rate. Most cameras will use 30FPS, but a 60FPS video will be clearer, especially for footage captured at speed.
Two-channel
Having more than one camera gives you the best view of what’s happening. The most common upgrade is adding a second unit to record what’s happening at the rear – this is called a two-channel.
The rear camera will be smaller and usually record at a lower resolution, connected by a wire running the length of the car. Pro drivers may also need to have a camera facing into the cabin, called a three-channel. Note the main camera will need more processing power and memory storage for the extra views.
Voice activation
All the dash cams tested here have a built-in sensor that will detect an impact and will automatically protect the footage captured immediately before and after the incident.
But there will be times when you want to save footage that hasn’t involved an impact, maybe to share with someone else. The cameras have a button you can press to do this, but some models will also allow you to use voice activation to do the job. Having this feature is handy, because you don’t have to take your eyes off the road.
Did you know you can sell your car through Auto Express? We’ll help you get a great price and find a great deal on a new car, too.
