Best Dash Cams of 2022 review

[Gypsy4]

The highest review for a dash cam was the VIOFO 119 V3, which only got an 8.2.
Are there no dash cams on the market that would get a 9 or 10?

 

[Nigel]

I guess that to score a 10, it would need to be able to read plates in complete darkness, and to get a 9 would require reliable reading of plates under street lights, in which case, no, currently no such dashcam exists!

 

[Dashmellow]

@DashCamMan tends to be somewhat conservative when he rates cameras, as he should be.

Perhaps the A119 V3 lost a few points because it lacks certain popular bells and whistles like WiFi, but the evaluation found no known issues and "Overall reliability is above average" which is rare for most cameras.

Really, what more do you need to hear beyond, "All around great camera"?

 

[DT MI]

'10' means perfect and there will never be a perfect camera because that's a subjective rating that varies from one individual to another.

 

[Mtz]

@DashCamMan Perhaps the A119 V3 lost a few points because it lacks certain popular bells and whistles like WiFi,

The A119 Mini have Wi-Fi and voice notifications, the connection idea for powering the Parking Mode is improved. The 5GHz Wi-Fi speed is the best from Viofo until now. I expect all future Viofo dashcams to have the same great speed. Maybe the only drawback compared to A119 V3 is that the LCD in smaller, but having Wi-Fi it is not so important anymore.
So right now I consider the best to be the A119 Mini.

 

[Dashmellow]

The A119 Mini have Wi-Fi and voice notifications, the connection idea for powering the Parking Mode is improved. The 5GHz Wi-Fi speed is the best from Viofo until now. I expect all future Viofo dashcams to have the same great speed. Maybe the only drawback compared to A119 V3 is that the LCD in smaller, but having Wi-Fi it is not so important anymore.
So right now I consider the best to be the A119 Mini.

I like the A119 mini too, but so far people seem to still be reporting some issues that need to get sorted out. By comparison my two A119 V3s have been operating for nearly three years without any problems whatsoever. They've probably been the most reliable dash cams I've ever owned. I think the A119 mini will be like that too when the firmware gets a bit more work.

I find I don't have much need for WiFi except for aiming cameras that don't have a screen.

I'm not really a big fan of cameras that talk too much, but many people find this feature useful. I had an uncle who passed away a few years ago at the age of 100. Back in the mid 1980s he bought a Nissan Maxima sedan that was part of the first generation of cars with voice notifications. It had a stern female voice that would say, "Your key is in the ignition!", "Your key is in the ignition!", "Your key is in the ignition!", "Your key is in the ignition!", until you finally removed your key after turning off the engine. My uncle SWORE that after 5 times it would say, "YOU IDIOT!, I've told you five times already YOUR KEY IS IN THE IGNITION!!"

 

[Nigel]

I'm not really a big fan of cameras that talk too much, but many people find this feature useful. I had an uncle who passed away a few years ago at the age of 100. Back in the mid 1980s he bought a Nissan Maxima sedan that was part of the first generation of cars with voice notifications. It had a stern female voice that would say, "Your key is in the ignition!", "Your key is in the ignition!", "Your key is in the ignition!", "Your key is in the ignition!", until you finally removed your key after turning off the engine. My uncle SWORE that after 5 times it would say, "YOU IDIOT!, I've told you five times already YOUR KEY IS IN THE IGNITION!!"

If they talk at the right time, and the right amount, then they can be very useful, and helpful.

If they talk too much at the wrong time, and keep talking after you have had enough, then they can get very annoying:

MG Maestro in 1983, more advanced than current cars?

Always remember my MG Maestro . . . Driving down a huge hill when the voice kicks in “YOUR BRAKES HAVE FAILED “ lol

 

[Kremmen]

It's very difficult to say 'best dashcam" because we all have different requirements.

At the moment I would put my current dashcam top of the list because it's simple and is only single channel. For those who want 2, 3 or 4 channels it's near the bottom. Same with parking mode, I don't need or use it so I've no idea how mine performs.

Very subjective so you have to perform your own research and here is a good source.

 

[Dashmellow]

If they talk at the right time, and the right amount, then they can be very useful, and helpful.

If they talk too much at the wrong time, and keep talking after you have had enough, then they can get very annoying:

MG Maestro in 1983, more advanced than current cars?

Well, I guess if you go in for that sort of thing it could be marginally useful at times, but for many it would be like being locked in your car with a disagreeable, overbearing wife who won't shut up!

 

[Nigel]

Well, I guess if you go in for that sort of thing it could be marginally useful at times, but for many it would be like being locked in your car with a disagreeable, overbearing wife who won't shut up!

That was the main reason they were left in the last century, along with their unreliability!

But done well, as on the Viofo A139, nearly everyone appears to leave the voice enabled, even though there is an option to turn it off.

 

[Dashmellow]

That was the main reason they were left in the last century, along with their unreliability!

But done well, as on the Viofo A139, nearly everyone appears to leave the voice enabled, even though there is an option to turn it off.

Well, my uncle's talking car was 100% reliable but it was indeed annoying to have to listen to it scolding the driver all the time. (Fasten your seat belt ! )
Like I say, if you are so enamored with voice notifications, go ahead and indulge yourself. Some of us eschew many of the superfluous bells & whistles that have come to permeate the dash cam industry in favor of cameras that focus primarily on the basics of image quality, high reliability and functionality. This is one of the reasons for the popularity of the A119 V3 which touches on all the practical modern basics but avoids the sales gimmicks so popular in today's dash cam market.

The A139 is a good camera but one needs only to view the sheer number of reports of different issues, problems and overheating reported compared to the V3 to understand why some people just want a reasonably priced, highly reliable camera that offers superior imaging without the myriad issues often caused by all the bells & whistles.

P.S. Whether you are locked in a car that talks too much or have a dash camera that talks too much is not all that different. I still fondly recall my uncle's hilarious complaints and anecdotes about the domineering female ghost-in-the-machine that lived in his car. I gather from all your posts over time here on DCT that you've never been married, which coupled with your clinical humor impairment we so often see on display seems to explain why you would seek to turn an amusing story about my elderly uncle's talking car into a debate!

 

[Kremmen]

Isn't that the case. Look at the ever growing list of Nextbase problem reports with their series 2 dashcams. Their previous, simple, ranges were only let down by the stalk and ball joint mount. No fancy extras like Alexa, SOS and Wifi they have now.

 

[kamkar]

Lets hope that dashcams will never be that Chatty as that old MG

 

[Nigel]

Lets hope that dashcams will never be that Chatty as that old MG

The idea of a Lucas built dashcam is not very appealing, how many things could go wrong with that!

 

[Deleted member 64174]

...

 

[Nigel]

We once owned an MG ..... lovely wiring.

Then you will appreciate the lack of an engine in the latest ones, electric power only

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www.mg.co.uk

 

[kamkar]

Well it cant be as bad as Alfa Romeo,,, i think Clarkson once said on top gear that their electric parts are assembled by children.

I remember the alfasud cars, with some kind of foam in the doors that just gobbled up moisture.

When i was a child we had a Morris, it had a lovely peek hole in the passenger side floor, as this was in the 70ties and it was a used car, it might have been a 1969 one.

My first car a Volvo 121 from 1967 was in considerable better shape when i got that in the early / mid 80ties