Dashcam advice required

[UnicornGlitter]

Hello, new to the forum and I need to buy a new dashcam but I am really confused. 6 months ago I ordered the NextBase 312GW dashcam from Amazon. The app is awful, it won’t even work on my iPhone only my iPad. My parents have the same dashcam and my mum can’t get it to connect to anything. Myself and my parents find it a little complicated to use and mine developed a faulty battery. It kept beeping saying th battery was low despite it being on charge for hours in my house. In the end it failed to charge off of any kind of power source. I googled this issue and found quite a lot of comments on how poor the NextBase battery is. Amazon agreed to give me a refund. My parents dashcam has not developed this fault however the light is constantly flicking from blue to red so they never know wether is it charging or even recording. I chose NextBase as it seems to be highly recommended and an award winning company. However I find their cameras rubbish. I have been looking into the Garmin 55 dashcam however that has had a lot of bad reviews on Amazon. I am now confused, do I purchase another NextBase cam and hope I get better luck with it or try the Garmin and hope that one is better? I also read that the Garmin doesn’t connect to Mac since the software was updated and I have a Mac so if this is true there is no point in me purchasing it. What are people’s experiences?

 

[Nigel]

Have a read of: https://dashcamtalk.com/best-dash-cams-of-2019/


Edit: I hadn't read the 2019 update, I think:

"
Dash cam brands with the best support

1. Street Guardian (All around support)
2. Viofo (Good firmware updates)

"
Should have Blueskysea added? Considering the cheapness of the B1W it gets great support!

 

[Deleted member 46308]

Welcome @UnicornGlitter

 

[Swin]

Both Street Guardian and VIOFO are excellent dash cam.
Depends on you are looking for single or dual dash cam.
If dual camera, you can consider VIOFO A129Duo, great value within budget.

 

[SawMaster]

Agree with Nigel, especially on the B1W being as simple and reliable as it is, plus with good factory support. SG and Viofo are great choices too. App development with all dashcams is problematic, especially with Android devices, because each phone or tablet maker changes the OS configuration to suit them. Thus you want to pay careful attention to making sure the app is fully functional with the exact model of phone you have before purchasing by reading the forums here on the cam you're considering. In this regard, a screen-equipped cam may be a more certain choice as they don't need an app to function.

Phil