Dashcam with easy recording access?

[pr1970]

Have had a Garmin for a couple of years but the whole downloading footage is a painfully slow process, and the cloud upload is intermittent probably because im not paying the subscription.
Is there anything else out there that can quickly and automatically download footage to either your phone or cloud? I find I cant be bothered with any of the footage as it takes 10minutes to just connect to the dashcam, find the footage, trim the footage, then download it.
Must be an easier way. Although Garmin and its poor connectivity is definitely part of the reason.
Thanks

 

[Nigel]

You can always take the memory card out, and put it in a card reader.

The better dashcams now have 5GHz wifi, which works reasonably quickly, not exactly fast, but you can connect reasonably quickly and then download a 1 minute file in less than a minute. I'm not a fan of any of the current cloud cameras, better to go for good image quality and then download the files direct to your phone, then put them in whatever cloud you wish, instead of the cloud mandated by your dashcam manufacturer.

You haven't given a budget or any specific requirements, so I'll suggest you take a look at the Viofo dashcams, all of which are pretty decent on image quality and wifi speed, and have multiple threads about them on this forum.

There is a "Best Dash Cams of 2024 at the top of this page, and you could take a look at Vortex Radar's recommendations for 2024, which covers a good range:

 

[DAP]

A fast memory card reader will transfer the data as fast as the memory card is capable of. At that point, it might help to get a faster memory card.
I use this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B091DQZB8VWorks with both my Linux computer and Android phone.

 

[pr1970]

You can always take the memory card out, and put it in a card reader.

The better dashcams now have 5GHz wifi, which works reasonably quickly, not exactly fast, but you can connect reasonably quickly and then download a 1 minute file in less than a minute. I'm not a fan of any of the current cloud cameras, better to go for good image quality and then download the files direct to your phone, then put them in whatever cloud you wish, instead of the cloud mandated by your dashcam manufacturer.

You haven't given a budget or any specific requirements, so I'll suggest you take a look at the Viofo dashcams, all of which are pretty decent on image quality and wifi speed, and have multiple threads about them on this forum.

There is a "Best Dash Cams of 2024 at the top of this page, and you could take a look at Vortex Radar's recommendations for 2024, which covers a good range:

Thanks but messing around with memory cards and computer is what i'd like to try and avoid. Really after just a quick, connect to webcam, download footage to phone. I did try Viofo a few years back before i got the Garmin but didnt have a good experience with it. Similar issue to Garmin, connecting is very hit and miss. Maybe things have improved since then?

 

[pr1970]

A fast memory card reader will transfer the data as fast as the memory card is capable of. At that point, it might help to get a faster memory card.
I use this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B091DQZB8VWorks with both my Linux computer and Android phone.

Ah that just made me realise, I have a usb-c memory card reader and an iphone 15 pro with usb-c. Is it quite straight forward to find footage though? I'd really prefer something that can just send to the phone though, especially if i have a front and rear dashcam.
btw, see you have a tesla, woulndt you use the built in cameras on that instead of a dashcam?

 

[Nigel]

Maybe things have improved since then?

With recent Viofo dashcams and an iPhone 15, the wifi and app work really well, unless you have apple car play, which will keep disconnecting your camera as soon as it is connected, then you need to turn off the Bluetooth while you access the camera.