On this website, Viofo, Street Guardian, Blueskysea, Mini etc. are considered brand names of dashcam manufacturers, they are the companies that make most of the dashcams sold to the website members. All of them also participate on this website, send out samples for testing/review, and listen to feedback so that we get the features we want and problems are fixed.
Not sure what you consider a brand name, but Xiaomi is on the Best Dash Cam page, "the world's most valuable privately held company, and its third biggest smartphone maker".
The "300-400GBP" dashcams are probably not in the list because few people post about them and the Best Dash Cam list is based on what people post. But they also tend not to be what most people want, often a bit behind on technology while companies like Viofo who listen to what website members want are the ones leading the technology. The cheaper cameras, like the most expensive, are often behind on technology and will use older image sensors and batteries instead of super capacitors etc., the B1W being an exception which is why it is popular.
Mini? Have you perused the threads for most of the cameras? They all have difficulty in hot weather, subpar audio, lens distortion (then they released the mini 2p), the Mini3 is a pain to get footage off of, etc. And yes, I have at least one of each lol.
Xiaomi dashcam is terrible in warm weather.
Not to knock on VIOFO too hard (I have multiple of each A series cam)... but in regards to “listening to website members”.... tell me
what happened with the WR-1...? LOL. Mine, and many others’, are no longer in use. And most requests for help/fixes... yea... feel free to check that thread.
I’ll only fully agree with your above state on Street Guardian dashcams in general. They are the quickest to remedy issues, have the absolute best customer support (jokiin), the most reliable hot temperature operation, etc. Of course, SG products are priced higher, even to the *seemingly* comparable products released by other manufacturers. But the quality of parts (lens, lens holder, housing material, etc), firmware updates, support, etc, are so far unmatched.
No dashcam is without its pros and cons, and no manufacturer releases a perfect product. But as with all things, a “race to the bottom” usually leads to lower QC/QA, cheaper components, less support, less updates, etc.
Since I have way too many dashcams, and friends/family that don’t mind spending more for the dashcam setups I help them with as a hobby, I won’t mind providing feedback on more of the “300-400GBP” dashcams. I prioritize 24/7 reliability, with ability to run in hot temperatures in parking mode. I don’t mind spending the money to research the absolute best products to protect my cars, other car enthusiasts cars, and friends&family’s cars.
The dashcams also help deal with tickets/citations, deter people from damaging your car while in parking mode, and seem to hold up pretty well in court.
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