Looking for very cheap dash cam

[winchester11]

I'm looking for something extremely cheap, like in the $20 and under range. All I care about is safeguarding myself in the event of an accident, and I would not be looking to use the footage for any other purpose. I don't need high quality footage or night vision or large capacity or anything like that. I'm aware that in this price range it's going to be low quality junk from China. I found some options on Amazon but I'm wondering which product is the least likely to crap out on me.

If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Nigel]

Anything with a lithium battery will have a limited life, especially if used in hotter conditions, about the cheapest without a battery is the Blueskysea B1W. You wont get it for $20, not even in a sale, but it will work out cheaper than the $20 camera in the long run, and you probably can't fill your vehicle with fuel for less.

 

[DT MI]

I'm looking for something extremely cheap, like in the $20 and under range.....but I'm wondering which product is the least likely to crap out on me....

In that price range all bets are off. Anything that cheap has an equal chance of being dead tomorrow morning.

 

[SawMaster]

Welcome to DCT @winchester11

If a dashcam isn't reliable it is useless. The cheapest reliable one I've seen is my G1W "clone", but as I purchased it well over a year ago they've probably made changes so I can't recommend it now. For $10 more than it costs you can get a "70mai" which is a slim modern design, does good vids, and seems to be quite reliable. Around $40 if you can find a sale. The downsides are it is battery equipped so in really hot climates it might die in a year or so, and it's quirky in a few ways. Also at that price is the G1W/H; it's an older design but decent vids, battery equipped, and reliable with no quirks. In hot climates only super-cap equipped cams last, and the B1W is great for the price.

As important as the cam is the card- only ones with high write speeds are reliable. The Samsumg EVO Select from Amazon is probably the cheapest good one here in the US. I'd recommend a 32GB size but a 16GB might last a year, maybe more. So you're in the ~$55 range to get a decent cam and card; anything less will not be a safe bet. For that you should get several years of service versus something which is likely to die on you in less than a few months; maybe a lot less.

I know it's more than you want to spend, but this level is the least that will buy you a decent dashcam you can count on. Anything cheaper is a gamble.
Phil

 

[nutsey]

I found some options on Amazon but I'm wondering which product is the least likely to crap out on me.

$20

 

[Nigel]

$20

Looking at the Amazon reviews, of course there are a lot of 5 star reviews saying how awesome it is - it is Amazon! - but there are also 18 out of 47 less than 4 star with comments like "I've had a series of inexpensive cameras for my vehicles, and this one is by far the worst.".

If he had bought a decent camera the first time then he wouldn't have needed to buy a whole "series of cameras" !

For the B1W there are only 2 out of 12 below 4 star, one complains that "You need to have basic computer skills to make this device work " - which is wrong, it is basic smartphone skills that you need to use the app! The rest of his comments seem to be wrong too, he says you can't use a 64GB card, but that is what I do use.

I don't recall anyone on this forum ever giving a good review to a $20 dashcam, best to take the advice in https://dashcamtalk.com/best-dash-cams-of-2019/

 

[dash riposki]

You can't really install and forget any dash cam with much hope of having the rare accident coverage.
The cheaper ones you'll have to be a bit more vigilant to make sure they are operating properly.
The more reliable ones you still need to periodically review footage to make sure everything is OK

I think there have been a few reviews of very cheap dash cams here, more or less in the vein of 'Damn, it actually works!' than 'this is a good deal for the money'.

One of the other problems with the very cheap, no-name cameras is no support, no updates, they just crank them out, sell them, move on.

 

[Nigel]

You can't really install and forget any dash cam with much hope of having the rare accident coverage.

The B1W will tell you about memory card errors etc. via voice messages, however you still need to check the video - there might be a spider living on the front of the lens!

But that doesn't mean that the cheap unreliable ones are OK, they are bound to go wrong just before the accident you want them to record, or immediately after when the battery fails to empty the video buffer onto the memory card and thus looses the accident footage.

 

[kamkar]

spider living on the front of the lens

I got that, though not right in front of my lenses, but a spider have been spinning lines to criss cross my windscreen, waiting for a day with good weather as it is anyhow time for a major inside glass cleaning.

 

[Rick Needham]

$20

I had seen one of these on eBay. Actually looks well worth the "just under $20" price tag. Ambarella chipset and even has GPS tracker.

Cheapest find on eBay NEW is $20.99 with free shipping from Arizona. https://www.ebay.com/itm/153329229766

 

[winchester11]

Thank you all for the replies and recommendations. I've taken your advice and decided to expand my budget a little, but the $50-$60 cameras people have suggested are still a little high-end for my purposes. I'll keep on looking into all the recommendations you all are providing, and please keep them coming.

 

[Rick Needham]

Thank you all for the replies and recommendations. I've taken your advice and decided to expand my budget a little, but the $50-$60 cameras people have suggested are still a little high-end for my purposes. I'll keep on looking into all the recommendations you all are providing, and please keep them coming.

Ok, so you're looking within the $20-40 price range I'll try looking within that price range.

 

[Leonauto]

$20

I had seen one of these on eBay. Actually looks well worth the "just under $20" price tag. Ambarella chipset and even has GPS tracker.
Cheapest find on eBay NEW is $20.99 with free shipping from Arizona. https://www.ebay.com/itm/153329229766

This dash is very similar to the Ausdom A261, but why such a price is possible, that inside it may be unknown what.
It is unlikely that for such a price you can pick up something really worthwhile, but for the experiment you can take it, but be prepared that the quality and reliability of such devices is an equation with many unknowns.

 

[Rick Needham]

This dash is very similar to the Ausdom A261, but why such a price is possible, that inside it may be unknown what.
It is unlikely that for such a price you can pick up something really worthwhile, but for the experiment you can take it, but be prepared that the quality and reliability of such devices is an equation with many unknowns.

Hi Leonauto,

I added a link to the same dash camera suggested by nutsey, but mine was on eBay while his was on Amazon. I was not saying it is a dash camera I wanted to buy. Just merely a suggestion for winchester11 in his search for a cheap camera under $20. But I must say its specs. and components are impressive for a dash cam costing just $20-20.99! Below are the specs. and also what is included for $20.99. This price includes free shipping and the dash camera also includes a 16 GB. memory card!


FREE 2-DAY SHIPPING AND FREE 30-DAY RETURN

• 170 DEGREES: 170 degree wide view angle. real-time recording, comes with 1/3 inch CMOS 4M pixels HD sensor allowing you to clearly record every moment, never miss a thing
• SMART MOTION DETECTION: Monitor every moment using our smart and convenient, automatic motion / crash / vibration detection system, Also records video while car is in park mode using G-sensors
• HIGH RESOLUTION, LCD DISPLAY: HDR Mode, 2.7 inches TFT LCD display, supports video resolution of up to 2560*1080 / 2304*1296 and up to 16M Photo resolution, equipped with HDMI output to connect to TV
• BUILT IN GPS: Built in GPS which can help to monitor your speed and remind you when you are over the speed limit, also tracks your direction allowing you to understand what really happens during any collision
• SEAMLESS LOOP VIDEO: seamlessly overwrites your older videos with the newest videos once memory/storage space is full
• Specifications
  - CPU: Ambarella A7L50 + OV4689
  - Image sensor: 1/3 inch CMOS 4M pixels HD sensor
  - Lens: 170 ?wide angle, 6-layer full glass lens, f=2.0
  - Video resolution: 2560*1080 30fps 21:9 / 2304*1296 30fps 16:9 / 1920*1080 45fps 16:9 / HDR 1920*1080 30fps 16:9 / 1920*1080 30fps 16:9 / 1280*720 60fps 16:9 / 1280*720 30fps 16:9
  - Photo resolution: 4M Pixels, peak 16M Pixels(2688*1512)
  - Voice broadcast mode: complete/simple/off
  - Over-speed warning: 80/90/100/110/120/130/140/150/160 KM/H
  - Driving time warning: off/1h/2h/3h/4h
  - External Memory: up to 64GB
  - Interface: TF card slot, Micro USB, HDMI
• Package Contents
  - 1 x Car Dash Cam
  - 1 x Bracket
  - 1 x Car Charger
  - 1 x 16GB TF Card
  - 1 x Micro USB Cable
  - 1x User Manual
  - 1 x Warranty Card

 

[jokiin]

I added a link to the same dash camera suggested by nutsey, but mine was on eBay while his was on Amazon. I was not saying it is a dash camera I wanted to buy. Just merely a suggestion for winchester11 in his search for a cheap camera under $20. But I must say its specs. and components are impressive for a dash cam costing just $20-20.99! Below are the specs. and also what is included for $20.99. This price includes free shipping and the dash camera also includes a 16 GB. memory card!

can't see this ending well

 

[Rick Needham]

Here is some sample video I found of the Elecwave EW-D200 on YouTube. Not too bad under very dark road conditions in addition to rain.

 

[Rick Needham]

can't see this ending well

Imo, if someone is looking to spend just $20 on a cheap dash cam, this is well worth the $20. It includes a 16 GB memory card and if it only lasted for a year, I would say someone got their money's worth.

 

[jokiin]

how did that last cheap camera you bought turn out?

as a wise man once said, you don't get what you don't pay for

cheap, good, reliable, pick any two

 

[Rick Needham]

how did that last cheap camera you bought turn out?

as a wise man once said, you don't get what you don't pay for

cheap, good, reliable, pick any two

Cheap camera? I paid $54.99 for it. It recorded great, with the exception of not recording any audio on certain files. So I decided to send it back for a full refund.

 

[Deleted member 46308]

can't see this ending well

It does seem to be tilting south...