We've tested and rated the best dashcams on the market to help you choose one in 2024
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Motoring mishaps can have long-lasting consequences, and even a minor bump can land you in a legal pickle, which is why so many of us are installing dashboard-mounted cameras in our cars. It's one of few pieces of automotive technology that still isn't standard fit in new cars, so it's still proving a popular peripheral.
They come in all shapes and sizes, with a dizzying array of features to choose from, but prices for a decent dashcam can be as little as £30, and they all do a good job of recording the road ahead, and the footage they capture could save your bacon in the unfortunate event of an accident.
But which dashcam should you choose? With so many on the market, it's harder than ever to pick the perfect product. The first consideration is budget.
Dashcams can cost as much as £400, but a basic £40 device will perform well enough. The next consideration is features. If you just want your dashcam to record footage, a cheap one would be fine. If, however, you want an array of sensors, perhaps 4K footage, or maybe more than one camera, you'll need to spend a bit more.
Consumer technology writer Gareth Butterfield has tested dozens of dashcams, and in this guide he's listing his favourites, along with the best prices he's found for each one, and where to find offers and deals.
Best price: £114.99, from Amazon
Viofo is a company I've got to know very well, and I've tested most of the dashcams they've put on the market. One of their latest devices is also one of their greatest, the VS1.
Firstly, it's very compact, and I love the way it hides itself neatly at the top of your windscreen, with a fairly unusual shape helping it blend in. There's no display on it, very few buttons, it's all simple and fuss-free, with the controls being adjusted through the Viofo app, or through a series of clever voice commands.
This aesthetic simplicity belies its competence though, because it has some very clever tricks up its sleeve. Chief among these is the Sony Starvis 2 sensor, which is fast becoming an industry benchmark among premium dashcams. Essentially, it ensured you always get clear, bright and crisp footage in pretty much any light conditions. Its 2K recordings are among the best I've seen, and the 2K resolution makes it much easier to pick out number plates and other details in the video recordings.
The VS1 is something of a premium choice, currently priced at £114.99, and that doesn't include an SD card. You could also opt for a hard-wire kit, or a Bluetooth remote control, which would make it even more expensive.
But its feature set, which includes GPS sensors, a parking mode and that clever voice control system, really does justify the price. The diminutive form factor is basically the icing on the cake. It's a great bit of kit.
Best price: £36.29, from Amazon
I like this little dashcam so much, I've bought one for one of my own cars. It works far better than it really should do at this price, and it boasts features you'd normally only find on dashcams that cost three times the price.
And that's without bearing in mind the fact it comes with a second camera, which is quite remarkable for less than £40. It has a 170-degree, HDR image quality, a decent three-inch display, and even a parking mode and G-sensor.
Truth be told, the quality of the 1080P video footage doesn't compare with premium dashcams, and the "picture in picture" nature of the rear camera footage means you've got less space on the display, but it genuinely is surprisingly good at doing its job of keeping an eye on your journey - both from the front and from the back.
It doesn't come with a Micro SD card, so you might want to budget an extra tenner for one of those, and the trim removal tool included in the box to help hide its USB-C cable away is next to useless, but it's still a lot of dashcam for the money, and I'm very impressed with mine.
Best price: £169.99, from Amazon
I've been testing the new A810 from 70mai for a while now, and it's been very impressive, so I thought I would include it in this list. It has a slightly bulky frame, thanks mainly to its three-inch display, but it hosts a Sony Starvis 2 sensor, which gives it some of the best video quality out there.
Another feature I love is its AI detection, which picks out hazards, people, or anything it deems to be "suspicious" and automatically starts recording. This new level of automation means the driver can just get on with the job and trust the dashcam to keep a beady eye out, and I love it for that.
I also like the overall quality of the 70mai, even down to the tool it comes with for hiding the power cable.
The model I tested was the dual channel version, which comes with a rear camera bundled in, adding only about £25 to the current cost. Certainly worth considering. Choosing options such as a bigger Micro SD card, or a hard-wire kit, certainly adds to the cost, but there are bundle deals available, and it's still a sensible price for a premium dashcam with such a big feature list.
Best price: £119, from Amazon
"Stealth" dashcams like the Thinkware F70 Pro are a really nice option if you don't like to have anything too intrusive on your windscreen. And it's one of the best truly compact dashcams I've tested. There's no display on it, so you'll have to rely on the Thinkware Link app to adjust anything, or view footage. But it's a nicely set up app and it functions well.
There's no 4K footage available, or even 2K, you make do with 1080p this time, which is a shame given the price, but the footage is surprisingly good, and it does include a 32gb MicroSD card.
You also get some premium features such as safety camera alerts, a parking mode with low-energy recording, and G-sensor impact detection.
It's a good all-rounder, then. Definitely one to put on the options list if you want a small, innocuous dashcam that won't break the bank.
Best price: £349.99, from Viofo
I've included this dashcam on the list because it's the best one I've tested that comes with three cameras. Three-channel dashcams allow you to record the view from the front, the view from the rear, and the cabin of your car. So they're a great setup, and this one's really neat and easy to use.
It is a flagship model for Viofo, so don't be too shocked at the price, but if you want a complete setup with three cameras and every conceivable feature, this is as good as it gets.
For example, you don't just get one Sony Starvis sensor, for the front camera, you get two more. There's a Starvis 2 sensor pointing forwards, a standard Starvis sensor for the cabin, and then one for the rear camera.
Of course, you also get a parking mode, a GPS sensor, and voice notifications. And it's the least you'd expect at this price. Add some accessories and you'll soon be north of £400 (cheekily, it doesn't come with an SD card) but if you want three cameras and all-round monitoring, this should be on your shortlist.
Best price: £449, from Nextbase
Is this the world's poshest dashcam? It's probably the most expensive. And, no, it doesn't come encrusted in gold flake and diamonds, it's just very, very clever. It uses AI to intelligently keeps tabs on the road around you, monitoring other cars, pedestrians pedestrians and cyclists. And it connects to your car through its OBDII port, which means it can monitor the health of your car's battery while it's using its trick parking mode.
It makes it as much of an overall security device as just a dashcam, because you can log in remotely through the Nextbase app to keep tabs on your car and its surroundings at any time, and you can trigger an alarm if you're worried your vehicle is under threat.
It also works as a tracker, it has dual cameras, voice control, and an emergency alert system. It can even, if you sign up to a subscription service, allow you to remotely limit the way your car is driven, and control music, make phone calls or operate smart home devices.
It is however, a bit big. And you've probably already baulked at the price (cheaper versions are available with lower resolution) but to unlock all the features you need to subscribe to them and pay a monthly fee. And that can be up to £9.99 per month.