Dashcams you should get for your car

SINGAPORE — While you probably don’t want to publicise your road accidents like some Russian viral videos on YouTube, dashcams are becoming important car accessories — especially if you are a driver who is constantly on the road for hours on end.  

In the event you get into an accident, your dashcam will give you undeniable footage of what really happened; which is great for insurance claim cases or to prove you’re guilt-free in the collision. 

It’s also great to protect yourself against scammers who intentionally get into accidents to try and claim your insurance. 

While there are a number of apps you can download to turn your smartphone into a dashcam, nothing really beats a purpose-built model. 

Many of these cameras shoot in full HD, can be fitted directly into the car’s power, and come with a collision detection feature (or a G-Sensor) that automatically protects footage when it detects your car getting hit.  

Here are some of the best dashcams available today and why we think they’re worth your money.

YI DASH CAMERA. So many Yi Action cams have been converted into dashcams that the brand decided to release a specialised dashcam model. The Yi Dash Camera shoots full 1080p HD video on a 165° ultra wide angle lens, so you can capture the entirety your drive, and it’s quite clear at night too. 

It also has built-in Wi-Fi, a motion triggered G-Sensor for emergency recording and the option to go increase the high definition. Plus, it’s small, lightweight and unobtrusive when driving.

A caveat: The cheaper model (at S$119) is only in Chinese — whereas the international version is tad more expensive. 

BEST FOR: Drivers on a budget who need a reliable dashcam. 

PIONEER ND-DVR110. Priced at S$120, this is an alternative budget dashcam that ticks all the boxes for dashcam features. It shoots video in 1080p full HD, comes with a 2.7-inch LCD screen and only records when it detects your car moving. 

In park mode, you can enable the parking monitoring mode (T-mode) to shoot a time-lapse video (to save memory space); although you can also set it to record normally.

If there is a collision, the unit will automatically lock the footage of the previous 10 seconds and the latter 20 seconds of the accident, and save the footage into a special file. 

BEST FOR: Drivers who want extra features at an affordable price.

BLACKVUE DR650S-2CH. This is more top of the line — it costs S$699 — but this Korean-made dashcam is solid. It records both the front at 1080p full HD and rear at 720p, and can give you footage of your passengers (good for Grabcar or Uber drivers, perhaps).

The interesting bit? The BlackVue free over-the-cloud service, if you want remote live views and push notifications to your smartphone wherever you are. The service also lets you back-up your footage, and communicates with the driver through the dashcam’s integrated speaker and mic. 

The usual impact and motion detection feature also works when your car is parked, so it automatically records should your parked vehicle be caught in an unintended accident.

BEST FOR: Drivers who want to check on their car when they’re not around.

IROAD T10. For S$590, this front and rear dashcam combo records footage at 1080p full HD on each end, at a 155° wide-angle view. The video is vividly clear, even when shooting at night, thanks to a night vision feature.

While usual functions like Wi-Fi connectivity, a parking mode and collision detection are included, the T10 also has firmware updates, voice guidance, and comes with its own dedicated viewing app for your PC.

Unlike the other dashcams in this list, the T10 records video in its own propriety JDR format, which they claim does not require you to regularly delete the older files in your memory card. 

Assisted driver functions such as lane departure, front collision and front vehicle departure alerts are also shown visually on-screen, but you’ll need to turn on the GPS in the T10. 

BEST FOR: Drivers who want to optimise their memory card space.

THINKWARE F770. This is another pricey cam (at S$899), but it has all the best features you’d expect. Both the front and rear cameras shoot in full HD; automatically increases brightness for video recordings at night; and has a time lapse feature to extend recording time when the car is parked, which is 16 times longer than regular dashcams in parking mode.

In addition to manual recording, the motion detect recording function comes with a dual save feature that backs up your data in both the microSD and NAND flash memory when it detects an impact. (This means you can still retrieve your footage from the F770 should your card get corrupted.) 

This expensive package also comes with road safety warning system, including lane departure and front collision warnings, and a built-in GPS that embeds speed and location data to the video.

BEST FOR: Drivers who worry their dashcam will be damaged in an accident.

TRANSCEND DRIVEPRO 220. If you’re new to the whole dashcam scene, then this should suffice. It has been lauded for its ease of use and good quality video; and has Wi-Fi for wireless connectivity with your phone so you can stream, download and share videos recorded from your dashcam. 

It also includes a motion G-Sensor that triggers an emergency recording mode when it detects an impact. The footage recorded will be write-protected, even the first few seconds before the crash; and there’s a button on the side if you need to manually protect footage of something important.

It also comes with lane departure warning and forward collision alert, which can be disabled. But the best bit is the price: S$119.

BEST FOR: Drivers buying their first dashcam.

A version of this story first appeared on Stuff Singapore.