10 best dash cams that provide peace of mind on every journey

For us, this is the ultimate dash cam. It is small, easy to use, records great footage and doesn’t distract the driver with the beeps and bongs of various assistance systems. It just gets on with the job of keeping a watchful eye out of the windscreen, recording in a resolution that is slightly above Full HD and through a very wide, 180-degree lens.

There’s also HDR technology for picking extra detail out of the highlights and shadows, the 2in screen is all you really need, and Garmin’s voice control works really well. The windscreen mount is also the best of any dash cam sold today, in our opinion. It is tiny and uses a coin-sized magnet that sticks to the screen with an adhesive pad, then snaps securely to the dash cam itself.

If you’re looking for a compact dash cam, then this is without doubt the one to buy. Now in its second generation, the Garmin dash cam mini is probably smaller than your car key fob, yet records at Full HD through a fairly wide lens, has voice control for when you want to turn the microphone on/off, or manually save a portion of footage, and takes up very little space.

This is a great option for smaller cars that don’t have much windscreen real estate, and in some vehicles can even be completely hidden behind the rear-view mirror. There’s no display, so you’ll need to set everything up using the Garmin smartphone app, but this is a fairly minor inconvenience.

We also like how up to four Garmin dash cams can be wirelessly synchronised via the app, then set up to record at the same time.

Nexra is a relative newcomer to the dash cam market, but the beam is also one of our favourites. As well as having a good-looking and fairly compact design, the beam shuns a microSD card slot in favour of integrated storage. It also has one of the best dash cam apps we have ever used, sending footage to your smartphone that includes a map to show precisely where your vehicle was when the collision occurred.

There’s also an automatic backup feature that saves footage to the cloud, via your smartphone’s web connection, the moment a crash is detected, ensuring the vital evidence is safe and easily accessible.

If you’re looking for a dash cam that simply gets on with its job, without distracting you with a huge range of unwanted features, the Nextbase 222 is for you. Considering it comes from one of the best dash cam companies and boasts 1080p Full HD recording, as well as an intelligent parking mode that springs into life and starts recording the moment a car park prang is detected, at around £80 it’s also pretty good value. There’s the addition of a 2.5in touchscreen on the back, night vision for improved low-light video quality, and a relatively wide 140-degree lens, too.

Bit of a niche one, this. But if you’re a taxi driver who needs to keep an eye on unruly passengers, this could be the perfect dash cam for you. It’s not just a two-channel camera that records through the front and rear windscreens, but also includes a third camera for facing the interior. You’ll need to include a sign stating that your passengers are being recorded, but this is otherwise a pretty subtle dash cam system, especially considering how much hardware is included.

The front-facing camera records in 4K resolution through a 140-degree lens, with the other two managing Full HD through wide, 170-degree lenses. Optional extras include a hardwiring kit for powering the dash cam when your car is switched off, and a handy Bluetooth button for manually saving footage with a simple press.

You want features? Like, a lot of features? Then the Nextbase 622GW is the dash cam for you. Not only does it record in ultra-sharp 4K resolution with HDR, but it also has GPS, integrated Alexa, an SOS system that automatically calls the emergency services if you don’t respond after a collision, a parking mode (when hardwired to the car) and What3words support. Phew!

If you don’t need 4K resolution (at 30 frames per second), the options of 1440p at 60fps or 1080p at a massive 120fps are also available, with the latter producing super-smooth footage. This really is a fully-fledged dashcam. And while the broad range of features won’t appeal to everyone, for those who are willing to make full use of it, the 622GW is hard to beat.

Unlike those from Garmin and Nextbase, Thinkware dash cams tend not to have a display on the back. This takes some functionality away, but leaves behind a distraction-free device that, when hardwired by a professional, looks like it was fitted to your car when it left the factory.

This is especially true of the Q800 Pro, which records at 2K resolution, has GPS with speed camera database, and has a design that fits neatly against the windscreen. Optional cloud connectivity lets you track the real-time location of your car and receive notifications if it is involved in a collision while someone else is driving it. An optional rear-facing camera is also available, which records at 1080p Full HD.

Although Miofive is a lesser-known dash cam brand, its products aren’t to be sniffed at. This model shoots in 4K resolution – as you might have guessed from the name – and has a compact design, but which still manages to house a small display. Headline features include a wide, 160-degree lens, integrated GPS for adding location and speed data to your video recordings, and speedy wifi for transferring footage to your phone.

The U1000 from Thinkware is another 4K dash cam that looks like it was fitted to your car at the factory. As well as the large-resolution sensor, it uses Thinkware’s super night vision 2.0 technology for improved low-light performance, plus there’s integrated GPS with a speed camera database to warn you if you’re driving too quickly, and a parking mode.

This dash cam is available as a one-channel or two-channel system, with the latter including a rear-facing camera that records at 1440p, a resolution slightly above Full HD, and has a wide 156-degree field-of-view. For those who want them, the U1000 has a suite of driver assistance systems, including lane departure warning, forward collision warning, and an alert to grab your attention when the vehicle in front has set off. Although it can be plugged into the 12V lighter socket, this is a dash cam that works best when hardwired into your vehicle for a constant source of power.

Do you need a dash cam that also doubles as a navigation system? That’s where the Garmin DriveCam 76 comes in. This is basically the Garmin Dash Cam 67W (£199.99, Halfords.com) featured above, but fitted to a navigation system with a large, 6.95in touchscreen display.

Ideal for vehicles that don’t have a modern infotainment system of their own, the DriveCam also supports hands-free calling via Bluetooth, live fuel prices at local petrol stations, live traffic and weather information, and displays notifications from your smartphone.

The system can even be hooked up to Garmin’s reversing camera (£129, Garmin.com), and the mapping system flags up useful stop points like fuel stations, cafes and other milestones that are on your route. It’s fairly big and certainly not cheap – and we know many drivers will opt to use their smartphone for navigation instead – but for a complete solution that bundles in a Full HD dash cam it’s a compelling option.