Five best dash cams

What happens if a vehicle crashes into your car, then drives off without stopping? Or a driver insists an accident was your fault, but you were stationary at the time?

Dash cams record footage of the road in front of you (some also record the view behind) while you drive, providing a reliable account should you be involved in an accident.

Some insurance companies offer discounts of around 15-20% if you use a dash cam – but check with your provider, as some only approve certain models.

While you can buy dash cams for less than £50, the cheapest models won't provide good-enough quality footage in low-light or very bright conditions – and if a car should hit you without stopping, you really want to be able to read that number plate.

Here are five mid-range dash cams that get good reviews.

1. Nextbase 312GW


Nextbase is a leading name in the dash cam market. If you're looking for something mid-priced and easy to use, the 312GW is for you. It regularly gets top reviews on Amazon (currently 4.5 out of 5 stars), and also won a Which? Best Buy award in 2016.

As well as providing great-quality footage, it comes with GPS – so you can prove where a road incident happened. It's super simple to use – all the options are pre-set, so can just stick it to the windscreen, plug it in and go. And thanks to its handy magnetic mount, you can easily remove and replace the camera without unplugging any cables.


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2. Nextbase 512GW


At the higher end of the range is the Nextbase 512GW. While it takes slightly longer to set up, the 512GW comes with some great extra features and provides crystal-clear footage.

A polariser reduces sun glare, so it performs brilliantly in very bright conditions. And if you do a lot of driving at night, you'll be pleased to know that it also captures good detail in low-light conditions and darkness. It also comes with built-in wifi, allowing you to upload footage straight to your smartphone or tablet, which is a nice extra.


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3. Garmin Dash Cam 35

Garmin's dash cam 35 is a great all-rounder. It records in HD, with the footage going straight to a supplied MicroSD card, allowing you to video just over an hour of driving (it then re-records).

Thanks to its in-built G sensor, once it detects an accident it will store the files associated with the incident in a separate folder, where they won't be deleted. You can also manually select specific files to be saved.

As an added bonus, it also provides forward collision warning alerts and red light/speed camera detection.

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4. Mio MiVue 618


If you're on a budget, the MiVue 618 is easy to use, provides decent footage and comes with GPS and some handy features, including speed camera warnings. (Camera alerts display a distance meter on screen as you approach a camera, so you can slow your speed in time.)

Like most dash cams, footage quality isn't the best at night. If you do a lot of night driving and want to be sure you can read registration plates, you may want to pay a bit more. But for most day drivers, the Mio will do a good job.

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5. Aukey DR-01


The Aukey DR-01 gets great reviews on Amazon (currently 4.5 out of 5 stars) and is a good value option. It offers reasonably good picture quality in low-light and bright conditions and has incident detection, (but no GPS tracking unfortunately).

There's no storage option included, so you'll have to buy an 8GB microSD card separately (for £6-£7), which should be enough for around 80 minutes of HD footage. It also has a motion detection mode, so can double as a parking protector.


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