Best Dashcams 2025 - The Clear Winner After Testing 13 Models

Do you really need to buy that $600 dash cam, or can one that cost $40 get the job done? In this video, I've got 13 new

job done? In this video, I've got 13 new and popular dash cams ranging from $37 all the way up to $579.

And I'm going to test their image quality, parking modes, and other features to help you decide which dash cam is right for you. And as always, there are no sponsored reviews on this channel. Starting with image quality,

channel. Starting with image quality, I'm going to put the dash cams head-to-head, four at a time, going from least expensive to most, and pick a winner based on their combined daytime and nighttime performance. And the

winner of each round is going to go on to face three new cameras in the next round. And in round one, the least

round. And in round one, the least expensive camera in this video is the $37 Gal 4K dash cam, which is a single channel dash cam with no screen. And it

does output a 4K video file, but it almost certainly uses a lower resolution image sensor. and then upscales that

image sensor. and then upscales that video into 4K. However, the form factor is pretty sleek and for $37, it also includes a 64 gigabyte SD card in the box, which is amazingly cheap. Next,

more than doubling in price is my go-to recommendation for a highquality budget dash cam. The $85 Viopo A119 Mini 2,

dash cam. The $85 Viopo A119 Mini 2, which is single channel and uses the excellent 5 megapixel Sony Star Viz 2 IMX 675 image sensor. and it's got a 1

and a half inch LCD screen, but it doesn't include an SD card in the box.

After that, doubling in price again up to $169 is the 70MI M800, a twochannel front and rear dash cam with no screen that uses a

true 4K Sony StarVIS 2 IMX 678 image sensor in the front and a 1080p Sony StarVIS 2 IMX 662 in the back. And the

M800 doesn't come with an SD card because it doesn't use one and instead it has 128 GB of eMMC memory builtin.

And the last camera in round one is this single channel $189 VOPO A119M Pro that has almost the exact same form factor as

the A119 Mini 2 with a 1 and a half in screen, but it uses the 4K Sony Starvis 2 IMX 678 instead of the 5 megapixel sensor that's in the A119 Mini 2. And

like the Mini 2, the A119M Pro requires a separate purchase of an SD card.

Starting with daytime footage, you can see that all the cameras do in fact record video, which is good. But it's

clear that the Galy is not the same resolution as the other cameras, and it looks both blurry and oversharpened at the same time. The 70MI has a brighter and more colorful image, while the two VO cameras have a more HDR looking

image. And you can see that the Viopo

image. And you can see that the Viopo A119M Pro is also very oversharpened, visible in the artificial white lines surrounding power lines. And to me, the Viopo A119 Mini2 has the most natural

looking image. As far as field of view,

looking image. As far as field of view, you can see that the 70mi M800 has by far the widest angle lens with the intersection of the sidewalks visible on the right side and the bell tower on the

building visible on the left side. Both

Vopo cameras have very similar fields of view with the A119 Mini2 aimed slightly further left showing the edge of the bell tower and the A119 Mini Pro showing the intersection of the sidewalks. But

the lower quality sensor on the budget galy can't see the bell tower on the left or the sidewalk corner on the right. But usually cameras that have a

right. But usually cameras that have a smaller field of view are better at picking up fine detail. So looking at license plate captures, the first set of plates are taken where neither car is moving. And all the cameras produced a

moving. And all the cameras produced a legible image. But the Viopo A119M Pro

legible image. But the Viopo A119M Pro was the clearest. The 70 M800 was next, providing clear text and also some resolvable detail in the oranges of the center of the plate. The Vopo A119 Mini2

was in third and the Galfy was in fourth due to the fact that it just looked overly processed. The next set of plate

overly processed. The next set of plate captures comes from when both cars were moving at similar speeds. And in this one, the 70mi took first place with a very legible image without too much

processing. The Viopo A119M Pro was in

processing. The Viopo A119M Pro was in second, and neither the Viopo A119 Mini 2 nor Galy were able to produce a 100% legible image, but the Vopo was closer, putting it in third place. And the last

daytime capture was from a car passing me while I was stationary. And in this one, the Viopo A119M Pro was the clear winner with the 70mi M800 in second, the

Vopo A119 Mini2 in third, and the Galfy in a pretty distant fourth place. And at

night, the 70mi did a great job of capturing detail in dark areas without overexposing highlights. And using those

overexposing highlights. And using those same three license plate capture criteria, the 70mi was the only camera that was able to avoid overexposing the license plates when both cars were stationary. When both cars were moving

stationary. When both cars were moving at roughly the same speed, the 70mi was the best of the four with the Viopo A119 Mini2 in second place, but none of the cameras produced a completely legible plate. And when my car was stationary

plate. And when my car was stationary and the other car was moving past me, the 70mi M800 and the Vopo A119 Mini2 were the only cameras that captured anything that looked even remotely like a license plate. And that means that

overall in round one, the 70mi had an average rank of 1.33. And that's going to move it on to the next round. And in

round two, it's going to face off against the $219 Red Tiger F17 Elite, which is a three channel dash cam with a 4K Sony Starvis 2 IMX 678 image sensor

in the front, a Starvest 2 IMX 675 in the rear, and a 1080p cabin camera. And

one cool thing about the Red Tiger is that each of the lenses can be independently positioned. The Red Tiger

independently positioned. The Red Tiger F17 Elite also has a 3-in touchscreen, and it comes with a 128 GB SD card in the box. Next for $229 is the Rexing

the box. Next for $229 is the Rexing R4RD, which is a unique 4 channel dash cam with a 2.8 in screen that has not only a front-facing road camera and rear

camera, but also two aimable sidemounted cameras to point wherever you choose.

And it's got a millimeter wave radar-based motion sensor. Rexing

doesn't disclose which sensors they use in the R4RD, only that they are all 1080p. And the Rexing doesn't come with

1080p. And the Rexing doesn't come with an SD card, but it is the first camera so far to come with a hardwire kit to use with its radar-based parking modes.

And the last camera in round two is the $249 Thinkware RX700, which is a two camera dash cam with no screen that uses a

previous generation 4K Sony Star Viz1 IMX415 image sensor in the front and a 4 megapixel sensor for the rear camera.

And the Thinkware comes with a 64 GB micro SD card in the box and a hardwire kit. And my general impressions during

kit. And my general impressions during the day were that the Red Tiger's image seemed slightly sharper than the 70MI without being ridiculously oversharpened, but both were very vibrant and clear. While the Thinkware

R700 has an image that I would more closely associate with a typical security camera with a wider dynamic range that darkens the highlights and brightens the shadows, which makes the image look more flat, but it preserves

more detail. And in this group, the

more detail. And in this group, the Rexing was my least favorite image by far, and it was both oversaturated and overexposed. And looking at their field

overexposed. And looking at their field of view, the 70mi M800 and Red Tiger F17 Elite both have very similar fields of view with the Red Tiger being tilted slightly further up, showing more

height, while the 70mi showed more of the hood and windshield. And the Rexing and Thinkware both had similar more narrow fields of view with the Rexing pointing further left and the Thinkware pointed further right. But don't forget

that the Rexing also has two side-facing cameras that can provide a complete panoramic view. Looking at their plate

panoramic view. Looking at their plate capture abilities, when both cars were stationary, all the cameras produced legible plates during the day, but the Thinkware RX700 had the least digital artifacts, and I could easily make out

the sunshine state text and see the oranges in the middle of the plate. And

in this capture, I thought that the Red Tiger was the next best. When both cars were moving at the same speed, the results were similar with the Thinkware producing an image with less digital artifacts. But in this one, the 70mi

artifacts. But in this one, the 70mi took second place and the Rexing failed to produce a legible image at all. And

with a car speeding past me while I was stopped at a stoplight, the 70 took first place with the only fully legible plate. And the Thinkware and Red Tiger

plate. And the Thinkware and Red Tiger were very close, but the Rexing completely failed to capture any actual letters. And at night, none of these

letters. And at night, none of these cameras were using circular polarizing lenses. So windshield glare was

lenses. So windshield glare was definitely an issue. But overall, the Red Tiger was a little bit oversaturated and overexposed, while both the Thinkware RX700 and 70 M800 had a

flatter, more security camera-like image that, as I said, tends to preserve detail. And sure enough, when looking at

detail. And sure enough, when looking at plate capture, the wide dynamic range of the 70mi helped it produce an extremely clear image with the Thinkware in second and the Red Tiger in third. But when

both cars were moving, the Thinkware's less digitally altered image was slightly more clear, taking first place over the 70 Mi, while the Red Tiger fell significantly behind and the Rexing was just a blurry mess. And with the car

passing me at high speed, none of the cameras were able to produce a legible image at night. But the Thinkware did the best, capturing what looked like a few faint letters and numbers. And the

70 mi produced an image that looked at least a little bit like a license plate, but the captures of both the Red Tiger and Rexing were just mildly rectangular-shaped white objects. And

that means that the Thinkware R700 narrowly beat out the 70 M800 with an average score of 1.5. And it's going to move on to round three. And the least expensive camera that it's going to face

off against is the $249 Rove R2 4K Dual Pro, which as the name implies is a twochannel camera. But unlike previous

twochannel camera. But unlike previous Rove models that upscaled lower resolution sensors to 4K, this one actually has a Sony Starvest 2 IMX 678 true 4K image sensor up front and a 5

megapixel Starvest 2 for the rear camera. The Rove also has a 3-in screen,

camera. The Rove also has a 3-in screen, and it comes with all kinds of accessories, including a 120 GB micro SD card, a circular polarizing filter, and both suction cup and double-sided tape

mounting options. Next for $279 is the

mounting options. Next for $279 is the Vantru N4 Pro S, a 4K 3 channel dash cam with a 2.8 in LCD screen. The N4 Pros is

the latest iteration of the N4 Pro, and it's got some notable upgrades, including Sony Starvis sensors for both its cabin and rear cameras, a waterproof rear camera that can be mounted outside

the car, and compatibility with Vantru's LTE module for remote cellular monitoring. And even though Vantrew does

monitoring. And even though Vantrew does sell hardwire kits, circular polarizing filters, and SD cards, none of those are included in the price of the N4 Pros.

And last in round three is the $299 70MI T800, which is a three channel dash cam with a 3-in LCD screen that has both front and rear Sony Starvis IMX 678 4K

image sensors and a 5 megapixel StarVis 2 cabin camera. Similar to the N4 Pro Pros, the 70mi T800 can be LTE enabled by adding 70mi's LTE add-on kit. And

also similar to the N4 Pro S, the T800 doesn't come with an SD card, hardwire kit, or circular polarizing filter in the box. And looking at their daytime

the box. And looking at their daytime image characteristics, the 70mi again jumps out as having its characteristic bright and vibrant image while avoiding overexposure. And the Rove and Vandrew

overexposure. And the Rove and Vandrew have overall lower exposure with the Vantrew specifically having much darker shadows. Though I didn't see any lost

shadows. Though I didn't see any lost shadow detail, at least not during the day. Looking at field of view, the 70 mi

day. Looking at field of view, the 70 mi is again much wider than the others, showing both the trail sign on the right and the bell tower on the left. The Rove

and Vantrew have nearly identical fields of view with the Rove aimed slightly further left and the Vantrew aimed slightly further right. And the

Thinkware RX700 had the lowest field of view. Looking at their plate capture

view. Looking at their plate capture abilities, when both cars were stationary, the Vanrew had by far the most resolvable detail, especially in the My Florida text and the oranges in the center of the plate. But I also like

the Thinkware, which as we saw last round, does a good job of capturing detail without adding digital artifacts.

And all four cameras produced a legible image, but I thought that the Rove was slightly better than the 70. When both

cars were moving, all the cameras produced legible plates again, but the Thinkware captured the most detail, and you can easily read the Buffalo Bills plate frame, while the Vanrew had the easiest to read plate numbers and resolved the oranges in the middle

slightly better. But the image

slightly better. But the image processing caused the Buffalo Bills lettering to bleed together. And again,

I thought that the Rove was slightly better than the 70MI. Last, with a car passing me while I was stationary, the Vantrew dominated, but both the Thinkware and 70MI also produced images that easily identified the plate number,

while the Rove struggled in this capture, failing to produce a legible plate. At night, the Thinkware is tuned

plate. At night, the Thinkware is tuned more like a security camera and managed to preserve shadow detail in areas where the other cameras were just black. But

that higher exposure and lack of a Star Vis 2 image sensor really hurt its ability to capture plates. And when both cars were stationary, the Rove did the best job at resisting overexposure, but the Vantrew was close behind in second,

while the 70i captured an incomplete plate, and the Thinkware overexposed the entire image. When both cars were

entire image. When both cars were moving, the Vantrew was the clear winner with the 70MI in second place, but all the plates came out readable. And with

the car passing at high speed at night, none of the cameras produced a perfect image of the plate, but the Vanrew captured the most information, followed by the Thinkware, then the 70MI, and the Rove didn't capture any usable

information. And that means that for

information. And that means that for round three, the Vantru N4 Pro Pros had an average rank of 1.33, finishing first or second in every single capture scenario. So, it's going to move on to

scenario. So, it's going to move on to round four. And in this final round, the

round four. And in this final round, the first camera that it will face is the $379 VOP A329s, a twochannel system with a 2.3 in

display, a 4K Sony Starvis 2 IMX 678 image sensor in the front, and a 5 megapixel Star 2 in the back. And

compared to last year's A329, the A329S adds a few new parking modes and the ability to add an optional interior camera. The Vio A329S does come with a

camera. The Vio A329S does come with a circular polarizing filter in the box, but no SD card or hardwire kit. Next,

for $399, I've got the VoidID S14K Infinite, which is a three channel system with a 2.3 inch display, and it uses the 4K Sony Starvis 2 IMX 678 image

sensor in the front and 5 megapixel IMX 675s for the rear and cabin cameras. The

Void comes with a hardwire kit and circular polarizing filter in the box, but no SD card. Though, as I'm writing this, there is an Amazon deal to get a 512 GB SD card for free with purchase.

And last, the most expensive camera in this test is the $579 Thinkware U3000 Pro, which is a twochannel system with no screen, but it

does have a 4K Sony Starvis 2 IMX 678 image sensor in the front and a 5 megapixel Starvest 2 IMX 675 in the back. And it comes with a 64 GB SD card,

back. And it comes with a 64 GB SD card, an OBD port hard wiring kit, and a circular polarizing lens in the box. And

looking at their daytime image quality, all four of these cameras are using the exact same sensor. So, the only differences are going to come from their lenses and image processing. And at

first glance, the Vantru and Vopo appear to be significantly better at avoiding blown out highlights. But all four cameras have similar sharpness and color. All four cameras also have almost

color. All four cameras also have almost identical field of views with the only difference being the Veroid aimed a little bit further down. So, the bell tower is visible in the more fisheyed corner of the lens. And looking at their plate capture ability, when both cars

were stationary, all four cameras captured crystal clear plate images. But

looking at the BMW of Pompo text and the picture of the orange in the middle of the plate, the Viopo A329S was slightly better than the Vantru N4 Pros. With the

Void in third and the Thinkware in fourth. When both cars were moving, the

fourth. When both cars were moving, the Vopo came out on top again. And despite

the dark legible lettering on the Vantrew, I thought the R looked a little bit too much like an A. But the

Thinkware still came in third and the Veroid in fourth. And when I was stationary with a car passing me at high speed, the Vantrew was the only one to capture an accurate plate, which was LVU

T74. And the rest of the images had at

T74. And the rest of the images had at least one distorted or illeible letter.

At night, the Void had the highest exposure and the Vantrew was the darkest, but that allowed it to avoid overexposing license plates. And when

both cars were stationary, only the Vantrew and Vopo were able to control their exposure to capture the plate number. with the Vantrew's image

number. with the Vantrew's image processing coming out slightly on top.

And the same was true when both cars were moving with the Vopho and Vantrew successfully capturing the plate, but the Vantrew doing an overall better job.

And at night when I was stationary and a car passed me at high speed, none of the cameras produced a legible plate, but the Vantrew did catch a partial and the Viopo had a little bit of detail in the first two letters, but I'm not sure how useful that would be without the

Vantru's image to confirm what those letters were. And that means that just

letters were. And that means that just like last year's models, the new Vopo A329S and Vantru N4 Pros were completely evenly matched in terms of image quality. And the Vantrew was overall

quality. And the Vantrew was overall better at night, while the Viopo was better during the day. But unlike last year's video, there were also a lot fewer poorly performing cameras. And

while the Viopo and Vanrew were clearly the best, the majority of the cameras had more than sufficient quality in most situations. So next, I spent a

situations. So next, I spent a considerable amount of time testing the various parking modes on these cameras.

And in general, there are five different possible modes. The first and the most

possible modes. The first and the most common is the G sensor or impact mode that has a low power accelerometer to watch for impact events that then triggers the camera to start recording.

But not all impact modes are created equal. And the Vofoot cameras are in a

equal. And the Vofoot cameras are in a league of their own and record 20 seconds of pre-roll before an impact happens. So you have footage of the

happens. So you have footage of the entire event. While in comparison, the

entire event. While in comparison, the Vantru N4 Pro S takes around 7 seconds to wake up after impact. So you might never know what caused it. Next are the two motionbased parking modes. And the

most common version of that keeps the camera sensor on in a lower power mode to watch for motion and then it wakes up to record when motion's detected. But

keeping the camera sensors on constantly uses considerably more power than the accelerometer for the G sensor mode. So

camerabased motion detection can be pretty rough on your car's battery. The

solution to that is to use a separate lower power millimeter wave sensor to detect motion and only turn the cameras on after motion is detected, resulting in significantly lower power draw. with

the Rexing R4RD consuming 0.4 watt hours in my 30-minute test. And the Thinkware U3000 Pro consumed just 0.21 watt hours in that same time. And even though the

Rexing R4RD and Thinkware U3000 Pro are the only cameras that have radar included, the Thinkware RX700 also had notably low power draw for its motion detection mode. And I measured it at

detection mode. And I measured it at just 0.82 82 watt hours in its 30inut test using its camerabased motion detection which worked very well and captured much more information about parking events than impactbased systems

alone. And the last two parking

alone. And the last two parking recording types are continuous recording modes that use either low bit rate or low frame rate to save on storage space.

But like the motionbased detection, these modes consume considerably more power. And as an example, the Viopo A119

power. And as an example, the Viopo A119 Mini2 uses around 0.35 W hours per 30 minutes of impactbased parking recording, but it uses 1.15 W hours per

30 minutes when it's set to low bit rate recording. And that means that if

recording. And that means that if parking modes are the main reason that you want a dash cam, you're first going to need to choose between motion based detection and impact based. And if you want motion based, the best options are

the Rexing R4RD that not only has a low power radar based motion detection, but it also has four independent camera lenses that give it complete coverage of your car. The Thinkware U3000 Pro also

your car. The Thinkware U3000 Pro also has both front and rear radar-based motion detection with incredibly low power draw. And the Thinkware R700 has

power draw. And the Thinkware R700 has effective camerabased motion detection that uses considerably less power than other models. However, if you decide

other models. However, if you decide that you want impactbased detection, the three VOA models with their 20 seconds of pre-roll recording are in a league of their own with low power consumption and reliable impact detections that

consistently capture the entire event.

And the last consideration that's important for me at least is the form factor of the camera. And I personally prefer a camera that can tuck up out of the way, has a screen for selecting menu options, and a status light to show when

it's recording. And with those

it's recording. And with those considerations in mind, I gravitate more towards the wedge-shaped VOFO and Veroid cameras. But in my testing, I also

cameras. But in my testing, I also enjoyed the flexibility of the Red Tiger F17's aimable lenses. The Vantrew N4 Pro S, Rove R2 4K Dual Pro, and Rexing R4RD

are bigger and more in your face when you're driving. And the 70 T800 is

you're driving. And the 70 T800 is somewhere in between the wedge shape of the Viopos and the barrel shape of the Vantrew. And I know that some people

Vantrew. And I know that some people actually prefer it, but I personally don't like the lack of a screen on the Thinkware U3000 Pro, 70 M800, and Galy

4K. and I find connecting via a phone

4K. and I find connecting via a phone app to be both clunky and timeconuming.

So if you add up all the subcores for daytime image quality, nighttime image quality, parking modes, form factor, and price versus performance, the results

are pretty conclusive with the VOF A329S in first place with its only real downside being the $373 price tag. The

Vopo A119 Mini2 came in second overall with good single channel image quality, great parking performance, a great form factor, and a low price. The Thinkware

ARK 700 came in third place with surprisingly good image quality given its older Starvis one image sensor and surprisingly efficient motion-based parking performance given its lack of a separate millimeter wave motion sensor.

So, hats off to the Thinkware engineers for squeezing every last drop of performance out of the AR700's hardware.

The Vopo A119M Pro had a relatively high score also, but given its price difference compared to the 119 Mini2, I wouldn't recommend it. And the switch to the IMX 678 image sensor doesn't justify

doubling the price compared to the A119 Mini 2. And last, the Vantrew N4 Pros

Mini 2. And last, the Vantrew N4 Pros remains the king of nighttime video performance. But even though its

performance. But even though its impactbased parking mode has been slightly improved compared to the previous N4 Pro, it still takes a considerable amount of time to wake up and start recording. But if parking modes aren't that important to you and

the new unique features like a waterproof rear camera and optional LTE module are useful for your setup, then the Vantrew is definitely still worth considering. As always, there are no

considering. As always, there are no sponsored reviews on this channel, but I do have links down in the description for all the dash cams in this video. And

as always, I appreciate when you use those links since as an Amazon affiliate, I do earn a small commission on the sale at no cost to you. I'd also

like to thank all of my awesome patrons over at Patreon for their continued support of my channel. And if you're interested in supporting the channel, please check out the links down in the description. If you enjoyed this video,

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always, thanks for watching the Hookup.