In an era of technological advancements, the ability to capture moments, anticipated or unforeseen, has become ubiquitous, thanks in large part to our mobile phones. However, envision having a dedicated recorder specifically tailored for your vehicle. Enter the dashcam – a device seamlessly integrated into your car that diligently records every nuance of your journey. Whether your concern lies with parking security or overall road safety, a dashcam stands as your steadfast solution. In the unfortunate event of a driving mishap, possessing comprehensive footage aids in deciphering the circumstances, potentially exonerating the responsible party.
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What Is A Dash Cam? – A Quick Intro
A dash cam, succinctly, is a compact video camera strategically mounted in your vehicle, typically on the windshield, to continually document your travels. Originating from the cameras adorning the dashboards of police vehicles, it aptly earns the moniker “dashcam.”
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1. Vantrue Pro Dash Cam | View on Amazon |
2. 70mai Pro Plus Dash Cam | View on Amazon |
3. DDPAI Mini Car Dash Camera | View on Amazon |
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Types Of Dash Cams
Dash cams available in the Indian market exhibit varying features contingent upon their models and recording capabilities.
The Traditional Dash Cam
This rudimentary dashcam fulfills its primary function without embellishments. It records solely the front view without additional features such as GPS or Wi-Fi.
Rear View Mirror Dash Cam
These innovative dashcams affix to the rearview mirror, presenting both front and rear views on the screen. This dual perspective enhances the driving experience, offering ease of maneuvering. Some models allow toggling between views for enhanced flexibility.
Dual Camera Dash Cam
Exhibiting increased sophistication, dual camera dash cams simultaneously capture footage from two lenses. Typically, one lens records the frontal view of the road, while the other captures the interior of the vehicle.
Dash Cams For Consumers
Tailored for personal use, these dashcams are straightforward, featuring essential functions and affordability, catering to non-commercial purposes.
Dash Cams For Commercial Fleets
Employed by companies or governmental entities for commercial purposes, these dash cams prioritize reliability. While more expensive, they offer heightened durability compared to their counterparts.
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Top Dash Cam Brands In India
Discover some of the premier dashcam brands that stand out in the Indian market.
DDPAI
Established in 2013, DDPAI is dedicated to enhancing travel experiences through innovative technology. Offering a diverse range of dashcams and related hardware kits, the brand has positioned itself as a reliable choice for tech-savvy consumers.
Scosche
With a foundation dating back to 1980, Scosche is among the oldest dashcam brands. Their commitment revolves around creating accessories that not only empower your phone but also contribute to a safer, richer, simpler, and happier life. From hands-free phone usage while driving to monitoring your heart rate, Scosche strives to enhance various aspects of your daily experiences.
Vantrue
Renowned for delivering top-quality and high-performance dashcams, Vantrue addresses the modern-day necessity for every vehicle. Their commitment to excellence is evident in the development of high-end dashcams, ensuring users receive top-notch services.
Blueskysea
Specializing in professional dash cams spanning various price ranges, Blueskysea makes safety on the road accessible to drivers of all types. The brand’s vision revolves around enhancing your life by providing a secure driving experience, emphasizing affordability without compromising on quality.
70mai
A product within the Mi ecosystem, 70mai focuses on smart car electronics. As part of the popular Mi dashcam brand, which has a global presence in 92 countries, 70mai aims to create a comfortable, safe, and networked driving experience. By showcasing the maximum potential of intelligent vehicle products, the brand aligns with the vision of providing a technologically advanced driving environment.
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Top Dash Cams In India – Review
Explore a curated list of highly-rated dash cams available in the Indian market:
1. Vantrue Pro Dash Cam
The Vantrue Pro Dash Cam boasts a potent Novatek NT96660 CPU, coupled with advanced Sony Exmor IMX323 rear cam and OV4689 front cam image sensors. Offering simultaneous capturing of the cabin and road ahead, its rear-facing cam features an F2.0 6-glass lens with 4 IR LED lights, enhancing night vision within the car. The front cam employs a system balancing light and dark areas in the video, ensuring optimal clarity. While it excels in seamless loop recording, the absence of GPS and its price point may be considered drawbacks.
2. Transcend DrivePro 620 Dash Cam
Featuring an impressive 3K QHD resolution, the Qubo Car Dash Camera delivers crystal-clear footage with a panoramic 140-degree field of view. This dashcam ensures clarity even in low-light conditions, courtesy of its night vision capabilities. Beyond recording, it offers smart connectivity with built-in WiFi and GPS, facilitating easy access to recordings. The 3.2′ LCD display provides high clarity and control, while the generous 1TB SD card support ensures ample storage for your footage. With a blend of cutting-edge features and user-friendly design, this dashcam enhances your driving experience.
3. 70mai Dash Cam
Hailing from the MI ecosystem, the 70mai Dash Cam features an award-winning design and outstanding picture quality. Utilizing a next-generation Sony IMX415 image sensor, it excels in low-light performance. The built-in advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) enhances driving safety, while the G-Sensor technology automatically saves footage during emergency events. An auto-lock system prevents deletion or overwriting of real-time video segments in case of collisions. Seamless connectivity with the 70mai mobile app enables streaming, replay, and convenient downloads of recorded footage.
4. Vantrue Mini Dash Cam
The Vantrue E1 Lite Mini Dash Cam records clear 1080P+ HDR footage with a wide 160-degree view. Its compact design ensures safe driving without obstructing the view. Featuring a 2.4G WiFi connection and a user-friendly app for Android and iOS smartphones, it allows easy live-streaming, video downloads, and social media sharing. Equipped with built-in GPS, this dashcam records speed, location, route, and direction, serving as potential evidence for insurance claims. The voice control function and 24-hour parking mode further enhance its usability and reliability.
5. SCOSCHE NEXC10016 Smart Dash Cam
The SCOSCHE NEXC10016 Smart Dash Cam is an HD smart camera with seamless functionality. Paired with the free Nexar Drive Safe mobile app, it enables instant reporting of accidents to insurance companies with detailed visual evidence. This dashcam excels in high-quality video recording, even in low-light conditions. It’s energy-efficient, automatically starting and stopping recording based on vehicle movement. Compatible with select smartphones, it offers cloud storage support for continuous recording and 24/7 assistance.
6. THINKWARE F70 Dash Cam
The THINKWARE F70 Dash Cam, designed as a mini dashcam, supports an external MicroSD card up to 64GB. With a 140-degree rotatable camera body, it allows versatile recording angles both inside and outside the car. Compact and efficient, this dashcam is tailored for users seeking a discreet yet powerful recording solution.
7. Qubo Car Dash Camera
Featuring an impressive 3K QHD resolution, the Qubo Car Dash Camera delivers crystal-clear footage with a panoramic 140-degree field of view. This dashcam ensures clarity even in low-light conditions, courtesy of its night vision capabilities. Beyond recording, it offers smart connectivity with built-in WiFi and GPS, facilitating easy access to recordings. The 3.2′ LCD display provides high clarity and control, while the generous 1TB SD card support ensures ample storage for your footage. With a blend of cutting-edge features and user-friendly design, this dashcam enhances your driving experience.
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8. 70mai Pro Plus Dash Cam
Boasting 6 lenses with WDR and a 140° wide-angle, the 70mai Pro Plus Dash Cam adapts exposure to capture intricate details in various lighting conditions. Its 2″ IPS screen facilitates easy recording review. Notably, this dashcam stands out with lane departure and forward collision warnings, elevating daily trip safety. Modern AI-powered technology and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems enhance driving safety. In emergencies, the built-in G-Sensor automatically saves footage, preventing overwriting in collision scenarios. The dashcam’s Wi-Fi connectivity enables live streaming through the 70mai official mobile app.
9. DDPAI Dash Camera
The DDPAI Z40 dash cam features a Sony IMX 335 sensor for improved video quality, especially in low-light situations. Realcube Image Technology, developed by DDPAI, ensures hyper-realistic color images with accurate colors. D²save Dual-channel Storage technology guarantees preservation of emergency events even if the TF card fails. Powered by a super capacitor, it operates safely in extreme temperatures, providing secure and reliable recording.
10. DDPAI Mini Car Dash Camera
Renowned for high reliability, the DDPAI Mini Car Dash Camera operates in a wide temperature range from -25°C to 85°C. The supercapacitor replaces the battery, ensuring a longer lifespan and suitability for 24-hour parking monitoring. Its user-friendly interface, controlled through a mobile application, simplifies operation. With WDR technology for super night vision and loop recording, this dashcam provides comprehensive coverage.
11. REDTIGER F5 WiFi Dash Cam
Delivering 1080p videos, the REDTIGER F5 WiFi Dash Cam offers an immersive visual experience. The 360-degree wide-angle lens captures a broader view, enhancing safety by providing visibility into multiple traffic lanes. Equipped with WDR technology and a big aperture camera, it ensures clear footage, even in low-light conditions. The supercapacitor enhances longevity and supports 24-hour parking monitoring.
12. Procus Car Dash Camera
Providing a sense of security on Indian roads, the Procus Car Dash Camera operates as a car CCTV system. With stable software and reliable hardware, this dashcam offers seamless loop recording, G-sensor technology, motion detection, and parking monitoring. Its ultra-wide-angle lenses and metal frame contribute to its durable build. Additional features include superior night vision and a unique Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) video system for enhanced image quality.
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How To Install A Dash Cam?
This is quite simple. You first need to insert a memory card into it and then mount the device to your car’s windshield. Mounting is also very easy, whether it is an adhesive type or suction mount. The next step is to give it power. This you will do by joining the dash cam’s power cord into the cigarette lighter outlet of your car. By doing this, you have done the physical installation.
Now for the operating system, start the device and do as instructed in it. Usually, their setup is simple. In case of any doubt, you can always refer to the user manual available with your device. Please make sure that you get familiar with your dashcam’s functioning before starting to use it.
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How Does Dash Cams Work?
A dashcam is very simple. Usually, a dashcam is powered through the cigarette lighter outlet of your car. It starts recording the front view as soon as you start your vehicle. In some of the dashcams, you have a lens for recording the rearview also. You can consider it as a CCTV camera that protects your vehicle.
The recorded video is stored in a memory card with its maximum capacity according to the device’s capability. Some of the dashcams have seamless loop recording features. If your memory card gets full, it will start overwriting the old content with the new one. This makes the dashcam look like having unlimited storage space.
Usually, dashcams come with a wide-angle lens to capture the full front area of the road and surroundings. Whether you are travellin
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Does Dash Cam Have Night Vision?
Most dashcams have night visions. They will operate even in a low light environment. This night vision feature is very important when you will use a rear lens of the dashcam and that too at night.
Are Dash Cams Legal In India?
There are no rules as such about dashcams in India. It can be used as a CCTV camera that is used to secure your property. However, it can be illegal in protected zones like defence areas. Also, you may have to pay a fine to traffic police if your dashcam is obstructing the front view for you.
Advantages Of A Dash Cam
Dash Cams Are Legal Evidence
- In case of an accident or anything unpredictable, you will always be backed up by evidence with the help of your dashcam. A dashcam can give you the most appropriate evidence to save yourself in India, where the roads are somewhat unpredictable.
- Time is money, and people are always in a hurry to save time, especially on the roads. This makes road rage quite a common phenomenon. In no time, this road rage can turn ugly. To take action against the offender or to confront him, video proof is quite important. Thus, a dashcam will save you from unnecessary road rages.
- Whether you are a perfect driver or not, there will always be someone who will be very reckless and drive rashly. They can not only harm you but can also harm other people on the road. If a dashcam is installed in your vehicle, you can record their driving with the number on their license plate, and, if necessary, you can report this to the police.
- A cop is a human too. Due to any misunderstanding, he may throw a false allegation on you, like driving at a red light. A dashcam will save you from unnecessary harassment and will ultimately save your time. It will also save the time, energy and the mind of that cop too.
Dash Cams Help You Travel Safe And Capture Memories
- A road trip is unpredictable. You never know what will come suddenly, and you don’t want to miss capturing good things. This is only possible when you have a dashcam installed in your vehicle.
- If you are a frequent traveller, then you can make high-quality Youtube videos and earn millions of views without much effort. This effortless income is only possible if a dashcam backs you up.
- If you are not sure about the driving skill of young drivers in your house, then a dash cam will help you monitor their driving skills. Some of the dashcam models can be connected to a mobile application. With such an app, you can monitor the driver by just sitting at your home.
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How To Choose Dash Cam Brands In India– Buying Guide
There is no need to get overwhelmed with the additional features available with the dashcam if they are not useful to you. So, consider various important factors like those mentioned below before buying a dashcam.
Type of Dash Cam
When you just need to record the front view, i.e. the road ahead, then you can go for the traditional dashcam. But, if you want to record that and the event inside your vehicle, then buying the traditional dash cam will not fulfil your needs. In such cases, you will need a dual dashcam. Similarly, you can see the different types of dash cams available in the market and select the one that fulfils your requirement.
Video Resolution
If you are a travel blogger or want to open a channel on Youtube showing all about road trips, you will need a dashcam with high video resolution. Suppose you need security for your vehicle while driving or parking, a dashcam with low video resolution will work. But be careful! Don’t go for so low video quality that you can’t even identify what’s happening in the video.
Recording Options
Certain dashcams are installed in the vehicles and start when the engine starts and stop when the engine stops. Then some of the dashcams operate when you drive or when there is any movement near your vehicle while it is standing stationary. So, depending upon the type of recording option, you select the one suitable for you.
Controls
Some of the dashcams have a variety of controls like voice control, control when to record and when to not, control of viewing angle, remote control and so on. These are like added features that increase the cost of the dashcams. So select the one with your required control under your budget.
Mounting System
Most dash cams come with an adhesive mount that you can easily install at the windshield of your vehicle. There are other dash cams with a suction cup type mount or a separate bracket for installation. The rearview mirror dash cams are installed on the rearview mirror. Depending on the space inside and vehicle, you can select the appropriate mounting system and then the required dashcam.
Display Screen
A display screen is not available with the traditional or basic dashcam. If you need to monitor the road ahead and the road on back, then a display screen is needed. It will be easy for you to move back your vehicle using the view from the camera placed on the back of your vehicle. For such requirements, the quality and size of the display screen are also very important things to consider.
Size
It is advised to select the dashcam with a comparatively smaller size because you don’t want to obstruct your view of the road ahead, and also, you don’t want to have such distractions. Also, if you select the dashcam with a very small size, you can’t even see the view of the road back, then it will be of no use when you want to move your vehicle back.
Sound Recorder
A dashcam is used to record the video of the event happening either inside the vehicle or outside or both. But recording sound is optional. If you need sound also, then you will need a dashcam with a sound recorder. But again, this will increase the price of the dashcam.
Field Of View(FOV)
This is the most important technical specification of a dashcam that you need to check before buying it. It would be better if you select the one with a large field of view. This will help you capture the full width of the road despite your position that can be in the middle lane, side lane, or any other lane.
Storage Capacity
A dashcam that records high-quality videos will need a large storage capacity. Usually, an external micro SD card is used in it. Having a seamless loop recording option makes the storage unlimited. But it would be better if your dashcam supports a micro SD card of large capacity.
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Parking Surveillance
The traditional dashcam starts recording when the engine starts and stops recording when the engine goes off. If you need to monitor the vehicle while parked, then a traditional dash cam will not be suitable. You will need that model, which has either battery or supercapacitor, to record even when the engine is off.
Driver Assistance and Safety Alerts
Some of the high-end dashcams have voice-controlled driver assistance, and they can even give you safety alerts. The language which they use is mostly English. It is not an important feature. You can manage without it. But if you go for it, it will surely elevate your driving experience with such technological advancements.
GPS Receiver
A GPS receiver will help you in tracking your position. It is not compulsory to have a dashcam. Many dash cams don’t have this feature, or you have to purchase an extra module to add this feature. If you need it, then instead of buying those dash cams, you can go for the one with a built-in GPS receiver.
Wi-Fi and Smartphone app Integration
For monitoring the driver while sitting remotely, you will need a dashcam with Wi-Fi and mobile app integration. But if you are the only one who will drive your vehicle, then there is no need for this feature. However, a dashcam connected to some mobile applications will make it easy for you to see all the past or present videos instantly without any hassle.
Price
From the abovementioned list, you can see the wide price range at which a dashcam is available in the market, from a few thousand bucks to more than twenty thousand bucks. Some are from premium brands, and then some are quite budget-friendly. So, make sure to select the one that satisfies your requirement and is under budget.
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Dash Cams – Frequently Asked Questions
Now let’s take a look at the frequently asked questions about dash cams.
Where do dash cams get their power?
Usually, all the dashcams have a power cord with them that plugs into the cigarette lighter outlet in your car. You just have to plug this cord in, and you are good to go.
What are WDR and HDR?
WDR stands for wide dynamic range, and HDR stands for high dynamic range. WDR is usually part of the package in 312GW dash cams and above. It helps in combining images of different brightness levels into one optimized image, and HDR is usually included in 512GW and above dashcams. It allows the dashcam to process extreme lightning or darkness and produce a vibrant image.
What does the sensor in a dashcam do?
The light coming into the lens of the dashcam is converted into data with the help of sensors, and that data, then becomes the video.
Do GPS is present in the Dash Cams?
In some of the latest and costly models of dashcams, GPS is present. Some dash cams don’t have built-in GPS, but you can attach a separate module for GPS function.
Is Wi-FI present in a dashcam?
For basic functioning, Wi-Fi is not needed. So, in basic models, it is not present. It is just like an add on that is present in higher-end models of the dash cams.
Is video recorded with sound or without sound in a dashcam?
Most of the dash cams have an inbuilt microphone that records video with audio. But there are many models of the dash cams that only record videos without sound.
Is it possible for a dashcam to fully drain out the car’s battery?
Either the cigarette lighter socket cable/USB cable or a hardwire kit directly into the vehicle’s fuse box is used to power the dashcam. Thus, the power required is so small that it is almost impossible for a dashcam to fully drain the car’s battery.
What is the seamless loop recording function in a dashcam?
This is a very common function in a dashcam. Whenever the storage capacity gets full, then it doesn’t stop recording. It starts overwriting the oldest footage with the new video. This makes the storage to be almost unlimited.
Are dashcams legal in India?
Well, there are no such rules about dashcams in India. A dashcam is just like a CCTV camera that you install to protect your property. But if it obstructs your view of the road ahead, traffic police may charge you fine about this.
Does dashcam record when you’re parked?
Some of the dashcams have a continuous recording feature even while you are parked. It is mainly those types of dash cams that have a supercapacitor in them that have this ability.
Where can I buy a dashcam?
Dashcams are easily available online in India. If you want to buy it offline, you can check it in the market near to the service centre of your vehicle or ask the people from the service centre. They will give you a better idea.
Can a dashcam record the speed of the car?
No, it cannot. But in some of the dashcam models, you can change the viewing angle to record the view of the speedometer present in your vehicle. Thus, you will get a record of the speed of your vehicle.
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Conclusion
With the sharp increase of vehicles on the road every year, there is a growing threat to travel safety. Hence, it is very important to have a dashcam installed in your vehicle. In my opinion, if you have a low budget then, you can go for 70mai Pro Plus Dash Cam . Else you can go for Vantrue Pro Dash Cam . Both of them have excellent ratings and sell in large numbers.
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