The best dash cams with traffic assistants

The DDPai Mola N3 GPS car recorder provides a clear and distinct picture of what is happening on the road, while simultaneously recording the coordinates of the car’s location and the current speed of movement.

Video footage on the device is recorded in high resolution up to 2560x1600 pixels with a viewing angle of about 140°. Overlaid on top of the videos is information regarding the above-mentioned links to the car’s location and speed. Especially for night recording, the model provides a Super Night Vision shooting mode, and in scenes with strong differences in lighting, the WDR system helps to increase detail.

The model was deprived of the GPS informer function. But it has road assistants LDWS and FCWS: the first monitors compliance with the lane, and the second warns of dangerous approach to the vehicle ahead. The built-in G-sensor protects video files from being overwritten during impacts, sudden accelerations and decelerations of the car.

Interaction with the registrar is established through the DDPAI mobile application for a smartphone or tablet. In it you can access the footage and settings, since there was simply no room for a screen in the tiny body of the model. We should also praise the DDPai Mola N3 GPS for its convenient mounting on the windshield with pass-through power supply from the cigarette lighter socket and for its durable supercapacitor as an internal power source, which can easily withstand severe temperature changes and generally proves to be very reliable.

The VREC-170RS recorder from Pioneer in the auto electronics segment reveals the truth of what is happening on the roads, warns the driver about police cameras and radars, and monitors compliance with lanes and a safe distance. But let's talk about everything in order.

The device is made in the popular rectangular form factor with a centered lens on the front panel. The DVR is attached to the windshield of the car using a fastener with a suction cup. In normal mode, the device receives power from the cigarette lighter socket with a voltage of 12 or 24 V - the model will fit both passenger cars and large trucks. Backup and emergency power supply of the recorder is provided by a high-capacity 470 mAh capacitor.

In daylight , the Pioneer VREC-170RS records clear video in a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels at 30 fps. The captured videos are saved to a microSD card with a capacity of up to 32 GB. New videos are recorded over old ones in a cyclic rhythm. At night, the visibility of the camera image is also good, but sometimes there are glares in the frame from the headlights of oncoming cars. You can view video materials “on the spot,” for which the model is equipped with a 2-inch IPS screen, as well as through the interface of the Pioneer Dash Camera Connect functional mobile application. The smartphone is paired with the DVR via a wireless Wi-Fi network.

The GPS module equipped with the device links the coordinates of the vehicle’s location to the video sequence. And even more useful is the function of notifications about police cameras and radars based on data from the pre-installed SpeedCam database(updated regularly). The car recorder also monitors compliance with the driving lane (LDWS lane control) and warns of dangerous proximity to the vehicle ahead (FCWS distance control). Among the strong mid-range models, the Pioneer VREC-170RS is definitely worthy of attention.

DVRs form the main source of profit for the Taiwanese brand MiO. In the advanced segment of video recording of road conditions, the MiVue 818 model is receiving close attention.

The device is supposed to be placed on the inside of the car windshield using a suction cup mount. In this case, it is possible to rotate the head unit of the car recorder around its axis, which can be very useful when communicating with police officers or if there is a need to record what is happening inside the vehicle. Filming on the recorder is carried out in frame formats up to Quad HD - 2560x1440 pixels at 30 fps. In classic Full HD resolution (1920x1080 pixels), the recording frame rate increases to 60 fps.

The video from the recorder clearly shows the license plates of passing and oncoming cars, road signs, and the lens with a field of view angle of about 140° captures a broadband road with sidewalks or roadsides in the frame. In conditions of strong differences in illumination, WDR technology comes to the rescue in improving the quality of video footage. The footage is saved to a microSD card with a capacity of up to 128 GB. They can also be transferred via Wi-Fi to mobile gadgets.

MiO MiVue 818 carries on board an updated database of stationary cameras, radars and speed measurement systems (including complexes that measure the average speed of movement on the site). In real time, the recorder tracks the vehicle’s location using GPS satellites and promptly notifies the driver about the established speed limits. The model also provides advanced road assistants that monitor compliance with lanes and distances, prevent the driver from falling asleep at the wheel and remind them to turn on the headlights. A nice cherry on the cake is the proprietary “My Parking” function, which allows you to mark the location of the car in the parking lot and transfer GPS coordinates to a mobile application with a map via Bluetooth.

70mai 4G Intelligent HD Recorder M500 is a compact and discreet video recorder in a cylindrical form factor, which is useful for recording road conditions and can give voice prompts to the driver.

The 70mai brand is one of the subsidiaries of the well-known company Xiaomi, and one of its key activities is the production of advanced car recorders. The model in question is capable of recording videos in a frame resolution of 2592x1944 pixels at 30 fps, providing highly detailed images and excellent readability of license plates along with road signs and markings. Moreover, the recorder recognizes the signs automatically and can duplicate them on the screen of a paired smartphone (the device does not have its own display).

The screen of the connected mobile gadget can display a picture from the video recorder in real time; the model also has the functions of lane control system (LDWS) and distance to the vehicle ahead (FCWS). And according to the on-board GPS module, the coordinates of the vehicle’s location and speed of movement are linked to the video sequence. As a bonus, the driver receives a wide viewing angle (about 170°) and the option of extended dynamic range HDR images.

There is no slot for a memory card in the design of the recorder; instead, built-in eMMC 5.1 storage with a capacity of 32 GB is offered. The model's additional equipment includes a 3G/LTE modem, as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless communications. Optionally, the 70mai mobile application allows binding of wheel pressure sensors. However, they are no longer directly related to the DVR and can be installed separately.

The American company Garmin has gained fame thanks to navigation systems and advanced smart watches. And for motorists, the brand’s portfolio has many offers of high-quality DVRs. One of these is the Garmin Dash Cam 47.

The model is assembled in a compact case in the image and likeness of a conventional action camera. What is happening in front of the car hood is recorded on the recorder in a maximum frame resolution of 1920x1080 pixels at 30 fps. Proprietary Garmin Clarity HDR optics with a field of view angle of about 140° allows you to capture a detailed image at any time of the day. The captured videos are saved to a microSD card with a capacity of up to 512 GB, and you can also broadcast live from the car recorder over a Wi-Fi network or upload materials to the cloud. This requires active pairing with the Garmin Drive mobile app.

The recorder was equipped with a GPS geopositioning module. Based on the data from it , the coordinates of the vehicle’s location and the current speed of movement are linked to the video sequence. At the same time, the model can boast of a GPS informer function with notifications about the placement of stationary police cameras and radars. Passive safety systems on board the DVR are represented by lane control (LDWS) and distance control (FCWS).

To save video, start and stop recording, take photos and other actions, it is not necessary to be distracted from what is happening on the road - the model recognizes voice control commands. True, they are given only in some languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Swedish. Finally, it's worth mentioning the included cigarette lighter charger, which includes an additional USB port. From now on, you won’t have to sacrifice charging your smartphone—you can power your DVR and another device overnight from the cigarette lighter socket.