The Best Dash Cams 2024

So you’ve decided to buy a dash cam, and are wondering which one is the best?

We’ve taken the most popular dash cams of the last twelve months and ordered them by price, so you can easily find the best camera for your car and your budget.

Here’s our list of the best dash cams going into 2024:

If money isn’t an issue…

…for taxi / Uber / ride share drivers…

…mid-price ($100-200)…

…and if you’re on a budget…

  • 70mai A500S: Cheapest decent 2-way dash cam
  • Rexing V1: Low-cost dash cam that reliably does its job

Before we delve into the details, let’s first have a look at the most important features of each of these side-by-side, complete with (approximate) prices:

Best Dash Cams Of 2024: Side-By-Side Comparison

Viofo A129 Plus Duo Dash CamGarmin Dash Cam Mini 2
ModelThinkware U3000BlackVue DR970XViofo T130A129 Plus DuoGarmin Mini 2Viofo A119v370mai A500SRexing V1
DescriptionRadar-Assisted Parking ModeBest Cloud, Best DesignBest Value Taxi CamGood Mid-Price DualSmall & DiscreetBest ValueGood Low-Cost DualCheap But Reliable
Price$550
Amazon
$470
Amazon
$200
Amazon
$170
Amazon
$130
Amazon
$100
Amazon
$70
Amazon
$50
Amazon
Channels22321121
Resolution4K front
1440p rear
4K front
1080p rear
1440p front
1080p rear
1080p interior
1440p front
1080p rear
1080p1440p1440p front
1080p rear
1080p
CloudYesYes--Yes---
Parking ModeRadar-Assisted BufferedBufferedTime-lapseTime-lapseImpactBuffered--

Scroll to the right to see all models. Links to vendors are affiliate links, and help to support this site.

How We Select The Best Dash Cams

We’ve been independently reviewing car cameras since 2013, so we have a pretty good idea what you want to watch out for when you decide to buy. The first and foremost quality criteria for any dash cam is reliability.

Imagine getting a shiny new dash cam that records awesome, high-resolution video — if you can’t rely on it to work continuously and without interruption whenever you’re driving, it’s not much good. You don’t want to be in a situation where you need the evidence from your dashboard camera, just to find out that it decided to take the day off!

Another important criteria is video quality. Over the years, we’ve analyzed hundreds of dash cams, in order to assess which devices record the best footage.

Apart from clarity and general color fidelity, we decided to base our evaluations on the readability of other cars’ license plates. Video samples are available in the full reviews.

Another feature we value is discreetness. Many of the best dash cameras today are wedge-shaped, a growing trend that allows for clean and stealthy installation.

Other important factors include: Ease of use, good post-sales support, and customer satisfaction.

Our (And Your) Favorite Cams This Year

Now lets have a more detailed look at our recommended models for 2024, starting with the high-end devices with all the bells and whistles, and working our way down to the more affordable ones:

BlackVue DR970X-2CH: Great Video, Best Cloud Features

product photo o the BlackVue DR970X front and rear dash cam

Price: Amazon US / CA / UKmore countries & vendors (affiliate links)

Resolution: 4K front, 1080p rear

Overall video quality: Good

Reliability: Very Good

Memory capacity: 256GB

Max operating temp.: 80°C / 176°F

Pros: Integrated GPS, Wi-Fi, cloud connectivity, capacitor, lock file button, elegant and discreet design. Parking modes: Buffered, time-lapse

Cons: High price, no screen

Full review: DR970X-2CH Review

The Korean brand BlackVue is the most innovative dash cam brand out there. Their best-selling cameras include successful series such as the DR590X Plus, the DR750X Plus, and the DR900X Plus. (See this article if you’d like to learn more about those older cameras.)

In 2023, they released the DR970X-2CH series. Like the older DR900X cameras, it records high quality 4K video to the front, and 1080p video to the rear.

Sporting BlackVue’s trademark black cylinder design, this camera is elegant and discreet. It is also highly reliable, and it supports some of the most advanced features currently on the market.

With an internet connection in your car, or using BlackVue’s LTE module, you can connect the dash cam to the cloud. This allows you to watch live video from your car with the camera’s smart phone app, query your car’s current GPS location, and receive notifications when the dash cam records an event (like an impact to your parked or driving car).

For a complete description of BlackVue’s cloud, and how it compares to other manufacturers, click here.

The DR900X-2CH Plus supports buffered and time-lapse parking modes. Like all dash cams, it needs a hard-wiring kit or external battery pack to run in parking mode.

If you love this camera’s features but don’t necessarily need 4K resolution, you can save some money and get the BlackVue DR750X-2CH Plus instead, which records 1080p front and rear.

Thinkware U3000: High-End 4K Cam, Radar-Assisted Parking Mode

Thinkware U3000 dual dash cam

Price: Amazon US / CAmore countries & vendors (affiliate links)

Resolution: 4K front, 1440p rear

Overall video quality: Good

Reliability: Good

Memory capacity: 256GB

Max operating temp.: 60°C / 140°F

Pros: Cloud connectivity, radar-assisted buffered parking mode, integrated GPS, Wi-Fi, capacitor, lock file button. Other parking modes: Time-lapse, motion triggered, impact triggered

Cons: High price, no screen

Full review: Thinkware U3000 review

Thinkware is another popular dash cam company from Korea. Their flagship camera supports cutting-edge features such as GPS, Wi-Fi, cloud connectivity, and radar-assisted parking mode. The U3000 is the only dash cam so far that has a built-in radar module to reduce power consumption in parking mode.

In total, the Thinkware U3000 offers 4 parking modes to choose from. It comes with an OBD-II power cable, so you don’t need to order an extra hard-wiring kit to run this camera in parking mode.

Thinkware’s cloud doesn’t have quite as many features as BlackVue’s, but they do support remote video streaming, event notifications, live GPS, cloud storage, and geo-fencing.

The U3000’s video quality is very good for the front camera, however its rear camera leaves a bit to be desired and isn’t quite as good as BlackVue’s.

Viofo T130: Best Value 3-Channel Dash Cam

Viofo T130 3-channel dash camPrice: Amazon US / CA / UKAliExpressmore countries & vendors (affiliate links)

Resolution: 1440p front, 1080p rear + interior

Overall video quality: Good

Reliability: Good

Memory capacity: 256GB

Max operating temp.: 65°C / 149°F

Pros: Capacitor, GPS, Wi-Fi, lock file button. Parking modes: Simple, time-lapse, low bit rate

Cons: No screen

Full Review: Viofo T130 Review

The Viofo T130 is the best value 3-channel dash cam of 2024. In addition to recording the front and rear, it also films the inside of your car. Thus it offers optimal protection for taxi and Uber drivers, or anyone in the people transportation business.

At night, the interior view is assisted by infrared lights so you don’t have to have your cabin lights on to see what is going on inside the car.

We compared the most popular 3-channel dash cams available today, and the result was astonishing: The Viofo T130 is not only the one that records the best video quality overall, it is also the cheapest!

GPS is integrated. When connected to the car’s fuse box with a hard-wiring kit (optional), the T130 supports impact-triggered, time-lapse, and low-bit rate parking modes.

UPDATE: We just reviewed the Viofo A229 Pro, and it records much better video overall. However, it is also about twice as expensive as the T130, so the T130 is still best value.

Viofo A129 Plus Duo: Best Value Front And Rear Cam

Viofo A129 Plus Duo front and rear dash cam

Price: Amazon US / CA / UKAliExpressmore countries & vendors (affiliate links)

Resolution: 2560×1440 (front), 1920×1080 (rear)

Overall video quality: Good

Reliability: Good

Memory capacity: 256GB

Max Operating Temp.: 65°C / 149°F

Pros: 2″ screen, Wi-Fi, capacitor, lock file button, GPS included in mount. Time-lapse and low bit-rate parking modes. Optional additional remote lock file button. Optional CPL filter.

Cons: CPL filter costs extra

Full review: Viofo A129 Plus Duo Review

Viofo are a Chinese brand that makes high-quality, reliable dash cams for a quite competitive price. Available for less than $200, their A129 Plus Duo was one of the best selling front and rear dash cams in 2023.

It records good quality video, at a resolution of 1440p to the front, and 1080p to the rear. Both the front and the rear cameras of the A129 Plus Duo come in a stealthy wedge shape.

A GPS receiver is included in the mount. A CPL filter is not included, and will cost you $15 extra.

Like most other cameras featured here, the A129 has a lock file button (the round one marked in yellow), but if you’d like a button that’s easier to reach, you can get a remote button ($20) that you can place on your steering wheel or wherever you find it most convenient. The remote button uses Bluetooth to connect to the camera, so it’s wireless.

This camera supports time-lapse and low bit-rate parking modes. The corresponding hard-wire kit is priced at $15.

Garmin Mini 2: Smallest Dash Cam Of 2024

Front view of the Garmin Mini 2Price: Amazon US / CA / UKmore countries & vendors (affiliate links)

Resolution: 1920×1080

Overall video quality: Fair

Reliability: Very good

Memory capacity: 512GB

Max Operating Temp.: 60°C / 140°F

Pros: Wi-Fi, capacitor, lock file button, limited cloud connectivity, voice control, impact-triggered parking mode, multi-camera networks

Cons: No screen

Full review: Garmin Mini 2 review

The American company Garmin not only makes sat-nav devices, they are also gaining a foot hold on the dash cam market. While their video quality hasn’t been known to be the greatest, Garmin’s dash cams are very reliable, and they have excellent customer service.

They Garmin Mini 2 is actually quite stylish. It is also the smallest dash cam currently available, which will be of interest to those who want their camera to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Having no screen, the Mini 2 is controlled by Wi-Fi via the phone app. Some voice commands are also available to take a picture, save the current video, and toggle audio recording.

Garmin’s cloud supports less features than BlackVue’s and Thinkware’s, but it does support live video streaming and event notifications. Cloud storage is only available with a paid account.

A unique feature of Garmin dash cams is that you can connect several of them together to build a multi-camera network in your car. For example, you could get two Mini 2’s and let one record to the front, and another one to the rear.

Up to 4 cameras can be connected in each network.

Viofo A119 v3: Best Value One-Way Cam

Viofo A119 v3 dahs cam with GPS and CPL

Price: Amazon US / CAAliExpressmore countries & vendors (affiliate links)

Resolution: 2560×1600

Overall video quality: Very good

Reliability: Very good

Memory capacity: 256GB (over 18 hours)

Max Operating Temp.: 65°C / 149°F

Pros: 2″ screen, optional GPS in mount, optional CPL filter, very good video quality for the price, capacitor. Buffered, time-lapse, and low bit-rate parking modes.

Cons: GPS and CPL filter cost extra

Full review: A119 v3 review

The A119 v3 is a reliable single-channel dash cam that has been around since 2019, and continues to be a best seller. Its video quality is very good at day, and good at night.

When powered with a hard-wiring kit, the A119 v3 supports three different parking modes: Buffered, time-lapse, and low bit-rate.

This camera is available with 2 different mounts. The mount is a thin plate that sticks directly to your windshield. One mount contains a GPS antenna, the other mount doesn’t. The GPS mount is a bit thicker than the non-GPS one, and costs about $10 more.

A CPL filter for this device is available separately, and will set you back another $10.

The hard-wiring kit (necessary for parking mode to work) for the A119v3 also costs $10 extra.

70mai A500S Pro Plus: Low-Cost Front And Rear Dash Cam

70mai A500S Pro Plus product photo

Price: Amazon US / CA / UKAliExpressmore countries & vendors (affiliate links)

Resolution: 2560×1440 (front), 1920×1080 (rear)

Overall video quality: Fair

Reliability: Good

Memory capacity: 128GB

Max Operating Temp.: 60°C / 140°F

Pros: 2″ screen, lock file button, GPS, Wi-Fi, impact-triggered parking mode

Cons: Internal battery, no CPL filter

Full review: 70mai A500S Pro Plus review

If you’re looking for an affordable front and rear dash cam, we recommend you don’t go lower than $100 in price (or whatever the current price of the 70mai A500S may be — it was $100 at the time of this writing).

Video quality of the front camera is okay for this price. The rear camera records fair video at day, but mediocre video at night.

The A500S supports a simple impact-triggered parking mode. Of course, like all the other dash cams featured here, it needs a hard-wiring kit for this to work.

Rexing V1: Cheap, But Does The Job

Rexing V1 dash cam

Price: Amazon US / CAmore countries & vendors (affiliate links)

Resolution: 1920×1080

Overall video quality: Good

Reliability: Good

Memory capacity: 256GB (over 42 hours)

Max Operating Temp.: 60°C / 140°F

Pros: 2.7″ screen, low price, lock file button, simple parking mode, optional external GPS

Cons: Internal battery, no Wi-Fi, no CPL

Full review: Rexing V1 Basic review

The Rexing V1 Basic is a stealthy low-cost dash cam that even supports a simple parking mode. It doesn’t have Wi-Fi, but it’s easy enough to set up and use with its 2.7″ screen and menu system.

You probably won’t need to consult the comprehensive user manual unless you experience some kind of issue, in which case the troubleshooting section will come in handy.

This camera has been around for a number of years, and has proven itself to be more reliable than most other dash cams at this price. Video quality is good at day, and fair during the night.