Best dash cams 2025: the best cams reviewed and rated

Technology, like time, waits for no man and even though it is only just over a year since our last dash cam test, there’s a slew of new products on the market purporting to offer more features, better quality, lower prices and even AI inclusion than ever before. So while the benefits of a dash cam remain the same – protection in case of an accident or even more so if you are a professional driver – the choice is growing all the time. 

The five dash cams we have here have all been introduced since our last test and we are seeing prices coming down all the time. Interestingly, they all use the same video chip – the Sony Starvis 2 – and all but one come with a rear camera as well, for virtually all-round protection. One even rotates to capture 360deg of video coverage as it tracks potential hazards, according to the manufacturer. 

Four are windscreen or front mounted and one is a replacement mirror with a built-in screen. This one can also be triggered as a reversing camera when connected to the vehicle’s reversing lights and another comes with no less than three lenses – one at the front, one rear and an internal fisheye lens to cover the interior of the car. 

Prices range from just £129.99 up to almost £500, showing there is something for every pocket and every driver.  So, with that in mind, it's time to load up the microSD card, get out the power adapter and head out on a variety of conditions to see how they all perform. 

Best for dash cam for video quality – Viofo A329S
Best for value dash cam – VanTrue E1 Pro
Best for dash cam for features – MioFive Mirror 1

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Best dash cams 2025

1. Viofo A329S – Best for dash cam for video quality

What Car? rating - 4/5

Pros

 - Three-view coverage
 - Very good quality
 - App connectivity

Cons

 - Expensive
 - No auto-connection to phone
 - Lot of setting up physically

The Viofo is a monster in every sense of the word – huge spec, three lenses and by far the highest price tag. We should mention that there are a number of different options in the A329S range, and we tested one of the highest-specification – and most expensive – models

It comprises a central dash cam unit which houses the main forward-facing lens, plus a separate rear camera and a fisheye lens covering the car’s interior, meaning you’re covered from just about every angle. 

Set-up is straightforward – you set your timezone then it automatically syncs date and time once it acquires a satellite signal. Pairing it with your smartphone and the accompanying app is relatively straightforward though annoyingly, you have to manually activate the Wi-Fi signal on the camera to connect and come out of the app to select the camera as the Wi-Fi connection on the smartphone. Having said that, it is just a couple of button pushes that hopefully, you won't need to do too often. 

The front camera records in 4K with 2K quality coming from the rear lens as well as the interior.  You can set the recording duration from one to ten minute slices, and there’s a 2.4in screen on the rear of the main unit which shows all three angles. You can easily toggle between them to make one the priority, but the front view is the default. 

It has a built-in g-sensor so should automatically record what it thinks is an impact, and GPS location data syncs to the video when viewed through the app on a smartphone. It also has voice control and a parking mode, although you’ll need to hardwire the cam for this. 

You can protect video clips from being overwritten using the voice control or an easy-to-access button on the main unit. 

In use, the screen comes on to begin with but soon powers down, leaving the unit continuing to record, evidenced by a couple of flashing LEDs. It’s unobtrusive and just does its thing. Looking back at the footage, it gives nice, crisp images with very clear numberplates – a crucial aspect of any dash cam’s performance. 

This continues with the night-time footage, where it was able to pick out detail that some of the others missed. Like all, it highlighted clearly-lit fuel stations and reflective front numberplates very well but we were also able to identify other vehicles, both with the front and the rear camera, that others weren’t. 

The interior shots were very useful though took in a slightly ethereal tone at night, as you would imagine, but they were clean and showed everything that was going on in the vehicle. 

Downloading the footage to a computer brought all of the clips into one folder, with three examples of each labelled ‘F’ for front, ‘R’ for rear and ‘I’ for interior. Downloading to the smartphone app was relatively simple although this requires manually activating the Wi-Fi connection. Once you select and download the clip, you get the footage accompanied by a GPS trace, which offers additional backup for position. Speed, date and time are displayed on the footage. 

Tester’s insight “For someone wanting ultimate protection or a professional driver, the Viofo A329S  would be an excellent option. From the products here, it's the one I would fit to my own car.”

Buy it if

 - You want ultimate coverage
 - You are a professional driver

Don’t buy it if

 - You’re on a budget
 - You don't need three cameras

The facts

2. MioFive Mirror 1 – Best for dash cam for features

What Car? rating - 4/5

Pros

 - Great value
 - Excellent features 
 - Very good quality

Cons

 - Won't suit every vehicle
 - Night footage could be sharper
 - External GPS antenna odd

The last time we tested dash cams, the MioFive came away with the ‘Best for budget’ tag. This version, however, costs more – although it packs in the features.  

Unlike the other cameras here, the MioFive uses a replacement rear-view mirror that includes a massive screen and the integral forward-view camera. Allied to that is a separate rear camera and a GPS receiver, all connected through what appears to be a bird’s nest of wiring, but in reality a single connector to the mirror and a harness on the other end to connect power, the rear camera and the GPS dongle. 

Out of the box, it comes with everything you need; the dash cam unit with a self-adhesive backplate and rubber straps to attach to the car’s own mirror, the rear camera, GPS module, power leads, the wiring harness and a 128Gb microSD card. 

Fitting is easy; the mirror on our test car had a raised surround so we had to use the rubber straps instead of the adhesive mount to attach it. Once it’s powered on, the massive screen is touch sensitive, so you can either set it up from there or use the app. It's very intuitive and easy to navigate, as is the accompanying app which connects to the mirror without having to exit the app into the phone’s settings. 

The wiring harness includes a trigger wire to connect to the vehicle’s reversing lights so the rear-view camera becomes a parking aid. It also includes safety camera alerts which, as we found out in our testing, count down to the camera position with exceptional accuracy. 

The screen powers on for before shutting off after an adjustable delay, although you can leave it on permanently – handy for vehicles with restricted or no rear-view, such as vans. When it does shut off, a voice prompt tells you it’s still recording; from this point until you touch the screen again (or it registers what it thinks is an incident) it acts as a mirror. It records footage in slices of one, two or three-minute durations and it’s very easy to connect and download footage from the app. 

The only downside – and it's entirely due to the form factor rather than anything specific with the camera – is that it won't work for all vehicles. In our test car – a 2010 Volvo XC90 – the mirror is very chunky and includes a digital compass and electronic auto-dipping. However we positioned the mirror, the plastic trim around the Volvo’s rain and sunload sensors obscured the camera’s view to the front-right. For vehicles without any of this, it would give a much clearer picture. 

In use, the footage was nice – bright, clear and crisp with easy to identify features during daylight. Neglecting the blue tint in the images caused by the vehicle’s sun-strip, the footage is neutral with nothing in the way of over-saturation, yet it remains crisp and accurate. Numberplates are easily identified and pedestrians surrounding the vehicle are well brought-out. There was little motion blur yet even at night, it was possible to easily pick out the numberplates of stationary or parked cars ahead,. The rear-view camera wasn’t quite as crisp as some of the others in the dark and did suffer a little with motion blurring. 

Downloading the captured footage to the computer, we had two folders – Emr (emergency) and normal – each with one-minute slices of video. In the app, the footage plays and you can choose to add the GPS location trace or additional information, such as speed, elevation and position. 

Tester’s insight “The MioFive is a very impressive product, and at a really good price. It won't work for every vehicle but if it does for yours, it offers masses of features with really good quality footage to back it up. For vehicles with limited rear vision or vans, for example, it's a brilliant option.”

Buy it if

 - You want a massive screen
 - You want bang for your buck

Don’t buy it if

 - You have a lot going on around your OEM mirror
 - You don't want a lot of cabling going on

The facts

3. VanTrue E1 Pro – Best for value dash cam

What Car? rating - 4/5

Pros

 - Budget-friendly
 - Super-compact
 - Expandable

Cons

 - Basic
 - Screen hard to use
 - Clunky interface

The VanTrue E1 Pro is the baby of the bunch here and though it is small, as is its price, it punches above its weight. Out of the box, it's a tiny single camera unit (there are other packages available with additional lenses) but if you want a camera that is unobtrusive, fairly easy to set up but very easy to use, this is it. 

It comes with a magnetic self-adhesive mount which the camera clips into and houses the power connection. It is packaged with a 12V power plug with a further USB-C socket for data connection. Once you stick it to the windscreen and plug it in, you’re ready for a quick set-up and to start recording. 

The set-up interface is a little clunky, reminiscent of early budget action cameras with three buttons on the base of the unit to get going. There is only one selection button so if you scroll past your option, you have to go all the way round again, but once you’ve set the date and time and formatted the card, you can pair it with the matching app. You have to activate the Wi-Fi on the camera to do this and, initially, you have to come out of the app to pair your phone with the camera’s Wi-Fi connection. However, once you’ve done that, you can connect directly from the app, which is much easier. 

When powered up, the screen springs to life but as it’s so small, it is slightly deceptive of what the camera actually sees, so it’s better to check the live-view on the phone app. From the factory, the screen is set to stay on though you can choose to shut it off after a short period. You can also choose the length of each recording loop – it's three minutes as default and through the app, you can check the voice commands to ensure you have the right one. It also has a feature called ‘PlatePix’, a system designed to highlight numberplates at night for crucial identification.

In use, the recorded footage is clear and very well-balanced during the day, with very natural colours and crisp, accurate images. It highlights numberplates very well, even when moving, and there is very little distortion, which is impressive for a small camera. Its performance in the darkness is also impressive; it picked out lighted signs and directly-lit stationary numberplates very well but, although it was able to pick out elements of a moving vehicle’s front plate, it wasn’t as sharp as some of the others here. 

Downloading the footage to the computer, it comes in a selection of four folders – Event, Normal, Parking and Photo and due to the relatively high sensitivity of the g-sensor from the factory (we’d reduce this for longer-term use) roughly half was in Normal and half in Event. Using the smartphone app is easy and offers a view of the camera footage along with a GPS trace for the duration of the video with an instantaneous location shown as well. 

Options for expansion include an LTE box that allows remote connection to the camera, additional lenses or a Bluetooth remote control. 

Tester’s insight “As a basic, get-you-going dash cam, the VanTrue is a very good proposition. It’s great value and offers decent performance. Its daylight coverage is good and while its night-time performance is also good, it isn't quite as sharp as some others here. If you mainly use the car during they day, then it's great value.”

Buy it if

 - You are on a budget
 - You drive mainly during the day

Don’t buy it if

 - You want the easiest to set up
 - You want ultimate clarity in the dark

The facts

4. 70Mai 4K Omni

What Car? rating - 3/5

Pros

 - Rotating head
 - 4G expandability
 - Compact

Cons

 - Pricey
 - Footage not as sharp as others
 - Too much for some

The 70Mai Omni is a strange-looking fellow, rather like R2D2 from Star Wars, and features a rotating lens for 360deg coverage with AI sensing technology to track potential subjects and hazards. However, this didn't seem to do anything during our testing, where it only once rotated the full way, following what it seemed to perceive as an emergency situation. 

This particular bundle comes with a rear camera for all-round coverage and has an impressive specification. Like the others here, it uses a Starvis 2 sensor and is easy to set up from the box. You pair it with the app and the set-up is done on your smartphone – handy as the unit is very compact. While this means it has a small in-built screen, it does mean it is unobtrusive and once running, can be set to display a variety of images on the screen, including the time – or some very cheesy Tamagotchi-style graphics. 

It's a relatively light package, including the main camera with detachable mount, rear camera, connecting leads and the power lead with a 12V adapter. It promises clear night-time images thanks to its ‘Night Owl’ technology and there is also optional 4G connectivity to remotely monitor the camera. GPS sensors allow position data to be overlaid with footage and it can also provide parking cover, with a hardwire kit. 

It powers-up quickly and begins recording immediately. Downloading the captured images to the computer reveals six folders, each containing Front and Rear sub-folders, making it easy to find what you want. Out of the box, it records in one-minute slices although this can be changed through the app and when we tried voice control, it worked well. This is handy as there’s no easily-accessible button to lock the video, as on some of the other devices. 

The footage captured during the day is clear with well-balanced light and colours but it seems to be lacking a degree of detail that some of the others here display; the edges lack a little definition which gives it a slightly fuzzy feeling. You can still make out the necessary details but you have to manipulate the images slightly, zooming in and out until you achieve clarity. 

The night-time footage also has a feeling of softness to it but the numberplate recognition algorithms are clearly very well developed – they pick out front numberplates well even if it was impossible to identify vehicles from the rear. 

Downloading the footage to a smartphone is straightforward – you don't have to leave the app to communicate with the camera and footage viewed through the app includes GPS and driving data, including speed and position. 

Tester’s insight “An interesting concept with AI supposedly identifying and tracking potential hazards though in our testing, this didn't appear to work at all. Nonetheless, it's a compact and capable unit with reasonable but not excellent footage. The night-time imagery generally is lacking compared with some others and it also feels a bit pricey.” 

Buy it if

 - You want the latest technology
 - You like the concept of AI-driven protection

Don’t buy it if

 - You're on a budget
 - You drive at night a lot

The facts

5. Redtiger F7N

What Car? rating - 3/5

Pros

 - Inexpensive
 - Ready to go from the box
 - Swappable between cars

Cons

 - Quality not as good as some
 - Budget feel
 - Clunky interface

The Redtiger offering is a familiar one – very reminiscent of budget dash cams from a few years ago. It uses a removable mount with a suction device to hold it to the windscreen rather than an adhesive pad that the others here favour

The mount appears to feature a GPS sensor which you twist to lock to the screen; handy if you have more than one car you want to use it in, or perhaps while in a holiday hire car. It’s reasonably straightforward to set up, using up and down buttons to scroll through four pages of options, but it’s far easier to do this through the app, even if the options here are more limited.

It connects quickly with your phone but you’ll have to come out of the app to connect to the camera’s Wi-Fi network to alter the settings or download footage. You also have to manually activate the Wi-Fi network on the camera, which involves navigating through several screens to get to turn it on. Unfortunately, as soon as the camera powers off, you lose the Wi-Fi connection, so you have to instigate it when you power-up the device; not a massive issue but a bit annoying compared to others.

The built-in screen is useful and can offer access to some features. When powered-up, it shows the front camera’s view across the main unit with the rear camera view in the corner. This then shuts off to prevent distractions and it records in one-minute slices as default, although you can change this to three or five minutes.  

When downloading the footage to the computer, you get coverage arranged into three sections, each with a Front and Rear folder – Movie, Park and Photo. From our testing, there was a single image in Photo and Park and a series of one-minute slices in the ‘Movie’ folders. 

From our test, the footage was slightly disappointing; colours were natural and neutral but the clarity, particularly of numberplates, wasn’t at the level we’d like, even during the day. The rear camera, in particular, was fairly low quality. At night, however, plates on moving vehicles were unidentifiable, although the front plate on the stationary car was picked out very clearly. It wasn’t able to identify any vehicles while in motion, though.  

Downloading to the smartphone, we were faced with the same connection issues as with setting up, in that it was a clunky process but the GPS location data was overlaid on the display with the video and it was easy to find and arrange footage on the phone. 

Tester’s insight “The Redtiger is a bit old-school when it comes to dash cams. It feels more like a camera from a couple of years ago; the interface is clunky, the app not particularly intuitive and the footage, which is just acceptable during the day, is lacking at night, even with decent ambient lighting. It’s a decent price but needs to show clearer footage, particularly in darkness.”

Buy it if

 - You're on a budget
 - You want to move it from car to car

Don’t buy it if

 - You want clear night-time footage
 - You want something that is bang up-to-date

The facts

How we test dash cams

We fitted each of the five to the same vehicle, in the front windscreen, at the same time. There were four mounted to the glass and one over the car’s original mirror, with the mirror set to the same rear-view as normal driving. We also fitted the four accompanying rear-view cameras to the top of the tailgate trim facing backwards as well as the fisheye internal lens in the top right corner of the windscreen. 

We fitted each with the supplied SD card, which we formatted in-camera for each product before we went testing. 

We then drove a route over varied road conditions, from urban to rural and dual carriageways, in differing lighting conditions, from strong sunlight to cloud and eventually, at night. 

Once the test route was complete, we downloaded the footage directly to a laptop to see how good quality it was. We also downloaded it to a smartphone using the respective app, to see how easy that was to use and how effective it could be viewed in both scenarios. 

We used the factory settings for exposure, white balance and g-sensor sensitivity which would trigger an automatic recording (the camera assuming we had been involved in some form of impact) and we also tried the voice control where appropriate. 

How we rate dash cams

Ease of use – How simple was each to set up and get going right away? Could you adjust the settings directly on the camera or did you have to download an app? If on-camera, how straightforward was the menu system? If on an app, how simple was it to connect and prepare the camera for use?

App efficiency – How useful was the app and how easy was it to connect to the camera? Was it straightforward to download the footage from the camera to the phone, such as if we needed it? 

Video quality – How good was the footage in the different lighting conditions? Could we accurately make out numberplates of other vehicles or identify pedestrians? Did each give a clear view of the road ahead and behind? Did each pick up everything we might have needed?

Intrusiveness – How intrusive was each camera once the initial power-up procedure was complete? Did it trigger excessively or were any voice prompts annoying? Did the screen power-off eventually to prevent distractions? 

Features –In addition to the video recording, were there any additional features, such as GPS tracking, parking protection, safety camera alerts or AI assistance with driving scenarios, for example?

Images – The images showing the footage from each camera were screen-grabs taken from paused footage displayed on a 13-inch 2020 M1 Apple Macbook Pro with the video playing in QuickTime. All images were the same size on the screen – full width – and are not manipulated in any way. 

How we selected the dash cams to test

We selected a range of cameras to illustrate the technology that is available at different price points, with varying specifications and form factors. The products here represent some of the key manufacturers in the market, all of whom produce numerous options at different price-points and technology levels. 

About the author

Jim Blackstock has loved cars since he began helping keep the family runabout going when he was eight years old. Since then, he has owned, rebuilt and restored a selection of metal, from cursed early-80s Italian ‘exotica’ to enduring air-cooled VWs and everything between.

He is a qualified mechanical engineer and has worked in automotive publishing for more than 30 years, where his engineering background immediately drew him to product testing. He has tested everything from tyres to engine remaps; polishes to in-car entertainment and is a self-confessed tech addict.

He is also a keen motorcyclist and has recently been experimenting with broadcast-quality action cameras.   

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