Why Your Car Could Use a Dashcam

Features to consider

Image quality: Choose 1080p, high-definition as a minimum video resolution, as well as a model with a decent field of vision that can also deliver crisp, high-quality video in bright sunshine and at night. Consumer Reports recommends a dashcam with 4K resolution to record useful, high-quality video for insurance purposes.

Storage: Get a dashcam with a slot to insert an SD memory card, though the cost of the card itself is not always included with your purchase. Typically, when you’ve run out of storage (capacity depends on the size of the SD card and video resolution), the camera will record over older footage. But you always have the option to remove the card and download any video to save on your computer. Some models can upload video directly to the cloud, typically for a fee. For example, the Ring Protect Go subscription plan costs $6 per month or $60 per year. A seven-day Garmin Vault cloud subscription plan costs $4.99 when billed monthly, or $9.99 for 30 days of storage. Subscribers can send a secure link to an insurance company, say, of relevant incident footage that’s stored in the vault, says Garmin Vice President Caleb Herbst.

Single cam or multicam: Using a dual-facing camera lets you grab footage of the front of the car and inside the cabin, a smart choice to capture video of break-ins, or if you want to monitor your teen child or grandchild in the back seat while you drive. It might also add security if you’re moonlighting as a ride-share driver. “What happens in front of your windshield is only half the story,” Consumer Reports notes.

Key add-on: Consumer Reports also recommends looking for car cams that capture your GPS coordinates and log your speed, among other granular details. These can provide crucial evidence in an accident. Garmin’s Herbst concurs: “GPS is nice for a source of truth in terms of speed and stoppage points,” he says.

Power: Dashcams draw power when the ignition is on. They can be hard-wired to your car’s fuse box, which likely will require professional installation. Or they can also be plugged into the 12-volt outlet (formerly the cigarette lighter socket) or the OBD (on-board diagnostics) port beneath the steering wheel. Some run off an internal battery pack that will need to be recharged from time to time.

Though there’s some risk of draining your battery in a standby mode, according to online vendor The Dashcam Store, these cameras “consume very small amounts of power, so a healthy car battery in a vehicle that is driven regularly will have no problem supplying power to a dashcam for many hours or even days before reaching a safety cutoff threshold.”