A Perfectionist's Journey of Dashcam Shopping
Oscar
breaker of thingsI finally installed a dash cam, and the process was more difficult than it should have been. There were so many choices, and options-- the analysis paralysis was real. After much googling and youtubing, I refined my requirements below.
What I wanted (I thought?)
- Something easy to use. I don't need video of the cabin, 5k video, Alexa compatiblity, or multiple cameras
- Should be small and inconspicuous
- A decent mobile companion app
- I should be able to easily remove the camera to store in the glove box, or elsewhere
- Easy installation. I don't want to ruin my car, but paying someone a lot of money in these lean times was not my preference.
A leap of faith, disappointment, and a solution
I orginally bought a Kenwood dashcam from Bestbuy. It was roughly $200 and garbage from the beginning. I had difficulty getting the camera to sync with my phone. When I had finally installed it in the car, it stopped working altogether. I returned it for a refund after having it for only 3 days.
After much Youtubing, and Googling, I decided on the Garmin Dashcam 57. It was easy to set up out the box, the app connected fairly well, and the installation was easy. I bought the Garmin ODB2 power cable to power it up. I tucked the cables under the headliner and trim. I had to stop by Autozone to get a plastic auto trim tool to pull the plastic part of the A-pillar on my vehicle just enough to tuck the power cable under it. This made for a very clean look.
Don't know what an ODB 2 connector is? Check out this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEklm9V6xYE&ab_channel=AutoFun
This video has decent example of how to tuck the wires under your trim. I did not remove any paneling like the guy in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0qzgboJkKk&ab_channel=CarTeckNow
So how is the Garmin, and what have I learned?
I've had the Garmin 57 for 3 weeks now, and I'm happy with it. The mobile app isn't perfect, and from what I gather, pretty much all the dash cam apps are ok at best. I thought having a cam that synched with mobile app quickly was important, but I've found they all are sub-optimal. If you want to grab video from your camera, the best way is to just hook it up to your computer with a usb cable. It's quicker. The Garmin desktop apps don't look all that great, but they do work.
Even though Garmin is not usually rated as the best dashcam, I feel they do place enough emphasis on it to fund the teams developing the cameras and apps. Kenwood, for example, has a reputation for excellent hifi audio, but the dashcam development seemed to be an afterthought. Get the Garmin 57, you'll find it adequate, and you won't have to fret like I did, and get on with your life.
update Sept 13, 2022
This video by Linus Tech Tips gives a great technical breakdown on why dashcam shopping is so frustrating.