Life moves pretty quickly. If you don’t have a dash cam to record an incident, you could miss it.
Accidents—even small ones—can be frightening, frustrating, and distressing. Being blamed for a crash that’s not your fault can add a whole additional level of annoyance—or worse. That’s why a dash cam can be a critical aid if the unexpected happens.
After researching more than 400 models and testing 61, we’ve found that the best overall dash cam is the Viofo A229 Pro. It delivers clear and sharp 4K video, is easy to use, and has useful features, like GPS and 24-hour parking monitoring. It comes in 1-, 2-, and 3-channel versions, to suit your specific needs.
The Viofo A229 Pro features clear, detailed 4K video during the day and—more crucially—at night. Though no dash cam is perfect, the A229 Pro will give you the best chance of being able to read another car’s license plate in the widest variety of conditions.
This dash cam features a supercapacitor, which should be more reliable in high temperatures than the lithium-ion batteries found in many dash cameras. It also has 24-hour parking monitoring, voice control, and a 2.4-inch screen (for quick access to settings and footage). It’s easy to install and use, with an app that offers lots of features, including a GPS map and the ability to trim clips before you save or send them.
The A229 Pro is available in 1-, 2-, and 3-channel versions. And you can also add the interior or rear camera to the 1-channel model at a later time.
The Miofive S1 is an inexpensive dash cam whose features and performance are better than its price would suggest. Despite its bargain status, this dash cam meets all of our required criteria, including 4K resolution, great low-light performance, GPS tracking, a supercapacitor, and 24-hour parked-car monitoring.
Unlike our top pick, however, it doesn’t have an interior- or rear-facing camera—so you can’t record what’s going on inside the vehicle or behind you.
If you’re willing to spend more (about double as of this writing), the Miofive S1 Ultra has the same main camera and adds a 4K rear camera. The Viofo A229 Pro has a little better build quality and sturdier mount for its even higher price, but the S1 and S1 Ultra are great options for those on a budget.
The Viofo A229 Pro has everything you could want in a dash cam. The front camera records in 4K resolution, which is far sharper than the footage from older, 1080p dash cams. And the videos it records have lots of detail and contrast, so it’s easy to pick out license plates from a distance, even at night.The A229 Pro uses a supercapacitor instead of a battery, so it should be safer and more reliable, regardless of climate. Built-in GPS and a 24-hour parking mode ensure constant, data-rich coverage. Best of all, this dash cam comes in 1-, 2-, and 3-channel versions, so you can add extra cameras to fit a variety of needs and uses.
Its video quality is as good as or better than any dash cam we tested. Thanks to a modern Sony Starvis 2 (IMX678) image sensor, the A229 Pro can record low-noise images in low light and colorful, high-contrast images in bright light. Though its footage is not as good as what you’d get from an action camera or modern smartphone camera, the only other dash cam that came close was the 70mai, in our other good dash cams section.
It can withstand extreme temperatures. The lithium-ion batteries that come in most modern devices don’t work well in high heat or extreme cold. In the best case, a stressed lithium ion battery can cause a dash cam to stop working temporarily due to excessive heat. At worst, the battery could expand or explode, though this is rare.
The A229 Pro instead uses a supercapacitor, which maintains enough charge to save a video and shut down the camera when you turn off your car. This also allows the camera to operate from -4 to 149 degrees Fahrenheit.
The app is easy to use. Once you turn on the camera’s Wi-Fi and connect to it with your phone, the Viofo app (iOS, Android) lets you watch and download videos. On playback, you can see where each video was recorded on a map, courtesy of the built-in GPS receiver. There are also extensive settings, including camera exposure and video quality adjustments.
Multiple camera options are available. The A229 Pro comes in three configurations. The base version, available via Viofo’s website, has a single forward-facing 4K camera built into the unit. The 2-channel version, which we recommend for most drivers, adds a rear 1440p camera. And the 3-channel version, which is what we tested, adds an interior camera. At night, this interior camera records in infrared, aided by four small IR lights that illuminate the car interior with light invisible to your eye, allowing for bright videos even in total apparent darkness.
It has fast video download speeds. If your phone supports it (as most do), the camera can create a 5 GHz Wi-Fi network for faster downloads. Alternatively, you can remove the SD card and transfer the files to your computer using a card reader. Some modern phones might also be able to download via a USB-C cable directly between the camera and the phone, though we were unable to get this to work on our Pixel 7.
Installation is easy. The camera comes with a sticky pad on a flat mount that securely attaches to your windscreen. If you need to take it off and readjust, a plastic lever tool is included in the box (ostensibly to help remove your car’s interior trim), and it easily pops the mount off. You can also remove the camera and leave the mount, if desired.
The camera is powered via USB-C, and a long cable is included, as well as a small 12v adapter. If your car is equipped with a 2-amp or greater USB port, that should also work.
A hardwire kit is available. Most cars cut power to their various 12v and USB ports when the car is off. If your car does this, and you want to be able to record video while your car is parked, you’ll need to hardwire the camera to your car’s fuse box.
Viofo has several kits available, though what exactly you’ll need will depend on your car. See How to set up a dash cam below for more info.
There are useful included (and optional) accessories. The 12V adapter that comes with the A229 Pro has an additional USB port so you can charge a different device. A included circular polarizing lens (CPL), an option with some cameras and not available at all with others, can cut down on dashboard glare in certain lighting conditions, and it can improve the look of the videos by adding contrast. It should have a negligible effect on low-light performance. Not included but available separately is a Bluetooth remote control that you can click to permanently save the clip currently being recorded.
It has a one-year warranty. The A229 Pro has a one-year warranty. If you register your camera with Viofo, it will add an additional six months, bringing the total to 18 months.
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