High-End Dash Cams vs. Budget Dash Cams

There are many reasons why Thinkware, and BlackVue, cameras are more expensive than the low-cost dash cams available on Amazon, and these features make a huge difference not only in image quality, but also in performance and long-term reliability. Here are the top reasons that make high-end dash cams a better choice for your driving experience and, most importantly, safety. From a discreet design, top-tier image quality, advanced features, and long-term reliability.

Budget dash cams typically come with an LCD display screen. While the screen offers instant playback and settings configuration via buttons, having a screen does add to the size and bulk of the dash cam, which we do not recommend for security, and legality reasons.

Many of these cheaper cameras also come with a suction cup for mounting, which is worse than adhesive mounts. Suction cups are known to cause shaky footage, make the camera take up more space, and in high heat, leave your camera hanging, literally.

On the other hand, the sleek design of premium dash cams using adhesive allows you to hide the dash cam behind the rear-view mirror away from sight, making it harder for potential wrong-doers to spot. Premium dash cam manufacturers also utilize high-quality plastics that match the OEM parts and style, allowing the dash cams to blend in with the rest of the interior of your vehicle, a stock in-cabin look.

“Both the cheap and expensive cameras are 4k, they are the same resolution, right?” Wrong! Many factors go into dash cam resolution, and you can’t always trust what resolution is written on the box.

All dash cams have the capacity to record, but the video quality can vary. Dash cams with higher quality provide you with a better chance of capturing important details like license plates. While some may claim that daytime video quality is comparable among premium and budget cameras, 4K UHD does provide a greater distance of license plate readability, allowing you to zoom in on details without sacrificing clarity. 2K QHD and Full HD can situationally record clear footage, offering higher frame rate options up to 60 fps. With higher frame rates, your dash cam video playback is smoother, even when driving at high speed.  

At night, the disparities between cameras are even more visible. It can be more difficult to produce a dash cam with excellent nighttime video quality, and this is one key area where premium cameras outperform their budget equivalents. If you would compare the Super Night Vision capability of an Amazon 4K dash cam vs. Thinkware U3000 with Super Night Vision 4.0, you would see the difference in an instant. While high quality image sensors help with night vision, Super Night Vision 4.0 and other features are mainly reliant on the CPU and software found within the unit.

Digging deeper in Amazon, we found that there are still dash cams available that also advertise 4K video resolution, but the catch is, they’re fake 4K. Many cheap models have different ways of skirting their way into the 4k category, be it reducing the framerate from the default 30 fps. Upscaling is increasing the resolution to make the video appear sharper and more detailed, by artificially adding pixels to existing images, but this won’t magically add new details to the video.

As of 2023, the latest and most advanced image sensor is the Sony STARVIS 2.0, which powers up our freshest dash cams. Compared to other image sensors like the first generation STARVIS and other names like Omnivision, Sony STARVIS 2.0 performs exceptionally in low light conditions, giving footage more vibrant colours and a balanced dynamic range. We firmly recommend cameras going with cameras using Sony image sensors, especially STARVIS 2.

If your dash cam doesn’t have parking mode recording, you are MISSING a LOT. Parking mode means that recording is done even when your engine is off, and your car is parked – which is a long duration on most days. Fortunately, most dash cams nowadays, including entry-level models, already include parking mode with impact detection. But not all parking modes are built the same.

With premium dash cams, you get more than one parking mode – you get time lapse, auto event detection, low bitrate recording, energy-saving parking mode, and buffered recording. Buffered recording includes the few seconds before and after the impact, giving you a complete picture of what really happened.

Some premium dash cams like Thinkware models are especially long-lasting in parking mode, with special power-conserving software, like the Thinkware U3000 and the new Thinkware F70 Pro. They boast Energy Saving Parking Mode 2.0 to conserve power while caring for your battery, and Smart Parking Mode to prevent heat-related damage by automatically switching to low-power mode if the temperature inside the vehicle gets too high, still recording while other units shut down. Beyond that, the Thinkware U3000 has a built-in radar sensor to conserve much more power than previous models.

Higher-end dash cams, which use supercapacitors instead of lithium-ion batteries, can withstand extreme temperatures. More Amazon dash cams are battery-powered and hence prone to exploding under extreme heat, just like when using a smartphone as a dash cam.

In contrast to batteries, which can only endure a limited amount of heat, supercapacitor-based cameras can withstand temperatures ranging from 60 to 70 degrees Celsius (140 to 158 degrees Fahrenheit). More expensive dash cams, in addition to superior manufacture and stronger materials, also use AI Heat Monitoring, which also extends the life of your dash cam. Supercapacitors also help with the unit's longevity, increasing stability and decreasing the risk of internal damage when outside of temperature ranges.

The power supply is key in temperature resistance for dash cams, but there are still plenty of other factors at play here. Check your unit for plenty of ventilation, and ensure that they are built with reliable materials, as opposed to cheap plastic that will absorb heat.

To prove to you how high-end dash cams are more reliable and safe, check out our temperature-tolerance special series, Beat the Heat!

Premium dash cams come with various features for convenience ease of use and a quick connection.

In the event of an accident, for example, you may be asked to share the tape with the authorities on the spot. In this scenario, you can use the mobile app to save a copy of the movie to your phone and then email it to yourself – a total time and energy saver!

High-quality dash cams also offer a 5GHz WiFi connection, which is more reliable and has less interference than standard 2.4ghz connections. Top-tier dash cams will even sport a dual-band connection, offering both Wi-Fi speeds simultaneously. But with premium models, connections are even easier with Bluetooth.

Adding Bluetooth to dash cams has been one of the latest advancements in dash cams. While WiFi remains the go-to option for streaming footage to your phone, Bluetooth has proven invaluable in providing a seamless connection to your phone, in the same way Android Auto, or Apple Carplay does. Some brands, such as Thinkware have even gone a step further with recent models like the U3000 and F70Pro allowing for Bluetooth to operate simple functions like changing settings.

Unlike Wi-Fi, the built-in Bluetooth enables you to connect your compatible Android or iOS device via in a matter of seconds to effortlessly replay your latest driving videos and manage your dash cam’s settings, 100% hands-free. This can be time-saving and helpful in the event that you need to recover footage immediately, like for traffic violations and proving the truth of what happened.

Some models even feature voice communcation and controls, allowing the camera to verbally inform you on the camera's status, or easily control it while you focus on the road.

If you want the highest level of peace of mind, a Cloud-ready premium dash cam is the way to go. Present in BlackVue and Thinkware, this connectivity feature is valuable, especially with its remote connection capabilities.

The Cloud enables drivers to remotely access and interact with their dashcam in real-time from anywhere, with an internet connection. This means that drivers can check live footage of their vehicle's surroundings, receive instant notifications of events such as accidents or impacts, and even communicate with their car through two-way audio, all from the convenience of their smartphone or computer. This remote connection provides an extra layer of security, peace of mind, and convenience, allowing you to remain on top of issues from your smartphone anytime, from any location.

While budget dash cams don’t have this, we have Thinkware Connected and BlackVue Cloud. These dash cams are highly recommended to monitor your vehicle, your driver, and your passengers, especially for young drivers and fleet managers.

We mentioned that high-end dash cams are capable of providing Cloud services, which also requires an internet connection. Unfortunately, budget dash cams don’t have the cloud, and can’t also create their own internet connection.

In some cases, dash cams have to connect to outside Wi-Fi sources, but what if you’re away and you need internet? For BlackVue dash cams, if you don’t have an optional CM100G LTE external module, you can also get a dash cam with internet built-in!

Through these built-in LTE models, you get an instant internet connection that makes Cloud access a breeze! All you need is an active SIM card with a data plan, and you’re connected to your phone, dash cam, and other devices that need the internet. Also best for instant Cloud Connectivity!

We all know how important micro SD cards and storage are. No SD card? No video. One of the things that usually annoys us is when the “Memory Card Full” notification shows up on our screen, which is a usual scenario for budget dash cams with small storage capacities.

While budget dash cams normally support 16 GB to 128 GB max, premium dash cams can carry up to 256 GB and even 512GB like the VIOFO A229 Pro.

Beyond this, with dash cams like Thinkware, you also get the Memory Partitioning feature. This refers to allocating the available storage space on the dash cam's memory card for functions like loop recording where the oldest files get overwritten when the storage is full. By partitioning the memory, a specific portion is dedicated to loop recording to ensure that the dash cam always has recent footage available.