Best dashcam

Hello

Looking to buy a dash cam currently interested in either the garmin tandem or garmin mini 2. Also does the dongle adapter work for tandem?

 

Edit: I don't see the Garmin tandem listed on their website but I don't see why it wouldn't work with the Dongar. I'd emailed them and ask. They are great with responding.

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I have the Garmin 57W with the Dongar Tech doohickey to plug directly into my rear view mirror. Camera works without issue and starts recording as soon as the truck is turned on. A buddy of mine has the Garmin mini and its a small little thing, but since there is no screen you'd have to view videos on your phone app to make sure its angled right.

https://dongar.tech/products/garmin57kit

Also, I bet you'll end up getting 15 different opinions as I know Blackvue, Rexing, Viofo, and many others make decent products. FYI, I only have a front facing 57W and have yet to add a second channel to record the rear of the truck, but I also don't do enough driving to justify that.

Good luck in your search.

 

I have an older one from 2019 right now that is failing on me, and I'm planning on replacing it with this:

$140 REDTIGER F7N 4K Dual Dash Cam with 64GB Card, Built-in WiFi GPS Front 4K/2.5K and Rear 1080P Dual Dash Camera for Cars,3.18" Screen,170° Wide Angle, Parking Monitor, Support 256GB Max

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TT1RRGP/?coliid=I2E06L61H5AOY5&colid=3EBKS1LKD88FB&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

It will still get power off of my dongle:

$33 Dongar Dashcam Power Adapter (12-pin for '15-'23 Toyota Tacoma. Also Compatible with Select Sienna, Honda, and More), Connects to Rearview Mirror, Built-in USB Power Source, Easy to Install

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DMW3DML?ie=UTF8

The rear camera gets its power off of the front camera, and the front camera plugs into the dongle. No cables hanging around, and maybe this one will work when I want it to without me having to reset it every morning.

 

I have the Garmin Mini 1st Gen, its great. I use the Dongar connection and it keeps my windshield free of cables hanging all over.

 

It’s in there.

 

The Garmin Mini 2 has worked great for me so far.

 

How well does the constant power cable work (obd2 connector) really looking for something for thief protection and vandalism. Since the truck got broken into a month ago.

 

Sorry for the confusion. I see the Tandem on the Garmin website and it looks like a solid product, but I don't see it listed on the Dongar website: https://dongar.tech/collections/plug-and-play-dash-cam-bundles

 

i have a dongar and garmin mini, got them around april 2019. works fine, but only when the truck is on. i dont need to see the screen all the time, only if there is an incident. if there is i pull the card or download the video to my phone.

if you want an always on camera, i thought you needed to hardwire it into something and cant use the dongar thing.

 

Right I believe garmin makes a constant power cable to keep the camera always on when parked.

 

Something like this:

OBD2 OBD Power Cable for Dash Camera, Ssontong OBD to Mini USB OBDII Adapter Hardwire Charger Cable 24 Hours Surveillance and Acc Two Mode with Switch Button(Mini USB Port)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RXTJK4F/?coliid=I29QRH35ZNKORO&colid=3EBKS1LKD88FB&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

That’ll work! Thanks

 

If you’re looking for the “best” dashcam for protecting your truck from false claims I would steer away from Garmin and go with the BlackVue DR900X-2CH. If you’re going to hardwire a Garmin to record while parked you have to run a separate wire down to the fuse block regardless of having the adapter that hooks into the rear view mirror so might as well upgrade. I’ve been running the BlackVue for 2 years with zero issue and the quality is amazing, true 4K front camera and 1080p rear. It also has a battery cut off so if sitting recording for days on end of the battery drops to a certain voltage it will cut power so your truck always starts up and you don’t have to deal with a dead battery and jump starting. To use your phone you just get onto the BlackVue WiFi and easily view, edit, and download videos and can even access the cameras anytime if parked outside your house. I also installed a 128gb Samsung SD card and used tap a fuses into the driver kick panel fuse block. Install only required one trim piece to be removed, the driver A pillar and was one 10mm bolt. Link to the camera below, can’t recommend it enough.

BlackVue DR900X-2CH with 32GB microSD Card | 4K UHD Cloud Dashcam | Built-in Wi-Fi, GPS, Parking Mode Voltage Monitor | LTE via Optional CM100 LTE Module

$400 BlackVue DR900X-2CH with 32GB microSD Card | 4K UHD Cloud front Dashcam | Built-in Wi-Fi, GPS, Parking Mode Voltage Monitor | LTE via Optional CM100 LTE Module

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D99FZ29?_encoding=UTF8

 

That dongle will work with the red tiger?

 

All the dongle is a pass-through power tap on the mirror to a USB-A port. I have an 8” mini-usb cable running from that to my current camera. Done. No trying to snake wiring under trim from the OBD port or 12V adapter.

 

ROAV by Anker DashCam A1, Dash Cam for Car, Driving Recorder, 1080p FHD LCD Screen, Nighthawk Vision, Wide Angle Lens, Wi-Fi, G-Sensor, WDR, Loop Recording, Night Mode, Motion Detection, Dedicated App

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076GYGVY5?ie=UTF8

I bought this several years ago. I also have the dongle for the mirror. This has served its purpose for me so far.

 

I have the tandem and the dongle I use hooks up to rear view mirror power

 

+1 for the Garmin Tandem!

 

Another non-Garmin option that I'm now running in two vehicles is the Nexar. It's a different take on the dash cam. Super high quality video with telemetry overlayed on the video. It links to your phone automatically via WiFi while your driving and streams through to the Cloud for free. Automatic stop and shut-off when you start and stop the vehicle. Detects high G impacts as well as hard braking events. It also has the Parking Feature where it sleeps but if it sees movement in front of the lens, that would include jiggling the car, it records the event and saves to stream to vehicle when your phone is in proximity.

Cool feature is you can immediately quick edit a video from the phone and click an "Insurance" button and it will generate a video with all your pertinant info including telemetry, location, video, and with a push of the button, zips it off to an email or share as you like. I have the smaller unit called a "Beam" but I'm thinking of stepping up a notch just because. My preference is to hardwire it as I always have done with my Garmins...which I run in the rear facing position, now.

 

Do you have a link to the camera you are using?