Why Do I Need a Dashcam and Which Should I get in 2022?
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In this day and age, dashboard cameras or dashcams have become a vital presence in a vehicle. It's extremely useful and the peace of mind it provides is priceless.
There’s very little more frustrating than being wronged on the road and having no evidence to hold the other party accountable for it. It gets worse when the culprits stubbornly refuse to admit to their blatant wrongdoings and the arguments that ensue can get really petty.
Disadvantages against getting a dashcam include it being a distraction to the driver and the cost of getting one but getting distracted by such a tiny screen sounds more like a ‘you’ problem and a good quality dashcam is as affordable as ever these days.
The pros far outweigh the cons with on-the-road disputes, erroneous speeding tickets, and damage to your parked vehicle among the issues that can be expedited to a resolution just by having a dashcam in your vehicle.
With that being said, what dashcam should you get? With its aforementioned increasing presence in vehicles all over Malaysia, the market for it is sure to be vast. These are some of the things that you should take into consideration:
Resolution and Frame Rate
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Imagine the frustration of being involved in a hit-and-run only to realize that your dashcam only caught blurry footage of the car’s license plate. Ensure that the dashcam you’re purchasing has a resolution of at least 1080p and a frame rate of 30 fps. Of course, if you can get something of a higher resolution and frame rate, go for it! This brings us to the next point…
Memory
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Dashcams usually run when your vehicle is in operation so it requires a decent amount of memory. When it runs out of memory, what happens is that the dashcam will delete and overwrite old footage. How much memory you have will determine how much backup footage you will have on your card before this happens. Bear in mind that higher resolutions and frame rates will take up more space so get enough memory to suit your needs!
Features
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GPS tracking, wireless connectivity, and audio recording are just some of the additional features that can be found in dashcams these days. Some might be more useful than others; if you’re driving a taxi or a private hire vehicle, for example, you may want to seek a dashcam with audio recording in case of any issues with passengers. Choose features according to your needs!
Here are some of our recommendations!
70mai Dashcam Pro Plus+ A500S RM345
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70mai is one of the most popular dashcam brands here in Malaysia due to its reliability and affordability. The A500s is one of its more popular products offering 1944p front camera resolution and a 140-degree field of view. It also has an abundance of useful features such as the Advanced Driver-Assistance System (ADAS) and 24-hour parking surveillance if you get the hardware kit.
DDPai Malaysia Dash Cam Mini RM159
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DDPai is another well-known brand here in Malaysia and the Dash Cam Mini is one of its cheaper products but it still manages to maintain a good amount of features such as a 330-degree rotatable lens for the option to record the interior of the car too. It has night vision and its 1080p resolution camera is as mentioned above, sufficient for its purposes.
DDPai Dash Cam Mola N3 RM239
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The Mola N3 is another excellent DDPai product. It’s more expensive than the Dash Cam Mini but for good reason! It offers all you can get in the Mini but with a better, 2k UHD resolution camera as well as ADAS and GPS features while still maintaining a reasonable price point.
Take the factors into consideration and pick one that also suits your budget. You can of course opt for pricier dash cams but we feel like these are great value-for-money options you can consider! Dash cam or no dash cam, always stay safe on the roads Motorists!
