The 5 Things To Look For When Buying A Dash Cam

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When driving, it can sometimes feel like the Wild West. Drivers weave in and out of traffic with reckless abandon on the highway, motorcyclists treat the interstate like a MotoGP course, and big trucks just do whatever they want. Knowing the rules of the road and staying level headed are a couple of the most important things you can do to keep yourself safe. Driving intelligently and keeping your wits about you (even when it seems that other drivers do not) is vital.

However, you can't control other drivers, and that's why a dash cam is so important. These cameras give you a leg up on driving safely and allow you to keep an eye out for any danger.

Few car models built in the past couple years come equipped with some form of a dash cam built in. For everyone else, there are a few things to look for when choosing the right model. Specifically, a camera like the Cievie D100 is a good option. It's a 4K-capable dash cam that can send video to your phone and act as a parking sentry. 

The Cievie D100 is also priced very reasonably. Typically retailing for $79.99, it's on sale for just $49.99 on Amazon Plus. Jalopnik readers can save an extra 20% with limited-time discount code JALOPNIK20, dropping the price to a can't beat $39.99. Act fast while supplies last.

First and foremost, you need a good resolution camera. In the event of an accident, anything lower than 1080p isn't going to be very helpful when you need license plate numbers or anything that requires fine detail. Looking for an option that records in 4K is going to be your best option that covers a lot of bases. Higher resolution cameras exist, but 4K gives you great detail without taking up a tremendous amount of data.

On the enthusiast side of the equation, 4K also gives you a crisp enough image that you can even use the footage recorded from your dash cam at a track day or autocross event to upload to social media. More resolution is never a bad thing. If you are looking for a camera that offers 4K resolution for the front-facing camera and 1080p for the rear facing camera, the Cievie D100 is a great option. 

If the worst-case scenario happens and you get in a crash, you need a dash cam that can automatically save footage. If you are incapacitated or otherwise unable to mess around with camera settings, knowing the camera has already saved the footage can lift some of the mental burden of recreating what happened. The camera already did that work for you. You'll want to look for something with an accelerometer onboard or similar. Some brands, like Cievie, call it a "G-sensor." The Cievie D100 has onboard G-Sensors that automatically record and save footage in the event of a crash.

Outside of an accident, some cameras even have extra functionality to enable a parking mode that keeps an eye on your car when it's parked. This allows the dash cam to keep recording at all hours to ensure that your wheels are safe from anyone who has not-so-good intentions. Even if your car is safely parked in a garage or otherwise generally safe, it's never a bad thing to have an extra electronic set of eyes that don't get tired or bored keeping a watchful gaze on things. If this is important to you, the Cievie D100 has the capability to monitor your car while it's parked through an extra hardware kit.

If all a dash camera did was record video, that would be "okay" for the most part, but for a generally better usage experience, you really want something that does that and a lot more. Since you likely won't constrain your driving to the daytime hours, you want night-vision. It's almost a "need" feature as opposed to a "want." Fortunately, the Cievie D100 can utilize its night-vision capabilities to allow it to record in the dark.

Additionally, while just about every dash cam out there can record to an SD card or MicroSD card, you also want a camera that can transmit data to an external device like your phone. This is most frequently achieved through Wi-Fi and an accompanying app on your phone. In the event you can't physically get to your camera to remove the SD card and recover footage, having a wireless connection is a must. The Cievie D100 can utilize Wi-Fi to stream to your phone – it's got a lot under the hood.

A dash cam that's easy to use is also crucial. If you're installing it in your car, make sure it's straightforward to set up and actually use. You want something that can swivel to position easily. Also look for a camera that allows for 360 degree movement of the camera lens.

In the functionality department, a wide angle view is necessary. Getting everything in frame is important to ensure that you have all the information you need to give to insurance companies, the police, or other drivers. As simplistic as it sounds, more is just better when it comes to dash cams, and you can never have too wide of an angle (as long as it's within reason). You will want something within the 170-degree range for the best view angle.

The D100 from Cievie has a 170-degree view angle (the rear-facing camera is 150-degrees) and a 360-degree swivel, making the mounting and framing process pretty hassle-free. Additionally, it's not very big. The onboard screen is only 1.5-inches across, so it's the perfect size for adjusting and viewing footage without being a distraction when it's running.

Let's face it: Owning a car is expensive. Even if you don't have a car payment, you still have to pay for gas (or charging), insurance, tires, wiper blades, all the various fluids to keep it happy, and the list goes on. A dash cam shouldn't add more financial burden on top of all the regular costs associated with driving.

Fortunately in 2025, it's possible to find high-tech products that don't come with a super high price tag. There are a number of dash cam options out there that are priced well under $100, with some full featured models coming in at the $80 ballpark. If you like a certain camera enough, you might want to equip your whole fleet of cars with it, and a good price out the door makes that possible. Additionally, in the unlikely event that your car gets totaled and the camera gets damaged or destroyed in the process, you don't want the extra hassle of dropping hundreds of dollars to equip your next car. A dash camera that's inexpensive helps out. Dash cameras aren't disposable, but not spending more than you need to goes a long way.

The Cievie D100, for example, typically retails for $79.99, but it's on sale for just $49.99 on Amazon Plus. Jalopnik readers can save an extra 20% with limited-time discount code JALOPNIK20, dropping the price to a can't beat $39.99. If you want the aforementioned optional hardware for the parking surveillance mode, that's also on sale for $62.98 – still an absolute steal for such a well-rounded dash cam.