Whether you are an Uber, Lyft, a taxi driver, or just want to feel like James Corden in his Carpool Karaoke show while driving, you might consider a dash cam with a cabin camera included.
By installing a dash cam in your car, you’re ensuring that the footage of a possible problem or even an accident will be recorded to show the truth. But what about the situations that happen inside the car? This is a common question from all the professional drivers. Due to the development of technology, we have the answer.
Having a dash cam with a cabin camera will not only provide a piece of evidence when someone is misbehaving inside of the car but will also work as prevention. A number of ride share drivers claim the number of problematic cases decreased exponentially once a cabin camera is installed.
Here we will introduce you to some of our top picks for a dash cam with a cabin camera, but before that, we will go through the important features you should consider before buying one.
Features
Video quality and resolution
It’s funny how we tend to forget about the main feature when looking to buy a certain product. Often because we get overwhelmed with in-depth specifications and frivolous fancy details.
When it comes to the world of cameras, an important feature to look out for is the resolution. If the dash cam can record more pixels, it will make the image look clearer and cleaner if you have to zoom in to find that license plate or the car make and model. What we are looking for is a minimum of 1080p to a maximum of 4k resolution. For most people 1080p is a good resolution for most cases.
Besides the resolution, another important aspect of the good quality video is the frame rate. Frame rate, measured in frames per second (FPS), is a number that tells you how much photos are taken within the 1 second of video. And if we go back to basics, a video is no more than a large number of photos played sequentially.
The common frame rate for dash cams is 30FPS. While there are some cameras on the market with the ability to record at 60FPS, they are still not as popular. The reason may be within the downsides of a higher frame rate video. Common problems are greater memory usage and a higher demand for light. In other words, footage shot during the night gets darker with the increase of frame rate.
Cabin Camera Quality
If you’re looking for a dash cam that is equipped with a cabin camera, most likely you have a need to record other passengers in your vehicle. This is important especially if you drive in rough neighborhoods or in less optimal times of the day.
You will want to record any disputes, arguments or even acts of violence if they happen. You will also want to record standard events as well just in case someone decides to lie about something.
For a cabin facing camera you are looking for good low light conditions. Some cabin cameras are equipped with infrared sensors which is even better. How do you know if it has good low light conditions? Look for low apertures which measures how much light the lens takes in. F/1.4-1.8 are optimal.
Another aspect of a cabin camera is audio. While most dash cameras do record audio, double check that the dash cam has a microphone. Verbal abuse can be common after a drunken night out if you are in the ride share business. You will want to dispute any actions against you whether that be bad reviews or even police reports.
The angle of the lenses
Once you make sure the quality of a frame is good enough, it’s time to consider that frame wide enough to capture everything you may need. Therefore we are coming to the second most important feature which is the angle of the camera lenses.
A width of a viewing angle is shown in degrees, and for this one – the higher is better in most cases. A higher lens width is good unless the quality of the picture gets distorted.
Whether you want to capture the plates of a car not directly in front of you or something important is happening on the sides, a wide-angle lens will get the job done.
A sweet spot for lens width is between 140 and 170 degrees.
Parking mode
Protection of a parked car surely isn’t the first thing you think of when talking about the dash cams. However, as technology improves, right now we have cameras capable of recording 24/7.
For sure you’ve been thinking about what’s happening with your car during the night, when you’re at work, or when you leave for a couple of hours for shopping.
With surveillance mode on, you can be sure to record all the possible problems happening when you’re not present. The camera is triggered with motion, meaning it will start recording every time someone or something is moving around.
So, if your ex-wife comes to the idea to scratch paint on your car, you’ll have her recorded.
Just kidding. This is an extremely useful feature since crashes and scratches of parked cars happen daily. And in most cases, you never find out who did it. By recording this act, you’ll hopefully see the license plates, meaning you won’t be the one who is covering the damage.
Toguard CE45 Uber Dash Cam
Toguard is considered as one of the best value for money manufacturers.
While shooting with both, cabin and outside cameras simultaneously, video resolution can go as much as full HD at 1080P. This resolution is considered enough for most of the cases, yet if you want more, by turning off one camera, another can record 2160P UHD, making sure all the license plates are clear.
A major advantage of this dash cam with cabin camera is the ability to rotate both cameras for 180 degrees while shooting with a 170-degree lens.
Since the built-in battery is small for safety reasons, it’s recommended to connect the camera to the external power supply.
It’s important to notice that motion detection features need to remain off while driving since it can make recording intermittent leading to corrupted footage.
In the package, besides the camera, you will find a car charger, suction cup, adhesive stickers, crowbar, cable clamps, and user manual.
Pros
- Good value for money
- 340° Wide-angle and 360° Rotatable Cameras
- MicroSD expandable up to 128GB
Cons
- Weak suction cup
Rexing V3
Coming from a company that has a long history in the dash cam market the Rexing V3 is finally making its debut.
Both cabin and front facing cameras record in 1080p and both have ultra wide angle lenses at 170 degrees ensuring maximum coverage.
What differs from the competition and this dash cam is the amazing infrared night vision. If you’ve ever watched Ghost Hunters on TV, you’ll know what I mean by infrared camera footage. Also, the wide dynamic range technology helps with the brightness and the exposure, giving excellent results in low-light conditions.
Furthermore, Rexing V3 is rich in additional features such as a built-in GPS logger, Wi-Fi connection to your smartphone for quick viewing, and a super capacitor battery making it able to withstand extremely warm and cold weather.
Pros
- Great night vision w/ infrared sensors
- Superb Image Quality
- WiFi Capabilities
Cons
- Only 1080p resolution
Vantrue N4
If you are looking for maximum protection and security, this 3-channel dash cam is for you. This is the newest, and the best camera by far from Vantrue. With the N4, you will be able to simultaneously record what is happening in front of your car, behind it, and inside as well for all-around protection.
Cameras are recording in 1440P+1080P+1080P at 30FPS, with angles of 155° for the front, 165° inside, and 160° rear camera. If this resolution is still not good enough for you, there is an option to switch to 2 cameras boosting the resolution to 2560x1440P in the front and 1920x1080P for inside the cabin or rear camera.
Words of praise go to N4’s infrared night vision and Sony STARVIS CMOS sensor. Because of them, this dash cam outperforms most of the cameras on the market when it comes to video quality and visibility of details.
Pros
- Great low light performance
- 3-channel dash cam ensures ultra coverage
- Super Capacitor battery
Cons
- No WiFi functionality
AQP 4K Dual Dash Cam
From AQP we are getting a “resolution beast” dash cam. It’s equipped with a powerful SONY IMX335 sensor, recording in 4k resolution at 30FPS. When capturing simultaneously, we still have an amazing resolution of 2560x1440P for the front and 1920x1080P for the cabin camera.
We’re also thankful for the Wi-Fi connection, so you don’t have to take an SD card out every time you want to see the footage. Speaking of SD cards, within the package you will have a 32GB SD card included; a very nice touch!
This may not seem like much space, but when we take into consideration a built-in compression this camera has, it might be more than enough. By using LBR mode, this camera is able to put 1 minute of footage into a 20MB file, compared to the traditional 150MB. That is 7.5 times less storage consumed and we think this is amazing.
Not to mention, this camera comes with all the common features such as infrared night vision, parking monitoring, and the best part about it – cables for hardwiring are also included in the package.
Pros
- Highest Resolution @ 4k 30fps
- Next-Gen footage compression
- Hardwiring Kit included
Cons
- Setup manual was difficult
TOGUARD Dual Dash Cam
If you are not looking for anything fancy, and prefer a budget dash cam with a cabin camera that will do the job, then TOGUARD Dual Dash Cam is for you.
With a 6-glass HD dual lens dash cam, it can record in front at 1920x1080P and inside at 1080x720P with 25FPS. Angles are 170 for the front camera and 140 degrees for the cabin. The most crucial aspect of this setup is that it does include infrared sensors for inside the car. If you are looking for the minimum amount to spend for great cabin footage, then you found your match.
This camera can also work as a parking surveillance system and is equipped with gravity sensors.
Overall, an amazing dash cam with cabin camera for a small price.
Pros
- Cheap price point
- Includes night vision functionality
- Compact Design
Cons
- Suction cup fails often - contact customer service!