Best Dash Cam Under 100 2024

A dashcam serves a lot of purposes besides catching road rage or life moments. Having one can save you from irresponsible drivers that flee the scene when an accident unfolds or even when the other party wrongly accuses you of something you didn’t do. This way you will have hard-hitting evidence to prove your case in court all thanks to the dashcam.

We set out on a mission to find the best dashcams that won’t set you back hundreds of dollars. Luckily we found an overwhelming amount of dashcams that meet our criteria so we built a list of the top 10 best dash cams under $100.

Hopefully, by the end, you would have found the perfect model, and if not we also included a detailed buyer’s guide to help you do so!

You may want to check the best night vision dash cam here.

Quick Summary: 8 Best Dash Cam Under $100

Our editors go through and research, test and qualify our recommended products. We receive commissions on purchases from certain links.

1. Best Overall: 1. Biuone Dash Camera for Cars An excellent dual dash cam with 1080P resolution which features a compact design and includes high-end functions.
2. Best Weather-Proof:  2. CHORTAU Dual Dash Cam 3 inch Dashboard An inexpensive option for 1080p both front and rear dash cams. Amazing functionality inside an unintrusive design.
3. Best Capture:  3. Rexing V1 – 4K Ultra HD Car Dash Cam 4K Ultra HD definition dash cam with 256GB of storage to save those extra clear and smooth videos.
4. Best Technology:  4. Kingslim D4 4K Dual Dash Cam with Built-in Wi-Fi GPS Dual cameras, 256 GB SD card capability, WiFi, plus a smartphone app all under 100$.
5. Best Functional Model:  5. ORSKEY Dash Cam Front and Rear A portable dashcam with decent features such as high-quality resolution, wide viewing angle, G-sensor, and loop recording.
6. Best G-Sensor:  6. 70mai Smart Dash Cam An unobtrusive compact dash camera packed with lots of features to ensure the best possible recordings even in low-light environments.
7. Best Wide-Angle:  7. Podofo A2 Car Dashcam A true budget king! A great deal for such a powerful little dash camera.
8. Best Camera:  8. IIWEY Dash Cam Front Rear Features enhanced night vision with IR light and offer sharp and clear footage in lowlight conditions.

Highlights

The dashcam can start shooting the view on 1080P HD resolution with a frame rate of 30fps. The front cam has a 170 degrees field of view, while the rear cam comes with 140 degrees wide viewing angle. Due to the ultra-wide-angle, this dual dash cam lessens the sightless areas and records more footage. 

The device is compatible with a 32GB microSD card, and it retains the loop recording function. It features f1.8 aperture and WDR tech, making it easy for you to playback all the details clearly.

This dual dash cam has a 3 inch IPS Screen, which is created using durable and decent quality materials. It includes a USB port, so you would not encounter any charging problems.

Beginning with the quality, the front dash cam is quite impressive. It captures recording on a 170-degree wide-angle lens camera which provides 1080p videos in any type of weather condition. The only downside to the front dash cam is that its quality drops significantly in the nighttime. It’s equipped with 6 pieces IR LED system. You can still capture important details like license plates, but the camera struggles with image distortion when there’s not much light.

Now, the rear dash cam quality. It’s not as impressive as the front, but it’s functional. The field of view drops down to 130 degrees, but it’s still wide enough to capture multiple lanes. It also acts as a backup camera, however, the recordings come out blurry due to glare from headlights in low light environments.

Like we mentioned, the rear camera is also used for parking reasons. This dash cam comes with a parking feature. Once an impact is detected, the dual dashcams will automatically start recording providing you with a video of the accident itself. Besides this parking feature, it’s also equipped with loop recording, night vision, emergency accident locks, G-sensor, motion detection.

Powering this parking mode feature is a 150 mAh battery, which lasts roughly 24 hours. But this can be a safety hazard if you live in a warmer environment, since the battery max a maximum temperature of 158 degrees, and the temperature in a car reaches well beyond that point if left in the sun.

The build quality is quite impressive. It’s not at all what you expect for the price. The camera doesn’t feel cheap by any means, it actually feels quite sturdy in the hand.

Considering that Chortau offers both front and rear dual dash cam for the exact same prices of some of the dashcams we already mentioned, it’s worth considering!

Highlights

Starting things off with the 4K resolution that captures exceptionally beautiful and smooth 2160p videos even when there’s alot of movement. It’s equipped with WDR technology, which allows the camera to open its sensor accordingly for adjusting the exposure and create natural-looking images or recordings. Nighttime recordings drop off some quality, but it’s safe to say that it still performs better than most dashcams in this price range.

The dash cam also features a wide dynamic range. There are 7 layers to the glass lens that adjusts automatically to capture the best possible shot of your surroundings. The viewing angle on the lens is on par with the top model dashcams which is around the 170-degree range.

Unlike other dashcams, this one features a supercapacitor. A supercapacitor can withstand extreme temperatures up to 176F, so you won’t have to worry if you leave your car in the sunlight.

Usability is a strong side for this unit since it’s quite simple and very intuitive. You also get the ability to mute/unmute the microphone with just a single press of a button.

Inside the package, you will also receive a 12ft car power cable, a 3M adhesive mount, a USB computer cable, and a user manual.

Overall, this is a great package to go for that just barely makes the cut to be considered under $100. It gives a premium experience for just a sliver of a price you’d pay for the high-end dashcams.

Highlights

Kingslim decided to include the industry-leading dashcam technology from the Sony IMX335 STARVIS sensor and Hisilicon Hi3559 processor. The main camera can capture recordings with a 4K resolution at 25 frames per second, while the rear camera’s maximum resolution is 1080p.

The F 1.8 aperture lens paired with WDR technology, you’ll be able to capture detailed recordings or images in low light environments. The field of view is plenty to capture everything in front of you. The front camera has a super-wide viewing lens with a 6layer glass fixed focus lens which results in a 170-degree front and 150-degree rear field of view.

With the built-in WiFi feature, you will have the pleasure of watching real-time through the mobile app. It just takes a single press in the app to download the videos to your smartphone.

It features a 3” touchscreen, that makes navigating through the camera’s menu and functions quite easy. It gets plenty bright, so it makes it quite visible even when the sun is blasting.

Installation can be a bit tricky since there’s a lot of wiring for a dual dash cam, but everything is carefully explained in the user manual which comes included in the box, alongside all the necessities for powering the dashcams.

Highlights

The front camera comes with 1920 X 1080P resolution with a 30 fps frame rate, and the VGA waterproof rear camera will record better quality footage. It has 6 infrared LED lights, which enable the dashcam to record clearly in low light circumstances. The WDR technology assures the best night recording.  

It is featured with a Sony sensor, 6 glass lenses, and 170 degrees field of view that lets COMS record clear pictures. Because of the high-performance chipset, it is possible to take 12MP images.

The emergency-activated recording will automatically shoot accidents and lock the video files. The loop Recording enables endless storage and overwrites old files to give space to new footage. All the footage will be saved on the micro SD Card.

Highlights

The image capture has an image processor and F/2.2 aperture that provides a clear capture, especially when in dim light.

The G-sensor saves files and safely locked them to prevent an overwrite. The voice control features also allow you to record hands-free using the experience feature. One command voice from you and it will record and save your videos.

And since it’s mobile app enabled, you can easily connect the device to your phone both Android and iOS. The device also comes with a cable management system that optimizes the route of the power cable giving you the neatest cable management you want.

Overall, this smart dash cam gives you the ultimate experience with its ample features that are so functional and is worth every penny in your pocket, though it’s one of the cheapest in the market today.

Highlights

It packs a punch with ti’s 140-degree ultra-wide angle lens that is capable of recording videos in a 1920 x 1080p full HD resolution. Around the lens, there are 6pcs of IR LEDs that help the camera take great pictures or videos even in darker situations.

The overall design is a bit underwhelming, but the usability of the dash cam doesn’t suffer due to its dated design. It’s quite simple to set up and use, so you won’t even have to read the user manual to get an understanding of how to operate the dash cam. Everything is labeled too!

But other features like real-time surveillance, a G-sensor, loop recording, motion detection are all available.

We ranked this dash cam quite lower due to lacking some features, but this camera does excel in low light environments and the overall quality of the recordings is good considering its price.

Highlights

Buyers’ Guide – Choosing the Perfect Dash Cam

A few key features to keep in mind when purchasing listed below.

Camera Performance

There are a lot of cheap knockoff models that claim to have a decent resolution camera but end up looking pixelated and their footage unusable. Keep in mind that a lot of times you will be in high-speed situations, where cheap dash cams do tend to underperform. To prevent such things you need to be wary of which image sensor and processor are inside the dash cam.

Night vision is also a really important feature that is commonly claimed on dashcams. But if the camera has a small lens, it could have problems with glare from streetlights or headlights. Be on the lookout for at least an F1.8 aperture lens. Some dash cams also have dedicated night-vision hardware, that usually performs quite better rather than just image processing. (1)

Features & Connectivity

Features like G-sensor, motion detection, audio recording, night vision are essential to any dash cam whether it’s front or dual dash cam.

WiFi isn’t necessary but it does help with fast exporting if you need footage instantly. You can also get real-time access or retrieve data like speed, acceleration, or location through the dash cam or your smartphone.

Parking monitor is quite useful if you don’t have a private parking space. Public parking spaces are quite small and narrow and accidents aren’t uncommon. It’s not uncommon for drivers to flee for minor damages, but even so, it’s good to pinpoint what caused that damage.

Ease of use

Installation can be quite tricky. If you do go for a front dash cam installation usually takes just a couple of minutes. There are a few methods we’ve seen that are used in dash cams, but we usually recommend going for an adhesive mount instead of a suction method. The plastic suction cup is exposed frequently at high temperatures and as we know things expand in heat, so after a certain time or at high temperatures suction cups usually don’t work.  On the other hand, adhesives also have a temperature limit, but it’s usually higher than a car temperature can ever exceed.

Be on the lookout for voice-activated dash cams, since it’s always better to have your hands on the wheel instead of reaching for buttons to command the dashcam. (2)

Frequently Asked Questions About Dash Cams

What resolution is enough?

1920 x 1080

The answer here is quite simple. The bigger the better. But as the resolution rises so does the cost. We feel like a 1920 x 1080p is the sweet spot. Even a 720p camera will probably solve a bigger portion of the court cases, but the recordings can be quite pixelated especially in high-speed situations. 4K cameras are great but we feel like they are a bit overkill for this purpose.

By all means, if you don’t mind spending a little bit more, go for the 4k dashcams!

What is a G-sensor and is it important?

A  gravity sensor is a feature commonly found in dash cams that measure the movement of your vehicle through 3 axis. Up and down, left to right, and forward and backward. The G-sensor is triggered once it detects significant or sudden movement. Then the dash cam will automatically start recording a video file, which is separately stored from regular footage. But at certain times it can be also triggered by potholes, speedbumps so don’t be surprised if you find a lot of emergency videos stored on your MicroSD card. (3)

This feature is considered to be one of the main ones because without it you could potentially lose really important footage, which is contradictory to the dashcam’s purpose.

Are there dash cams without wires?

Yes and no.

Although you can find dash cams that run on battery, there’s no point in getting one. It simply isn’t convenient to swap out the battery every time you leave your car. Some models feature a small built-in battery which is used for emergency scenarios.

Some dash cams feature WiFi capabilities so, don’t get it confused for it being wireless.

Are dash cams legal?

Depends.

While dash cams are legal to have in your car on the road, there are certain restrictions on the installation and placement of the dashcam which may cause legal issues. We recommend you get informed on your states’ laws as to whether or not a dashboard camera is legal.

Using a dashcams’ audio is also a controversial topic, since if you do own a dashcam every time a passenger travels with you you’d have to inform them that the conversation will be recorded.

This isn’t a big issue most of the time, but it’s something to keep in mind since it can cause you to harm in the eyes of the law.

Will a dash camera work if the car is off?

Usually Yes.

Like we previously mentioned, many models we came across had a backup battery which is anywhere between 150mAh to 300mAh. If your camera is equipped with a battery it means, it’s capable of recording even when the car is off.

That battery is usually used when dash cams have a parking monitoring feature. That feature ensures that footage will be captured if the sensors detect a movement while it’s parked. It automatically starts recording on the backup battery and will be stored separately. This is a great feature to have since you can see if someone bumped into your car while it was parked.

Conclusion

A dashcam is a great addition for you and your car’s safety. The models we featured here are the most inexpensive models that we think we’re worth covering. Hopefully, after concluding this review we’ve left you with a perfect option for the best dash cam under 100$.

References

(1) aperture lens – https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/understanding-maximum-aperture.html
(2) voice-activated – https://www.verizon.com/articles/speech-recognition-technology/
(3) 3 axis – https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1231195/FULLTEXT01.pdf