Ask Kim: ‘Which dashcam should I buy?’
Uber, Lyft and other rideshare companies have provided more opportunities to make a living driving people to their destinations. Some do it as a full-time job, while others make driving into a second or part-time job.
Drivers can rate passengers to let others know whether or not to take them on as a fare. A bad rating can make it difficult to catch a ride or even lead to a ban from the app as a passenger. Tap or click here to see how your passenger score is determined and what you can do to improve it.
You don’t need to drive for a living to get good use out of a dashcam. Besides catching unruly riders on film, these gadgets can help if you’re in an accident and want to prove it wasn’t your fault. Read on for our recommendation.
Smile! You’re on camera
Which good but low-priced dashcam would you recommend to me which can record both front and back videos directly to my cellphone?
John in Loganville, Georgia
That’s a good question, John. Some dashcams have mobile apps that let you download videos directly to your phone. This makes it easy to view the footage and share it if you need to. We recommend the Redtiger dual dashcam.
The Redtiger F7N dual dashcam is well-reviewed and affordable. It’s a 4K dual-channel camera that records what’s happening in front and behind the camera. The front camera records in 3840 x 2160P 4K resolution, while the rear records in 1920 x 1080P resolution.
You have three display modes to choose from: large front and small rear, front only or read-only. The camera is weather-resistant and powered via your car’s auxiliary power outlet.
The ultra-wide lenses let you see plenty of the road and the rear camera can double as a digital rearview mirror. The cameras capture light to enhance brightness to function in low-light conditions.
A built-in shock sensor lets the dashcam capture an emergency and locks the footage, so it can’t be overwritten. If your microSD card is full, it will overwrite your oldest unlocked video file.
The Redtiger dashboard camera has built-in Wi-Fi for easy connection with the Ucam smartphone app. You can watch, download and share these videos with others. You can also change the camera settings from the app. Use a USB data cable to download your footage or a microSD card (not included).
Once you purchase the camera, you can contact Redtiger for a free hardware kit. This enables you to use the parking mode, which can monitor the activity around your parked car for 24 hours and record video if the camera senses impact.
Promising review: “This dashcam is great. Both front and rear cams give very clear voice and video recordings. The rear cam is just as clear as the front and I can even see their license plate in the rear cam when it’s not moving. I think it’s great for the price.”
You can even get more storage
The Redtiger F7N dual dash cam supports microSD cards up to 256GB. The Samsung Evo Select microSD card has rated transfer speeds up to 130MB per second, making it ideal for capturing 4K footage. The card is weather and shock-resistant as well.
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