Drop down to 1080p and you can shoot 120fps slow-mo that makes it easier to pinpoint things like registration numbers. Easy to set up, sleekly packaged and a doddle to operate, the Nextbase 622GW is our top pick, doing everything that's required of a dash cam and doing it well, but also offers some useful additional features. After 25 round, loop the wire over the hook, sand/scrap off the enamel coating off the bit of the wire that touches the hook and continue to the next section.

Most stick on the windscreen with a suction mount, the same as a sat nav, whereas some more permanent cams have sticky 3M mounts. Residing in top spot of our guide below, we awarded this 4K on board camera five stars in our Nextbase 622GW review because it offers easy installation and sharp 4K video footage in any light, plus a decent 1080p rear camera. Its 140-degree viewing angle isn’t the most extreme on the market, but it easily captures everything through the windscreen, and both its low-light and extreme weather recording modes, which use clever algorithms to improve the quality of the image, are great for capturing crisp footage in difficult situations. The 622GW is by no means a large camera, but it is bigger than some of the diminutive recording devices that are currently available.

A large memory card is a good upgrade for cars left parked in busy areas for long periods, and if you have a connected/cloud dash cam, there are obviously benefits to parking near suitable Wi-Fi access. Tim is TechRadar's Cameras editor, with over 15 years in the photo video industry and most of those in the world of tech journalism, Tim has developed a deeply technical knowledge and practical experience with all things camera related. Plump for the 4K at the 30fps video resolution, and the resulting footage isn't too far off today's leading action cameras, proving incredibly detailed, vibrant and smooth when viewed on a laptop or PC. The Nexar app is central to the twin camera experience: it’s where you can fine-tune settings, generate incident reports and back recorded clips up to the cloud (Nexar bundles cloud storage in for free).

A rise in popularity of voice control has also made its way over to the humble dash cam, so expect Alexa integration and other such voice-activated technology at the very pinnacle of the range. It makes neutral jumps and such much easier and you can then bump the speed up by 10 or 20 percentage points once you get the hang of it. You can remove the camera, but the large plastic mount plate and lose wires dangling mean you won’t want to. Like Nextbase cameras, they feature an internal battery which allows a period of parking protection, but an accessory hardwiring cable unlocks the full potential.Even in poor lighting, it's easy to pick out details and features, while a special Super Slow-Mo mode (1080p at 120fps) means it is now easier than ever to read registration plates on fast-moving vehicles. It provides CCTV-style security on your drive or parking space, gathering evidence for carpark hit-and-runs, and means the camera is always present and active when your driveway. To test dash cams, we install them in our car, attach them to the windscreen and pair them to our smartphone as if we had bought them ourselves. At the most basic level, they connect to the car battery, and if it were still the 1970s (or your car is 1970s) that’s fine.