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The Parkers guide to Nextbase Dash Cams

  • Nextbase is an industry leader when it comes to dash cams
  • Its range covers a wide selection of price points
  • Find the right one for you with our guide

Written by Ryan Gilmore Published: 4 October 2022 Updated: 8 February 2024

When it comes to the topic, Nextbase dash cams are the king of it. It’s becoming increasingly clear that a good dash cam is a driving essential. Nextbase is a renowned manufacturer of them and offer a number of options, all complete with different features and different price tags.

We’ve put our heads together and worked out the best Nextbase dash cams for a number of budgets and tasks, in fact, we’re breaking down the entire Nextbase range, looking for our top picks and the options to avoid.

All of these dash cams are forward-facing but the vast majority support an official Nextbase rear-facing camera as an optional extra, often offered as a cash-saving bundle with the dash cam. If you want a dual setup in the box, have a look at our guide on the best dual dash cams.

The best Nextbase dash cams at a glance:

Editor’s pick: Nextbase 522GW – buy from Amazon
Best for full HD: Nextbase 222 – buy from Amazon
Best rear cam: Nextbase Full Window Rear View Dash Cam – buy from Amazon

Rear-end collisions are very common as accident types in the UK. And you are 4 times more likely to be involved in a crash if you’re using your mobile phone. So, for insurance purposes, it’s useful to have a dashcam setup to determine proof of cause in such situations. Particularly if you have a rear camera set up with a front-facing one – which is relatively common with Wi-Fi dash cams.

Nextbase Dash cams: All You Need to Know

Editor's pick
Price: $259.99
Alternative Retailers
Newegg
$89.99
Walmart
$259.99
Best Buy
$299.99
The undisputed champion of the Nextbase lineup in our eyes is the 522GW. Balancing value for money against great features, this dash cam offers exceptional picture quality, a host of fancy extra tech to make your life easier and that all-important build quality that Nextbase is renowned for.

The full HD recording at 60fps will provide clear video in the event of an accident, with clarity further enhanced with the brand's excellent six-layer and 140-degree lens. Useful features like GPS, a subscription-based Emergency SOS service, polarising filter, and Alexa are included too, all to make your life easier. Like all Nextbase dash cams, it includes the essentials of a G-sensor, parking mode, and loop recording.

Pros

  • Balances value for tech
  • Excellent build quality

Cons

  • No rear-view camera as standard
Video  1440p HD at 30fps; 1080p HD at 60fps
Screen  3-inch HD touchscreen
Viewing angle  140 degrees
Lens  6-layer f1.3
Image stabilisation  No
Emergency SOS  Yes
GPS  Yes
Alexa voice control  Yes
Bluetooth Yes<strong> </strong>– Bluetooth 4.2
Wi-Fi  Yes
The best Nextbase dashcams for motorway commutes

Rrp: $395.99

Price: $283.05
Alternative Retailers
Walmart
$299.99
Best Buy
$299.99
Newegg
$299.99
Asking a price premium over the 522GW, the 622GW has a legitimate claim to be the best dash cam on sale when it comes to features and quality. The price premium over the other options nets you a few nifty extras that'll ensure that you'll be sufficiently covered in the event of an insurance dispute. The most useful extra is image stabilisation, a feature that'll reduce motion blur and make all footage easier to view, important as collisions often occur quickly. The 60fps recording will do most of the heavy lifting in ensuring the video is legible, image stabilisation will just sharpen it further.

What3words is also included, a service that provides pinpoint accurate GPS and an Extreme Weather Mode for picking up number plates in fog and driving rain, all capturing potentially important evidence. If you're a motorway muncher covering many thousands of miles per year then this is our top option and should be worth the money.

Pros

  • Everything you could need in a dash cam
  • Top quality

Cons

  • It's a little overkill for some
Video  4K at 30fps; 1440p HD at 60fps; 1080p HD at 120fps
Screen  3-inch HD touchscreen
Viewing angle  140 degrees
Lens  6-layer f1.3
Image stabilisation Yes
Emergency SOS  Yes
GPS  Yes
Alexa voice control  Yes
Bluetooth  Yes – Bluetooth 5.0
Wi-Fi  Yes
The best budget Nextbase dashcam for picture quality
The 322GW is a mid-ranged option and as such does without even more features. Out goes GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Alexa voice control, a rather drastic drop in features.

What remains however is the recording resolution of the dash cam, offering both 1080p and 720p recording, at 30 and 60 fps respectively. If you can live without some creature comforts but want top-quality video recordings, the 322GW is our pick of the range.

Pros

  • Good picture quality
  • Value for money

Cons

  • Misses some useful extras
Video  1080p HD at 30fps, 720p HD at 60fps
Screen  2.5-inch HD touchscreen
<strong> </strong>Viewing angle 140 degrees
Lens  6-layer f2.2
Image stabilisation  No
Emergency SOS  No
GPS  No
Alexa voice control  No
Bluetooth No
Wi-Fi  No
The best Nextbase dashcam for upgrading
Price: $249.99
Alternative Retailers
Walmart
$249.99
Newegg
$249.99
You may have noticed from the specs that the key differences between these dash cams are their picture quality and their frame rate. The lower down the price list you go, the less quality and features you get. The 422GW contains a number of extras that mark it out as a premium dash cam, namely Bluetooth, Alexa voice control and GPS. But, there is a lack of a polarised lens.

Nextbase obviously offer a polarised lens as an optional extra, which will effectively turn this dash cam into a 522GW with a smaller screen, just with more faff.

Pros

  • Good picture quality
  • Easy to upgrade

Cons

  • Lacking some premium features
Video  1440p HD at 30fps; 1080p HD at 60fps
Screen  2.5-inch HD touchscreen
Viewing angle  140 degrees
Lens  6-layer f1.3
Image stabilisation No
Emergency SOS  Yes
GPS  Yes
Alexa voice control  Yes
Bluetooth  Yes – Bluetooth 4.2
Wi-Fi  Yes
The best budget Nextbase dash cam for full HD

Rrp: $99.99

Price: $88.47
Alternative Retailers
Walmart
$99.00
Best Buy
$99.99
A step down from the 322GW, the 222 has all of the quality basics from a Nextbase (like the 140-degree six-layer lense), but only offers a maximum of 1080p, and 60fps is only achieved at 720p.

Clarity will be better than similarly priced dash cams from other brands thanks to the premium lens design, but don't expect much in the way of fancy features.

Pros

  • HD recording
  • Affordable

Cons

  • Lacking features
Video  1080p HD at 30fps, 720p HD at 60fps
Screen  2.5-inch HD touchscreen
Viewing angle  140 degrees
Lens  6-layer f2.2
Image stabilisation  No
<strong> </strong>Emergency SOS No
GPS  No
Alexa voice control  No
Bluetooth No
Wi-Fi  No
The best Nextbase dash cam on a tight budget

Rrp: $79.99

Price: $41.99
Alternative Retailers
Walmart
$39.97
The cheapest Nextbase on offer is the 122, designed primarily for new drivers the 122 is as basic as you can get. The lack of a 60fps recording mode isn't ideal, neither is the capped 720p recording ability. The sole benefit is that you'll get Nextbase's excellent build quality, simple operation and top-notch parking mode.

A full HD option is offered for an extra tenner, but this is still the weakest offering from the company. It is the cheapest way to get a Nextbase, even if there are a plethora of impressive alternatives in this price range.

Pros

  • Well made
  • Affordable

Cons

  • Not 1080p
Video  720p HD at 30fps
Screen  2-inch HD touchscreen
Viewing angle  120 degrees
Lens  4-layer f2.2
Image stabilisation  No
Emergency SOS  No
GPS  No
Alexa voice control  No
<strong> </strong>Bluetooth No
Wi-Fi  No
Easiest rear cam to install

Rrp: $99.99

Price: $89.99
Alternative Retailers
Walmart
$89.99
Best Buy
$89.99
This rear cam module clicks directly into your front-facing cam and it provides a view of the road behind you, panning through the cabin of the vehicle via a 30 degree telephoto lens.

It's compatible with 322GW, 422GW, 522GW, and 622GW dash cams and records in either 720p or 1080p resolution depending on the cam you pair it up with.

Pros

  • Easily clicks into existing dash cam setups
  • Provides a good view

Cons

  • Not as high definition as a proper rear camera
Best Nextbase rear dash cam

Rrp: $99.99

Price: $89.99
Alternative Retailers
Best Buy
$89.99
Newegg
$99.99
The bespoke Nextbase rear dash cam is also compatible with the 322, 422, 522, and 622GW models, but instead is installed on the rear window itself and slots itself via a wiring harness. If you're serious about a front and rear cam setup, you may have to get a professional installation arranged whereby the wiring runs through your car's headlining.

The camera has a 140-degree view and can be recorded at 1080p resolution. It's also a pretty discreet device which is handy if you're not keen on other people noticing your dash cam setup.

Pros

  • High resolution camera
  • Fits a number of devices

Cons

  • Requires professional wiring installation

Things to consider about Nextbase dash cams

The joy of all of the additions that Nextbase offer is that they’re interchange across the GW range. If, for example, you upgrade from a 322GW to a 622GW, you’ll still be able to use the axillary cameras. This is useful to know when it comes time to upgrade. This isn’t the case with the more discreet mirror-based dash cams.

The one we’d choose. We maintain the 522GW is the pick of the bunch, balancing its price with all the features you could possibly need. The 622GW is a great high performance dash cam and may have the most impressive stats. But some features are superfluous and the price tag is hard to stomach.

What’s the best on a budget. The 322GW is good value for money and has a decent selection of features for the price. Just don’t expect all the bells and whistles. The 222 and 122 on the other hand lack the features to be properly recommendable, even as budget dash cams. There are better-equipped budget dash cams on sale.

Ryan Gilmore is the Deputy Autos and Tools Editor for Parkers, specialising in car cleaning and hand tools. A veteran car cleaner; if it details, waxes or washes he’ll be on hand to make sure it’s worth your money.

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