Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam Front and Rear Camera- 1440P/30fps
Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam Front and Rear Camera- 1440P/30fps QUAD HD- WiFi Bluetooth- Built-in Alexa- GPS Emergency Response- In Car 280° / 360 Dual Dash Cam Rear Window 6 Lane Wide Recording
 |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image Quality | 1080p @ 30fps | 1080p @ 60fps | 1440p @ 30fps | 1440p @ 30fps | 4K @ 30fps // 1080p @ 120fps |
| Screen | 2″ LED HD IPS | 2.5″ LED HD IPS | 2.5″ LED HD IPS Touch | 3″ LED HD IPS Touch | 3″ LED HD IPS Touch |
| Night Vision | Yes | Pro | Pro | Pro | Enhanced |
| GPS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Offline GPS what3words + 10x GPS | |
| Wifi | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Dual 2.4GHz & 5GHz | |
| Reflection Free Lens | Compatible | Compatible | Compatible | ✓ | ✓ |
| Alexa Voice Control | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Intelligent Parking Mode | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Nextbase Emergency SOS Response | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Super Slow Motion @ 120fps | ✓ |
| Dimensions: | 5.31 x 9.3 x 4.5 cm; 762 Grams |
| Model: | 522GW |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacture: | Nextbase |
| Dimensions: | 5.31 x 9.3 x 4.5 cm; 762 Grams |
| Origin: | China |
Great car camera
Really great camera, had a Blackvue before – the Nexbase is a better bet.
Great bit of kit!
Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam Front and Rear Camera. With this front and rear dash cam you hot all the bases covered. Excellent quality and a piece of cake to fit. Comes with a tool to help you hide all the wires.
522gw dash cam
Brilliant product works well. I have bought the cheaper products in the past but have thrown them away due to not recording on the sd card and obviously if your involved in a car accident that’s when you need the dash cam to verify what happened. Plus with my Nextbase 522gw the app will show you what has been recorded well worth the extra money compared to a cheaper brand. Definitely chuffed with the purchase and I give it a double thumbs up.
I really like this dashcam. I updated from the 433GW. I read other reviews before purchasing. If you do not overwork this dashcam then it behaves perfectly well. I do not suffer from some of the reported problems such as overheating, lack of satellite signal and so forth. Keep it simple and don’t bother with Alexa or the so called emergency system and you will be fine.
Great dashcam easy to install
I purchased this along with hard wire kit to replace a failed unit in my wife’s wee VW Polo. The install was very easy with the hard wire kit, so easy I later purchased the rear camera and installed that too. The performance of the cameras is excellent with nice clear vision day and night.
Short life
I had hoped for longer than 20 months service from Nextbase. Too many glitches, and sometimes it will not operate at all, inspite of repeated resetting. Disappointing.
Ideal for the job!
The camera is great and recordings very clear but I would have liked more precise instructions, its a case of trial and error to set ut up. It needs to be positioned on the passenger side.
Great Dashcam
Got the front and rear at a great price so bought another set for my wife’s car. Superb quality and relatively easy to install.
Works well
Using it in the car for any evidence to my car insurance.
Good product but I have issues
Good product bought the product, by the advertising it looks as if your getting the full kit when you only get the camera. You then have to buy SD card separately also the rear camera, so had to wait 2 more days for delivery.
Great Camera
Both cameras provide excellent picture quality, but the rear facing one is difficult to position each time you remove it from the magnetic mount as there is no way of locking off the position like on the old suction pad. Happy with the set up generally and despite the rear facing camera size, once it’s set you get very clear views of cars behind you.
The camera is good quality and picture during the day is good. I’ve not driven at night that much so will have to review this feature at a later date. I wasn’t keen on the sticky pad, I want to move the camera to a different position but worried about doing so incase I can’t reattach it. I would have preferred the suction pad like I had on my previous nextbase dash cam. I also brought this one as it had the SOS function, in the information there was no indication that this was by subscription. I think this should be included in the write up as some people may decide on a different dashcam knowing this information. I have tried to remove the dashcam, the magnet mount is very strong and there is no way this can be done one handed. I need to download the user manual to make sure I’m getting the most out of the dashcam as it is expensive
Excellent camera, does it's job well!
This is great, works really well for what it’s worth. However I’ve been disappointed with is Alexa integration, that didn’t meet my expectations, quite glitchy and keeps on losing connection. I would’ve wanted to go handsfree but it keeps on using my phone and at times I have to turn the screen ON. Why bother to have this if you cannot make it seamless. I would rather prefer to use my phone’s Alexa app than this add-on gadget that adds no value to that feature. All in all its a dashcam with excellent camera, even the add-on camera is good, and it does its job well. I haven’t hardwired yet, but think that might be useful. Cheers!
The much vaunted SOS function is not an inclusive feature of the webcam but a subscription service that must be paid for; currently 2.99 monthly; say 30p.a.; this is not mentioned in the product details as far as I can see. ALSO although the description states the mount is magnetic this only relates to the connection between camera and base unit. The mounting to the screen is by a sticky pad and this can be very hard to remove. The optional suction-cup screen mount is no longer included in the package but is described in the downloadable user manual and was one of the reasons I chose this model. In fact a quick call to customer support secured an immediate promise to dispatch one to me the next day, and the explanation given was that so many people just discard these mounts that they were withdrawn. This caused me some inconvenience as the item was needed that day; the service could not however have been better. The SOS pricing info was also provided by the supprt worker. The claim that the camera can be easily fitted and removed with one hand seems unlikely to work for me. The magnetic connection is exceptionally strong and even with the unit in both hands requires considerable force to seperate them. All other ratings are without the benefit (yet) of use on the road but build quality appears very good, set-up screens are simple and clear and pictures appear to be of reasonable quality. The polarising lens might be a mixed blessing as my experience from photography is that the effectiveness of these depends upon the direction of the light and so they need adjusting each time the camera is moved relative to that. This cannot be done while driving.
Good dash cam
Had this nextbase camera fitted, it’s good quality, picture is good, have not got me head around night vision, will have to go into settings
Excellent dashcam
Can see view from dashcam clearly and easily. Can send video to mobile phone
Good camera but a bit disappointed that it keeps dropping off the windscreen as the sticky backing gives way. Written to Nexbase but waiting a reply
Really good item
Design,size and picture quality. Maybe a bit more expensive than other makes, but with the quality of other people’s driving you need to protect your ca
Lasted 1 year then broke
Was good but stopped working just after the warranty. Seller iZilla refused to help. Don’t bothe
Nextbase 522GW
I liked the dash cam, found the quality better.
But Its a bit expensive.
I think it would have been worthy with this price if the camera has its own battery with greater power. It has to rely on the vehicle’s power source all the time, so that it can be used even without connecting to the vehicle.
Don’t know it will be possible to add a battery with this camera.
I did A LOT of research on dashcams before choosing one. Even this one had some bad reviews but given the 70%+ 5 stars, I decided to go for it. Overall it’s great. Its better than my previous full HD and 2K should be the minimum these days. So far I’ve only driven in bright sunshine so can’t comment on night or rain picture quality. I just reviewed the videos on my PC and you have to be quite close to the car in front to make out the reg plate – stopping distance close.
The picture is good enough for accidents but it won’t pick up say facial features unless they’re very close.
If the 622 was more affordable I would have got this for the 4K.
Image was stable and not jerky/ washed out/ reflective etc.
It stores files in 1min files but it is all continuous. The 1min files are easier to email/ save etc rather than downloading a whole hour of video to find one moment for example.
Set up was easy – my USB port is below my radio so I just plug that in and don’t bother with hardwire or hiding the cables.
I bought a 128GB Scandisk U3 card because it was so much cheaper than the Nextbase one. Formatted it straight away after reading all the reviews – works perfectly.
Downloaded the android app to set it up which I did in the house and this was easy. When I’m parked up somewhere and want to use the app, it does struggle to connect over WiFi. Sometimes it looks like it hasn’t connected but when you press ‘back’ you’re suddenly connected. Its fine because I plug the camera into my PC (downloaded the Nextbase Player for PC) and it works great – really great. Has speed info and a little map that shows you where you were.
Would definitely recommend but if you have the funds, get the 4K.
Can't fault i
Nice piece of kit this. The cables are plenty long enough too to run around the trim and back into the cigarette lighter.
You will need a fast micro SD card card. I think it needs to be at least “Class 10 U3”. The card I stuck in after I installed the rear camera wasn’t quick enough. The dashcam told me and refused to record! No biggie. They’re cheap enough these days. Bought a 64GB one and it all seems to be working sweetly now.
I find the app a little clunky. But to be honest, I barely use it now. If I do get in a prang, I’m just going to take the SD card out of it and plug it into my PC.
So yeah, worth the extra cash against the cheaper no-name brands in my opinion.
Great video, easy install
Has great picture quality and is easy to mount. I used the hardwire kit to hide all my wires and it worked great.
5.0 out of 5 stars I'm happy with the item
The picture quality is brilliant Anniversary cameras OK as well Is worth buying
Great package
I have used a number of nextbase products with the being the best so far. Feature rich, strong construction and plenty of deals available
I decided to install a dash cam after a protracted “he said, she said” insurance wrangle. Eventually, I was not found to be at fault and my excess was refunded. So I chose the Nextbase 522GW with 128GB Micro SD. I went through the on screen setup menu, essential but time consuming. Once installed I tried it out on my next commute to work, the record of the journey was excellent, as soon as I start the car the 522GW starts recording and continues for 3 minutes after I turn the ignition off.
Keypoints:
1. The 3 inch display is clear, I have also used the Nextbase App on my iPhone, but I only really review recorded video using a laptop.
2. High G Sensor Activity. The default Medium setting resulted in a number of false RED Exclamation marks on the 522GW display, these recordings are automatically protected. I have since set the sensor to high, particularly as all recordings are saved anyway.
3. Speed Awareness. All recordings constantly display vehicle speed, so it’s a wake up call on the way you drive.
To sum up, excellent camera quality and stable recordings, I’m glad I bought this dash cam.
Quality cameras.
I bought this for my girlfriend and she is very happy with the quality. Couple of wee issues but once get used to it she thinks it’s great over the last few days.
5.0 out of 5 stars Quality and simple installation!
This is the third Next Base camera system I’ve purchased —- always great results.
Really good but drained my battery
Everything really good bought the rear camera also and Nextbase 128gb sd card.
The only problem I have is while using the park feature camera drained battery enough so I couldn’t start car.
Had my car years and had no problems with car battery.
Since installing dash cam had problems with weak or no car start.
I have now bought a bigger car battery nearly double Ah .
I use the car for work every week day which is 16 miles a day travelling.
I’m hoping new battery will solve car not starting because of dash cam .
5.0 out of 5 stars Good buy
Picture quality and clarity great, easily installed and handy download to phine
Order a SD card separately! (UH3)
Used it for a couple of days now and it’s great. Software seems a bit old but is what you’d expect from dash cam. Video quality is good but only records in 1/2/3 minute segments… Would be nice to have more options.
Something I’d like to see is automatic deleting of old footage so you don’t have to touch the dash cam until you need it.
Overall works great and it’s nice to have if anything nasty happens.
Very good
I bought a mirror cam last year with the recommended sd card. Partner had a accident and it didn’t record the incident and was very angry. For peace of mind I bought the lastest nextbase dashcam that I thought was over priced but I feel at ease if anything was too happen again since I can rely on this.
I bought these for my wife’s car along with the matching hardwire kit. Took me a couple of hours to fit and set up correctly.
They have Alexa built in, which links through your phone to the car audio system and it seems to work quite well.
The picture quality of the cameras is excellent. Beware that you will need to fit the ferrite blocks on the cables near to the cameras – especially the rear if you have a DAB fin aerial, and it may still hamper the DAB signal a wee bit.
The app is reasonable, but is let down by the fact you can only have a single smartphone paired to the cameras. This is an issue when there are multiple drivers with their own phones (which is obviously very common). I’ve seen comments at online forums where Nextbase claim it’s under development, but that was over a year ago and nothing has changed so far.
I bought this after purchasing a new car. The installation was fairly straight forward following the in box instructions. I also searched on YouTube which was helpful too. As mentioned in the instructions of the installation kit if the admin spur/fuse tap doesn’t fit your car an email to customer service requesting the correct type is all that is required. NextBase customer service is NextLevel and the correct spur was efficiently posted for 2 day delivery. The camera quality is very good and connection to the camera easily sorted once the NextBase app and Alexa is downloaded. I’m really pleased with the installation and functionality of the app settings and once setup properly works off the ignition key. The footage is really clear to watch on a smart phone, files in both high definition and lower quality can be saved automatically. Obviously the HD quality takes a fair while to download as the file size is quite large. It’s easy to mark the file for keeping by pressing the red button on the underside of the front camera. If Alexa is running in the background you can instruct it to mark the video to protect for later viewing and inspection. Still photos can be taken during playback for zooming and closer inspection if required. The added bonus is that some insurance companies now give a discount for customers who have dash cams fitted to their cars. The other advantage with dash cam 522 is that speed and exact go’s locations can be set to record at the same time and saved with the date etc. This is very useful for insurance claims should the need ever arise, hopefully not in your case but nonetheless very useful if used in evidence.
Iv bought a new one already.
I bought the 522gw nextbase dash cam I had it for a couple of weeks and the screen over heated its just a defective one because my parents one is fine and she has had it a lot longer. I return this one with no hassle and got a full refund within 3 working days
IMPRESSIVE EVEN BY NEXTBASE STANDARDS
Having been a Nextbase user for many years, I was expecting a good product but the ‘X22’ Series is excellent. Baulking at the cost of the 622GW, I opted for the 522 and the rear-view camera ‘bundle’ made sense. As I was replacing an older version in the front, it was 5-min job. The rear camera cable installation added probably an hour as I concealed the cable throughout its run using the vehicle cable conduits for the rear door; just fiddley, not difficult. The imagery produced is excellent, both front and rear and setting up using the touch-screen controls was intuitive and straightforward . Everything working so far so definitely 5-stars!
Needed an upgrade and this was the best i was drawn to with reviews
I haven’t used it at night yet but picture is good, my old cable fit so i didn’t need the additional wiring i purchased for the rear camera as it came with its own cable so returning was easy, my only fault with it is the battery, everything morning it tells you to connect to charger as the battery is low, not sure why the battery doesn’t stay full
This is the first dashcam I’ve owned so have nothing to compare it to. The video is very clear though I haven’t driven at night-time with it yet and it automatically records 2 different quality videos in 1 minute files to make it easier to upload to insurers. The screensaver setting offering a speed readout is useful because it keeps my wife happy as she can keep a check on me! Although I’d read in a revue that the memory card doesn’t overwrite when it’s full but needs to be formatted, that is incorrect. It does overwrite automatically but the advice is that it should be formatted regularly to maintain the recording quality. My only gripe is that the battery doesn’t hold it’s charge which means that the camera won’t operate if the car is hit when parked. In reality that’s a minor point for me otherwise I’d have sent it back
Needs a U3 spec Memory Card if running rear too.
Haven’t had this long and I’ve already had some near misses caught. The rear camera is surprisingly good and the Night vision is what you would expect from a dash cam. The App is useful even if a bit of a pain to set up but that may be just my ineptitude.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great product. Great customerservice at Nextbase
I researched different brands, and chose this one. It had lived up to my expectations.
Nextbase helped me set it up, and their customer service was excelle
A good front and rear camera but remember to unplug it when you leave the car.
All works very well but installing the cable for the rear camera took a long time to get right. I keep forgetting to unplug it and it runs the battery down. Overall I am very pleased with it.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Dashcam
Excluding the Mobile App part this dashcam and rear view cam combo is really great. Already helped in some issues on the road.
5.0 out of 5 stars Good camera
Got this in a sale a while back due to others stopped working. This time I got the recommended endurance SD card and not had one issue since
Very good quality camera with some nice features
My old camera packed up after 6 years ( not nextbase) so this time I decided to go for front and back cameras. Nextbase seems to be regarded as the market leader so I went for this. Once installed it’s very easy to set up and I’ve had it about 5 weeks and I’m very pleased with it. The picture quality is very good both night and day and it’s so far performed perfectly. What’s really nice feature is when it saves footage from front and back it names the files in a format that the free PC software recognises as linked and you view front and back footage playing simultaneously in split screen. The only difficulty I had was mounting. The front camera is kind of offset due to its shape and in my car the mirror assembly is really bulky so the camera ends up a fair bit off centre in the windscreen when mounted on the passenger side of the mirror. I deliberated for ages but that was the best spot I could find. The rear camera is easy to mount but difficult to tidy the cable in a hatchback and as it’s on a magnetic ball mount if you are not careful dangling cable will move the camera when you open and close the boot. I have a Range Rover. All in all very good though and I would recommend
Great little camera system with smartphone connectivity
Good camera, reasonably easy to install and comes with good wire lengths suitable for all sized cars. The cameras are quite small which is great and doesn’t cause any obstruction with views from the windows. Picture quality is good, the transfer of data between the camera and a smart phone is quite slow but a really good feature. Fixings to keep the cameras on the front and rear screens are strong and secure. Overall really happy with this purchase.
My stars are for the camera and quality – not the whole product “bubble” which would be 2 at best.
The bottom line here is that it’s easy to get seduced by a dashcam – the videos all look so good don’t they? The picture looks good on this – from what I can see and the system looks like it should capture the right things. But, fitting and set up are the tricky parts.
I hired an experienced auto electrician who does this for a living (good reputation too), he fitted it, and it looked good! Four things to bear in mind: –
(1). I lost my DAB radio; the electrician says it’s a known fault with Nextbase; Nextbase says it’s not installed correctly and has sent me two attenuators to clip round the wires to shield the interference – I’ve yet to do this, I will try to update – but the key here is to check whilst installing.
(2). The magnet to the camera is very strong, so taking the camera off the permanent mount moves the mount and you will have to set it up each time you do.
(3) You try getting the micro SD card out of the camera without taking the camera down to review the footage.
(4) The PC download says the PC app cannot be downloaded securely; the Android App takes ages to pair with the camera and update – and the size of each 1-minute file on the camera is about 185mb so takes forever to download to the phone – hence why you need to get at the Micro SD card and plug it in a PC!.
I do find this frustrating and will update this review if I find a solution – I hope I can overcome these issues because the actual camera looks good.
Camera records in good quality and has a real wide angle which is particularly useful. The long supplied cable is good to channel under trims to your power point however the end is a plug for the cigarette lighter, Not a USB so I’ve had to buy an adapter for my cigarette lighter so that I can have the dashcam plugged in and a usb phone charger at the same time.
The App is very hit and miss with connecting to the camera which is quite a pain. The app would be a strong app if it weren’t for its connectivity issues.
The Parking mode, fantastic if you want to record a bump to your car in the car park when you’re not in your car. However, there is no way to set a delay on it which means when you turn the engine off and get out your car and shut the door, it triggers the parking mode to record a protected file. Same with the boot, and when you then get back in your car. This means you have to keep formatting your memory card as the amount of space gets smaller and smaller as it begins to fill up with all these useless protected files of you getting in and out of your car. I cannot understand how no one in the design of this did not think to put a customisable delay on parking mode starting so as to avoid accidental triggers like this.
My experience with this dash cam
This is a great product, picture quality is fantastic for playing back. Only thing that lets it down is the poor app, it constantly crashes when you try viewing footage on your mobile or iPad, drops off WiFi connection so you have to end up removing the memory card and watching it on your computer. Other than that it would not be so frustrating trying to get footage which should take minutes if the app would work properly.
Update on my dash cam.
I have been using this for just a year and have issues with it freezing or coming up to format the memory card, this I have done on countless occasions but the problem continued. I’m using the correct Nextbase memory card with it, I found out the only way to correct it is to delete all the footage from the card and start again. Something you may want to bear in mind when your purchasing is to buy a spare memory card incase you need the footage and you don’t have time to mess around downloading it.
My first dash cam so I did all the research to find a suitable cam for my needs, decided on this one.
Did not like the instructions to fit it to the car and then enter all the settings, easier to sit down and do it at home.
Set it all up with the usb cable provided at home and understood all the functions.
Put in the car for initial testing and works well.
Removed the cam and connected to the pc to view recordings, all was fine.
Connected to my TV but would not recognise the file format? It’s a new Samsung TV.
Tried various recording settings – 1080P, 1440P. 60FPM, 30FPM but no luck. No problem, maybe its my tv but downloads on my PC ok.
My car is little used so the cam is still in the testing phase, power cable just run out in the air not pushed into any car panels.
After about 10-20 hours of use the cam went dead, no power. Checked the 12V car socket and ok.
Could not test the cable because the plug/socket pins are difficult to access.
Bought a new cable and now works fine.
After abou
After a near miss when somebody rode a bicycle straight off the pavement and in front of my car I knew I had to get a dashcam. After reading many reviews I opted for the 522GW.
The picture quality is great, it doesn’t wobble around, it stays firmly on the windscreen using the suction cup (you receive both a suction cup and permanent sticking options) and the sound picks up decently enough.
My only two gripes are 1. that the instructions say to charge it for at least two hours before use, however the internal battery is pretty redundant as it lasted for less than ten minutes. It does need to be permanently plugged in (or hard wired if you prefer) but the cigarette socket charger holds in place well, the USB provided probably won’t reach. 2. The connectivity through WiFi from mobile app to the camera is always dropping. I haven’t yet been able to install the latest firmware and whenever I press anything on the app I get a connectivity message.
Overall it’s a good quality camera and picks up well in all conditions. The memory card comes separately.
I bought this model for the bigger screen. I couldn’t find any difference between this and the 422 other than that.
As a dash cam, this is a great device. I have mine hooked up with the hardwire kit and rear view camera (the one you stick to the back window). The quality is great, and the camera fires up every time I start the car bar the rare software hiccup.
The software is what let’s this camera down. Even though I have auto off switched off, if I’m stationary for any period of time it will still turn itself off. As soon as I start moving again it will switch back on, so it’s only a minor annoyance.
The Alexa functionality is flaky at best. Sometimes the device won’t respond, no matter how often or loud you call for it, or it will respond as if it’s completed a task, when it hasn’t. It won’t play Spotify from my phone, but will play amazon music.
In summary, if you’re looking for a good quality dash cam you can attach a rear view module to, this is great. If your looking at this to add Alexa to your car in addition within a single device, it’s not really there yet.
Fabulous footage, also at night, allow time for installatio
Initially had a Nextbase 422GW for years but for some reason it had a lot of difficulty being attached to the windscreen of my old Volvo XC70. Nextbase support sent a couple of replacement suction cups to no avail and only when using the 3M foot attached to the windscreen it worked. The XC70 was replaced by a XC90 and I had it hardwired but still used the 3M that came with it. It automatically switches on, the footage is fabulous as bright and sharp as the images come (guess this is where the difference lies with cheaper dashcams) and during night time as well. I guess when one becomes involved in an accident the 130 or so that I paid is peanuts in the bigger picture if the details can not be shown properly. Connects easily to the app on the phone to view footage and I purchased a 128Gb micro sd card for hours of footage. I also purchased the add-on rear cam …. see the review about that but caveat emptor, a separate cam attached to the rear window and connected through a cable is properly worth its money as it is hard to find a proper place to place the dashcam as it needs to be positioned in such a way using the add-on rear camera that it can almost only be attached in the middle. And when you have a Volvo, you know how massive the rain sensor/City Safety camera’s area around the rear view mirror base is so please keep that in mind.
The camera comes with an additional holder and slots in place properly but takes some effort to take off. But then again, as it also responds to shocks when parked, I never take it off and leave it always on to be “protected” when being parked too. I think Nextbase is still ahead of the game with this one !
Have been using this for a few weeks now and it quite simply does what it says on the box, I really can’t fault it; easy to set up and link to the app and easy to tweek the various settings.
Some things to note;
The camera lens is very wide angle (I would guess 24 or maybe 21mm) and as a result the recorded footage gives an appearance of greater speed than you are in fact travelling and passed or passing objects will come into and out of frame much more quickly than you will perceive by eye (which is the equivalent of a 50mm focal length I believe). The cam view as seen on the cam screen on the camera does appear more wide angle than the recorded footage when viewed on a computer I’ve found, not sure why.
The camera itself when connected to a computer simply mounts as an external volume enabling you to search by date and then view the chunks of footage with your usual media player though free video editing software is available from the maker’s website which is rather generous.
The recorded video quality is excellent and I suspect that reviews stating poor quality is a result of viewing the low resolution version of the footage which is the default setting; a high and lo-res version of each chunk of recorded video. I changed this so mine records hi-res only.
I’ve had occasional GPS drop out which is corrected by one tap on the screen which is safe enough while driving and is no fault of the camera.
Likewise I’ve had two lock-ups where the screen freezes or turns blank which is rectified by pulling over and pressing the little reset button on the camera; I suspect this could just be a read/write error to the SD card that confuses the dash cam and puts it into a terminal loop.
Finally I can confirm that if your cigarette lighter socket is wired to ‘ignition on’ you can leave the power socket from the cam plugged in all the time without draining the battery.
All in all highly recommended.
I brought this as a replacement to a 312. I was able to route the power cable in the same manor and lilacs add the previous cable. However I removed the ferrite to do so. I refitted this after the cable was in place, but put it at the other end of the cable so it didn’t put strain on the micro USB. I placed it under the passenger seat. The cigarette charger is slightly longer than the previous model.
The camera works well, however, I had to upgrade the micro SD card as the Sandisk endurance from the previous camera was not compatible, even though it should have been (was U1 bagged but camera didn’t think so). So I had to purchase the SanDisk high endurance (U3) and all worked well.
The clip length is only a minute. Need to find out how to lengthen this, as I often miss the incident I wish to record (by pressing the button) as it takes a little while to compose yourself enough after you’ve had a near miss to remember to less the button.
I’ve not had time to look at the app in detail, but it was handy in positioning the camera initially. The magnetic mount or great. I was able to Quickly remove the camera and phone it at am idiot that cut me up due to texting in his phone….. I could then replace it in the mount very easily without taking my eyes off the road.
All in all. Well worth the upgrade. Since buying the original camera in August 2014, I have covered 155,000 miles (review date September 2019), so it has seen a lot of use. I hope this one is as reliable.
Hardware great, software not so much.
Did a lot of research into current dash cam quality and availability (or lack of for quality models anyway) and settled on this as a close first against the Garmin dash cam 55.
Previously had the 302G and the 312GW which both failed due to the inability to handle the heat of a car during a Scottish summer, which isn’t exactly a hot climate even by UK standards. Both batteries puffed up and lost all charge but still ran while the car was on. Hopefully this unit will fair better.
This camera has the same great quality footage, high bitrate and the polarising filter works very well. Number plates are very clear even at high speed. Nighttime footage also looks great but number plates can be a struggle. I’m not sure if it isn’t on any dash cam though.
The sticking point for me with Nextbase is the pitiful software. While it seems an effort has been made since previous units and the app does play video and list data for the drive very nicely, the download feature over Bluetooth/WiFi direct is awful. I can’t say I didn’t expect it as previous models were the same but good luck trying to download footage. It either takes a long time or fails repeatedly.
I gave up and simply bought a Type C micro SD card reader and not only is it blindingly fast at transferring files now, files can still be opened in the app or you can avoid their software all together if you like.
Touch screen is great, plenty of settings and Alexa integration is occasionally handy. The gyro is a bit too sensitive and tends to lock files quite often but a regular format sorts this.
So far I really like this product I hope it lasts longer than its brethren.
The box came with all the needed parts camera, cable and a tool to assist pushing the cable into your cars headlining and routing down the front door pillar.
Hiding the wire is a different story and your ease of doing this will vary with each vehicle. I completed mine in about thirty minutes after working out the routing.
The camera has some great fetures and is linked using the Nextbase app on your smartphone and bluetooth to keep the two connected. This enables you to download any footage to your phone without having to remove the camera from the car. This can also be done relatively easily as it is connected to the mount by a magnetic fitting. It is a very strong fitting and you will change the angle of your mount each time you remove it, meaning you will want to reset the view when you then replace it.
On the side of the unit is a connector similar looking to an HDMI port and this is used to add additional camera modules such as the rear view camera.
The camer resolution is a great 1440p at 30fps, but if you prefer you can use it to get 60fps at 1080p. This also can vary when you add a rear camera where the resolution of the rear camera will be either 720p or 1080p.
I initially had problems setting up the 522GW awith Alexa, but deleted both the Alexa and NextBase apps from my device, forgot the nextbase in bluetooth and restarted my phone. Now after restarting installed apps again and when accessing the Alexa via the nextbase app setup, it correctly opened and found my nextbase 522GW. After adding it to Alexas devices, it worked. Now, the dashcam microphones pick up the Alexa wake word that connects to your phone by bluetooth to control the Alexa app. Works really well but very reliant on a good mobile signal!
The camer powers up when starting my car as I have not hardwired it. I have therefore turned off the parking mode that leaves the camera in standby on its internal battery. I found I did not travel enough to recharge the battery but if this changes I can easily reenable the option. The device is controlled via the touch screen which works well and gives access to the menu and even adds an Alexa button to the screen once set up.
Lots of menu options to change to your liking or just leave relatively alone. I am a techie person and understand the more involved settings with no difficulty.
Overall a great camera, great quality and the bonus that may be good for you is a potential discount on your car insurance when using the Nextbase!