Garmin Dash Cam Live review

Greatest Costs Right this moment: Garmin Sprint Cam Stay

Garmin’s Sprint Cam Stay is the corporate’s first product that robotically saves movies on-line for safe-keeping. Given my expertise with, and fondness for the corporate’s x7 collection sprint cams, I used to be anticipating good issues from this newest effort.

Alas, whereas I noticed the anticipated good issues, I and doubtless fairly a number of different customers, may not have the ability to afford them. The only-channel Sprint Cam Stay all by its lonesome is $400 / £349.99. the identical value as many three-channel models. There isn’t even the choice of including a rear digital camera.

Then there’s the $10 / £10 7-day retention or $20/ £20 30-day retention month-to-month cost for the LTE connectivity and on-line storage, which Garmin calls LTE Vault. You needn’t join these when you don’t need, however then you definitely’re a lot better off saving a pair hundred {dollars} with one among Garmin’s lower-priced sprint cams.

Garmin Sprint Cam Stay design and options

The Sprint Cam Stay is a bit bigger than the x7 collection cameras at roughly 3.3 inches huge, 1.9-inches excessive, and 1.3-inches thick, with slightly below 4 ounces of heft. However the total really feel continues to be “svelte” and the bigger measurement means there’s sufficient room for a pointy 3-inch colour show.

About that really feel. Uncommon is the sprint cam that sits higher within the hand, or seems to be handsomer to the attention than the Sprint Cam Stay. Put bluntly, it’s the classiest trying/feeling piece of sprint cam {hardware} I’ve skilled.

Additional studying: See our roundup of the very best sprint cams to study competing merchandise.

There are 4 multi-function buttons on proper facet of the digital camera. They’re unlabeled, however simple to be taught. The SD card slot is on the underside of the digital camera, whereas the left facet is residence to the micro-USB energy connector.

I’m all for not losing these micro-B connectors that Garmin paid for, however come on. It’s 2023, the Sprint Cam Stay is tremendous costly…. It’s time for Sort-C, guys.

The digital camera is a 1440p (30 frames per second), 140 diploma field-of-view mannequin that options Garmin’s regular (forgetting the DriveCam 76) first-rate processing. Additionally on board is GPS, and fortunately, Garmin makes use of it to robotically set the proper date and time. Many distributors set the date, however don’t take the additional step to calculate the time zone. Why, I can’t inform you, however kudos to Garmin.

The Sprint Cam Stay additionally options my favourite mount within the trade. It’s a barely bigger model of the sticky plate/magnetic mount/absolutely adjustable ball arm included with the 47, 57, and so forth. The mount makes it simple to connect/detach and orient the digital camera, however nonetheless retains it firmly in place. My solely, very minor, grievance is that I couldn’t use the smaller plate already connected to my windshield for the 57.

The Sprint Cam Stay ships with a 16GB card (I’d’ve anticipated at the very least 64GB contemplating the value), and can deal with as much as 512GB playing cards (Class 10 or higher). The digital camera makes use of a lithium battery that’s good for half-hour as an alternative of an excellent capacitor.

Garmin additionally put a microphone on the Sprint Cam Stay and it responds to instructions resembling “Save video,” “Begin Travelapse,” and so forth. after you intone “Okay, Garmin….” Travelapse is a time-lapse model of a seize.

The “Stay” within the cam’s moniker refers to the truth that at any time you need to use the Garmin Drive app to get a reside view from the digital camera utilizing your cellphone. Don’t use this as a child or canine monitor as you shouldn’t be leaving these souls in your automobile.

Nonetheless, as a way of surveilling the environment whereas your not close to the automobile, it’s extremely helpful. Then once more, perhaps you must simply loosen up a bit and let the digital camera’s parking mode and computerized uploads do their factor.

Jon Jacobi / Foundry

Alternatively, you possibly can hold observe of junior utilizing the app with its location reporting characteristic. Hopefully, she or he received’t disappoint you as badly as I did my mother and father.

The icing on the cake is the bad-driver repertoire of options resembling collision and lane departure warnings, get shifting reminders, and purple mild/velocity digital camera warnings. I by no means use these, however velocity cameras aren’t as widespread within the U.S. as they’re in, say, Nice Britain.

You may wish to merely pay much less consideration to your cellphone or sprint cam, and extra to the highway, in addition to not velocity (an excessive amount of). Simply sayin’.

How does the Garmin Sprint Cam Stay carry out?

Each the day and evening captures from the Sprint Cam Stay have been excellent. A really good mix of element, easy stabilization, and wealthy colour. When considered in movement, the element does exhibit minor quantities of shimmer, however whenever you cease the motion you possibly can clearly see what that you must see, resembling license plate numbers — the entire level of a splash cam.

Whereas the above seize on a cloudy day was nice, brighter solar gave captures a barely overexposed really feel. As proven under. A lot of the glare to the proper is from mounting the digital camera a bit low on the windshield.

There may be an publicity setting that means that you can darken the captures a bit, however we all the time publish with the defaults.

Night time captures have been additionally excellent as you possibly can see under. And the Sprint Cam Stay dealt with headlights with aplomb, that’s, there was hardly any flare.

I can attest to the half-hour of run time from the Sprint Cam Stay’s battery. I’ve dozens of movies of the within of my pocket and my hallway becasue the digital camera woke from being jostled. Flip off parking mode earlier than you take away the digital camera from the automobile to keep away from this.

I used to be additionally impressed with the benefit of connecting to reside view and the immediate importing of movies to the Garmin Vault, which took minimal coaxing.

In whole, the Garmin Sprint Cam Stay’s captures are excellent. I’d wish to see the choice for 2160p captures on the value, however nonetheless, excellent total.

Must you purchase the Garmin Sprint Cam Stay?

The Garmin Sprint Cam Stay prices $400 from Garmin, or £350 within the UK.

Lots of you’ll swallow exhausting on the Sprint Cam Stay’s value and ongoing LTE expense. However I can inform you that if the impulse continues to be there after your throat clears, you’ll take pleasure in having and utilizing the digital camera. I did.

That mentioned, 2160p functionality and a Sort-C port would have diminished my total discomfort with the value.