Are you looking for the best dash cams for Canadian winter? Are you planning to buy one this winter, and then forgot to check the weather forecast? Don’t let your dash cam freeze before you head out. Here are the best dash cams for Canadian winter. These will help you capture video of your daily commute, be it at night or during the day, and also record any incidents like vandalism or accidents.
Dash cams are normally used to document a car’s journey, capturing video of the driver and passengers as well as recording incidents on the road. As dash cams are designed to be used in the front of a vehicle, they will not provide an adequate view when facing back.
It is very important for a car owner to have a dash cam in their car. You never know when something will happen and you need footage to provide the necessary information for your insurance company or police.
Dash cams can provide video of the driver and passengers, capturing incidents like vandalism or accidents. Dash cams are usually used to document a car’s journey, but they will not be able to film everything happening behind the vehicle.
Canadian winter is cold, snowy, and treacherous at times. With all these hazards on the road, it’s important for Canadians to have a dash cam in their car. You never know when something will happen and you need footage to provide the necessary information for your insurance company or police, or even if it is just entertainment purposes.
Which Dash Cams are the Best for Canadian Winter?
In a hurry? here are our top 5 recommended dash cams for the Cold weather conditions in Canada.
- THINKWARE U1000 Dual Dash Cam 4K UHD Front Cam and Rear Cam
- BlackVue DR900X-2CH with 32GB microSD Card | 4K UHD Cloud Dashcam
- Vantrue N2 Uber Dual Lens Dashcam 1080P Front and Rear Dash Camera for Cars
- VIOFO A129 Pro Duo 4K 2-Channel Dash Cam with GPS
- Garmin Dash Cam Mini, Car Key-Sized Dash Cam
Some dash cameras have been known to fail in the winter. Dash cameras will slow down or shut down if they are exposed to temperatures outside of their normal functioning range, which isn’t as bad as it would be if they were.
Just like your smartphone or DSLR camera, the dash cams is also a recording device whose image sensors will degrade in quality if they are exposed to temperatures outside of the dash cam’s operational range. This is why we have researched and reviewed these top 5 dash cams which were built for extremely cold temperatures.
Top 5 Best Dash Cam for Canadian Winter Review
1. THINKWARE U1000 Dual Dash Cam 4K UHD Front Cam and Rear Cam
The THINKWARE U1000 Dual Dash Cam 4K is a front and rear dash cam that comes with a memory card of either 32 GB or 128 GB. The camera has an ultra-wide viewing angle, capturing the road in superior quality.
The THINKWARE U1000 Dual Dash Cam 4K HD Front Camera and Rear 8MP Image Sensor is the perfect device for recording traffic behind you. The dual-lens camera captures 2K HD quality recordings of traffic behind you while reducing power consumption in parking mode.
Thinkware U1000 Dual Dash Cam 4K UHD is a dual dash cam with a live view feature. This device has forward-collision warnings and lane-departure warnings to help drivers drive more safely. Also, this product alerts the user of speed cameras on the road in real-time when driving behind another car or watching it from your rearview mirror.
The THINKWARE U1000 is a dual camera device that captures 4K footage. The front and rear cameras are located on the top of the unit, allowing drivers to see what’s ahead of them as well as behind them with ease.
Additionally, it detects collisions and gives lane departure warnings for both short-term alerts or long-term records. However, it can be a bit difficult to set up and quite expensive. Overall, this is a good dash cam for the winter and summer seasons in Canada.
2. BlackVue DR900X-2CH with 32GB MicroSD Card | 4K UHD Cloud Dashcam
The BlackVue DR900X-2CH is a 4K dash cam with H.265 compression, ultra wide-angle lens, and 32GB memory card options. The BlackVue DR900X-2CH is a sleek and compact dashcam that allows you to keep an eye on your vehicle while you are out and about.
The camera has 3G connectivity, so it can send footage back in real-time when connected with the app. It also comes equipped with 32GB of storage for up to 30 hours of HD videos!
BlackVue DR900X-2CH is a 4K UHD Cloud Dashcam that automatically backs up videos to the cloud. It has Parking Mode, which plays a 1 minute time-lapse of 30 minutes worth of footage in real-time. Its parking mode also takes into account where you are parked and when it’s about to expire.
This dashcam has a G Sensor that is able to detect impact and motion. It also comes with an incident detection feature so you can mark the footage of accidents or other incidents on it. The Parking mode allows for easy parking in tight spaces, while its Wi-Fi enabled means this camera can be connected to your smartphone through the BlackVue App for seamless video streaming.
This dashcam is a bit pricey, but it offers 4K UHD quality and a 32GB microSD card that can record up to 7 hours of video.
3. Vantrue N2 Uber Dual Lens Dashcam 1080P Front and Rear Dash Camera for Cars
Vantrue N2 is a 3 channel dash cam with a front camera, interior facing cabin camera, and rear road-facing camera. It has the onboard G sensor that automatically detects brake lights, engine sound, and pedestrians.
This device also has built-in Wi-Fi to easily share videos on social media or store them for later viewing on your phone. It offers parking mode, which starts recording when motion is detected. The video quality is excellent and the ease of use makes it one of the best dash cams for winter driving conditions in Canada.
Vantrue N2 is a front and rear dash camera that records in 1080p. It offers a parking mode to automatically start recording when motion is detected. The 360-degree coverage allows you to keep an eye on what’s going on around your car, even if you are driving at night or in the dark.
The Vantrue N2 Uber dual-lens dashcam is a day and night camera that has Sony STARVIS image sensors. The clarity of the video in both daytime and nighttime environments is impressive, with each sensor’s quality contributing to the overall quality of images captured by this device.
The Vantrue N4 is a high-resolution front camera with 1440p resolution. The battery of the dash cam only lasts for six hours, so it’s recommended to buy an extra one.
4. VIOFO A119 V3 QHD+ Dash Cam
The Viofo A119 V3 is a dash cam that records footage when there is a moving object or impact. It will also detect auto events and store the recordings onto optional memory cards.
The VIOFO A119 is a dash cam that can be mounted on your windshield. It has a high-definition 1080p video recording and features an external power bank to record footage even when you’re in parking mode, which records low frame rate videos with the intent of reducing file size.
The VIOFO A119 is a QHD+ dash cam that has been upgraded from its predecessor, the A118. The camera now includes an optional battery pack and CPL filter to give you more flexibility when it comes to parking mode recording.
It has an affordable price and comes with optional accessories. This dash cam also comes with various memory card options so you can record footage to the memory cards of your choice.
5. Garmin Dash Cam Mini, Car Key-Sized Dash Cam
If you’re looking for a dash cam that can easily fit in your pocket, then the Garmin Dash Cam Mini is a great option. If you want to be able to see what’s going on behind or beside your vehicle, then this dash cam is also a good option.
The Garmin Dash Cam Mini is a car key-sized dash cam with Wi-Fi connectivity. This camera records in 720p HD and has an LCD screen that displays the video on your phone’s screen while driving. The camera also comes with parking mode, GPS tracking for speed monitoring, and image stabilization to prevent shaky footage from replaying over time.
The Dash Cam Mini 2 is an upgraded version of the original Dash Cam Mini. This small camera has just two buttons: one to mute the microphone and another button to save clips on the go. The device comes in black or white, with a keychain that can be attached to any car key for easy access!
In case you’re not into the idea of mounting a dash cam to your car, Garmin has come up with an alternative that’s much smaller and convenient. The Dash Cam Mini is a key-sized camera that connects to your smartphone via Wi-Fi so it can be controlled remotely from anywhere using the Garmin Drive App.
How to Choose the Best Dash Cam for Your Winter Drive in Canada.
Listed below is what you should Look For In A Dash Cam:
High Quality Image and Videos
Before buying a dash cam, make sure your camera meets these 3 requirements: high-quality image, wide-angle lens, and 1080p or better quality.
Loop Recording And Autostart
Dash cam with loop recording is important for rideshare drivers to have video and audio documentation. Manually deletes older videos when memory is full. Loop recording helps with the footage in case of an accident or incident.
Rideshare drivers are advised to make loop recordings inside their cars. This could help protect them from false assault or harassment charges because the recording would be available for evidence during court proceedings.
Night-Time Recording
When driving during an evening drive, a dash cam that records in detail at night is best for recording the road ahead. In addition, a dash cam with automatic mode for low light levels can help you to avoid any accidents as it will switch over from day mode automatically when the light level drops.
GPS
A GPS is not absolutely necessary in Dash cams, but may be useful. GPS technology allows the device to record video with exact locations and possibly give evidence on where you were when a crime occurred.
Impact Or Crash Detection
When it comes to choosing the best dash cam for your winter drive in Canada, it is important to consider if the camera detects impacts and/or crashes. There are also other features such as the detection of unusual movement or tagging incidents.
Temperature and Durability
When choosing the best dash cam for winter, it’s important to know what temperature is safe. Most dash cams can operate within a range of -40 degrees Celsius and +60 degrees Celsius. Different weather conditions might require different models of camera.
For example, if you live in Canada where it gets very cold during the winter months, then you should look at cameras that are made specifically for colder temperatures because they will have better temperature sensors which are essential when using them during the wintertime.
App compatibility
There are different types of dash cams. Some will connect to the cloud and some can also connect to an app on your phone via Wi-Fi so you can back up important driving data from your car.
When shopping for a new dash cam, make sure it is compatible with your favorite smartphone app or other vehicle apps that you frequently use.
Storage Abilities
For a Canadian winter road trip, the best dash cam would have enough storage space to record for several months. Most dash cams use SD cards and can hold footage from one or two weeks up to six months.
Cloud is another popular storage option for dash cam footage. Dash cams live stream to the phone app via Wi-Fi connection. Cloud can hold unlimited amounts of data and has no limit on how long it will take before you need to delete old files or transfer new ones over.
What memory card should I get for my Dash Cam?
Class 10 cards are recommended for best performance like the PNY 128GB Elite Class 10 U1 MicroSDHC Flash Memory Card. While Class 4 cards may not be as durable, they are perfect for dash cameras that have a limited capacity and don’t perform well in low-light conditions.
When purchasing a dash cam, you should always make sure to get the right memory card as well. The best memory cards for Canadian winter are high-endurance microSD cards with fast read and write speeds.
Dash cams are great for recording an event’s progress. In order to do so, however, you’ll need a memory card that can hold a lot of data and has the ability to record over and over again – many thousands of times in fact.
A high-endurance card will have no issues with this requirement as it can easily handle continuous recordings without any loss of quality.
Memory cards are the most important component of a dash cam. The best option for most makes and models is Samsung Pro Endurance and SanDisk High Endurance. These memory cards offer high-quality video recording without any interruptions or lagging, making them ideal for capturing footage throughout your journey.
Are dash cams illegal in Canada?
A dash cam is a type of camera that attaches to the dashboard of vehicles for recording footage while driving. These cameras are legal in Canada, so Canadians can use them without any worries about breaking the law.
Though there are no laws in Canada that officially state dash cams are illegal, it is suggested to avoid filming on properties where the owner may be hostile. It is also advised not to drive with a dash cam while you’re drinking or driving an unfamiliar car without consent from the individual in front of you.
There’s nothing stopping law enforcers from encouraging drivers to use these cameras as they often provide valuable information for investigations and trials involving accidents and traffic violations.
Does a dash cam record all the time?
Dash cameras are typically installed in the vehicle to monitor the drivers’ behavior. They will begin recording once motion or impact is detected, but they will stop recording if the engine is turned off.
Dash cameras must be connected to a constant power source that does not switch off when engine/vehicle is turned off. The camera needs to have an automatic recording feature so it will save footage in case of any incidents or accidents, which would otherwise disappear from the memory card.
