Small wireless dashcam?

[satans worm]

So I don’t want cables dangling all over my dash nor another screen to look at, simply a camera lens and battery that will last say 5-6 hours of recod8ng before needing to be charged.
Happy to use my phone as a screen to review any footage when required
Is such a thing out there ? I tried googling but they all seem to have had power cables attached

[Heidfirst]

The power requirement is too high for a battery only (at least for a commercial product because the demand//nos sold would be too low). You could hardwire it with the power cable going up into the headlining (on my Thinkware F800 Pro it runs up the mirror fixing so not very noticeable at all)

[andburg]

satans worm said:

So I don’t want cables dangling all over my dash nor another screen to look at, simply a camera lens and battery that will last say 5-6 hours of recod8ng before needing to be charged.
Happy to use my phone as a screen to review any footage when required
Is such a thing out there ? I tried googling but they all seem to have had power cables attached

Sounds easy enough buy a cheap a go pro clone, stick some tape or something over the screen top save distraction.

problem is you'll only get about 2 hours of life in use so unless you want to mount a slimline usb battery pack above a flip down visor you're going to be stuck with a cable.

Go Pro battery ~1200mah
Cheap slimline battery pack ~2500 mah

that's about 6 hours of recording and you can leave the camera mounted if you wanted, just remove the external battery for charging.

[satans worm]

i did wonder if that was the issue, i was hoping if you did without a review screen and utalise your phone it would not require such a large battery, i just hate having my iphone connected for sat nav, to put another one dangling across the dashboard would upset my OCD

Looks like ill have to do without one , my car is a S5 2012, so its getting on, but i wonder if new cars have these fitted as standard so nice and neat

[gmaz]

Installation can be made neat, with the wire tucked into the headlining and down the A-pillar, then connected behind the dash to a 12v supply.

[Spare tyre]

Neat installation isn’t hard, it’s often just about thinking about it for a while and maybe buying longer cables

In my cars I hard wired stuff into a junction box connected to the fuse board. In someone else’s car it was wired into the light circuit for the glove box, in my wife’s car it’s wired to the fag lighter in the boot then simply run under the carpets to the front.

Often longer cables give you neater options.

Key to dash cams is simplicity, Wi-Fi and all that is a gimmick, you don’t really need it, just take the chip out and pop it in your pc

If you are worried about loosing footage whilst out and about, keep a spare memory card in a bag in your ash tray. I still use the mobius camera after 5 or 6 years and Actually keep a whole spare camera in the ash tray, 5 seconds to swap over if needed

[Mike Hammer]

If you prefer a dash cam that people likely won't notice, we recommend the Garmin Dash Cam Mini

[Davie_GLA]

It takes no time to find a good route for the cane but I get it. I won't fit one unless I know I can hide the cable.

[BigRusko]

Theres a good review of a dashcam hidden in the mirror surround over on A5OC;

https://www.a5oc.com/threads/dash-cam-hidden-in-mi...

As other have said, it wont take much to hide the cables to and this replaces some of the trim around the rearview for a 'factory look'. Footage looks good too.

[Davie_GLA]

Also remember that these things are only as good as the footage they can provide when you really need it. If they can't see s plate or identify a car or person there is little point.

To the other extreme, remember the higher end ones are recording everything you give it permission too. Including position and speed .