Garmin - Dash Cam Mini 3

I have a garmin mini 3. It takes great video but its slow to connect to from your phone via wifi. I have a viofo a119 mini in another car but I don't think the angle would be right for a rear dash cam. The garmin mini 3 fits really well and isn’t too intrusive. https://preview.redd.it/pczycgw1xaue1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f49e58449e8e04300a899d96dc382dd4a632b11

Got a 2016.5 CX5 about 2 months ago and I have done: - StartX remote starter (easy to install) - Apple Carplay/Android Auto USB hub installed (super easy to install as well) - Switched to LED interior lights - installed ambient lighting (hardwired. footlights and one strip on the dash. Kept it simple to not be too annoying) - Dashcam with dongcar adapter (Garmin mini 3) What I plan to do in the near future: - change brakes and rotors (need recs) - add OEM roof rails and cross bars - add a trailer hitch (need recs) The car is super easy to work with and install stuff on. I'm a first time car owner with little to no experience with hardware stuff at all (still don't know the difference between a socket vs ratchet wrench). So if I can do it then anyone can :D

I use Garmin’s dash cam mini (ver 2 & 3) & a dongar adapter to tap into the rear view mirror’s power.

garmin mini 3 with the dongar cable. Tuck it up behind the passenger side of your rear view mirror and its basically invisible and runs in the background. Honestly forget i have it until I see questions like this come up in this sub haha

Having good luck with the Garmin Mini3

I have the Mini 3, and I have its usb power cable running down the driver side window trim, under the driver dash, under the mat and to the power plug in the arm rest, but I have a large USB battery pack its plugged into that'll keep the camera running for over 24 hours before dying with the car off so I get a little peace of mind while parked.

Bitrate matters just as much as resolution for moving instances, plates are pretty big. Unfortunately for most cameras no way to actually know this until you test the camera. My Garmin Mini 3 can read plates of oncoming cars on 60kmh two way roads despite being 1080p because the bit rate is high, so it doesn’t smudge moving plates.

if it’s just for insurance/determining whose at fault I’d go for a Garmin Mini 3. I have two one front and rear, they sync to each other, the app is basic and simple, the quality is more than sufficient (can read plates of oncoming cars on two way lane interurban 60kmh road) and field of view is good. Microphone is mutable via button which was a must for me and you can disable all the annoying beeping and shit. SD card easy to eject if you wanted to swallow it for some reason and Garmin makes a nice auto cutoff OBD port power supply, good parking mode. Good customisation for park mode, record not record, sensitivity. No over the top stuff, no geeky batman gadgets, no fugly screens just camera record and camera save and affordable plus invisible behind my rear view mirror which was a must. It’s 1080p but high bit rate so it’s good. Yes it doesn’t have GPS so no speed, but for me this is both a positive and non-issue. Firstly insurance doesn’t need to know if i was theoretically speeding, and if i want to know my speed i’ll pull up google maps and calculate it manually distance over time. I have gotten a real officer fine withdrawn this way using the Mini 3 (it also bang shotted him clearly not even aiming the lidar gun at me on the side of the road and he had his body cam turned off but that’s another story) Only complaint is setting up them was a little buggy (had to close and reopen app) and downloading footage over wifi is slow and not easy to snip a small clip but those are one off issues, not daily problem.

I’ve had the Garmin Dash Mini 3 for about a year and it’s worked great. If you buy the dongar harness, you can power it from your mirror and never have to worry about wires to plug in.

I have the same truck from 2024. Use the Garmin Mini 3. Not real expensive, good quality video. It also records and locks the video vith voice commands

I have the same truck from 2024. Use the Garmin Mini 3. Not real expensive, good quality video. It also records and locks the video vith voice commands

I have a Garmin Mini 3 - and prior to that, in my last vehicle, I had a Garmin Mini 2. The 3 comes with a polarizing filter already on the lens. I'm sure it's not the best quality camera out there, but it's small, discrete, and I've always had a positive experience with both units. I only bought the 3 because I couldn't find where I put the 2 (I thought we had thrown it away in our garage cleanup effort). Literally like two days after I got the 3 installed, we found the 2. So I put that in the wife's car.