Had garmin mini 2 and 3 for a while and the quality is decent enough for me. Plates are not as readable as I'd like them to be but I like the smallness of it.
I use the same: 2 Garmin minis. They come with a lighter adapter that has 2 USB A outlets, so you can power both from one socket. That means they shut off almost immediately when you turn your ignition off. They don't have batteries of their own, which is fine with me. They're in the sun all day every day, and they're black. Not a great place for a battery! Another reason I like the minis is that they don't require a subscription. A lot of dashcams require a subscription, so it's something good to check out before you buy.
I have the Garmin mini 3 and siphon power from the mirror. Amazing camera quality, app, and UI.
But it’s very discrete. If you want to have a dash cam used to scare people away then this ain’t it. It’s very small.
I have two Garmin Mini 3's, one for the front, one for the rear. Solid option for the price (I think I paid about $100/each on sale, which happens a lot).
If you can hardwire them, even better, though I didn't. The app is fine, not great, not bad, does what it needs to do overall (which for me is angling the camera right and periodically checking to make sure it's still looking the right direction). I got big SD cards to store lots of video (not included but memory is getting cheaper by the day, so it's not much of a concern).
They worked perfectly for my super-minor fender bender (when the other driver took off and never stopped, then tried to claim I was at fault. Though, to be fair, all the insurance adjusters had to do was look at the intersection on Google Maps and it would have proved she was lying, so it was just icing on the cake to have the footage).
Also good point about subscription- Garmin has one, but it's optional (and I of course did not get it). Some require it. Big difference. I think even if you go for a subscription, best choose an optional one, so you have flexibility later if you want to change or drop it, you can.
Garmin mini 3 with power from the obd2 port running up the a pillar. Hides completely behind the rear view mirror and using their obd2 adapter there's no need to splice wires or run anything from the fuse box.
Can't see the camera or any wires so I'm happy.
AlternativeSwimmer89
