By James Mosley @jamesmosley182
Nextbase DUO In-Car Cam Dash Cam Review
The lovely people at Nextbase have been rather busy lately, what with launching two new rather interesting looking dash cams – the 512G which now sits at the top of their range for “standard” forward facing dash cams, and the DUO that I’m reviewing here.
In releasing the DUO, Nextbase tell us that they are answering one of the most common questions that both themselves and their retailers get asked when it comes to dash cams – “what about the back window?”. Indeed, up until now, many people who wanted a dash cam to cover both the front and the rear were simply choosing to install a second camera, and putting up with the hassle of fitting it. That’s two power feeds, two lots of running/hiding cables and not to mention having a second camera to mount in the rear window. Plus, on the DUO, footage is recorded and played back side by side and is therefore far easier to review than footage from separate cameras.
So the idea of only having to have one device that has two cameras in it could be very appealing to a lot of people. Nextbase are not actually the first company to offer a device like this, but when the UK’s dash cam market leader promises a high quality, easy to use device like this it’s certainly worth taking a look.
As you would expect from Nextbase, it’s pretty simple to get set up with a nice long 4m power lead included and a simple bracket. Bear in mind the power lead is not a standard mini/micro USB as found in other Nextbase units. Interestingly the windscreen mount bracket actually encompasses the GPS aerial (see below), which while not quite as neat as having the aerial built in like other models from the company, it’s not a major problem and the bracket tucks into place nicely. This does mean you have to have two leads plugged into the top of the unit though. Presumably this design was one of the compromises that Nesxtbase had to make in order to squeeze so many features and two cameras into a relatively compact device. Still, top marks to Nextbase for including GPS rather than leaving it out.
As seems to be the way with Nextbase dash cams, a memory card is not included with the unit. To be honest though, it’s probably worth going for the maximum supported 32GB card with this dash cam though as the twin HD cameras do tend to gobble up memory card space a little. For example, the 8GB card in my test unit was devoured with only around 40 minutes of footage saved. Of course, as with most dash cams you don’t have to worry about the card running out of space as once full it will loop and delete the oldest footage, but it’s always nice to have a little bit more space in case you see something interesting and want to check the footage.
The build quality of the unit is pretty reasonable. It’s quite a light device which some people may not like but if it were to ever fall off its bracket I suppose that would not be a bad thing! The screen side of the unit does have quite a cheap feeling plastic to it but the other side with the Nextbase logo on it has quite a nice high quality brushed metal effect to it, so a bit of a mixed bag really.
In a similar fashion to other Nextbase units, the menu system is fairly simple to operate, although the OK button is still situated on the top of the device making operation a little awkward with the unit in place. It’s nice that the power button and card slot are on the bottom of the device though and this makes it simple to pop the card out and review footage without having to remove the camera from its bracket.
I wasn’t too sure what to expect from the footage if I’m being honest. The reason for this is that of course there has to be compromises in squeezing twin HD cameras and the processing power required into the device at this price tag. The first obvious compromise apparent is the resolution – Nextbase has dropped the resolution to 720p rather than 1080p on its other high end models, but at least it’s still HD. Interestingly the rear camera is fitted with a 50m zoom lens, presumably to counter the problem of having it at the front of the vehicle, and to prevent unwanted footage from inside the car.
Both cameras are able to twist round so you can position them exactly in the position required. You can even have them both pointing the same way if for some reason you should want to.
My first impressions of the footage I captured were really good. I actually saw some early Nextbase promotional footage from this camera before I got to try out my own test unit and I have to say I don’t think that the promotional footage did it justice. The results from my footage seem to be a significant improvement, particularly from the front camera. Perhaps the footage Nextbase were using was taken from an early pre production unit or something.
As you can see from the video, footage is good and very smooth at 30fps. Yes, it doesn’t quite have the clarity you would get from a high end 1080p front facing camera, but considering what this thing does you can’t really expect that. It’s certainly good enough and substantially better than I was expecting. I must say I was particularly impressed with the rear facing camera and its zoom lens, and indeed both cameras are above average quality and able to provide you with vital evidence should you unfortunately become involved in a collision.
The software with Nextbase dash cams does seem to be slightly different with every different model, but this particular bit of software called “Nextbase Replay” is one of the best I’ve tried in my opinion. The interface does look a little more cluttered compared to some of the other versions but it seems to have far more features and it even cleverly links together your three minute clips into individual journeys making it much easier to find what you’re looking for.
Overall, the Nextbase DUO is easy to recommend to anyone who’s interested in having a twin dash cam set up. The fact the it makes it so easy to record incidents at both the front and rear of your car makes it a far more simpler option that running wired back and front to two separate units. While those looking for the absolute best image quality out there may prefer to go for individual units, the quality of footage that the Nextbase DUO produces will be more than enough for most people simply wanting to provide themselves with an excellent witness during an insurance claim. With an RRP of £199.99, it’s not the cheapest dash cam solution out there, but it sure does a lot for the money. If you want to buy just one dash cam to use as an independent witness front and back, this could be the dash cam for you.