For anyone that spends a lot of their time on-the-road, one of the best ways to stay safe is to install a dash cam on your vehicle’s dashboard, as not all drivers remain conscious about defensive driving (A.K.A. “safe-driving”). These innovative gadgets work as an onboard car camera that continuously records a video file through your vehicle’s front windscreen (sometimes rear windscreen, or potentially other windows) in order to carefully and accurately record every detail that takes place on the road. In other words, dash cams work as a “silent witness” in the event of any potential road / car accidents. While their upfront cost might originally seem expensive, dash cams are actually a great investment, especially for people that drive for long hours on a daily basis), as they can ultimately help drivers to save a large sum of money in the long run by getting them out of potential hit-and-runs, vehicle accidents, or any other car accidents that you can think of. That said, if you’re looking for a new dash cam system for your car that’s reliable and easy-to-use, then the Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam will not disappoint you.
The Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam packs some ground-breaking features such as a built-in 140º Wide-Angle Polarising Lens for 1440p HD Video Recording, 10Hz GPS for Google Maps, Wi-Fi and BLE Connectivity, Intelligent Parking Mode, Emergency SOS Response and support to Alexa Voice Controls.
Best of all, the set also comes with some neat accessories, including a Rear Window Camera, a Rear View Camera, and a Cabin View Camera.
Whether you’re out driving long distances for work purposes, traveling across the country to visit relatives or explore new places, or even just tailgating with friends and family, this sleek Dash Cam is a must-have for protecting yourself on the road from any potential fender-bender that may or may not include someone else’s vehicle.
All and all, the Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam makes for a great “silent witness” for any driver, whether they’re already experienced behind the wheel or if they just recently started driving.
Now, let’s have a more detailed look at this award-winning dash cam kit, talk a bit more about each of its components, and also discuss everything that it has to offer you.
DESIGN & SPECS
Starting with the dash cam’s size, the Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam comes a nicely compact size, measuring just 3.82 inches long by 1.89 inches wide by 2.17 inches tall, which makes it quite easy to install at your vehicles’s windscreen.
At the front-side of this dash cam, we have a 140° Wide Viewing Angle F1.6 (6-Layer) Camera Lens that can record HD Video at 1440P and 30fps (as well as 1080P at 60fps) for all of your journeys on the road, thus providing you with high coverage of of the road and high quality footage of your driven routes, which can ultimately serve you as additional protection in case of an unfortunate accident that may or may not involve another vehicle.
Unlike many dash cams on the market that feature camera lenses with narrower viewing angles, the Nextbase 522GW ‘s 140° Wide Viewing Angle Camera Lens makes it possible for this dash cam to capture more detail at either side of the road, thus allowing you to ensure that additional on-road details like pavements and road signs are also included in its HD Video footages.
What’s even better is that the dash cam’s 140° Wide Camera Lens also boasts Enhanced Night Vision capabilities, which basically allows this dash cam model to also record HD Video footage during nighttime.
Moreover, the Nextbase 522GW ‘s 140° Wide Viewing Angle F1.6 Camera Lens also integrates a built-in Polarizing Filter that dramatically reduces bright contrast levels such as windshield glare and reflections during the dash cam’s recording of your HD Video footage, which is a great functionality to have when driving under bright sunlight conditions.
On top of that, its Polarizing Filter also comes equipped with a high-end rotating bezel that allows drivers to customize the positioning of the Nextbase 522GW ‘s Camera Lens.
SETUP / INSTALLATION & INCLUDED ACCESSORIES
For setting up the Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam on your vehicle, know that the kit provided with this dash cam also comes with a couple of handy accessories that make its installation much easier.
These accessories include a Click&Go PRO GPS Magnetic Car Mount (used for holding the Dash Cam in place via a magnetic base), a Spare 3M Adhesive Pad (which can be used to mount your Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam on a secondary vehicle – as the kit only includes one Magnetic Mount Module), a Power Cable Fitting Tool (which makes it easy for drivers to neatly route the dash cam’s proprietary Power Cable through the top-side of their car’s windscreen), the Dash Cam’s proprietary 13.12 ft. (4 m) Power Cable (which is suitable for 12-24V and also comes with an included Removable Ferrite core), and a USB Cable (used to connect the Dash Cam to your PC so that you can then export its recorded HD Video footage).
Once again, note that the kit’s included Click&Go PRO GPS Magnetic Car Mount makes it much, much easier to install and then keep your Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam in place thanks to the mount’s magnetic base.
This magnetic mount is built quite well, and also comes at a reasonably compact side, which not only makes it fairly easy for drivers to install the Dash Cam on their car’s windscreen without facing any sort of inconveniences, but ultimately also helps to ensure that they have enough space to do just that.
INTERFACE / CONTROL PANEL
Moving on to the dash cam’s interface. At the back side of the Nextbase 522GW, this dash cam also comes equipped with an all new 3″ HD IPS Touch Screen Panel that ensures drivers can have an easy and straightforward user experience.
Note that the dash cam’s 3″ HD IPS Touch Screen Panel features an upgraded picture resolution and clarity. Via this Touch Screen Panel, users can access the dash cam’s Menu Selection, as well as control the unit’s video-playback and video-sharing functionalities in a completely seamless manner.
Moreover, integrated at the left-side of the dash cam, we also have its Power On/Off Button, which makes it easy for users to conveniently turn the dash cam On or Off whenever necessary.
Additionally, coming integrated at the left-side of the dash cam’s body and sitting just below its Power Button, we also have a micro SD Card slot that can be used with micro SD Cards of 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB capacity to store all of the Nextbase 522GW’s recorded HD Video footage.
For that, we recommend our readers to have a look at Nextbase’s line of branded U3 micro SD cards, which can be found for sale on their Accessories Shopping Page for a very affordable price.
Last but not least, sitting on the opposite side of the dash cam’s body (meaning its right-side), the Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam also comes discreetly equipped with compatible ports for plugging in additional Camera Modules, which can basically be used for further improving this dash cam’s recording performance when accounting for its covering range for video recording (140º just with the main unit, as said earlier).
The compatible Camera Modules for this specific dash cam model (Nextbase 522GW) include: a Rear Window Camera, a Rear View Camera, and a Cabin View Camera.
All of these additional Camera Modules are reasonably easy to install, and each of them can be used to record both the road behind your vehicle as well as the road ahead of it by having them working together with the Nextbase 522GW as their main unit.
To be a little more specific, these Camera Modules will provide the Nextbase 522GW either with a covering range of 280º, or ultimately, if using multiple of these, with a 360º covering range, which is basically like having your own little recording team that can accurately cover all of your car’s surroundings. If that’s the case, you’re then obviously covered with HD Video footage against any potential car-bumps from literally any side of your vehicle.
CONNECTIVITY
Now, for the dash cam’s connectivity, know that the 522GW features both Bluetooth 4.2 Connectivity as well as Quick-Link Wi-Fi Connectivity, which are both used to automatically have the dash cam sync its recorded video files straight to your smartphone so that your footage can be supplied quickly to your insurer.
NOTABLE SMART FEATURES
Integrated 10Hz GPS
It’s also worth noting that the Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam also integrates an improved 10Hz GPS Module and a built-in G-Sensor that allow this dash cam model to record accurate speed and location data via GPS with the aid of Google Maps.
Emergency SOS Response
In addition to that, the dash cam’s 10Hz GPS Module also allows this dash cam to accurately track where an accident happened.
That said, in the event of an accident taking place, the dash cam automatically safeguards your footage upon impact and also automatically alerts emergency services of your exact location, as well as informing them about your blood type, allergies and other pre-set medical history to facilitate emergency treatment upon the arrival of that emergency personnel.
Intelligent Parking Mode
This dash cam also boasts an Intelligent Parking Mode, which allows it to automatically record any bump or physical movement on your vehicle when left unattended.
Alexa Built-In
Finally, and as stated earlier, the Nextbase 522GW also features Alexa built-in, meaning that this dash cam also boasts support to Alexa Voice Controls that drivers and their passengers can use to get hands-free access to tens of thousands of skills via simple Voice Commands , which let them ask Alexa to automatically play music, place calls, listen to audiobooks, hear the news, check the weather, control smart home devices, get directions, find parking, and more.
THE SMARTPHONE COMPANION APP – The MyNextbase Connect App
Lastly, the Nextbase 522GW can also be used together with its Smartphone Companion App (called the MyNextbase Connect App – available to download for free for both iOS and Android devices) for better controlling all of its functionalities.
Via the MyNextbase Connect App, drivers can easily edit and share all of their Nextbase 522GW’s HD Video footage.
Moreover, its also via the MyNextbase Connect App that drivers will be able to activate and configure the dash cam’s Emergency SOS Response function.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam packs some ground-breaking features such as a built-in 140º Wide-Angle Polarising Lens for 1440p HD Video Recording, 10Hz GPS for Google Maps, Wi-Fi and BLE Connectivity, Intelligent Parking Mode, Emergency SOS Response and support to Alexa Voice Controls.
Best of all, the set also comes with some neat accessories, including a Rear Window Camera, a Rear View Camera, and a Cabin View Camera.
Whether you’re out driving long distances for work purposes, traveling across the country to visit relatives or explore new places, or even just tailgating with friends and family, this sleek Dash Cam is a must-have for protecting yourself on the road from any potential fender-bender that may or may not include someone else’s vehicle.
All and all, the Nextbase 522GW Dash Cam makes for a great “silent witness” for any driver, providing them with the ultimate protection on the road, no matter if they’re already experienced behind the wheel or if they just recently started driving.
If you’re interested in buying it, each set is currently going for $259.99. You can order yours online right now, directly from Nextbase’s official shopping page, or alternatively, you could also get it from Amazon, if you’d prefer.
