At a Glance
Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
The F800 Pro provides a complete package with front and rear cameras, a good parking mode and plenty of safety features. It’s a little on the expensive side Considering it only records at 1080p, but overall, it does a fine job.
Best Prices Today: Thinkware F800 Pro
You tend to get what you pay for with dash cams, and if you’re after more than the basics, then Thinkware has you covered. The F800 Pro is the top-of-the-line model and offers plenty of features. If you buy the bundle which includes the rear camera, as we’re reviewing here, you get recorded evidence of what happened both in front as well as behind.
On top of that, it offers built in GPS, Wi-Fi and it uses those not simply for plotting your location and reviewing video, but also to warn you if your vehicle leaves a geo-fenced area. It also comes with a 32GB microSD card and a hard-wire kit which enables the cameras to record when you’re parked. More on that later.
Thinkware F800 Pro: Price & Availability
If this is too much, there are cheaper options in our roundup of the best dash cams , including the DDpai X2 Pro.
Thinkware F800 Pro: Features and design
The F800 Pro has a design much like the DDPai X2 Pro. Initially we thought the absence of a screen would be a problem, but although it makes the initial setup a little trickier, it makes for a much more compact unit which can live behind the rear-view mirror out of sight.
The main camera itself is removable from a quick-release backplate which itself adheres to the windscreen via a large 3M pad. It isn’t quick release in the sense you can remove it from the car and use it to take photos of an accident: it’s designed to stay in position, but can be removed if necessary without having to replace the sticky pad (though one spare is included in the box).
There are five buttons on the underside: power, card format, mic mute, Wi-Fi on/off and a manual recording button. We also like how the card slot is on the rear edge, which was easily accessible about the rear-view mirror in our test car.
Two wires are required: one for power and one rather chunky microUSB to microUSB cable which connects the front to the rear camera.
The cable is extremely long so the main issue you’ll have is trying to ‘lose’ the excess cable out of sight.
Both cameras swivel so you can adjust the tilt angle, but once stuck to the screens, they cannot be adjusted left or right, so it pays to check each is straight before sticking it on. It also means that if your rear screen is curved at the sides, you might have to mount it centrally rather than at the edge or the view will be skewed to one side.
You can do this via the Thinkware Cloud app, which connects to the F800 Pro’s Wi-Fi and lets you see what each camera sees.
It’s a bit of a disappointment that the main camera tops out at a resolution of 1920×1080, and records at 30fps, not 60. However, the combination of a good-quality Sony sensor and a decent lens mean that sharpness and detail levels are good.
The rear camera is also a 1080p model, and better quality than the 720p unit supplied with the F200.
While the 32GB card is twice the size of the 16GB card you get if you buy the F800 Pro separately rather than as a bundle, it has to record the video from both cameras and so will fill up and begin overwriting the oldest video clips after four hours. You can supply your own card up to 128GB though.
Parking mode
Thinkware has thought out its parking mode well. You must use the hard-wire cable for this, unless your car happens to leave power on in its 12V accessory socket when you turn off the ignition. Most don’t, so the camera loses power when you park.
Rather than a box of electronics on the cable, power management is built into the camera itself and via the app you can choose at which voltage the system shuts off to preserve power: no-one wants their dash cam to flatten their battery so the car won’t start.
In parking mode, the camera enters a very low power state and wakes only when an impact is detected. It will then record a clip and return to sleep after a few minutes.
Since there’s no pre-record (as you get with some parking modes which run continuously) you won’t see what happened prior to the impact, but the trade-off is that the F800 Pro’s parking mode can run for days rather than hours.
Safety features
Via the app you can upload safety camera locations, and therefore warnings and the database includes both fixed and mobile cameras.
You also get lane departure warnings, and this system can be disabled below a certain speed so you don’t get false warnings when driving around town.
There’s also front collision warning, which can also be disabled under a certain speed. You can also enable front vehicle departure warning which will alert you if the traffic in front has moved away but you haven’t followed. This could be useful at traffic lights, for example.
Cloud services
A unique feature is the cloud service which lets you set up a geofence and get an alert if the vehicle leaves the area. This would typically be a small area around your property, but while the idea is sound, it works only if you supply an internet connection. That’s likely via a portable Mi-Fi router, but it adds a lot of expense just for a couple of features. If your car already has Wi-Fi, it’s likely it already has geofencing anyway.
You’ll also get an alert if an impact is detected, which could again be useful if your car is parked somewhere it’s vulnerable.
There’s nothing else: no uploading of video the the cloud, nor cloud storage.
Performance
If you simply want the best quality video from a dash cam, you should look elsewhere. But, despite the F800 Pro’s 1080p resolution being lower than some rivals and it recording at a relatively low 10Mbit/s, image quality is acceptable (where the F200’s is disappointing).
It’s possible to read registration plates when you’re relatively close to cars in front, and when the video is paused, plates can mostly – but not always – be made out of vehicles at the edges of the field of view.
The rear camera isn’t quite as good, but it’s still easy to make out the registration of a vehicle close behind. And of course, the benefit is that you can prove what happened in the event of a rear impact: that the vehicle which struck you was at fault, for example.
Image quality from this camera may depend on your own vehicle as some with curved tailgate glass can cause releflections. It’s worth checking some test footage before committing to a final mounting posiiton.
The app isn’t nearly as good as DDPai’s, and doesn’t allow you to select a portion of a clip to download to your phone. It’s all or nothing. And the Wi-Fi connection isn’t the fastest: you’d be better off removing the microSD card and plugging it into a laptop or PC.
And the Thinkware app for Windows is fairly good, allowing you to view the front and rear views simultaneously along with data from the G-sensor.
Verdict
Overall the F800 Pro is a good dash cam. It offers a lot of features, including a parking mode which will run for days.
Its price a steep, though, and we’d have preferred a higher resolution such as 1440p for at least the main camera.
Some features may persuade you to spend the extra over the DDPai X2 Pro, such as the geofencing and alerts, but ultimately we prefer the X2 Pro for its lower price and much better app.
Best Prices Today: Thinkware F800 Pro
Author: Jim Martin, Executive Editor, Tech Advisor
Jim has been testing and reviewing products for over 20 years. His main beats include VPN services and antivirus. He also covers smart home tech, mesh Wi-Fi and electric bikes.
Recent stories by Jim Martin:
- The best dash cams 2023
- Nextbase iQ review
- Nextbase launches internet-connected iQ car security camera
At a glance
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Great monitoring features
- Impressive app
- Easy to install
Cons
- Expensive
- Subscription required for connected features
- Some features not yet available
Our Verdict
The iQ is a smart security camera you can put in practically any car and get alerts on your phone if anything happens. It’s expensive though, and there’s not much point in buying one unless you also take out a subscription. It has promise, but at the time of review was missing some of its big features.
Best Prices Today: Nextbase iQ 2K Smart Dashcam
Nextbase has spent years developing the iQ, and its launch was pushed back several times. It’s now on sale at last, albeit without a couple of key features that the company has shouted hyped up over the past 18 months or so.
However, as hard a concept as it is to sell to consumers, the iQ is meant to be an ever-evolving platform that will get new features over time.
The only problem with that approach is that this isn’t a cheap gadget and, as with so many internet-connected ones, you need to pay a subscription to use the features.. even if they’re not yet there.
There are three models in the range: 1K, 2K and 4K, starting at £349 / $499 and rising to £449 / $699. The resolutions refer to the forward-facing camera, but there’s also a cabin-facing camera, and an optional rear camera for £149 / $199 which wasn’t quite on sale at the time of writing but should be from 14 November.
Nextbase sent the 4K model for review.
Features & design
- Easy to install
- Embedded SIM
- 64GB microSD card included
The iQ has been designed from the ground up, and that’s very obvious if you’ve seen or owned any of the company’s previous dash cams.
It has a fairly chunky base which attaches to your windscreen and has a fabric speaker cover much like a smart speaker. The LED ring only adds to that similarity.
Jon L. Jacobi / Foundry
The two cameras are mounted in a pendant-style unit that points downwards into the car. In your hand, it seems like it will be large and obtrusive, but when installed it really isn’t.
The design is necessary for the camera to get a good view of the interior and passengers. The cabin camera also has infrared LEDs so you can still see what’s going on at night when the cabin is dark.
Nextbase includes a 64GB microSD card which you shouldn’t ever need to remove from the iQ, but you can upgrade it to 256GB if you want to.
It’s used to record video like a traditional dash cam, but the iQ does way more than that, and I’ll get to that in a second.
Installing the iQ in your car is simple because Nextbase includes a clever power cable that plugs into your car’s OBD II port. You might have to Google its location if you’re not familiar, but all cars since around 1996 have one.
Jim Martin / Foundry
The connector is as slim as possible so should fit behind a cover, but the cable exits from the side which proved to be a problem in my wife’s 2013 Vauxhall Corsa which has a recessed OBD II port, making it impossible to plug it in. It wasn’t an issue in my Ford Focus though.
There is a solution in the box though: fuse taps that you can connect to the appropriate fuse in your car’s interior fuse box. The only disadvantage is that you need to know which fuse to use, and to find a handy bolt that connects to the car’s chassis to which to attach the negative wire.
The only gotcha is that the adhesive mount needs to be stuck to your windscreen in a precise orientation. Rotate it slightly left or right and the iQ won’t be vertical, so it’s a good idea to offer it up with the camera attached to the mount.
Jim Martin / Foundry
The power and rear camera cable use proprietary connectors, like squared-off USB-C, which attach neatly into the rear of the iQ.
Jim Martin / Foundry
As part of the process you need to install the Nextbase iQ app on your phone and create an account. The app will walk you through the hardware installation and ask if you have a rear camera. The iQ’s data connection should activate and you’ll have to scan a tiny QR code on the iQ’s screen.
This is where the process fell down for me, as the code seemed far too bright in the preview and any slight movement of the phone caused it to blur. Using the tips provided in the app, it did eventually scan after I double-tapped the preview to turn on my phone’s rear LED flashlight and slowly move the phone closer to and away from the screen until it scanned.
Jim Martin / Foundry
If you manage to jump this particular hurdle, the iQ will download the latest firmware and restart, at which point you can see the live camera view and adjust the angle to get the best view of the road ahead (and behind if you have the rear cam).
Live view & alerts
Getting back to features, the embedded SIM means the iQ is always connected to the internet. It isn’t the first dash cam to do this, but it’s certainly the best-executed.
Via the Nextbase iQ app, which has clearly been inspired by Ring’s, and with the appropriate subscription in place, you can watch the live views from each camera and see on a map exactly where the car is along with the What3Words location.
Jim Martin / Foundry
Of course, any security camera worth its salt will tell you when something important is happening and the iQ is good at it. Using a variety of sensors, including radar, it will send you notifications of “Parking events”, which could be someone reversing into your car in a car park or a person loitering with intent. I found it would also notify me when I parked up and got out of the car, and again when I returned.
You can watch the recorded event, which shows all camera views on the same screen, and a useful red highlight on the playback bar means you can skip straight to where the action happened.
Jim Martin / Foundry
These aren’t the original full-resolution versions, though. They’re standard-def 848×480-pixel clips.
In the SmartSense settings in the app you can adjust how far away in each quadrant to monitor. There’s also a setting for the ‘activation voltage’ at which SmartSense should kick in.
Jim Martin / Foundry
This is different from the ‘Low power cut-off’ setting which shuts off the iQ if your car battery drops below a set voltage in order to ensure it doesn’t drain so much you can’t start the engine.
Emergency SOS
One of the other main safety features is Emergency SOS, something previous Nextbase dash cams have offered. You’ll need a Protect Plus subscription to enable it.
When set up, the iQ will monitor for a “severe crash” and when it detects one it will automatically send an SOS to emergency services with your exact location and – if you’ve provided it – your medical data.
You’ll receive a call back from those services but if you’re unable to answer, an ambulance will be dispatched to your location automatically.
Voice commands
You can also say a variety of other things prefixed by “Hey dash cam” such as:
- Turn the microphone on
- Turn the microphone off
- Start recording
- Stop recording
- Lock this file
- Turn the cabin camera off
- Turn the cabin camera on
For each, your command is processed locally and there are many variations of each command so you don’t have to remember the exact phrase. They all worked reliably when I tried them while driving.
Fortunately, turning the mic off only means audio isn’t recorded – it remains on to listen for your next command.
Currently, there’s no spoken feedback: everything is communicated using alert tones and a small LCD display which shows icons – it isn’t used for showing video.
Missing features
As mentioned, a couple of features are not available at launch. One is Guardian Mode. This is designed partly for parents with young drivers who want to keep tabs on them. When it’s added, you’ll be able to set speed and location limits, and get notifications when the car exceeds or leaves them.
This is also useful if you leave the car at a garage for repair, or with a valet.
A talk-back feature will allow you to communicate with whoever is in the car, too.
The second headline feature that isn’t available is Roadwatch AI. This uses a combination of computer vision and radar to identify other road users, their speed and trajectory.
This data can then be used alongside the video itself to help prove what happened if there is, for example, a collision.
As the iQ records video using H.265, you can’t use Nextbase’s current desktop viewer as it supports only H.264, so there was no way of getting at any of the recorded meta data at the time of review.
Performance & quality
As you’d expect at these prices, quality is good, although perhaps not as good as might hope for. Resolution depends upon the model you buy. The 1K has 1080p front and cabin cameras, but the interior is recorded at 1440p if you buy the 2K or 4K models.
The rear camera records at 1440p and can be connected to any of the three models.
Jim Martin / Foundry
I tested the 4K and the quality from the main front-facing camera is generally respectable, and a step up from Nextbase’s 622. There’s lots of detail which means you can read registration plates of other vehicles, whether they’re parked or driving.
There are quite a few exceptions to this, though. At night or if the weather is bad, details can be obscured by rain on your windows, or because your car’s headlights are reflecting off number plates.
The wide field of view means cars also have to be quite close by, otherwise their plates are simply too small to see. Usually, though, you only care about these details if another car hits yours – meaning it will be very close.
As there’s no HDR, dynamic range is somewhat limited and this can cause over- or underexposure when the sun is in the frame.
It’s surprising there’s no polariser for the front or rear cameras, neither built-in nor optional. There are just two video quality settings in the app, too, one being to disable audio recording. That leaves only exposure, which can be set separately for each camera.
Here are some examples of snapshots from day and night recording from all three cameras.
In the app, you’ll find recordings split into two sections: Events and Library.
Events is the important stuff, such as impacts, motion detected while parked and manual recordings where you’ve locked a file by saying the command, or pressing the button on the underside of the iQ. All are uploaded to the cloud automatically if you have a Protect Plus subscription.
Library is where you’ll see a complete timeline of all the events along with the regular continuous clips recorded while driving along. You can download any of these clips within the app as long as the iQ has power and a mobile data signal – and you have a Protect or Protect Plus subscription.
Whenever you download something, you can pick which of the camera feeds to include: you don’t have to download all of them.
It can take a while for the iQ to wake up and start streaming video if it’s in low-power mode, but the app does a great job of telling you what it’s doing rather than merely showing a spinning circle.
Although there’s built-in Wi-Fi, Nextbase says it’s working on a direct Wi-Fi link and expects local downloading to be possible some 4-6 weeks after launch.
You can of course take out the microSD card and pop it into a card reader on your laptop or PC but Nextbase has added an HD download option in the app. Unfortunately, this is only for videos in the Library tab. It’s not an option in the Events tab, but those are the clips you’re more likely to want to download. There, you’ll see the standard-def version which are automatically uploaded to the cloud as part of a Protect Plus subscription.
Continuous recording splits clips into 30-second chunks. These are 143MB for the front 4K camera, and 86MB for the cabin and rear 2K cameras. Alongside each is a low-resolution 5MB version which is what you see in the app.
With all three cameras recording, the 64GB card can hold around 1.5 hours of footage.
In terms of power usage, I found the iQ worked fine in a car that’s used every day and has a battery that’s in good health. But if you leave it parked a lot of the time, you’ll find the iQ switches off to preserve power after a day or two and therefore won’t be able to notify you or record anything.
Price & availability
In the UK you can buy the iQ from Halfords or direct from Nextbase .
As mentioned, the 1K costs £349, the 2K £399 and the 4K £499. The rear camera is £149.
In the US prices are higher: $499, $599 and $699 respectively, and these are the same whether you buy from Nextbase or Best Buy .
It’s possible to use the iQ without a subscription: the free tier is called ‘Solo’. The only feature it includes is text notifications sent when an event has been detected. These don’t specify what type of event and as you can’t connect remotely, you won’t be able to see the live view, nor watch cloud recordings of the event.
This means a subscription is essential: without it, the iQ isn’t much different to traditional dash cams.
In the UK the cheaper Protect tier costs £6.99 per month or £69.99 per year, while Protect Plus is £9.99 or £99.99.
In the US, prices are again higher at $9.99 per month or $99.99 for a year of Protect, while Protect Plus is $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year.
Protect Plus stores events for 180 days and also adds multiple user accounts (so other family members can use the app), Emergency SOS and automatic incident backup. The latter is an important distinction: if you opt only for Protect, nothing is uploaded: you just get the option to download videos remotely to your phone manually.
For alternatives, see our roundup of the best dash cams.
Should I buy the Nextbase iQ?
The iQ is the smartest dash cam I’ve reviewed. It’s great to be able to watch the live view and see what’s going on when notifications arrive, as well as see where your car is from the GPS location.
The app is – on the whole – great and it makes the iQ easy to use. Voice commands are useful, too.
However, despite that long development time, the iQ feels like an unfinished product. There are a fair few features missing, not just Roadwatch AI and Guardian Mode but things like the ability to download full-resolution videos to your phone via Wi-Fi and watch videos alongside GPS and G-sensor data. Firmware updates, of which there have been a good few during my testing, aren’t notified: you have to go into the settings and check manually to see if there’s a new version to download.
Nextbase says it’s working hard to address these things, but there are no guarantees of when they’ll arrive.
Regardless, price is going to be the sticking point for many: paying £349 / $499 for a 1080p camera is asking a lot, and it’s a further £149 / $200 for the rear camera (which is a wise investment).
Given the relatively high subscription prices it’s disappointing that videos backed up to the cloud are so low quality and that you need Protect Plus for events to be uploaded to the cloud automatically: a feature we take for granted on Wi-Fi security cameras.
Finally, there’s the one-year warranty, which is standard for Nextbase. But with the promise of the iQ being upgraded with new features over a longer period than that, it feels too short.
Ultimately, the iQ is a great security device for your car which should improve over time. I’ve no reason to doubt that Nextbase will make good on those promises, but you might want to wait a bit until some of them are fulfilled before shelling out.
Best Prices Today: Nextbase iQ 2K Smart Dashcam
Author: Jim Martin, Executive Editor, Tech Advisor
Jim has been testing and reviewing products for over 20 years. His main beats include VPN services and antivirus. He also covers smart home tech, mesh Wi-Fi and electric bikes.
Recent stories by Jim Martin:
- The best dash cams 2023
- Nextbase launches internet-connected iQ car security camera
- Viofo A229 Duo review: 1440p front + rear video
Nextbase officially announced the iQ at CES 2022. It’s a new range of dash cams that do more than simply recording when you’re driving and parked up.
That’s because it’s also a security camera for your car. And no security device would be much use if it couldn’t notify you of critical events. So one of the iQ’s key features is internet connectivity, but it has a bunch of other features as well.
It isn’t the only dash cam to have a built-in SIM – Blackvue’s DVR750 and Thinkware’s T700 LTE already have them – but the iQ does more and offers higher resolution video.
How much does the Nextbase iQ cost?
There are three models:
- 1K – 1080p resolution – £349
- 2K – 1440p resolution – £399
- 4K – 2160p (UHD) resolution – £449
All three have two cameras, one facing the road in front, and one facing the cabin. The cabin camera on the 4K model records at 1440p, not 4K. A 1440p rear camera will be available in the near future for £149, and this mounts in your rear window for a clear view of what’s happening behind.
In the US, subscription costs are higher. Protect costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually, while Protect Plus is $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year.
When is the Nextbase iQ release date?
Developing the IQ took longer than expected: the company had originally said it would go on sale before the end of 2022, then pushed it back to spring 2023.
The iQ was finally released on 30 October 2023.
You can buy an iQ immediately from Nextbase , or from Halfords in the UK.
Nextbase
What are the Nextbase iQ’s features?
At launch the iQ has the following features, but Nextbase has always said this is just the beginning and it plans to add new features regularly in the future.
- Smart Sense Parking : Using a combination of radar and g-force sensors, you get notifications (with images and video) when someone is acting suspiciously around your vehicle
- Driving/Security Mode : The iQ automatically switches between driving and parking modes, connecting to either your car’s OBD II port, or using the included hard-wire kit.
- Witness Mode . Activated using your voice, this records any incident and uploads the recording to the cloud and shares it with an emergency contact or designated third party in real-time.
- Live View: Just like a home security camera, you can watch the live camera feeds at any time via the Nextbase iQ app.
- Event notifications: Sent in real-time for events you’ll care about such as when someone reverses into your car in the car park or when an intruder attempts to enter your vehicle. Fast wake-up means you won’t miss anything important.
- Remote Alarm: Via the app you can set off the iQ’s built-in alarm to deter intruders.
- Emergency SOS : Alerts the emergency services with your location and other critical details following a serious accident.
Future features, which are already well into their development, include:
- Guardian Mode: Sends a notification when your vehicle exceeds a set speed or location, useful for parents wanting to keep tabs on young drivers.
- Push to Talk : This lets you to speak to anyone in the vehicle, whether your kids or an intruder.
- Roadwatch AI : Tracks the speeds and trajectories of other vehicles around you, as well as pedestrians, cyclists and e-scooters, providing warnings to the driver and evidence that can help prove who was at fault in the event of a collision.
Another feature on the horizon is Driver Aware. Also known as DMS, this will monitor the driver using infrared sensors and provide alters to combat distracted and/or drowsy driving.
Nextbase
Nextbase iQ subscriptions
As mentioned, there are three options. Solo is free, but doesn’t allow you to connect to the iQ remotely to see live or recorded video. Here’s how they compare. Any marked with an asterisk means those features are coming soon:
Solo – Free
- Nextbase iQ app
- Voice control
- Real-time text notifications
Protect – £6.99 per month or £69.99 annually
- Nextbase iQ app
- Voice Control
- Real-time image notifications
- Live View (60 minutes)
- Smart Sense Parking
- Witness mode
- *RoadWatch AI
- *Guardian Mode
- Remote Alarm
- Cloud Storage – 30 days
Protect Plus – £9.99 per month or £99.99 annually
- Nextbase iQ app
- Voice Control
- Real-time image notifications
- Live View (120 minutes)
- Live View Look Back
- Smart Sense Parking
- Witness mode
- *RoadWatch AI
- *Guardian Mode
- Remote Alarm
- Cloud Storage – 180 days
- *Multiple User Accounts
- Emergency SOS
- Automated incident back-up
We’re reviewing the iQ and will have a full review soon. If you need recommendations of more affordable models, here are the best dash cams to buy .
Author: Jim Martin, Executive Editor, Tech Advisor
Jim has been testing and reviewing products for over 20 years. His main beats include VPN services and antivirus. He also covers smart home tech, mesh Wi-Fi and electric bikes.
Recent stories by Jim Martin:
- The best dash cams 2023
- Nextbase iQ review
- Viofo A229 Duo review: 1440p front + rear video
