I have been using the Nextbase 322GW dashcam for the last few months - a well-designed camera with interesting features and great performance.
The small Nextbase 322GW measures only 82 x 46 x 47 mm and is extremely light at only 100g. This is great for something that will be hanging from your windshield for most of your drives.
The camera comes in a box that also contains a four-metre 12 V power cable that plugs into your cigarette lighter and can connect directly into the mount, which in turn comes with two options to attach to the windscreen.
You can attach the mount to the windshield by either using a strong adhesive sticker or use the suction mount if you plan on moving the camera and mount between vehicles. Another option would be to get a second mount and power cable for the other vehicle.
The mount has strong magnets to which you attach the camera, making it very easy to attach or remove it with one hand only. The mounting point on the camera has a magnetic protection cover, useful if you want to keep the power connectors clean while the camera is not attached to the mount.
As mentioned, the power cable can be attached directly to the mounting unit and a cable fitting tool is provided so you can lift the lining and hide the cable behind it, going around the windshield. This is very handy since the power is connected directly to the mount, so you don’t have to worry about plugging or unplugging the camera when removing it from the car. There are accessories available if you want to permanently hardwire the base to the vehicle’s fuse box.
The Nextbase 322GW camera will turn on automatically as soon as power is available and the camera will keep recording for a few seconds more when the ignition key is switched off. I found this can be a problem if your car keeps providing power even when the ignition key is switched off, as the camera will keep recording and using power – something to be aware in these days of long lockdowns. In these cases, the best option is to either turn the camera off or unplug the cigarette lighter – using the hardwire kit instead is a good idea here.
The main user interface is a series of menus presented on the 2.5 LED touch panel. An icon to start and stop recording is available on-screen, as well as an icon for settings. Touch the panel anywhere else and a photo is taken.
There’s also a power button (mentioned before) and a button that stretches over half of the bottom of the camera, used to lock a video in case of an event. Push that button and a video with extra 10 seconds before and 20 seconds after an event will be stored in a protected folder.
The settings menu is pretty easy to navigate and responsive (as the camera as a whole). You will find the usual options for date and time formats, if you want to stamp your videos with time and date, GPS coordinates and speed as well as other system options.
Using the Nextbase Connect mobile app (in my case with an Android phone) you can pair and control the camera over Bluetooth, switching to a direct WiFi connection when a faster connection is needed. This is the case if you want to see the live viewfinder on your phone or if you transfer files from the camera to the phone.
Combined with the Nextbase Connect app the Nextbase 322GW also becomes an SOS system, which relies on the app being connected to the camera via Bluetooth while driving. In case of an accident, the camera will notify an emergency alert integrator who in turn notifies local emergency services. The service is configured by simply tapping the SOS+ icon on the app. You confirm your mobile number via an SMS code and create a personal profile with information including sex, age, blood type and allergies.
In the case of an accident, the camera will start a countdown before sending an alert to the integrator. You can interrupt the countdown in case an emergency crew is not needed. The Bluetooth connection keeps the camera and app constantly in sync for this to work. Nextbase has confirmed the SOS+ service is provided by Bosch and supported in Australia and New Zealand. Currently, SOS+ is free for one year from activation and you can subscribe afterwards. I have completed the enrolment process but - luckily - did not have an accident to test it.
The rest of the app is well designed and easy to use. You can scroll through the video directory using your phone and select those you want to download, which is pretty convenient seeing you don’t necessarily need to remove the camera from the car to plug a cable and connect to a computer.
Downloading a video from the camera via your phone is not the fastest, even over the direct WiFi connection to the camera, but is not slow. You can get the video off the camera in a minute or so.
Once a video is downloaded you can upload it to a free cloud-based service offered by Nextbase and the video will be available for sharing and download over the next day or so. The best part is that no registration is needed for this to work.
The Nextbase Connect app can also be used to update the camera firmware, which I have done once while using it. The process was easy and the transfer over direct WiFi was pretty quick.
In case you want, it is possible to connect the camera directly to a TV or other video device using a mini HDMI cable (not supplied).
Nextbase also offers a desktop-based application for video editing as well, with similar features but you can even do some basic edit on the camera itself, which is pretty handy. The camera has its own USB port which can be used to connect it to a laptop for file transfer or firmware updates – which I thought was well handled by the mobile app anyway.
Videos are recorded in one, two or three-minute segments and the camera will constantly write over old segments when the storage space is full. This is done automatically and you don’t have to worry about running out of space here.
The camera has an f1.6 lens with full HD resolution, able to record up to 1080 at 60 frames per second. The camera quality is incredible and the captured image is clear even at night time. I can say that the Nextbase 322GW is the best dash cam I have used in the last few years.
[Edit] This review was edited to include more information about the SOS+ service, which is available in Australia and New Zealand.
