SD Card Needed For Dash Cam
So you bought a dash cam and are looking to upgrade your SD card. What is an SD card you may ask? SD stands for secure digital and is a digital storage card. The microSD card launched in 2005 and was designed for use in cellular phones. I remember using one of these in my Blackberry back in the day. Originally offered in 2GB storage. However, in 2019 they are now available in 1 TB capacity. Boy we have come a long way.
Dash cameras use a microSD card. So make sure when shopping around you get the correct size. If you buy a regular SD card, I hope you have a digital camera to put it in.
Read Speed
Buyer beware, most companies only post the read speed of their SD cards. What is the read speed you may ask? Therefore, read speed is how quickly your SD card can read the information on it. Why would this matter? Let's say you have a 4K dash camera with high resolution video footage. When you go to view the footage on your computer it may not be able to read it quick enough. In short, makes it look choppy and not smooth. Furthermore, make sure you have minimum 100MB/s read speed to get the right SD card for your dash cam.
Write Speed
While, read speed may be easy to get specs on. Write speed tends to be the most difficult to find. For instance, most brands on Amazon will not even list their write speed. Buy the wrong one and your dash camera will not even record. Better yet, your recording does not write correctly. So, imagine an accident happens and you're depending on the dash cam to prove your innocence. As a result, you go and view the footage to find out it did not write correctly.
Please, do not get caught buying a cheap SD card. Your system is as good as your weakest link. Most 1080P dash cams will perform fine with an entry level SD card. However, using a cheap SD card in a 2K or 4K dash camera is equivalent to playing roulette. Spin the wheel and hope you get lucky. For 4K Dash Cameras we only recommend specific microSD cards that we have tested. In short, we have seen these units have SD card failures due to putting in SD cards with low write speed.
SD Card Dash Cam Conclusion
To sum up, research the specs of the microSD card and make sure they are transparent. Know the difference between read speed and write speed. If getting a 2K or 4K dash camera make sure you get a high quality SD card.