Nextbase iQ Review: A Solid Dash Cam, Even With Its Best Features Missing

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Dashcams are becoming more and more popular, with individuals wanting to decrease the likelihood of blame if an accident isn't their fault and professionals like Uber drivers wanting to reduce liability and protect themselves from passengers. But it's a crowded marketplace, full of big names and feature-packed options. Nextbase, a company that has had a lot of success in Europe, has decided to aggressively enter the U.S. market. With it, it brings an AI-powered webcam that promises to be the most advanced device of its kind available on the market — but is that really the case?

Nextbase is also promising long-term support for its premium dashcam in the form of regular, feature-laden, updates. The first wave is scheduled to come in December 2023, but polish may be added to what's there and more functions might be crammed in for years to come.

The Nextbase iQ comes in three flavors, 1080p, 2K, and 4k respectively. We were sent a sample of the 4K model by Nextbase for the purposes of this review.

While some dash cams, as the name suggests, sit on the dash — the iQ doesn't seem designed for that. Instead, you're supposed to place it on the passenger side of the rear-view mirror. This gives it a good view of the road, the car's interior, and the car's windows. You really see the difference with the road view. On some vehicles, mounting the cam on the dash can lead to the hood obscuring a good percentage of the camera's view. This isn't the case when it's mounted high up.

The placement is also handy for OBD port access, even if your port is in an obscure location like the one in the Lincoln MKZ we tested it in. The biggest challenge with our oddly placed port was finding bits of trim to poke the wire through.

It's also out of the driver's line of sight, and unlikely to cause a distraction. You have to actively look at it to notice it's there. The adhesive pad it comes with is of good quality, and if you use the provided cleaning wipes before attaching it, the camera should be in position for a long time. If you do have to remove it, you're unlikely to damage the hard glass of the windshield. Dashboards are often coated in softer materials, so can be left scarred when you stick things to them.

Each of the cameras on offer is HD, so you're unlikely to have a poor-quality experience. The same coding also seems to be behind all three of them, so any AI sharpening type magic or adjustment will apply to all of them — though there may be more wiggle room with the higher-end devices due to the better hardware.

We reviewed the 4K version specifically, and we found the images it recorded to be very clear in both day and night shots. The biggest difference with the higher-end camera is its field of view. Far more is in focus than you're likely to get from a lower-resolution model, which helps if the cause of an accident is coming from an angle. The 4K version also has a higher-quality infrared camera pointing inwards, so your nighttime shots of the car's interior will look sharper.

The bit that really stood out for us was the quality of nighttime footage. It's a good amount sharper than pretty much any other dashcam we've encountered. It's also a bit of a challenge as not only is there little light to work with — but there is too much light at the same time courtesy of headlights, signs, and streetlights. The iQ handles it all exceptionally and somehow pulls usable footage from a nighttime drive.

All of the features beyond very basic things live recording, voice control, and text notifications require some kind of subscription. The subscription currently comes in two tiers, priced at $9.99 and $19.99 per month, respectively. Discounts, and extended warranties, are available if you opt to pay annually. Both plans also include the LTE service that keeps the device online. This service isn't tied to a particular provider and instead uses whatever will give it the strongest signal.

The cheaper package, priced at just under $10 per month, offers a lot of value. You get three months of cloud storage, image notifications, and "smart sense parking" which monitors your car for potential dangers while it's parked. There's also "Witness mode" which, when prompted, will save and upload a 30-minute block of footage to the cloud. There's also the "live view" feature which will allow you to look through the iQ's interior and exterior cameras live, along with an alarm mode you can use to scare off potential thieves and/or vandals.

Protect Plus is the more expensive of the two options, but it comes with six months of cloud storage and what is arguably the camera's most useful feature. Emergency SOS automatically dispatches help if you're involved in an accident. It's one of those "it could save your life" features and could make all the difference if you're rendered incapable by a crash. It is worth noting that this isn't a feature unique to the iQ, but Nextbase has implemented it well. Unlike the iPhone or Apple watch, it doesn't require confirmation before dispatching help. This is due to the far lower risk of a false positive. It's also significantly cheaper than services like OnStar's Guardian.

One of the things you can tinker with in the app is a sort of proximity sensor. When someone gets within its threshold, the camera will wake up. If they get closer or linger for a suspicious amount of time then recording will start and your Nextbase iQ will send you an alert.

This is one of the features that will be enhanced in the near future when the "Push to Talk" function is made available. At that point, you'll be able to speak through the dashcam and warn off the potential thieves. For now, it's still pretty handy as it will record any potential vehicular intruders, and allow you to alert the police as soon as an incident happens. Assuming the thief is there to steal your car and isn't smart enough to disable the Nextbase iQ, its GPS function will also track your vehicle's location — allowing you to supply authorities with even more information.

Beyond the recording, the camera's flashing red ring may be enough to alert thieves to the fact they're being recorded and prompt them to head off to an easier target. Given the cost of replacing a window, or in some cases the whole car, it may be a solid investment if you live in an area with high car crime.

While you're paying top-end money for the Nextbase iQ, it is a top-end dash cam. The video quality alone sets it apart from some of the cheaper options, and that could make the difference between a piece of vital evidence, and a few frames of blurry nonsense. The quality really stands out at night, which is arguably a time when you're more likely to get into trouble.

Beyond the obvious dash cam benefits, the iQ's ability to keep your vehicle safe from thieves is another huge bonus, as is its habit of alerting you when a vehicle is entered or parked. It's simple to set up, and once you have the voice commands memorized easy to use. All in all, it hasn't done much wrong.

But given what Nextbase is claiming, we're yet to truly see the best from this dash cam. An insurance discount may take the sting out of both the price and subscription, while features like "Guardian Mode," "push to talk," and "Roadwatch AI" will elevate it way beyond anything currently on the market. As things stand, it's very good. But if we revisit this review in a few months or so's time, there's a chance we'll be talking about a truly awe-inspiring piece of tech.

Listed on Amazon, the Nextbase iQ is available for sale in three different iterations, one each for 1080p, 2K, and 4k resolution capture. The price difference between each is $100, with the "cheapest" model starting at $499.99, and the others priced at $599.99, and $699.99 respectively.