Garmin DriveCam 76 review: Great promise, poor video stabilization

Price When Reviewed

$449.99

Best Prices Today: Garmin Drivecam 76

With most individuals utilizing their telephone or current automotive tech for navigation, a devoted third-party GPS nav unit just like the $450 Garmin DriveCam 76 might sound a bit quaint. Well, it could be passé, however when you have a automotive with out navigation in-built, a third-party unit beats that heck out of utilizing your telephone.

The massive, much more readable (and due to this fact safer) show, and albeit, higher journey instructions merely make for a superior expertise. And the Garmin DriveCam 76 will really assist with the telephone calls.

Navigation and telephone calls aren’t actually our factor, so we’re reviewing the DriveCam 76 because the sprint cam it doubles as. Sadly, this facet proved lower than passable as a result of video stabilization issues. A disgrace as we in any other case liked the unit, proper right down to the colour and element of the captures.

This overview is a part of our ongoing roundup of the best dash cams. Go there for extra critiques and shopping for recommendation. 

Design and options

It’s necessary too know that the DriveCam 76 is definitely listed on the corporate’s website as a part of the DriveSensible sequence. Only one model of the 7-inch DriveSensible features a sprint cam and carries the DriveCam appellation. Without the sprint cam, it’s $150 less. The 5-inch, 6-inch, and 8-inch fashions are navigation-only.

The 7-inch product designation refers to each the dimensions of the unit (it measures 6.97-inches broad by 4.17-inches excessive by 1.38-inches deep), and the dimensions of the show which is 6.95-inches diagonally, or what’s identified within the biz as 7-inch class. Yes, distributors at all times spherical up.

Said contact show is 1024×600 pixels, so it’s hardly Retina; nonetheless, it didn’t strike me as overly pixelated in my testing and it’s a top quality panel with good off-angle viewing. I additionally discovered it very responsive to the touch, which isn’t at all times a given with a musician’s (me) or workman’s calloused fingers.

The digicam is a 30 frames-per-second, 1080p kind (the most effective steadiness between high quality and storage necessities, in our opinion) with a 140-degree discipline of view. One factor I actually like in regards to the Garmin DriveCam 76 is its massive battery (no mAh was supplied). It permits the unit to seize video for as much as a half-hour when off with out exterior energy. Yes, all of us have our telephones as of late, however you by no means know.

Our DriveCam 76 arrived with a 16GB SD card put in. There are two card slots on the again of the unit, however solely the one on the best as you’re going through it’s for the digicam. The different is for further map knowledge, augmenting the 16GB of inner reminiscence already allotted for the maps, and many others. Also on the again are the ability button and Type-C charging port.

You should enroll with a Garmin account to make use of the Garmin Drive app. Not my favourite requirement. However, if you do, you may offload and save your movies to the Garmin vault for safekeeping. This might be key in case of a contentious incidence in your travels. You even have entry to varied settings, which embody bad-driver aids comparable to lane departure and imminent collision warnings.

The DriveCam 76 may also leverage one of many firm’s backup cameras such because the $200 BC 50 included with our check unit. Pricey, however it may be useful for parking when you want it, in addition to checking your six o’clock in pedestrian-laden areas.

I’m not going to enter the DriveCam 76’s navigation and different journey options, as that’s not inside our purview. However, I’ll let you know that they’re myriad and state-of-the-art. Equal to or higher than what you get from the auto producer’s (a few of that are Garmin-based) navigation models. Garmin’s been doing this a very long time.

Performance

The DriveCam’s video caught me a bit off guard. It’s colourful, and decently detailed each day and evening, nonetheless there was a giant drawback: the wobblies (sure, a extremely technical time period). Garmin has had points with movement stabilization prior to now, however that was a number of years and iterations in the past.

To see them once more, and truly worse within the DriveCam 76, was a bit distressing. Especially as I had totally loved the big show, navigation options, and the unit’s normal ease of use.

As to that wobbling, it’s a sluggish side-to-side undulation of parts of the video that’s reasonably like shear with out the precise shearing—as when you’re wanting by means of slowly jiggling Jello. I’m not doing the phenomenon justice and also you’re clearly not going to see it in stills. The artifact was omnipresent, however most obvious when the automobile was transferring slowly or stopped.

In the corporate’s protection, my automotive doesn’t idle notably easily and has a stiffer-than-normal suspension. This had the digicam vibrating noticeably on its massive suction mount in a manner I’ve by no means seen earlier than—even with the stiffest of mounts.

Sometimes issues merely work together or resonate the flawed manner. Look up the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. I knowledgeable Garmin instantly in regards to the video difficulty, and put in the most recent firmware through Wi-Fi, however there was no enchancment.

All that apart, in case your automotive doesn’t vibrate the digicam in the identical style, you may not ever undergo or discover the artifact. Regardless, all different cameras I’ve examined within the final couple of years simply compensate for movement and vibration to supply easy, secure video.

Additionally, the collision alert was manner too late. I’d tucked in tightly (a tad too tightly, if I’m being sincere) behind one other automobile to exit the freeway, and the alarm solely sounded when the automobile in entrance peeled off to the left into the following lane. I instantly turned off the motive force’s aids.

In my e-book driver’s aids, well timed or not, Garmin or not, stand simply pretty much as good an opportunity of distracting you on the flawed second as they do of alerting you in a well timed style. Drive higher and don’t rely upon aids.

Note additionally that the DriveCam 76 didn’t need to connect with my hidden Wi-Fi community, solely ones with marketed IDs.

Aids and Wi-Fi IDs apart, it’s the stabilization that kills the DriveCam 76’s utility as a touch cam.

Bottom line

The DriveCam 76 is a good idea that goes all the best way again to 2017’s DriveAssist 50MLT, however as of now, I can’t suggest it. If you’re in search of a top-notch (4.5 star) navigation unit, then the $300 DriveSmart 76, which is identical unit sans sprint cam, is nice. Use the additional $150 to purchase a greater sprint cam comparable to Garmin’s personal 47 or 57. I exploit the latter often.

Note that if and when Garmin fixes the video, we’ll revisit the overview and replace the rating accordingly. With acceptable stabilization, that is likely to be as excessive as 4.5 stars.