Just drive...
Dash cams: important,
useful, and they keep you protected. Sat navs: important, useful, and
they get you to where you need to go. However, having both a dash cam
and sat nav installed on your windscreen could lead to a cluttered
space that might be distracting... make them dangerous. That's why
we're pleased to check out a sat nav that is also a dash cam, the Mio
MiVue Drive 55LM.
Our most recent dash
cam review (we've done a few) was for the RAC 205, a compact
'camera-only' gadget with a tiny screen and small form factor. The
Mio MiVue Drive 55LM is the opposite of that, boasting so much more
than just a camera, and a screen about the same size as your phone's.
The five inch device not only captures footage from the road ahead in
glorious Extreme HD (1296p) but also acts like a usable touch-screen
sat nav.
In fact, from the
driver's point of view, the Mio MiVue Drive 55LM looks just like a
conventional sat nav, with the entire face taken up by the screen and
all controls in the form of nice and chunky buttons. Spin it around
and you'll see the lens; one that can actually be angled around to
get a better view.
Which is important.
Think about it; you sat nav is usually turned to face you in the
driver's seat, meaning a fixed camera lens on the other side wouldn't
point directly forwards toward the road. Being able to adjust the
angle means you can adjust the screen, giving the best view of the
directions, while also capturing the action. It was the first thing
that struck us as pretty awesome, and is a feature that we wished
conventional dash cams had as standard.
Right, first up, the
camera itself. The Extreme HD picture is nice and clear, although we
can't really tell the difference between this and 1080p (or rather a
decent 1080p camera). Still that extra crispness will come in handy
if you need to zoom into an image to check number plates etc., and
the 140 degree lens means that everything ahead of you covered, with
enough of what is to the sides to make it an immersive image.
A 16GB Micro SD card is
included with the cam, and obviously loop recording can be set so you
can forget about ever having to empty the storage. Settings and
playback are controlled through the touchscreen, with the camera
having its own app just like on your phone. This makes for an easy
and pleasurable set-up, with no physical buttons having multiple
uses, like on many smaller cams.
The navigation function
works just like any other sat nav we've tested, with a big search
button waiting for you when you first power it up. The GPS connection
always seemed very strong, and Mio promise updates to the road layout
for life – for free – which is nice. Just like any other nav
device like this, you can set favourite places to bring up directions
quickly, or just cruise around with the map displaying your current
location, to help with upcoming turns and bends. After using it for
just a couple of miles, we essentially forgot it was a dash cam –
that's how sat nav-y it looks and feels.
As well as showing you
the road ahead, the Mio MiVue Drive 55LM features speed camera
warnings as standard, and again Mio will keep you updated forever.
However, it also does something a normal sat nav can't, all thanks to
the camera. You'll be kept extra safe by the lane departure warning
system, which keeps an eye on the lines of the road ahead, and alerts
you if you start to drift out of them, possibly because you're
falling asleep. It also boasts forward collision warnings too,
whereby if the distancne between you and the car ahead suddenly
decreases, it chirps up to make sure you're aware. Again, not
something your normal sat nav can do.
Included along with the
device and SD card is a suction cup mount and the standard power
lead, although the Mio MiVue Drive 55LM does have a battery to keep
it powered for some time – especially useful if you need to film
something away from the vehicle, such as the aftermath of a crash.
Altogether this is a genius idea that saves both space on your
dashboard, and cash in your bank account. We love it.
Around £190