Garmin Mini 3 Dash Cam Review: That Bad?!



Garmin Mini 3 Dash Camera: Looking for a discreet and powerful dash cam? The Garmin Mini 3 …

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Transcript

  • 0:00 | the tiniest good dash camera has now its
  • 0:02 | third generation full HD recording meets
  • 0:05 | circular polarizing filter in an attempt
  • 0:07 | to make the Garmin mini3 a no-brainer
  • 0:10 | but is it let’s
  • 0:12 | [Music]
  • 0:15 | inspect this tiny thing well kind of
  • 0:19 | half of the size of my thumb is a dash
  • 0:22 | camera and that’s why they call it Mini
  • 0:24 | generation 3 by Garmin something that
  • 0:27 | recently got released I couldn’t resist
  • 0:29 | the urge to test something that costs
  • 0:32 | nearly
  • 0:33 | $150 and offers just 1080p video
  • 0:37 | recording resolution are ging crazy to
  • 0:41 | keep those specs from the previous
  • 0:43 | generation or is something meaningful as
  • 0:45 | usual I’ve prepar for you a lot of
  • 0:46 | footage test comparisons list with the
  • 0:49 | pros and the cons basically everything
  • 0:51 | you need to know about the Garmin Mini 3
  • 0:54 | let’s go some Daytime samples as a
  • 0:57 | starter we know that if the day Brides
  • 1:00 | the footage is going to look great the
  • 1:02 | white balance feels a little off here
  • 1:04 | too yellowish what you should pay
  • 1:06 | attention to are the very bright and
  • 1:08 | very dark areas the better cameras could
  • 1:11 | be able to maintain a good balance among
  • 1:12 | these values something that we refer to
  • 1:15 | as dynamic range apparently the Shadows
  • 1:18 | feel like a trap to the Mini 3 because
  • 1:20 | they appear too dark for my taste and
  • 1:23 | for 2024’s standards in the last two
  • 1:26 | years we can notice the rise of the Sony
  • 1:28 | starish generation 2 a type of image
  • 1:31 | sensor line that is focused on dash
  • 1:33 | cameras and is quite remarkable about
  • 1:35 | dynamic range I guess such one is not
  • 1:38 | present with a Mini 3 considering the
  • 1:40 | performance thus far the video is not
  • 1:43 | too sharp mostly good but not perfect
  • 1:46 | some noisy notable even in daytime and I
  • 1:49 | was hoping to see a bit higher bit rate
  • 1:51 | to compensate the lack of 4K or anything
  • 1:53 | higher than full HD at dark the mini3
  • 1:57 | struggles a bit more because the sensor
  • 2:00 | appears to be quite small and still the
  • 2:02 | footage is rather acceptable having a 2
  • 2:06 | megapixel image sensor at 3 an in
  • 2:08 | diagonal size supposedly should
  • 2:11 | guarantee good amounts of light reaching
  • 2:14 | each of these pixels sadly Garmin do not
  • 2:17 | disclose details about the aperture of
  • 2:19 | the lens we only know that it’s a 140°
  • 2:22 | wide field of view kind of a standard
  • 2:24 | value side by side with the camera that
  • 2:26 | is proven to be great of course makes
  • 2:28 | the Mini 3 look rather bad and this
  • 2:30 | feeling will get even stronger as soon
  • 2:33 | as I share with you that the camera on
  • 2:34 | the right costs less supports 2.7k
  • 2:37 | resolution and even comes with a rear
  • 2:40 | module yeah it feels a little
  • 2:43 | disappointing thus far but gin seem to
  • 2:45 | be confident that the Mini 3 can be a
  • 2:46 | great choice we know that the user
  • 2:49 | experience often is more important than
  • 2:51 | just the specs so let’s take a closer
  • 2:53 | look at the whole thing arrives inside
  • 2:56 | this modest packaging in line with most
  • 2:58 | of the other garming products I guess
  • 3:00 | there’s plenty of unutilized space
  • 3:02 | inside after all here’s the Mini 3 a
  • 3:06 | true mini indeed a dual Port power
  • 3:09 | adapter which is also included as well
  • 3:11 | as a power cable that’s it quite plain
  • 3:15 | if I may comment on the build quality it
  • 3:17 | is not too much different to the mini 2
  • 3:19 | released 3 years ago they’ve switched
  • 3:22 | from vertical to horizontal placement
  • 3:24 | not quite sure why there’s a lens bump
  • 3:27 | on the front and this new edition which
  • 3:29 | has an inbuilt polarizer which can
  • 3:32 | reduce the impact of Reflections and
  • 3:34 | flares this is a seriously good idea and
  • 3:37 | I guess most vendors should go for it
  • 3:39 | there are a couple of control buttons
  • 3:41 | status LEDs and that’s pretty much it if
  • 3:44 | we look up the specs there are a few
  • 3:47 | interesting things to note down the
  • 3:49 | 1080p video resolution with 30 FPS
  • 3:51 | maximum frame rate h264 encoding 140°
  • 3:56 | diagonal field of view inbuilt super
  • 3:58 | capacitor supposed for micro SD cards up
  • 4:01 | to 512 gigs Bluetooth and wireless
  • 4:04 | support and the weight is just 30 G the
  • 4:08 | specs clearly
  • 4:11 | underwhelming because at this price
  • 4:13 | point of $150 we can find a lot of well
  • 4:15 | settled Brands which would offer you 4K
  • 4:18 | dash cameras even some of them would
  • 4:19 | include a rear module in the pack and I
  • 4:22 | guess it’s pretty clear that most people
  • 4:23 | would prefer to get as much as possible
  • 4:25 | in terms of specification at a given
  • 4:27 | price point yet I I continue to believe
  • 4:30 | that a 1080p image sensor combined with
  • 4:33 | bright Optics could produce overall
  • 4:36 | better image quality as compared to a
  • 4:38 | dash camera where you have a gimick key
  • 4:40 | 4K implementation just to call it UHD
  • 4:43 | capable Garmin unfortunately do not
  • 4:46 | disclose enough information about the S
  • 4:48 | so inside nor they mention what kind of
  • 4:50 | image sensor we have so I guess I could
  • 4:52 | comment on the obvious uh the alignment
  • 4:57 | is now horizontal uh they have upgraded
  • 5:01 | the USB port from micro USB now they go
  • 5:04 | to type-c and there is an inbuilt CPL
  • 5:08 | filter which is supposed to reduce the
  • 5:10 | reflections especially from the sunshine
  • 5:13 | or whenever you film on the road at
  • 5:15 | night I guess with this camera it’s what
  • 5:19 | Garmin do best namely focusing on the
  • 5:22 | positive user experience something that
  • 5:24 | you can already sense with the
  • 5:26 | installation it’s mostly easy and no
  • 5:30 | special skills are required just find a
  • 5:32 | good spot on the windshield stick the
  • 5:34 | adhesive tape there then connect the USB
  • 5:37 | cable and make sure to bring the other
  • 5:38 | Port of the cable to the car cigar
  • 5:41 | lighter Port would be good to somehow
  • 5:43 | Mas the cable whenever possible it would
  • 5:45 | be best to align the angle by using the
  • 5:47 | smartphone app because mini3 has no
  • 5:50 | inbuilt display if you need parking mode
  • 5:53 | then going for the so-called constant
  • 5:56 | power cable is necessary something to be
  • 5:59 | ordered separately just like a Micro SD
  • 6:02 | card which is going to be needed for
  • 6:03 | storing the videos If you decide
  • 6:05 | connecting constant power this also
  • 6:07 | means that you should closely monitor
  • 6:09 | the level of your car’s battery looks
  • 6:12 | like the Mini 3 is very power efficient
  • 6:14 | after all and consumes just a few
  • 6:16 | milliamp W of power you can see the
  • 6:19 | difference between regular recording
  • 6:21 | mode and the consumption whenever the
  • 6:24 | Wi-Fi is enabled let me show you the
  • 6:27 | controls as well there’s a button which
  • 6:29 | lets you reserve a recorded video and
  • 6:31 | Mark it as read only and a microphone
  • 6:33 | button which lets you turn on or off the
  • 6:36 | audio
  • 6:37 | recording of course the Garmin mini3 has
  • 6:40 | an inbuilt microphone I’m currently
  • 6:42 | driving with about 65 km/ hour you can
  • 6:45 | hear about the noise levels from the car
  • 6:48 | and that’s the quality you could expect
  • 6:49 | from about 30 cm distance to the
  • 6:54 | camera luckily Mini 3 just like the
  • 6:57 | predecessor supports voice command as
  • 7:00 | well moreover a few different languages
  • 7:03 | can be recognized for deeper
  • 7:05 | configuration you should use the Garmin
  • 7:07 | Drive app if you’ve already had some
  • 7:09 | other Garmin products controlled by an
  • 7:11 | app then the experience would feel
  • 7:13 | familiar Garmin continue to offer among
  • 7:16 | the easiest ways to connect to their
  • 7:18 | devices and linking to the mini3 has
  • 7:19 | been absolutely Flawless not that
  • 7:22 | there’s too much for configuring inside
  • 7:25 | though at least not in regards to the
  • 7:26 | image quality you can adjust the
  • 7:28 | exposure and choose between 1080P and
  • 7:30 | 720p resolution honestly the latter one
  • 7:34 | should be gone for good it’s too low for
  • 7:37 | water SW there also is a section to help
  • 7:39 | you with reviewing the footage and also
  • 7:41 | to help you storing it if you park your
  • 7:43 | car near your home’s Wi-Fi you can keep
  • 7:46 | the dash camera connected and it’s
  • 7:48 | automatically uploading the footage to
  • 7:50 | the cloud it’s a paid feature though and
  • 7:52 | requires opting for a monthly
  • 7:54 | subscription plan the app is really
  • 7:57 | powerful about sharing videos and
  • 7:59 | reviewing these recordings it’s one of
  • 8:00 | the best smartphone apps for dash
  • 8:02 | cameras that you can find to date
  • 8:04 | perhaps this is among the reasons why
  • 8:07 | Garmin refused to revise the price of
  • 8:09 | the series The Mini 3 is launched at 149
  • 8:12 | bucks a bit more than generation 2 which
  • 8:15 | given what you will see the drawbacks
  • 8:18 | list sounds somewhat unreasonable
  • 8:21 | because there is no inbuilt GPS no quick
  • 8:24 | release Mount and such one can be
  • 8:26 | ordered as an accessory there is no
  • 8:28 | display the video quality is rather
  • 8:31 | subar for 2024 standards there’s a lack
  • 8:34 | of video resolution higher than just
  • 8:36 | full HD the slower 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band
  • 8:40 | requires expensive kit for parking mode
  • 8:43 | and lacks features such as
  • 8:46 | Adas there for sure are a handful of
  • 8:49 | good dash cameras which cost less
  • 8:52 | provides better image quality some of
  • 8:54 | them capable of 4K even providing a rear
  • 8:56 | module but none of them would give you
  • 8:58 | the satisfaction ction of seeing the
  • 9:00 | Garmin logo at the bottom of your
  • 9:02 | footage so kind of tricky apparently
  • 9:05 | Garmin focus a lot more on the user
  • 9:07 | experience as opposed to bringing in the
  • 9:09 | best kind of specs and yet they’re
  • 9:11 | training in terms of image quality
  • 9:13 | especially compared to the closest
  • 9:15 | competitors so um hard for me to say
  • 9:18 | it’s the best choice however if you’re a
  • 9:20 | fan of the brand and you’re looking to
  • 9:22 | get their budget friendly as solution
  • 9:24 | currently the Mini 3 is The Logical
  • 9:27 | choice if you’re someone who test with
  • 9:30 | specifications good performance image
  • 9:32 | sensors bright Optics and so on then
  • 9:35 | definitely look elsewhere that’s what
  • 9:38 | I’d like to discuss with you in the
  • 9:40 | comments below is it crazy to release a
  • 9:44 | 1080p capable dash camera without a
  • 9:46 | display and without GPS right now in
  • 9:50 | 2024 actually when I ask it like it it
  • 9:52 | sounds really bizarre but I’d love to
  • 9:55 | hear about your opinion so please do
  • 9:58 | comment down below
  • 10:00 | that’s everything about this episode
  • 10:01 | thank you very much for watching it it’s
  • 10:02 | been a pleasure to prep all of it for
  • 10:04 | you uh if you want to support me and if
  • 10:07 | you like the Tash camera please when you
  • 10:09 | order it use any of the links that I’ve
  • 10:11 | posted in the video description area
  • 10:13 | greatly appreciate it and thank you in
  • 10:15 | advance for doing so hit the like if you
  • 10:17 | enjoy the video and I’m Michael the tech
  • 10:19 | Mishka wish you a fantastic day drive
  • 10:21 | safely and I guess I’m going to see you
  • 10:23 | soon bye

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