Knowledgeable’s Ranking
Execs
- Nice monitoring options
- Spectacular app
- Simple to put in
Cons
- Costly
- Subscription required for linked options
- Some options not but accessible
Our Verdict
The iQ is a brilliant safety digicam you possibly can put in virtually any automobile and get alerts in your telephone if something occurs. It’s costly although, and there’s not a lot level in shopping for one except you additionally take out a subscription. It has promise, however on the time of assessment was lacking a few of its large options.
Value When Reviewed
$700 plus month-to-month LTE payment if desired
Finest Costs Right now: Nextbase iQ 4K sprint cam
$699.99
Nextbase has spent years creating the iQ, and its launch was pushed again a number of instances. It’s now on sale finally, albeit with out a few key options that the corporate has shouted overvalued over the previous 18 months or so.
Nevertheless, as laborious an idea as it’s to promote to customers, the iQ is supposed to be an ever-evolving platform that may get new options over time.
The one downside with that strategy is that this isn’t an inexpensive gadget and, as with so many internet-connected ones, you’ll want to pay a subscription to make use of the options.. even when they’re not but there.
There are three fashions within the vary: 1K, 2K and 4K, beginning at £349 / $499 and rising to £449 / $699. The resolutions consult with the forward-facing digicam, however there’s additionally a cabin-facing digicam, and an elective rear digicam for £149 / $199 which wasn’t fairly on sale on the time of writing however must be from 14 November.
Nextbase despatched the 4K mannequin for assessment.
Options & design
- Simple to put in
- Embedded SIM
- 64GB microSD card included
The iQ has been designed from the bottom up, and that’s very apparent for those who’ve seen or owned any of the corporate’s earlier sprint cams.
It has a reasonably chunky base which attaches to your windscreen and has a material speaker cowl very similar to a wise speaker. The LED ring solely provides to that similarity.
Jon L. Jacobi / Foundry
The 2 cameras are mounted in a pendant-style unit that factors downwards into the automobile. In your hand, it looks as if it is going to be massive and obtrusive, however when put in it actually isn’t.
The design is important for the digicam to get a great view of the inside and passengers. The cabin digicam additionally has infrared LEDs so you possibly can nonetheless see what’s happening at night time when the cabin is darkish.
Nextbase features a 64GB microSD card which you shouldn’t ever must take away from the iQ, however you possibly can improve it to 256GB if you wish to.
It’s used to report video like a conventional sprint cam, however the iQ does far more than that, and I’ll get to that in a second.
Putting in the iQ in your automobile is easy as a result of Nextbase features a intelligent energy cable that plugs into your automobile’s OBD II port. You may need to Google its location for those who’re not acquainted, however all automobiles since round 1996 have one.
Jim Martin / Foundry
The connector is as slim as potential so ought to match behind a canopy, however the cable exits from the aspect which proved to be an issue in my spouse’s 2013 Vauxhall Corsa which has a recessed OBD II port, making it not possible to plug it in. It wasn’t a difficulty in my Ford Focus although.
There’s a answer within the field although: fuse faucets which you could connect with the suitable fuse in your automobile’s inside fuse field. The one drawback is that you’ll want to know which fuse to make use of, and to discover a useful bolt that connects to the automobile’s chassis to which to connect the detrimental wire.
The one gotcha is that the adhesive mount must be caught to your windscreen in a exact orientation. Rotate it barely left or proper and the iQ gained’t be vertical, so it’s a good suggestion to supply it up with the digicam connected to the mount.
Jim Martin / Foundry
The facility and rear digicam cable use proprietary connectors, like squared-off USB-C, which connect neatly into the rear of the iQ.
Jim Martin / Foundry
As a part of the method you’ll want to set up the Nextbase iQ app in your telephone and create an account. The app will stroll you thru the {hardware} set up and ask when you’ve got a rear digicam. The iQ’s information connection ought to activate and also you’ll need to scan a tiny QR code on the iQ’s display screen.
That is the place the method fell down for me, because the code appeared far too vibrant within the preview and any slight motion of the telephone brought on it to blur. Utilizing the information offered within the app, it did ultimately scan after I double-tapped the preview to activate my telephone’s rear LED flashlight and slowly transfer the telephone nearer to and away from the display screen till it scanned.
Jim Martin / Foundry
For those who handle to leap this explicit hurdle, the iQ will obtain the most recent firmware and restart, at which level you possibly can see the reside digicam view and regulate the angle to get the very best view of the street forward (and behind when you’ve got the rear cam).
The embedded SIM means the iQ is all the time linked to the web. It isn’t the primary sprint cam to do that, nevertheless it’s actually the best-executed
Dwell view & alerts
Getting again to options, the embedded SIM means the iQ is all the time linked to the web. It isn’t the primary sprint cam to do that, nevertheless it’s actually the best-executed.
By way of the Nextbase iQ app, which has clearly been impressed by Ring’s, and with the suitable subscription in place, you possibly can watch the reside views from every digicam and see on a map precisely the place the automobile is together with the What3Words location.
Jim Martin / Foundry
In fact, any safety digicam price its salt will inform you when one thing necessary is occurring and the iQ is sweet at it. Utilizing a wide range of sensors, together with radar, it’s going to ship you notifications of “Parking occasions”, which could possibly be somebody reversing into your automobile in a carpark or an individual loitering with intent. I discovered it will additionally notify me after I parked up and bought out of the automobile, and once more after I returned.
You’ll be able to watch the recorded occasion, which exhibits all digicam views on the identical display screen, and a helpful purple spotlight on the playback bar means you possibly can skip straight to the place the motion occurred.
Though these occasions are routinely uploaded to the cloud (the place they’re secure for 30 days for those who subscribe to Defend or 180 days with Defend Plus) you possibly can obtain them to your telephone after which share them or, higher nonetheless, ship somebody a hyperlink and distinctive code to see the video on-line.
Jim Martin / Foundry
These aren’t the unique full-resolution variations, although. They’re standard-def 848×480-pixel clips.
Within the SmartSense settings within the app you possibly can regulate how far-off in every quadrant to observe. There’s additionally a setting for the ‘activation voltage’ at which SmartSense ought to kick in.
Jim Martin / Foundry
That is completely different from the ‘Low energy cut-off’ setting which shuts off the iQ in case your automobile battery drops under a set voltage in an effort to guarantee it doesn’t drain a lot you possibly can’t begin the engine.
Emergency SOS
One of many different principal security options is Emergency SOS, one thing earlier Nextbase sprint cams have supplied. You’ll want a Defend Plus subscription to allow it.
When arrange, the iQ will monitor for a “extreme crash” and when it detects one it’s going to routinely ship an SOS to emergency companies along with your precise location and – for those who’ve offered it – your medical information.
You’ll obtain a name again from these companies however for those who’re unable to reply, an ambulance will probably be dispatched to your location routinely.
Voice instructions
In a few of Nextbase’s 2-series sprint cams you possibly can use Amazon Alexa. With the iQ, Nextbase has custom-built its personal voice instructions. This implies you possibly can say “Hey sprint cam, allow Witness Mode” and it’ll report and add no matter’s happening – and reside stream to as much as two emergency contacts. As soon as the occasion is over you possibly can say “Hey sprint cam, cease Witness Mode” or “We’re secure now”.
You can too say a wide range of different issues prefixed by “Hey sprint cam” similar to:
- Flip the microphone on
- Flip the microphone off
- Begin recording
- Cease recording
- Lock this file
- Flip the cabin digicam off
- Flip the cabin digicam on
For every, your command is processed domestically and there are lots of variations of every command so that you don’t have to recollect the precise phrase. All of them labored reliably after I tried them whereas driving.
Luckily, turning the mic off solely means audio isn’t recorded – it stays on to pay attention to your subsequent command.
At present, there’s no spoken suggestions: every thing is communicated utilizing alert tones and a small LCD show which exhibits icons – it isn’t used for displaying video.
Lacking options
As talked about, a few options should not accessible at launch. One is Guardian Mode. That is designed partly for fogeys with younger drivers who need to hold tabs on them. When it’s added, you’ll have the ability to set velocity and site limits, and get notifications when the automobile exceeds or leaves them.
That is additionally helpful for those who go away the automobile at a storage for restore, or with a valet.
A chat-back characteristic will permit you to talk with whoever is within the automobile, too.
The second headline characteristic that isn’t accessible is Roadwatch AI. This makes use of a mixture of pc imaginative and prescient and radar to establish different street customers, their velocity and trajectory.
This information can then be used alongside the video itself to assist show what occurred if there may be, for instance, a collision.
Because the iQ data video utilizing H.265, you possibly can’t use Nextbase’s present desktop viewer because it helps solely H.264, so there was no manner of getting at any of the recorded meta information on the time of assessment.
Efficiency & high quality
As you’d count on at these costs, high quality is sweet, though maybe not so good as would possibly hope for. Decision relies upon upon the mannequin you purchase. The 1K has 1080p entrance and cabin cameras, however the inside is recorded at 1440p for those who purchase the 2K or 4K fashions.
The rear digicam data at 1440p and will be linked to any of the three fashions.
Jim Martin / Foundry
I examined the 4K and the standard from the primary front-facing digicam is usually respectable, and a step up from Nextbase’s 622. There’s a lot of element which suggests you possibly can learn registration plates of different automobiles, whether or not they’re parked or driving.
There are fairly a number of exceptions to this, although. At night time or if the climate is unhealthy, particulars will be obscured by rain in your home windows, or as a result of your automobile’s headlights are reflecting off quantity plates.
The vast area of view means automobiles additionally need to be fairly shut by, in any other case their plates are just too small to see. Often, although, you solely care about these particulars if one other automobile hits yours – which means it will be very shut.
As there’s no HDR, dynamic vary is considerably restricted and this may trigger over- or underexposure when the solar is within the body.
It’s shocking there’s no polariser for the entrance or rear cameras, neither built-in nor elective. There are simply two video high quality settings within the app, too, one being to disable audio recording. That leaves solely publicity, which will be set individually for every digicam.
Listed below are some examples of snapshots from day and night time recording from all three cameras.
Within the app, you’ll discover recordings break up into two sections: Occasions and Library.
Occasions is the necessary stuff, similar to impacts, movement detected whereas parked and handbook recordings the place you’ve locked a file by saying the command, or urgent the button on the underside of the iQ. All are uploaded to the cloud routinely when you’ve got a Defend Plus subscription.
Library is the place you’ll see a whole timeline of all of the occasions together with the common steady clips recorded whereas driving alongside. You’ll be able to obtain any of those clips inside the app so long as the iQ has energy and a cellular information sign – and you’ve got a Defend or Defend Plus subscription.
Everytime you obtain one thing, you possibly can decide which of the digicam feeds to incorporate: you don’t need to obtain all of them.
It could take some time for the iQ to get up and begin streaming video if it’s in low-power mode, however the app does a terrific job of telling you what it’s doing moderately than merely displaying a spinning circle.
Though there’s built-in Wi-Fi, Nextbase says it’s engaged on a direct Wi-Fi hyperlink and expects native downloading to be potential some 4-6 weeks after launch.
You’ll be able to in fact take out the microSD card and pop it right into a card reader in your laptop computer or PC however Nextbase has added an HD obtain choice within the app. Sadly, that is just for movies within the Library tab. It’s not an choice within the Occasions tab, however these are the clips you’re extra more likely to need to obtain. There, you’ll see the standard-def model that are routinely uploaded to the cloud as a part of a Defend Plus subscription.
Steady recording splits clips into 30-second chunks. These are 143MB for the entrance 4K digicam, and 86MB for the cabin and rear 2K cameras. Alongside every is a low-resolution 5MB model which is what you see within the app.
With all three cameras recording, the 64GB card can maintain round 1.5 hours of footage.
When it comes to energy utilization, I discovered the iQ labored superb in a automobile that’s used every single day and has a battery that’s in good well being. However for those who go away it parked a number of the time, you’ll discover the iQ switches off to protect energy after a day or two and due to this fact gained’t have the ability to notify you or report something.
Value & availability
Within the UK you should purchase the iQ from Halfords or direct from Nextbase.
As talked about, the 1K prices £349, the 2K £399 and the 4K £499. The rear digicam is £149.
Within the US costs are greater: $499, $599 and $699 respectively, and these are the identical whether or not you purchase from Nextbase or Finest Purchase.
It’s potential to make use of the iQ with out a subscription: the free tier known as ‘Solo’. The one characteristic it contains is textual content notifications despatched when an occasion has been detected. These don’t specify what sort of occasion and as you possibly can’t join remotely, you gained’t have the ability to see the reside view, nor watch cloud recordings of the occasion.
This implies a subscription is crucial: with out it, the iQ isn’t a lot completely different to conventional sprint cams.
Within the UK the cheaper Defend tier prices £6.99 monthly or £69.99 per 12 months, whereas Defend Plus is £9.99 or £99.99.
Within the US, costs are once more greater at $9.99 monthly or $99.99 for a 12 months of Defend, whereas Defend Plus is $19.99 monthly or $199.99 per 12 months.
As there’s no contract, you possibly can theoretically pay for a month, cancel after which re-subscribe subsequent time you want the options.
Defend Plus shops occasions for 180 days and likewise provides a number of person accounts (so different relations can use the app), Emergency SOS and computerized incident backup. The latter is a crucial distinction: for those who decide just for Defend, nothing is uploaded: you simply get the choice to obtain movies remotely to your telephone manually.
For options, see our roundup of the very best sprint cams.
Ought to I purchase the Nextbase iQ?
The iQ is the neatest sprint cam I’ve reviewed. It’s nice to have the ability to watch the reside view and see what’s happening when notifications arrive, in addition to see the place your automobile is from the GPS location.
The app is – on the entire – nice and it makes the iQ simple to make use of. Voice instructions are helpful, too.
Nevertheless, regardless of that lengthy improvement time, the iQ seems like an unfinished product. There are a good few options lacking, not simply Roadwatch AI and Guardian Mode however issues like the power to obtain full-resolution movies to your telephone through Wi-Fi and watch movies alongside GPS and G-sensor information. Firmware updates, of which there have been a great few throughout my testing, aren’t notified: it’s a must to go into the settings and verify manually to see if there’s a brand new model to obtain.
Nextbase says it’s working laborious to handle this stuff, however there aren’t any ensures of after they’ll arrive.
Regardless, value goes to be the sticking level for a lot of: paying £349 / $499 for a 1080p digicam is asking lots, and it’s an additional £149 / $200 for the rear digicam (which is a smart funding).
As I’ve stated, you additionally want a subscription to make use of any linked options, which provides much more value and, on the time of assessment, there was no choice so as to add additional iQs. In case you have two automobiles, you’d must subscribe individually for every iQ.
Given the comparatively excessive subscription costs it’s disappointing that movies backed as much as the cloud are so low high quality and that you just want Defend Plus for occasions to be uploaded to the cloud routinely: a characteristic we take without any consideration on Wi-Fi safety cameras.
Lastly, there’s the one-year guarantee, which is customary for Nextbase. However with the promise of the iQ being upgraded with new options over an extended interval than that, it feels too brief.
In the end, the iQ is a superb safety gadget to your automobile which ought to enhance over time. I’ve no motive to doubt that Nextbase will make good on these guarantees, however you would possibly need to wait a bit till a few of them are fulfilled earlier than shelling out.
