The Beam sits in the middle of Nexar’s range of dashcams – mini cameras designed to film through your windscreen as you drive. Above it is a pricier model boasting a second camera that points backwards into the cabin for Carpool Karaoke-style interior footage. Below it is a cheaper model without built-in GPS. Like Goldilocks’s porridge, the Nexar Beam is just right.
The camera is compact, not much bigger than a matchbox, so it’s designed to hide behind your car’s rear-view mirror, out of sight. It records 1080p full high-definition footage that’s GPS tagged, recording the location for the benefit of police and insurers. The field of view is 135° (measured diagonally).
Unusually for an affordable dashcam, it comes with “free unlimited cloud storage”. Like smart cameras and doorbells, it’s common to pay extra for a subscription to such a service.
I tested the 32GB version, which gives a four-hour backup, but it’s also available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB...