The world’s best dash cam has a much cheaper and lighter brother – meet the Nextbase Piqo

Nextbase produces some of the best dvrsincluding iQwhich we called the smartest DVR in the world. However, the British company’s first smart dash cam is also its most expensive add-on car safety solution, with some extensive smart features that may be overkill for many users. This is where the new Nextbase Piqo comes in.

Think of the Piqo as a small iQ: it has the same fresh look but is a much smaller, simpler package with cleverly implemented ‘lite’ versions of the IQ’s intelligent features aimed at younger drivers.

Piqo is available worldwide from Nextbase website and leading retailers in two versions: 1K (HD 1080p) for just $129.99 / £99.99 / AU$199 and 2K (HD 1440p) for $149.99 / £129.99 / $299 USA. Compare that to the iQ, which starts at $399.99/£349.99, and the Piqo’s appeal is clear – especially when you consider you’ll also need to pay for a monthly data plan to get the most out of the more expensive model’s smart features.

That’s a big difference in price, so let’s take a look at what the Piqo is capable of and where the necessary compromises have been made.

Nextbase Piqo DVR on a white background

(Image credit: Nextbase)

Cleverly diluted iQ

The video resolution on the Piqo 1K HD version is actually a bit more detailed than standard 1080p, with a resolution of 2560×1080 pixels and a 140-degree field of view. Meanwhile, the 2K version has a maximum resolution of 2560×1440 pixels and a viewing angle of 145 degrees. Unlike iQ, there is no 4K Pico’s version.

I asked Bryn Brooker, head of marketing at Nextbase, why there wasn’t a 4K version of the Piqo, and he told me that according to Nextbase research, at least 83% of dash cam owners in the UK don’t see the need for a more expensive 4K dash cam, plus Nextbase. confident in the quality of Piqo videos.

Brin also told me that the dash cam market is growing. In 2020, the majority of dash cam customers were 45 years of age or older, but four years later, that demographic has changed. Nextbase has adapted Piqo’s design and features to appeal to a younger audience.

It doesn’t have a screen – after all, most people today use phones. Instead, you can connect to Piqo via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and view videos and recordings using the all-new Nextbase app, which is currently exclusive to Piqo. The app has been stripped down to make it easier for you to do key things like watching and sharing videos.

There are also new “skins”: custom overlays that display important characteristics of your video, such as speed. These are intended more for fun than anything else, but you get one skin with the free Solo subscription and can get more through the paid Protection plan, which costs £29.99 per year.

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Nextbase Piqo DVR attached to car windshield — (Image credit: Nextbase)

The more expensive iQ model, with its own data plan, is an always-connected camera with smart features such as emergency SOS, guard mode, witness mode and smart parking that can inform you in real time, for example, if your car has been broken into during parking or Notify your loved ones if you are involved in an accident and upload the footage to the cloud. Piqo also has all these modes, but here they are lightweight versions.

For example, in Guardian Lite mode, your emergency contact receives a text from Piqo rather than a video sent to them, as iQ does. Likewise, Witness Lite mode downloads content when you return home with a Wi-Fi connection.

Elsewhere, smart parking automatically records any movement, but like any dash cam, you’ll need constant power for this feature. Nextbase sells two continuous power kits separately: a professional installation cable kit and a jumper cable kit. Piqo also features G-Sense technology and automatically increases sensitivity when it detects that the car is parked.

Other features include 10GHz GPS and voice control, as well as a newly designed and extensively tested snap-on mount. Overall, the Piqo looks like a smart implementation of Smart iQ technology in a simpler, cheaper dash cam. We are currently reviewing Nextbase Piqo and will share our experience very soon.