Last Updated January 7, 2024 by Zach Harmon

Best Parking Mode Dash Cams in 2024

Zach Harmon

BEST OVERALL

Vantrue N5

 4.75/5

The Vantrue N5 4-Channel dash cam offers unmatched 360° coverage in parking mode.

BEST AI PARKING MONITOR

Rexing V2 Pro AI

 4.5/5

We like the Rexing V2 Pro AI because of its innovative motion detection parking mode.

BEST RADAR PARKING MODE

Thinkware U1000

 4.5/5

Thinkware U1000 revolutionizes with advanced parking surveillance with its radar module attachement.

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Knowing your drives are recorded with a dash cam is a quick way to ease your mind on the road. But what about your parked car?

That’s where parking mode comes in. A dash cam with parking mode acts like a security guard for your car. Parking mode keeps recording around the clock, even when the engine is not running.

This 24/7 monitoring feature was only offered in high-end models in the past, but it’s common in most modern dash cams.

Parking mode dash cams can vary drastically in price. More expensive options allow you to connect to the camera remotely to view footage and get alerts. Budget-friendly models record locally while parked but don’t have cloud connectivity.

If you’re worried about thieves or hit and runs when you leave your car unattended, read on to learn what the best dash cam with parking mode is.

Article Contents

The Best Parking Mode Dash Cam

Vantrue N5: Best Overall Parking Mode
Rexing V2 Pro AI: Best AI Parking Monitor
Thinkware U1000 (with Radar Module): Best Radar Parking Mode
Viofo A139 Pro: Best Video Quality in Parking Mode
Redtiger F7NP: Best Front and Rear Dash cam with Parking Mode
Wolfbox i17: Best Value-for-Money Parking Mode Dash Cam

1. Best Overall: Vantrue N5

At the moment, there isn’t a dash cam on the market that covers as much ground as the N5. We highly recommend the Vantrue N5 4-Channel to anyone looking for the best 360° parking mode dash camera out there.

Pros

Cons

The Vantrue N5 has Novatek’s newly-released high-level chipset, that’s designed to give exception image quality & night vision. It also has high-frequency WiFi support and 10-second pre-recording capability, making it easy to adjust settings, preview, edit, and share online, track location, speed, and route through the free Vantrue dash cam app.

The 24 hour buffered parking mode and 4 camera night vision give 24/7 360° protection. Buffered mode motion detection starts auto-recording 10 seconds before any movement detected and keeps recording for 30 seconds to record the whole event.

Its motion detection area can be adjusted to monitor areas you’re worried about specifically while collision detection auto-records & stores footage when any impact gets detected.

The Vantrue N5 is easy to use and highly compatible with auto LCD to prevent the screen from distracting you while you’re driving. The ball joint magnetic GPS bracket and rotatable rear cameras allow you to adjust the angle of the camera as needed, and 3M adhesive ensures strong adhesion without falling off.

Based on our experience with it, the Vantrue N5 is the best dash cam for parking mode on the market right now. The 24-hour buffered parking mode & 4-channel recording mechanism give unmatched protection around the clock. There really isn’t anything like it at the moment.

2. Best AI Parking Monitor: Rexing V2 Pro AI

We gave the Rexing V2 Pro AI our the award for the “Best AI Parking Monitor” because of its innovative AI motion detection parking modes. If you’re looking for a reliable and versatile dash cam with an advanced parking monitor, the Rexing V2 Pro AI is for you.

Pros

Cons

The Rexing V2 Pro AI is great because it has three cameras that see everything around your car. Out of all the dash cams on the list, the V2 Pro Ai’s parking surveillance is the most innovative. The cameras rotate when motion is detected which is pretty cool because most dash cams have simple stationary parking mode.

The AI ADAS features is also helpful for keeping you safe on the road. The front collision warning, pedestrian alert, and lane departure warning systems are all designed to help you avoid accidents. The clear to go alert system is also a unique feature that lets you know when the car in front of you has started moving again after being stopped at a traffic light.

The video quality isn’t anything to write home to mom about though. Don’t get me wrong, it has better video quality than most dash cams a couple years ago, but the standards are much higher now. The V2 pro was also a top contender during our testing process for our best dash cam for truckers post – if you’re a truck driver it’s worth looking into further.

Sometimes the V2’s videos are fuzzy and bright lights from the sun or other cars make it hard to see important stuff like license plates on playback. The dash cam itself is kind of big, too, which might bother some people.

The night vision is really what brought it up to number 2 on our list. With any parking mode dash cam, you want to be able to see everything that’s going on in video clips and that’s not gonna happen at night without high-quality night vision.

3. Best Radar Parking Mode: Thinkware U1000

We named the Thinkware U1000 the best radar parking mode due to its innovative use of a Radar module. The module gives the U1000 better surveillance capability compared to normal parking modes.

Pros

Cons

The Thinkware U1000 has a creative spin… a radar-based parking mode. Its front camera records in super clear 4K, and the back in 2K, making things easy to see, even when it’s kind of dark.

By far the best feature is the optional radar module. When you’re parked, the U1000 uses special high-frequency waves to detect movement around your car. This not only saves power but also gives more efficient parking surveillance, and it’s able to extend parking mode runtime up to 170 hours. The only thing that sucks about it is that it doesn’t come with the U1000 dash cam, it’s an add-on accessory.

For safety, it’s gas an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) system that warns you if you’re swerving out of your lane or about to hit something. The U1000 also notifies you about nearby speed traps & red light cameras. Some people say these notifications are annoying to hear but we thought they were super useful when we were testing it out.

Installing the U1000 can be a pain, especially with the radar part, and it’s kind of bulky, which might mess with how your car looks or your view.

It’s got some smart features like tracking your car’s location and sending your phone alerts through Thinkware Cloud, but setting up a permanent internet connection for the dash cam is a hassle. There’s also room for improvement in the safety alert customization.

Even with these issues, the U1000 is still a top dash cam choice because of its sharp cameras and Radar-enhanced parking mode. If you want a dash cam that’s good at pretty much everything, especially keeping you safe and recording clearly, this one’s a strong pick.

4. Best Video Quality: Viofo A139 Pro

We awarded the Viofo A139 Pro with the best video quality in parking mode – it was the obvious winner in the quality department when we compared its video footage side-by-side to the others mentioned on the list.

Pros

Cons

The Viofo A139 Pro is a top-notch dash cam that stands out because of its super clear videos and cool design. What’s awesome is it has three cameras – one for the front, one inside, and one for the rear – which means it can see everything going on around your car. Unlike other dash cams, you can place each camera wherever you want, which means you get the best view possible.

Capturing life on the road in 4K from the front and 1080p from the interior and rear, the A139 Pro’s video quality left us impressed, particularly the clarity of its daytime footage and its solid performance in low-light conditions.

The inclusion of a polarizing filter, enhancing the color and detail, was a welcome bonus, although it slightly affected the night-time performance. However, the way this dash cam handles headlight flare is nothing short of impressive, minimizing the blowout seen in lesser models.

While we admire the A139 Pro’s design, the lack of a built-in display may not sit well with everyone. Adjusting settings or reviewing footage requires using your phone, which can be inconvenient for those who prefer a more straightforward approach or wish to avoid interruptions. Also, getting the dash cam to connect to the app at first is kind of a hassle and takes some patience.

We can’t overlook the A139 Pro’s wiring system. The cables are thin, which is nice and looks clean, but there are several of them, so setting it up might get a bit cluttered. The cool thing is it uses a Type-C cable, the same kind many phones use, which could mean fewer cables lying around in the future.

Even with a couple of downsides, the Viofo A139 Pro is a beast when it comes to dash cams, especially for people driving passengers around and wanting to record everything. It’s not cheap, but if you’re all about getting the best video quality and having cameras everywhere, it’s totally worth it.

Whether it’s day or night, the videos are always clear and detailed, which is super important if something happens to your car while it’s parked. Even though it’s not perfect, the Viofo A139 pro dash camera shoots incredibly high quality videos in parking mode.

5. Best Dual Dash Cam: Redtiger F7NP

The Redtiger F7N Plus got our award as the best front and rear dash cam with parking mode for its balance between cost & dual channel feature.

Pros

Cons

We tested out the Redtiger F7N Plus dash cam and it has great dual cameras for a product that’s inexpensive. The device has a sleek and compact design that feels like a premium build even though the build material isn’t the highest quality.

One of the F7NP’s highlights is its video quality. Both cameras, front and back, capture everything in high definition, which is awesome because you get the full picture of what’s happening around your car. And the night vision is a real standout. It’s rare to find dash cams in this price range that can capture such clear video at night, especially in parking mode.

Now, the WiFi & app connection is neat. You can share your videos easily, and with Google Maps in the mix, you’ll know exactly where you were when stuff happened. The loop recording feature, which automatically overwrites the oldest files when storage is full, is also noteworthy.

It means you’ll never have to worry about losing important footage because the camera’s G-sensor locks in recordings in the event of a hit and run or break-in. The memory card that comes with it is kind of bad so we switched it for a better one.

Installation proved more challenging than anticipated, requiring a bit of patience, especially for those not tech-inclined. We also weren’t fans of the suction mount and the car charger, which felt a bit behind the times.

The F7NP is perfect for anyone who wants to keep an eye on both the road ahead and what’s behind without spending too much cash. Its effective parking mode, clear video quality, and build/design cement its spot on this list.

6. Best Value-for-Money: Wolfbox i17

We awarded the Wolfbox i17 the title of best-value parking mode dash camera because it delivers high-quality features at a reasonable cost.

Pros

Cons

We really liked the Wolfbox i17 dash cam. It’s like a three-in-one camera that’s not too pricey but still does everything it claims in the marketing. The video it takes is super clear, and it can even read stuff like license plates from far away. The night vision is a big win, too, because it works perfectly even when it’s pitch black.

One of the first things we noticed was video quality. The camera performs exceptionally well for it’s price point, better than the F7NP even. In parking mode we can read plates and street signs from 25 feet away. The interior camera deserves special mention as it not only covers a wide area but also uses infrared imaging to ensure visibility in complete darkness, producing crisper footage than many other dash cams we’ve seen.

Setting it up was no headache at all. The installation process was straightforward, and connecting the Wolfbox dash cam cam to the phone for file viewing was a breeze. You definitely don’t need to be a tech wizard to pull a video clip from the dash camera to your phone via the Wolfbox app.

There are other cool features we found handy like a speed meter that’s pretty accurate. If you’re worried about missing important stuff because your memory’s full, don’t be. It records over the old stuff and they throw in a memory card even though it’s not that high-quality. But keep in mind that the i17 isn’t power effective, it will drain your car battery if you don’t have it hardwired to your fuse box properly.

A few times it didn’t start recording when we began driving and the stickiness on the adhesive mount melted when we parked our car in extreme heat. The dash cam ended up falling down & recording nothing so it’s far from a perfect parking mode dash cam in hot weather. They do give you extra adhesives though which is good.

Being the best value parking mode dash cam isn’t just about being affordable… it’s about giving the best bang for the buck. Sure it has a couple of negatives things about it, but the good stuff makes up for it big time. If our non-technical friend wanted a parking mode dash cam recommendation, we’d probably point them to the Wolfbox i17.

About Post Author

Zach Harmon

Zach Harmon founded Dash Cam Discount to pursue his passion. He created the site to share his experience in the industry & provide quality information to the people. Connect with Zach on LinkedIn or send an email to zach@dashcamdiscount.com.

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