Uniden iGO CAM 90 – 4K dash cam with large GPS speedo readout (review)

The Uniden iGO CAM 90 is a 4K dash cam with an optional 1080p rear camera (iGO CAM 90R). But its secret sauce is that it is also a very accurate, large digital speedo. It could save you money and demerits.

OK, a dashcam is a dashcam. They all record your driving to a microSD and are handy as evidence in case of an accident. More and more dashcam footage television news and police use footage as evidence.

So why would you splash $299.95 ($349.95 with the rear camera) when you can get a 720p resolution cheapie from under $30? There are several reasons, but the main one is clarity during the day and night – the ability to read a number plate up to 10-metres away.

Cybershack firmly believes that you need at least 2K and preferably 4K with decent glass optics, multi-channel GPS, and all the smarts if you want a good dashcam. The Uniden iGO CAM meets our standards.

Uniden iGO CAM 90 (with rear 1080p camera iGO CAM 90R)

Website	Product range and Product page
Manual	PDF
Price	$299.95 (front camera only) and $349.95 (plus rear 1080p camera)
From	Major CE retailers like JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Bing Lee and car accessories like Autobarn
Warranty	12 months ACL
Country of origin	China
About	Uniden is a Japanese electronics company established in 1966. In Australia, it is solid in surveillance cameras, CB radio, household cordless phones and similar.
More	Cybershack Uniden news and reviews

First impression – small and light

We have the 4K 90R to review – it has is iGO CAM 90 with a magnetic clip-on GPS, a stick-on windscreen slide-mount and car utility socket (cigarette lighter) 5V/2.5A/12.5W power adapter. The rear camera is 1080p and comes with a 6-metre mini-video cable to attach to the front camera.

The front camera, GPS and screen (70x25mm) unit is relatively small and reignites the issue of having a live image that can distract you or, in this case, selecting large digital speedo – that can save you speeding fines and demerits.

Setup – easy

The front camera slide-mount sticks [permanently] to the windscreen, but you can easily remove the camera. Ideally, install it at the dead centre of the windscreen, but the mount allows for some tilt to frame the image. It is not a big unit, but the USB power cable hangs down and has to snake to the power adapter. The 3M double-sided tape is unforgiving, so mount with care.

The rear camera should also be dead centre of the rear window, and similarly, you have a 6m cable to try to hide as it snakes its way to the front camera. We experimented with a Lexus NX300 SUV and got a suitable position just above the rear window wiper. Hiding the cable is a pain, and professional fitting is best. On that note, the optional $49.95 Hard Wiring Kit HWK-2 may be a good option as it allows Parking mode (not available on battery).

Menu – use defaults

I won’t go through every setting as you will usually accept all defaults, e.g., 3840 x 2160p, loop recording, enable internal mic (to hear what is said), Wide dynamic range etc.

Under Safety, the GPS signal has metadata on fixed, red light and average speed cameras, and the display will change, and an announcement made. We found these to be handy. You can either select live view or speedometer mode for the screen – speedo is terrific.

It can act as a Wi-Fi direct access point to connect a smartphone to download and play video files. The smartphone can act as a live view screen.

You can enable basic voice commands – “Uniden, take a picture/lock the video (protect) etc.

MicroSD 128GB max

Add a micro-SD card (not supplied) class U3 up to 128GB, and you are ready to roll. You will need to format it first in the device (exFAT), but it is still Windows PC readable. The recording is continuous, and once the card is full, it overwrites the oldest video. You can manually protect a video, and all crashes/impacts are automatically protected. A 4K clip is three minutes and is a tad under 500MB (.5GB)

Single Channel Recording (Front camera only)

Resolution/minutes	16GB	32GB	64GB	128GB
2160P	40	80	160	320
1440P	45	90	180	360
1080P	55	110	220	440

Dual Channel Recording (Front and Rear camera)

2160P + 1080P	35	70	140	280
1440P + 1080P	40	80	160	320
1080P + 1080P	50	100	200	400

Uniden Player for Windows

It is an MP4 player with GPS overlays and can clip a still image. But be careful. If you have an incident and want to use the video as evidence, remove the microSD card immediately and don’t attempt to edit, as it will ruin the chain of evidence.

Image quality

4K gives the best image, but at best, you can read a number plate up to 10m. It uses an 8MP, 1/1.8” CMOS sensor and a glass lens. It is not a Sony Starviz sensor for night use but night vision is pretty good. The front/rear cameras have a 135/150° FOV.

Video/audio is MP4, H.264/AAC. It can play on a Windows, Mac, iOS or Android device.

Cybershack view – Uniden iGO CAM 90 (90R) is a class-leader

I have been using a Uniden iGO CAM 80 4K dash cam since 2018, and I am delighted with it. The 90/90R, 75/70R are new for 2021 and feature a slim design instead of a larger 2.4” square display.

The smaller 90 screen is ideal for the large speedo readout, and the unit does everything you could expect, perhaps Sony Starviz with a maximum of 2.5K resolution.

There is also an optional 1080p clip on the cabin camera, limiting the forward camera to 1440p (2K).

Rating

It is one of the few with a large speedo readout, and that has to be class-leading. It is 4K and has a better, more detailed image than lesser resolutions, and it does everything expected of a premium dashcam.

Would I buy one? Yes!

I have used the iGO CAM 80 since 2018, and this is a nice update with a larger speedo readout – unreserved recommendation.