We might consider ourselves to be a tech savvy family but reviewing gadgets doesn't usually fall in our remit however with so much focus on dash cam's in the news lately, we jumped at the chance to flex our review skills and take a look at the Philips ADR 810 Dash Cam. 

We were told the usual sales spiel in that the Philips ADR 810 Dash Cam offers peace of mind when you need it most and with automatic recording means there’s no need to spend ages setting it up each time, simply switch it on and drive. In case of a collision, the Dash Cam automatically saves the recording to secure your evidence and prevent it being overridden.

So what did we think?

Setting it up

There isn't much in the box so thought it would be nice and easy to set up but we hit an intiial hurdle when we realised that you need an SD card to do the recording on and the dash cam doesn't come with one. It is worth noting that it is a micro SD card that you need, so worth making sure you have one before trying to set up.

Once we got past this little blip, the setup was actually very quick, although you don't get a full set of instructions just a handy little guide but even I could work it out. To be honest, the set up takes less than a minute but worth noting that the Philips ADR810 Dash Cam doesn’t have its own internal battery which means it needs to be plugged into the cigarette lighter socket on the car to give it some power.

It comes with super sticky pads so that you can attach it securely and as the Dash Cam is super lightweight at only 83 grams, with dimensions of 106.7 x 50.0 x 32.5mm, you don't worry about it falling off as can happen with some of the plastic sucker attachments. 

Functions

The Philips ADR 810 dash cam features smart automatic functions, excellent video performance with perfect night view and a 156° wide angle lens.

• In the case of a collision, an emergency (and handy) recording is automatically saved to secure the evidence and prevent overwriting
• A clever fatigue index will produce a visual and audible warning message when the driver should take a rest (unless you don't like being told what to do by a machine)
• Instant replay function can help to clarify responsibility on the spot with date/time stamped proof
• The ADR 810 captures details day and night with optimised night view
• A 156° wide angle lens captures more of the road with this wide angle lens 

The power cable is REALLY long which is a good thing if your cigarette lighter socket isn't at the front of your car but the wire does need keeping under control (a bit like my kids!!)

The children have been fascinated by the Dash Cam, although my eldest said that I will have to watch my own speed now as it is being recorded (I am not entirely sure what she is implying) but the youngest has become convinced that we are going to catch "bad guys" doing "bad stuff" on our Dash Cam and become heros! So everyone is a clearly a fan, even if they don't understand the tech side of it. 

The Pro's

• Lightweight small & compact
• Not easy for thieves and other motorists to see, unlike some other cameras
• Driver fatigue warning that alerts the driver if their tiredness is affecting the quality of their driving.
• Easy to navigate menus

The Con's

• The sticky pads are extremely sticky which is great for keeping its position in the car but not ideal if you want to change it into a different vehicle. A suction mount would be a good option in addition to the sticky pads.
• You need to purchase a seperate micro SD card before you can start recording. 

So if the only real downsides relate to sticky pads, we think this is a pretty impressive piece of kit for £139.99.

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