The Uniden Dash View 30R is one of the more compact dash-cams on the market. We give it a run to see how easy it is to set up and to use…
I recently fitted a Uniden Dash View 30R dash-cam to my Ranger in case someone pulls out in front of me like happened last year when I was driving along a wet Illawarra Highway in my old Defender.
That episode in 2020 was definitely a near-miss, but if I ended up hitting the old bloke in the silver car, at least I would’ve had video evidence to provide to my insurance company (and the police) to prove I was not at fault.
One of the things I really like about the Uniden Dash View 30R is its compact packaging. This is ideal in the Ranger which has a big rear-view mirror assembly, as it houses the vehicle’s lane-keep assist camera, as well as provides a USB port, the latter ideal for powering, you guessed it, a dash-cam.
Mounting the Dash View 30R is a piece of cake. Select the location, clean the windscreen and stick it on with the supplied double-sided tape. It also comes with a rear camera that also sticks to the window with double-sided tape, and I found it to be pretty easy to stuff the cabling up in the headliner to connect this additional camera.
Once plugged in to the mirror’s USB port, the next step was to set the camera up. The Dash View 30R comes standard with a 32gb high endurance SD card already inserted, but this needs formatting before the camera will record to the card.
But wait… there’s no screen on the Dash View 30R, so how do you reformat the card, or set the camera up to perform the way you want, or view and download video, or anything else? Dual Band WiFi, that’s how. Simply head to the app store, download the Uniden Dash View App (Apple or Android) then connect the device to your phone via WiFi.
The Front camera view as displayed on an iPhone. 
Rear camera view. The device is controlled via the Uniden Dash View app.
Once you’re hooked up, you can check out the view from your front or rear camera to make sure they’re pointed where you want them. The camera angles can be adjusted, so as long as you stuck the cameras as close to the centre of the windscreen and rear window as possible, you’ll be able to adjust them to where you need them.
Every time you start your vehicle, the Uniden Dash View 30R will power up and audibly alert you to its status to reassure you it’s recording footage. There’s also a small LED to advise that it is getting power and recording. It also reminds you of its presence when you’re approaching a speed camera or a red light camera with a clear audio warning, and you can set the warning distance so you don’t get caught out by one of these revenue-raising blights if you’re a bee’s appendage over the speed limit.
Oh, and the Dash View 30R also has a Parking Mode, so it will record the all the 2.5k high-res action if some plonker tries to knock off your driving lights, or someone backs into your pride and joy in the Woolies carpark. You’ll need to power the 30R through the supplied hardwire kit, not the USB, however, if you want to use the Parking Mode. The hardwire kit consists a 4m cable with fuse piggybacks for easy connection to the fuse box in most vehicles, although I’ll need to whip down to Repco to pick up a couple of Narva Micro3 ‘Add-a-circuit’ adaptors to suit the Rangers fuse box.
Uniden also provides a third power option in the 30R box, which is a 3m ciggy charger cable and plug, so this is a dash-cam that really suits every vehicle on the market.
What about the specs? The front camera records super sharp 2.5K 30fps video while the rear camera records Full HD 30fps. Both cameras have a 140° wide angle lens and a top-notch Sony Starvis sensor, the latter ensuring you get still clear vision at night. There’s a built in GPS for location and vehicle speed, and a built in G-sensor to record ‘events’. You can set the camera up to imprint date, time, location and vehicle speed on the footage.
The footage itself is clear (see the sample below), easily allowing you to read number plates and see other details on the road, while the nighttime performance of the camera is certainly good enough to provide details if you experience an ‘event’.
If you have a small windscreen (old Defender or Wrangler) or you just don’t want another screen up on your dash, the Uniden Dash View 30R is a great device that still records all the action and is easy to use.
