Garmin Dash Cam X210 Review: Is the Dash Cam 57’s Successor Worth It?
Garmin’s little Dash Cam 57 has been discontinued, and the X210 is the camera that replaces it: the same 1440p picture, the same 140° view and the same “OK, Garmin” voice control in a box barely bigger than a matchbox. What the testers and owners agree on is that it is easy to live with. What the box does not tell you is how much the parking guard and cloud features really cost.
Where the reviews line up
Our evidence comes from three places: a hands-on editorial test by Alistair Charlton at Digital Camera World, owner threads on the specialist forum DashCamTalk, and the customer ratings at Halfords and Currys — 4.9/5 from 11 reviews at each — with five Best Buy reviews from the US for colour. It is a thin pool, and we say so throughout.
Where they agree: it is small, simple and the daytime picture is good. Digital Camera World calls the daytime footage sharp and smooth and the app nicely designed and easy to use; US buyers describe a secure mount and clear video compared with entry-level cameras; UK buyers rate it almost uniformly highly.
Where it falls short: night footage is ordinary. Digital Camera World could read only the nearest car’s number plate after dark, and one Best Buy owner calls low-light performance “just okay”. And Wi-Fi downloads to the phone can be finicky — pull the card if you need a clip fast.
The buying decision is about the extras. Parking guard needs a constant power cable (£44.99, per Digital Camera World), and the parking alerts, remote live view and cloud storage need a Vault subscription at £9.99 a month or £99.99 a year. At the £179 Halfords and Currys were charging on 13 October 2026, the camera plus cable is about £224, before any fitting (our sum). At that price it is a sound, discreet buy; at the old £259 list price it was harder to justify against the cheaper Dash Cam 57 it replaces.
The three reviews this summary is built from
- Digital Camera WorldEditorial test by Alistair Charlton, 14 May 2025. Four out of five for features, design and performance; three for value.
- DashCamTalkSpecialist dash cam forum. Three threads covering the X range launch, an X210 power measurement and an X210 that would not boot.
- Halfords & Currys4.9/5 from 11 reviews at each, checked 13 Oct 2026 — small samples. Plus 5 Best Buy US reviews.
Before the review: what happened to the Dash Cam 57?
It has gone. The US specialist retailer The Dashcam Store lists the Dash Cam 57 as discontinued and no longer available and points buyers to the X210 instead; we found no current UK listing for the 57 at Halfords. Garmin’s own UK page for the X210 (part 010-02859-10) shows it as a current, not discontinued, product, and Halfords and Currys both list it. The specs line up closely with the 57 — both record 1440p at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps through a 140° lens — and the X210 adds a built-in Clarity polariser and moves to USB-C power. If you see a “new” Dash Cam 57 for sale, check it is not old stock with a short warranty.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution and frame rate | 1440p at 30fps with HDR · 1080p at 60fps · 1080p at 30fps with HDR | Garmin’s manual and Digital Camera World agree. Currys lists 1440p at 60fps, which neither supports |
| Field of view | 140° | Garmin, Halfords, Currys, Digital Camera World |
| Polariser | Built-in Clarity polariser, not removable | Garmin; Digital Camera World |
| Screen | 2.4-inch LCD, not touch | Halfords, Currys; Digital Camera World says non-touch |
| Size and weight | 70 × 42 × 19 mm; 62 g | Size from Digital Camera World, weight from Currys |
| Power and battery | Internal rechargeable battery; USB-C, 5 V at 1 A. “Up to 20 minutes” on battery | Currys and Digital Camera World’s spec table say 20 minutes; Digital Camera World’s text says about 10 |
| Operating temperature | −20°C to 60°C; charges only between 0°C and 60°C | Garmin manual |
| microSD card | microSDHC or microSDXC, 8GB to 512GB, Class 10 or faster, exFAT. Not in Garmin’s own box; Halfords’ bundle adds a 16GB card | Garmin manual; Halfords listing |
| Voice control | “OK, Garmin” wake word, then commands such as “Save Video”. English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish | Garmin manual; languages from Halfords |
| Parking guard | Needs a constant power cable, sold separately at £44.99 | Price from Digital Camera World, May 2025 |
| Vault subscription | £9.99 a month or £99.99 a year — needed for cloud storage, parking alerts and remote live view | Price from Digital Camera World; Halfords and Currys confirm it is a paid extra |
| Driver alerts | Forward collision, lane departure, speed camera warnings (not in all regions) | Halfords |
| Multi-camera | Syncs video from up to four Garmin dash cams in the Garmin Drive app; no rear camera of its own | Halfords; Digital Camera World |
| Warranty | 2-year manufacturer’s guarantee | Currys; Garmin’s page links only its general limited warranty |
| Price | £259.99 UK price at launch. £179 at Halfords (was £259) and £179.99 at Currys (was £239.99) | Launch price from Digital Camera World; retailer prices checked 13 October 2026 |
Digital Camera World
Who they are: Alistair Charlton is, by his author page at sister title T3, a freelance automotive and technology journalist who also writes for the BBC, Forbes and TechRadar and co-hosts the AutoChat podcast; that page gives no figure for how long he has tested dash cams, but his motoring specialism is why we weight this test. Digital Camera World is owned by Future and funded partly by affiliate links, and its how-we-test page describes lab methods for cameras but gives no method for dash cams, so read this as experienced hands-on opinion.
Charlton’s headline is that this mid-range model could be the pick of Garmin’s new range. He lists three strengths — a compact design, good video quality, and a camera that is easy to set up and use — and finds the phone app nicely designed. Daytime footage, he says, is sharp and smooth.
His reservations are the useful part. 60fps is only available at 1080p, so you choose between resolution and smoothness. At night only the nearest vehicle’s number plate was readable, which he notes is common among dash cams. There is no rear or interior camera. Parking mode needs hard-wiring and a constant power cable at £44.99, and live viewing needs Vault at £9.99 a month or £99.99 a year. His Value score of 3/5 reflects a camera that feels expensive next to the models it replaces — though he was reviewing it at £259.99, some £80 more than UK retailers were asking on the day we checked.
Watch: Garmin Dash Cam X210 video footage
Recorded footage from the X210 itself — the quickest way to judge the daytime detail Digital Camera World praises, and to see for yourself how plates hold up.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Independent YouTube video — not made by or for Shopbam.DashCamTalk
Who they are: DashCamTalk is a dash cam review and forum site started in 2012 by a Toronto-based enthusiast who says he buys every camera with his own money and accepts no free samples; the forum posts are unverified owner experience, so weigh recurring reports and treat single posts as anecdote.
The X210 has barely been discussed on the specialist forum — its own sub-forum holds a single thread — so read this for context, not volume. The launch thread is the most useful for anyone replacing a Dash Cam 57. One regular, who owns a 57, points out that in US pricing the X210 cost $100 more than the 57 and the 4K X310 $100 more again, and questions what the premium buys. An owner of the 56, 57 and X310 sums up the range: the X210 is 2K, the X310 4K, and all other features are the same. The same regular flags a practical catch: the move to USB-C means a 57 owner’s old parking mode cable will not carry over.
The parking cable thread has the only measurement we found: an owner in Slovenia recorded the X210 drawing 0.84 A at 5 V while recording and 0.22 A in parking standby. That is his reading, not Garmin’s, but it gives a sense of the load on a car battery overnight. The third thread is a single owner whose X210, under a month old, stuck on a white service-style screen at every boot; no fix was posted. One case proves nothing about reliability, but it is the only fault report we found.
Watch: Installation & Setup : Garmin Dash Cam X210 User Guide
A setup walk-through — worth watching before you decide whether to fit the constant power cable yourself or pay for fitting.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Independent YouTube video — not made by or for Shopbam.Halfords and Currys
Who they are: Halfords’ star ratings come from its own shoppers and its reviews policy could not be read, so treat them as unverified owner satisfaction; Currys’ ratings come from customers invited after buying, collected and moderated by Feefo; Best Buy is a US retailer that labels verified-purchase and incentivised reviews, and US models and prices differ from UK ones.
Eleven reviews is not much, and the identical score and count at both retailers made us wonder whether they share a review pool; neither page says so. Neither page showed us the review text either, only the score, so all we can tell you is that the UK buyers who have rated it are overwhelmingly happy. What the listings do give is useful buying detail: Halfords sells a bundle with a 16GB card and offers fitting for £75, and both retailers spell out that parking alerts and remote access need constant power and a paid Vault subscription.
Best Buy’s five reviews add the only owner comments we could read. All visible ratings are five stars, though the page marks some reviews as incentivised. One owner using the constant power cable says parked recording caught the face and plate of the person responsible; others describe a straightforward, secure mount that stayed put in extreme weather and footage much clearer than entry-level cameras. The complaints match Digital Camera World’s: night footage “just okay”, and Wi-Fi downloads to the app “a little finicky”.
Watch: GARMIN Dash Cam X210
A short look at the camera itself — useful for judging the size behind your mirror, the thing buyers most often praise.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Independent YouTube video — not made by or for Shopbam.Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- Tiny and discreet: 70 × 42 × 19 mm and 62 g, easy to hide behind the mirror.
- Sharp, smooth daytime 1440p footage, per Digital Camera World and US owners.
- Built-in polariser cuts windscreen glare without an extra filter.
- Hands-free voice control to save a clip — “OK, Garmin, save video”.
- An app the editorial tester found easy, and a simple, secure mount.
- Takes cards up to 512GB, and syncs with up to four Garmin cameras if you add more.
What people complain about
- Night footage is ordinary: only the nearest plate readable in Digital Camera World’s test.
- 60fps only at 1080p; 1440p is 30fps, whatever one retailer listing says.
- Parking guard needs a £44.99 constant power cable, and its alerts need Vault.
- Vault costs £9.99 a month or £99.99 a year for cloud storage and live view.
- No rear camera option of its own, and the old Dash Cam 57 parking cable does not fit.
- Phone downloads over Wi-Fi can be finicky.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if you want a small, unobtrusive windscreen camera that records good daytime evidence, you like the idea of saving a clip by voice, and you can get it near the £179 Halfords and Currys were charging in October 2026. If you already wear a Garmin such as the Venu 4 or ride with an Edge 550, note the dash cam runs on a separate app, Garmin Drive, so do not expect it in your existing Garmin app.
Look elsewhere if night-time plate reading matters most, you want 4K, or you want a rear camera in the same system — the Nextbase 622GW covers those, at a higher price and in a much bigger box. And count the running costs: camera, constant power cable and a year of Vault come to about £324 at October 2026 prices, or about £399 with Halfords fitting (our sums).
What we could not check
- The videos. We confirmed all three YouTube videos by their watch URLs and titles in two separate search listings, not by opening them, and none of the listings named a channel.
- Garmin’s UK price and stock. Garmin’s UK page shows the X210 as current but did not display a price or stock level for us; the £259.99 launch price comes from Digital Camera World.
- The Dash Cam 57’s UK status. The discontinuation notice we found is from a US retailer, and we could not load a Garmin UK page for the 57.
- Frame rate at 1440p. Currys lists 60fps; Garmin’s manual and Digital Camera World say 30fps. We have gone with Garmin.
- Battery run time. Digital Camera World gives 20 minutes in its spec table and about 10 in its text; Currys says up to 20. Garmin’s manual gives no figure or battery type.
- The constant power cable price. £44.99 is Digital Camera World’s May 2025 figure; we did not find a live UK listing for the USB-C cable.
- Vault pricing today. £9.99 a month and £99.99 a year come from Digital Camera World in May 2025, not from Garmin, and may have changed.
- Review text and sellers. Halfords and Currys showed scores but no review text, the identical 4.9/11 at both may be one shared pool, and Currys did not name a seller beyond itself. Argos lists the X210 but its page would not show price, seller or ratings.
- Warranty length from Garmin. The two years is Currys’ statement; Garmin’s page links only its general limited warranty.
- Independent night testing at depth. Only one editorial test exists, and no Which? result for the X210 was public.
- The forum power measurement is one owner’s reading, not a Garmin figure.
Sources last checked 13 October 2026. Dash cam prices and stock change week to week — check them against the listing in front of you before ordering.