Best dash cam for HGV and lorry drivers in the UK

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The best dash cam for an HGV driver buying with their own money is the Nextbase 622GW at around £250. Image stabilisation is the reason: a 44-tonne cab at idle shakes a windscreen in a way no car does, and the 622GW's footage stays readable where cheaper 4K cameras turn to jelly. The best dash cam for a fleet of lorries is the BlackVue DR770X-2CH, because the cloud system is built for a transport manager and it ships with a 64GB card. Whichever you fit, the thing that decides whether it works in a truck is not the lens. It is how you power it.

What is different about a lorry

Voltage. Most heavy trucks run 24 V electrics. The cab socket may be 24 V, may be 12 V, or there may be one of each, and the label on the socket is the only thing to trust. A 12 V-only cigarette plug in a 24 V socket is a dead camera and possibly a blown fuse. The camera itself wants 5 V through its USB lead, so you need a supply that converts safely. The hardwire kits from Nextbase, BlackVue, Viofo and Thinkware are rated 12 to 24 V on the box. Cheap generic kits often are not.

Vibration. Diesel idle in a tractor unit vibrates at a frequency suction mounts hate, and over a winter of temperature swings the cup lets go, usually on a motorway at night. Use an adhesive mount, which most cameras here include, on glass cleaned with an alcohol wipe. Image stabilisation in the camera is the other half of the fix.

Mounting height. A truck windscreen is tall and nearly vertical. Too high and the camera sees sky and the top of the trailer in front. Too low and the wiper misses it. Aim for just inside the top of the wiper arc and tilt the lens down until the bonnet edge sits at the bottom of the frame.

Recording hours. A car dash cam records two hours a day. Yours records ten, plus parking mode on the 45-minute break and overnight in a lay-by. Buy a high-endurance card, 128GB minimum for 4K, and treat it as a consumable.

The cameras we would put in a cab

Nextbase 622GW

The 622GW records 4K with image stabilisation, and that combination is why it is on so many trucks. The polarising filter takes the dashboard reflection off the glass, which matters more in a lorry because the dash is enormous and pale. Emergency SOS with what3words sends your location if you are in a smash and do not respond. It needs a separate SD card and the rear module is extra. Around £250.

BlackVue DR770X-2CH

The fleet camera. Sony STARVIS sensors front and rear give the best night footage here short of the Thinkware, and 4G LTE readiness means the transport office can pull clips without the driver doing anything, once you add a SIM and the subscription. A 64GB card is in the box. At around £400 it is a lot for one owner-driver and about right per vehicle for an operator who wants every cab on the same system.

Nextbase 422GW

Same magnetic Click&Go mount and app as the 622GW, 2K instead of 4K, about £100 less at around £150. The 10Hz GPS logs speed ten times a second, which is the number an insurer's engineer looks at when there is an argument about how fast you were going. Nextbase's reliability and UK warranty without the 4K bill.

Viofo A129 Pro Duo

4K front and 1080p rear in the box at around £170, and buffered parking mode that keeps the seconds before the trigger. The app is clunky and the mount is adhesive only, which in a truck is a plus. Viofo's own hardwire kit is 12 to 24 V rated. Strong night footage for the money.

VIOFO no longer sells the A129 range itself. If Amazon runs out, the direct replacement is the A229 Pro 2CH from VIOFO's own store, around $350 in US dollars, shipped to the UK.

Thinkware U1000

The best night vision here, 4K front and 2K rear, and a radar-based speed camera alert. At around £330 it is priced against the BlackVue, and the cloud features go to subscription after a trial. Drivers on overnight trunking rate it.

BlackVue DR590X-2CH

1080p front and rear at around £200, and so discreet you will forget it is there. Same cloud ecosystem as the DR770X without the 4G hardware. The 32GB card fills quickly on a shift, so buy a bigger one on day one. The pick for a smaller fleet that wants BlackVue's app without the DR770X price.

Side by side

Camera	Price (around)	Front / rear	Rear cam in box	Best for
Nextbase 622GW	around £250	4K / 1080p	No, module extra	Owner-drivers, stabilised 4K
BlackVue DR770X-2CH	around £400	1080p / 1080p	Yes, 64GB card too	Fleets wanting cloud and 4G
Nextbase 422GW	around £150	2K / 1080p	No, module extra	Nextbase quality on a budget
Viofo A129 Pro Duo	around £170	4K / 1080p	Yes	Best value dual 4K
Thinkware U1000	around £330	4K / 2K	Yes	Night trunking
BlackVue DR590X-2CH	around £200	1080p / 1080p	Yes	Smaller fleets

Rear cameras on a tractor unit

On a tractor unit the "rear" is the front of your trailer, a metre away, so a rear-window camera records the headboard. What it can do is cover the cab interior if you angle it, which some drivers want for disputes at delivery points. If cabin coverage is the goal, the Garmin Dash Cam Tandem does road and cab from one unit with two 180-degree lenses. Trailer-mounted rear cameras are a different product and install.

What a dash cam is not

It is not a Direct Vision Standard system. Over 12 tonnes in London, DVS wants a nearside camera monitoring system with an in-cab display, sensors and audible warnings for cyclists, from a separate supplier. A dash cam records what happened. DVS is about stopping it.

What we'd buy

Owner-driver: the Nextbase 622GW with Nextbase's own 12 to 24 V hardwire kit and a 128GB high-endurance card. Tight budget: the 422GW, same kit, same card. Fleet: the BlackVue DR770X-2CH in every cab, one installer, one card size, so the footage all looks the same when the insurer asks. The HGV dash cam product list has current prices, and if you manage several trucks the dash cam buying guide for fleet managers covers the policy side. For the rest of the cab, from sat nav to phone mount, there is the complete HGV driver kit list.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best dash cam for an HGV?

For an owner-driver, the Nextbase 622GW: 4K with image stabilisation that copes with cab vibration, a polarising filter for the huge windscreen, and Emergency SOS. For a fleet, the BlackVue DR770X-2CH with its cloud system and 64GB card in the box. Both need a hardwire kit rated for 24 V trucks.

Do dash cams work on 24 V lorries?

The camera itself runs on 5 V through its USB lead, so the question is the power supply. Many truck cab sockets are 24 V and a 12 V-only plug will not survive it. Use the hardwire kit from the camera's own brand and check the box says 12 to 24 V, or fit a 24 V to 12 V converter first.

Is a dash cam a legal requirement for HGV drivers in the UK?

No. There is no law requiring a dash cam in an HGV. Many operators require one under their own policy and insurers increasingly expect footage after a claim. Lorries over 12 tonnes entering London need to meet the Direct Vision Standard, which is a separate camera and sensor system, not a dash cam.

What size memory card does an HGV dash cam need?

Bigger than a car. A 4K camera running through a 10-hour shift with parking mode overnight fills a 64GB card fast. Buy a 128GB high-endurance card, the type rated for continuous rewriting, and format it in the camera every month or so.

Will parking mode flatten a truck battery?

A truck's battery bank is bigger than a car's, but a camera that draws all weekend can still drop it. Every decent hardwire kit has a low-voltage cutoff. Set it, and set the parking-mode timer if the camera has one, so a 45-minute break is covered without leaving the camera awake for two days.