You bought your dash cam a few years ago. It is still mounted on your windshield. It still powers on when you start the car. So it is still doing its job, right?
Maybe not. Dash cam technology has moved faster than most people realise — and what was acceptable three years ago can leave you seriously exposed today. Here are five signs your current dash cam is no longer good enough.
1. Your Night Footage Is Blurry or Overexposed
Night vision performance is the area where dash cam technology has improved most dramatically in recent years. Older cameras relied on basic low light settings that produced washed out, overexposed footage under streetlights, or dark, grainy footage away from them.
Modern cameras with Sony STARVIS 2 sensors handle night driving with a level of clarity that older chipsets simply cannot match. If you cannot read a number plate in your current camera's night footage, it will not hold up for an insurance claim.
2. The Footage Does Not Hold Up for Insurance
This is the most serious issue. The entire point of a dash cam is to provide usable evidence in an accident scenario. But if your camera records at 720p or low-bitrate 1080p, the footage quality may not be sufficient.
• Number plates are unreadable beyond short distances
• Traffic light colours are unclear
• Fast moving vehicles appear blurred
• Dark conditions render footage unusable
3. Your Camera Overheats and Stops Recording
Overheating was a significant problem with older dash cam designs, particularly in warmer states like Texas, Arizona, and Florida. Cameras would shut down during the hottest part of the day — exactly when you are most likely to be driving.
Modern cameras are designed with better thermal management and capacitor-based power systems that handle heat far more effectively than older lithium battery models. If your camera has ever shut off unexpectedly in summer, it is a reliability problem you cannot ignore.
4. The Memory Card Fills Up Too Fast or Fails
Older dash cams often had limited loop recording management and were incompatible with higher capacity modern memory cards. If your camera is restricted to 32GB or regularly corrupts files, you are potentially losing footage before you ever need it.
Current models support 128GB and above with advanced loop recording that manages storage automatically and protects event footage from being overwritten.
5. You Have No Parking Mode
Parking mode — where the camera continues recording or activates on motion detection while your car is parked — was either absent or unreliable in earlier models. This leaves your vehicle completely unprotected for the majority of the time it is not being driven.
Hit and runs in parking lots are one of the most common incidents American drivers face. Without a camera with reliable parking mode, there is zero footage of what happened while you were away from the car.
Is It Time to Upgrade?
If any of the five points above apply to your current camera, the honest answer is yes. The cost of upgrading is small compared to the cost of a disputed insurance claim, a hit and run with no evidence, or a legal dispute where your footage is too blurry to use.
At Borlexa, we only carry cameras that meet the current standard for night vision, resolution, thermal management, and parking mode performance. No outdated models. No compromises.