same great design, now with less glare

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Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3: One-Minute Review

When it comes to compact on-board cameras, Garmin proves with the Mini 3 that it is still the market leader. It’s a small dash cam that shoots Full HD with HDR at 30fps and is so small it virtually disappears behind your rearview mirror, making installation almost seamless. It also has a decent voice control system and the smartphone app works well for adjusting settings and downloading stored footage.

That said, the Mini 3 is a very small upgrade over the three-year-old Garmin Dash Cam Mini 2, and, aside from a built-in polarizing lens, offers no real incentive to upgrade. If you have an old Garmin Mini dash cam, keep it. But if you are looking for a very small Full HD dash cam, this one should be at the top of your list, it is one of the most budget-friendly dash cams on the market.

Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3: price and availability

Launched in September 2024, the Mini 3 is part of a new family of dashcams from Garmin. As with previous generations of Dash Cam Mini, the 3 is Garmin’s entry-level model.

Available now, the Mini 3 is priced at $149.99 / £149.99 / AU$249. This makes it slightly more expensive than the Mini 2, arriving in summer 2021. The new model is available now.

Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3: Specifications

Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3: Design

The new Garmin Mini 3 is almost identical to its predecessor, except for how it’s now designed to be mounted horizontally rather than vertically. This allows it to hide more neatly behind the center mirror of most cars, and means the microSD card slot and microphone mute button are now on the bottom of the device rather than on the side.

There’s still a USB port on the right side, but it’s been upgraded to USB-C, and there’s still a big button on the back for manually saving images. This can be useful when you witness an incident but are not directly involved in it.

Garmin’s fantastic (and incredibly simple) windshield mount returns once again with the Mini 3. It attaches to the dash cam with a ball joint, then sticks to the windshield with a built-in adhesive pad. There’s plenty of adjustability, but the ball of the mount is tightened enough by the dash camera socket to keep it from moving while you drive.

The box also includes a USB-C to USB-A cable and an adapter for plugging the dash cam into your car’s 12-volt outlet. The adapter has a pair of USB-A connections, so you can power the dash cam and charge your smartphone at the same time. I would have preferred a pair of USB-C ports, given that that’s what almost all smartphones use now, but that’s a small criticism.

As with previous generations of the Garmin Dash Cam Mini, a microSD card isn’t included in the box, so you’ll need to provide your own.

Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3: performance

Despite its small proportions, the Mini 3 records HDR videos in Full HD. It does this through a 140-degree lens that has a built-in polarizing filter designed to reduce windshield glare. Aside from the addition of the filter, these are the same specs as the Mini 2 – and, as a result, the images produced by the Mini 3 are also quite similar.

That’s not a bad thing. Images are sharp and clear, with well-balanced exposure and enough detail to easily read vehicle license plates, road signs and road markings; all the things you rely on a dashcam to capture with great clarity. There was virtually no glare in the footage we captured, even on a sunny fall day, and while it wasn’t Hollywood quality, the 1080p video (at 30 frames per second) looked pretty good. for such a small dashcam.

The nighttime images are of course not as clear, but even well after sunset there is enough detail to understand what is happening. Vehicles and road markings are clearly visible, but license plates cannot be read as reliably as during the day. I also noticed some reflections on the windshield from my car’s infotainment screen, but it was up at the top of the camera’s view and well out of frame.

Day or night, the Garmini Mini 3 produces very good images, especially considering the small size of this dash cam. While I obviously wasn’t able to test the collision detection feature, I did notice how the dashboard camera records part of the footage when the driver brakes hard. So even if you don’t hit anything, you’ll have proof of what could have been a near miss. As always, the sensitivity of the dash cam can be adjusted in the app’s settings menu, which is handy if you find it triggers too easily, for example on speed bumps or potholes. -chicken.

As for additional features, the Mini 3 has access to Garmin’s voice control technology. This has always worked pretty well throughout the history of the Garmin Dash Cam line, and that’s the case here as well. You can ask the dash cam to manually save a recording or turn the microphone on/off. It’s a nice tool to have, but you’re unlikely to use it frequently.

Like other Garmin dash cams, the Mini 3 has a parking mode that alerts your smartphone when a collision is detected while parked. However, this requires a wiring kit to provide the camera with a constant power source (sold separately), an active WiFi connection, and a subscription to Garmin’s Vault cloud storage service. For some buyers, this will cause unnecessary expense and complexity, but if you can provide the all-important WiFi connection, it can turn your dash cam into a 24-hour surveillance system.

Another marginal feature of Garmin dash cameras is how up to four can be synced together. This way you can have one facing forward and one facing rear, and then even a few facing sideways if you have a large vehicle that could benefit from 360-degree recording. Remember though, every dash cam will need a 12 volt or USB outlet for power.

Should you buy the Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3?

Buy it if…

You want a distraction-free dash cam
Since there is no screen, there is absolutely nothing to distract you. It’s even possible to mount the Garmin Mini 3 behind the rearview mirror, so that it’s almost completely out of sight of the driver.

You can get by without GPS
If you just need video – without speed, direction and location data – this is the dash cam for you. GPS data can be added to recordings if you sync the Mini 3 with a compatible Garmin dash camera equipped with GPS.

You don’t need 4K video
Unless you have a big budget, you’re likely to do without 4K video from your dash cam. The Mini 3’s Full HD images look good enough for their purpose, and compared to 4K, they also take up a lot less storage space.

Don’t buy it if…

You already own the Mini 2
The new Mini 3 is a very small upgrade over the three-year-old Mini 2, so if you still have this dash cam and it works well, we recommend sticking with it.

You want a GPS
As with the previous two generations of Mini, Garmin’s smallest on-board camera does not have GPS. This adds location, speed, and direction of travel data to your recordings, so if you feel like you need these measurements, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

You prefer on-board cameras with screens
Since it’s so small, the Mini 3 doesn’t have a screen. This means you’ll need to use the free Garmin Drive app to adjust settings and check the camera’s viewpoint during the setup process. This also means that you cannot view the footage on the dash cam itself, but the recordings must be transferred to your phone or computer.

How I tested the Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3

• I installed the Mini 3 in my own car

• I used the dash cam on several trips, day and night

• I set up the dash cam using the Garmin Drive smartphone app

I installed the Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3 in my own car and used it for a few weeks. This included day and night trips and gave me a good opportunity to inspect the operation of the camera in various lighting conditions. I also tried the Garmin Drive app, which allows you to view a live view of the camera and adjust settings during the setup process.