We’ve tested a few dashcams in our time, and all have been mounted by suction cup to the windscreen. Navman has nice quality units with glass lenses, high resolution capture, and a smart app to decode the road’s madness.

The one problem has been that even the most expensive models look very “added-on.” MiVue ALTA takes a slightly different approach. Navman claims ALTA is designed specifically for “new car owners wanting a factory-fitted at a fraction of the  cost.” That may be true, but the EOM look is something most owners will want.

The vertical front camera is the first of its kind and is mounted next  to the sensor box on centre of the windscreen, making it look a little more discrete. You have to wonder why no one has thought of it before.

The cameras require no more to fit than any other dashcam. You can have a professional fit if you’d rather not have cords draped through the cabin. It is a great idea, especially if you want a rear camera, to have the professionals help avoid fouling the airbags or worse still, setting them off by accident.

There is a base model single camera, then a rear cam is added, and finally a version for utes, even those with trailers. The rear camera is mounted on the trailer, suiting tradies who always have the same trailer hitched to the ute.

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ABOVE: 2023 NavMan MiVue ALTA Dashcams

“We developed this new range with Australian and New Zealand new car owners top of mind,” said Wendy Hammond, managing director, Navman ANZ. “When we buy a new car, most of us don’t want to add anything that detracts from its beauty, so we wanted to build a dash  cam that offered new car looks, as well as a host  of great features for a lot less than drivers would  pay for a device from a dealer.

“The result is a high-quality dash cam designed without compromise,” said Wendy  Hammond. “The MiVue™ ALTA will give drivers the high-quality evidence they need to  protect themselves if they are in an accident – clear footage of what happened stamped with  GPS coordinates and speed to pinpoint the exact location, and a 3-Axis G-Sensor to provide  critical information like direction of impact.

“Starting at just $329, we think this dash cam offers incredible value for new car drivers looking to add a good looking, feature-packed device to protect their latest asset.

“And of course, this really isn’t just for new car drivers, it is for anyone who wants a new car look, and the latest most discreet device for their car, or they have a car with a large sensor  box that causes issues when trying to place a regular dash camera on the windscreen, the  Alta addresses that issue with its slim vertical profile, ” Wendy added.

ALTA’s Super MP4 footage can be viewed, downloaded and shared, even from the accident, site via WIFI using the MiVue Pro mobile phone companion app.

The MiVue ALTA records in Full HD 1080P and provides video with the quality required to see road signs and number plates day or night.  Video is saved to the 32GB  Endurance SD card (which is included in the box) and includes event recording saved in its own folder. We discovered the importance of regularly removing the event footage enabling unforeseen incidents to be stored. Eventually the folder fills and over-writes older videos.

ALTA has “premium safety camera alerts” which can be updated monthly via WIFI. In addition, there are audible safety alert reminders for school zones, railway crossings and accident blackspots. Although most of these seem to work well on the other Nav dashcams we’ve tested, we usually finish up turning audible alerts off. There are alerts every few hundred metres and it gets quite wearing on the nerves

The Australian Connection:

Unlike almost everything else we buy, MiVue™ ALTA range was developed by Australian product managers. It is then built overseas in Navman’s factories, and is “rigorously” tested for local conditions from freezing Alpine scenes, to the high temperatures seen in Australian summers.

MiVue ALTA model range: 

  • $329 MiVue ALTA – single front camera
  • $499 MiVue ALTA DC – two cameras recording front and back
  • $549 MiVue ALTA Workmate XDC – designed and tested Australian utes and small trucks. Instead of the rear windscreen camera, the Workmate has  an external rear Full HD waterproof camera mounted just above the number plate, with a 10-metre cable for the extra-long  trays.

MiVue ALTA has parking mode with the optional  SmartBox ($79), so if your vehicle is bumped when parked and the engine is  off, ‘smart parking mode’ capturing the 5 seconds prior to impact and 15 seconds  after.  This feature has been available with other NavMan dashcams and uses an auxiliary battery to run the camera without flattening the main vehicle battery. It is limited to the capacity of the battery of course, so won’t work if the car is left unstarted for a longer period of time.

The range is available now from leading retailers and www.navman.com.au.

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