The Kingslim D4 has a simple mission objective: it’s a dash cam system that records in 4K to the front, Full HD to the rear, and does so at a low price. There is an argument to be made as to whether any dash cam really needs to record in 4K, and whether Full HD at a higher frame rate makes more sense, which we’ll get into later.
And, while its design isn’t the most premium, nor the most compact, it feels solidly built, is easy to use, and when judged on specification alone, appears to represent good value for money.
The D4 has integrated GPS, which isn’t always the case at this price point, but misses out on the driver assistance functions, like forward collision warnings, of some other dash cams.
Kingslim D4: specifications
Resolution: 4K, 3840 x 2160 at 30fps (front) 2.5, 2560 x 1080 at 30fps (rear)
HDR: No
Field of view: 170 degrees (front), 150 degrees (rear)
Display: 3in IPS touchscreen
Battery: No
Voice control: No
Key features
The main feature here is the D4’s 4K video resolution, which packs in more pixels than most other dash cams, especially at this price. And, while it may seem impressive on the spec sheet, we would argue a higher frame rate that produces smoother video which retains more detail when paused is more valuable than outright resolution.
Unfortunately, while the option to switch to 2K is available, the frame rate remains the same at 30fps. We’d much prefer the option of 2K or even 1080p at 60fps instead of 4K.
Being a dual camera system, the D4 comes with a smaller, secondary camera to fix to the rear of your car. Being water resistant, this can be attached to the outside of your vehicle, or fixed to the rear windscreen with an adhesive pad.
The rear camera is limited to a slightly lower resolution of 2560 x 1080 at 30 frames per second.
Build and handling
Not that aesthetics should matter too much, we think the Kingslim D4 is attractive, at least as far as dash cams go. It is relatively compact and feels well made, with a prominent lens on its front and a 3in touchscreen display on the rear.
The camera slots onto its windscreen mount, which houses the GPS antenna and provides the camera with a power connection. The mount has a mini USB port for power from the car’s 12V socket (via an included adapter and cable), and sticks to the screen with an adhesive pad.
Horizontal adjustment is limited, with only around 30 degrees of movement available. We found this was fine for our car, but imagine it could be a problem in vehicles with particularly upright (or steeply raked) windscreens. It’s disappointing to see such limited movement when other manufacturers offer far more.
The dash cam is interacted with via the touchscreen, which feels like a resistive display instead of the more common capacitive variety. It requires quite a firm press and sometimes it isn’t clear if touches have been registered or not.
Performance
Video quality from the D4 is pretty good. It’s not the 4K blockbuster you might be hoping for, and honestly looks just like Full HD footage from other dash cams. That said, it’s nice and sharp, and looks particularly good on a smartphone screen.
We’d still rather see Full HD at 60 frames per second, but this is a relatively small complaint. Full HD footage recorded to the rear is also good, and just what you need if someone crashes into you at a roundabout.
However, we were less impressed with Kingslim’s computer and smartphone app, which can’t be installed on our Mac (Intel, running macOS 13), and is pretty poor on iPhone. We don’t like creating an account to use a dashcam, for a start, and from then on the app was quite buggy.
Video doesn’t display correctly when switching to full-screen mode (or doesn’t change at all), and the app’s command of English is fairly poor. Examples like “This is the last one, the back is gone” and “Kindly reminder, determine exit?” suggest Kingslim needs to put more effort into making its products suitable for the UK market. We found that, of the app developer’s eight apps, seven have more one-star reviews than any other score.
In better news, we liked how the app shows your GPS position on a map with each recording.
Kingslim D4: Verdict
The Kingslim D4 is a dash cam with good hardware, but it is let down by poor software. Video quality is pretty good, especially when transferred onto a smartphone, and the rear camera will be beneficial for some drivers (installation effort notwithstanding). But The lack of horizontal adjustment could be problematic for some vehicles, and the software clearly needs some work. Based on user reviews, we consider ourselves lucky to have the app work at all.
All that said, if you want a dash cam capable of decent footage, with a view to the front and rear, at a low price – just over $100/£100 at the time of writing in November 2022 – the Kingslim D4 does the job. Just avoid using the app, and instead stick to transferring footage from the microSD card the old-fashioned way.
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