We test a £350 dash cam to see just how far the technology has come

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Premium dash cams tend to come with a fairly predictable set of features. You should expect to see 4K video these days, that's basically a given, and a smart driver-alert system is also a bit of a must.

But the new Cobra SC400D, the top of the long-established tech specialist's range of dash cams, really does up the ante.

It has one of the best touch screens I've used on a dash cam, a very decent magnetic mount, and an included SD card.

And that's a good job, because this is a £350 dash cam. Yes, you read that right, £350.

But I've not finished listing the features yet, bear with me. Because the SC400D also has a rear-view camera included, so it's effectively two dash cams in one box.

And then, if you wanted to, you could expand it by buying an extra camera to give you a cabin view too.

It even supports Amazon's Alexa, which gives you a list of commands to use to cycle through functions and so on.

Out of the box, it has a premium feel that certainly justifies its premium price tag. Build quality is absolutely top-drawer on both cameras.

It's a shame the brackets that mount it to your glass through a sticky pad only adjust for up and down, but as long as you're careful with how you position them.

The driver alerts are the best I've tried on a dash cam, but they're still hit and miss. I found myself turning a few off, but they can be calibrated to some extent.

The app is good. I fell foul of a few little bugs while I was using it, but the image quality is excellent, and it handles extreme lighting situations very well.

The big touch-screen on the main unit is a huge bonus, too. It's the best I've seen and the menu system is very easy to use, bolstered by the intuitive app and that excellent Alexa support.

It has to be