Motorcycle Dash Cams?

Dash cams are much more popular in cars due to the fit-and-forget setup that allows the device to be constantly connected. Some manufacturers (like Nextbase) make it easy to remove and fit the dash cam to its mount with just one hand not to leave the camera on display all the time.

In principal the dash camera awakes/turns off when charge is received/lost via the cigarette lighter to usb hard-wired charging cable and footage is recorded on a continuous loop by deleting the oldest recordings first. Videos are conveniently stored as shorter clips on a micro sd card and moved to a protected folder automatically when an accident is detected by a shock sensor to avoid overwrites.

Crosstour 4K Wifi

This cheap action camera really is a bargain for around £40-60 that comes with waterproof casing and mount ready to fit your motorcycle. Over 1500 people rated it 4.5 stars on amazon.

Akaso V50 Pro

The Akaso V50 Pro is aimed to compete with the go-to industry standard GoPro range and priced between £80-130. This action camera is also rated at 4.5 stars by hundreds of buyers.

The following side-by-side comparison is focused on motorcycle riding, therefore action camera features like photo quality and remote controls are skipped.

Video quality

Although both cameras can record in 4K at 30fps, the quality is noticeably better on the Akaso V50 Pro. EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) is supported by both cameras, but the Crosstour can only do it up to 2.7K resolution. The Akaso V50 Pro also supports built-in scene modes for different activities including riding mode (as well as watersports, skiing and nighttime filming). Video quality is very similar to dash cams, which means number plates are only readable at lower speeds up to about a car's distance during daylight and nearly unrecognisable during the night.

Features

The biggest noticeable difference is the touch screen interface on the Akaso V50 Pro vs the Crosstour 4K. Both cameras have built-in wifi, screen saver to extend battery life, support wind-noise reduction and optional date and time stamps on recordings. Akaso can also be used as a USB camera and the Crosstour has an external microphone plug.

Accessories

Both cameras come with a plethora of accessories to support a wide range of activities from cycling to scuba diving, skidiving, skiing and snowboarding. Waterproof casing and adjustable external mounts are included to utilise them as motorcycle dash cams. Straps are included to mount them on some ski, but not on motorcycle helmets. The waterproof case was made for scuba diving and the buttons can be operated with gloves on.

Charging and battery life

Both cameras come with 2 small very similar batteries: the Akaso V50 Pro has 3.8 volt 1100 mAh, while the Crosstour 4K uses 3.7 volt 1050 mAh ones. They are nearly identical in size, but not interchangeable as their connection polarities are placed opposite to each other (which also means you cannot use the same charger either). Whereas the Akaso comes with a USB charging dock for 2 batteries, the Crosstour batteries can only be charged while the action camera is plugged in via a micro-usb charging cable. A genuine Crosstour external 2 battery charging dock can be purchased separately for around £13 that also comes with 2 extra 1350 mAh batteries. Most importantly batteries last about 1.5 hours, which can be long enough for most riders between stops.