BOTSLAB G980H 4 Channel Dash Cam, 3K Front and 1080p*3 Car Camera Left/ Right/ Inside,

Pros
I say *essential* because, as of writing, it seems to be the only dash cam in NZ that's not overpriced but still records the sides and is easily set up. (In NZ, even if you are not at fault, if a illegally speeding motorcyclist rams you from the side at at intersection, you will be charged with causing injury or even death – unless you can prove to the contrary – which side cameras such as this dash cam will definitely help support.)

I installed this in my Nissan Leaf. The supplied cables were enough and, following ChatGPT instructions, the cables were hidden all the way to the point of the cigarette lighter socket for power (no danglin...view more Pros
I say *essential* because, as of writing, it seems to be the only dash cam in NZ that's not overpriced but still records the sides and is easily set up. (In NZ, even if you are not at fault, if a illegally speeding motorcyclist rams you from the side at at intersection, you will be charged with causing injury or even death – unless you can prove to the contrary – which side cameras such as this dash cam will definitely help support.)

I installed this in my Nissan Leaf. The supplied cables were enough and, following ChatGPT instructions, the cables were hidden all the way to the point of the cigarette lighter socket for power (no dangling cords anywhere. Feeding the hidden cable through to the rear hatch was a challenge but still very doable.

The front camera is placed nicely in front of my review mirror and is hardly visible. importantly, it plays a short jingle and says 'Recording started' so I know it's doing its job. (I previously had a ViOFO dash cam but got rid of it because it was too unintuitive to operate and wasn't recording when I needed it to be).

The kit includes a 128GB SD card which is generous.

The BOTSLAB app has a Live Chat function which told me how to turn off advertising on it.

I liked this kit so much I bought another one (4-camera kit) for my Nissan Note, but have not installed it yet.

Cons
1)
The rear camera placement was tricky and I still haven't managed to get it right. From prior bad experience, I opted to not place the rear camera at the middle top (obvious default location) because, otherwise, every time I would look in the rearview mirror, my attention would go to the centre field of view where the camera would be. To avoid that I placed it as low as possible but still in the clean sweep of the rear wiper.

However, the camera isn't directly attached to the glass but attaches to a transparent mat that attaches to the glass (it's part of the kit) that it looks through. I didn't take into account the thin heater elements (for de-misting) in the glass, so now one of those elements creates a blurry shadow on the recording – made worse by the raised elements creating a bubble under the mat, The camera video now looks OK in daylight but at night is just a blurry mess of lights with no visible detail. I need to reattach the camera and maybe dispose the transparent mat that seems to significantly reduce visibility and spread any reflections and brightness.

All of this is made worse by the rear window being darkly tinted. (The front camera does not suffer the mat issue because the camera is aimed below the mat and with no elements nor tinting.)

2)
The CPL (Circular polarising lens) is not included. These things are sold separately and they are expensive so, for now, I haven't bought it. I might find a cheaper DIY solution instead.

3)
The EULA is long and most people won't bother looking at it. I copy-pasted it into ChatGPT and asked if I ought be concerned about anything. It replied with a long list of non-standard concessions the user must make if using the default recommended settings and told me how to mitigate this (ensure its video and audio won't be sent back to China).

By: StevenK9 21/05/26

Verified Owner

The Botslab G980H Dashcam has great resolution, easy to install and easy to operate. The only challenge is that, as I have a ute, with a canopy, the cable to the rear mounted camera is too short. The cable connection is Mini USB which PB Tech do not carry the extension cable as I found out after enquiring. I had to buy it from Temu. ...view more The Botslab G980H Dashcam has great resolution, easy to install and easy to operate. The only challenge is that, as I have a ute, with a canopy, the cable to the rear mounted camera is too short. The cable connection is Mini USB which PB Tech do not carry the extension cable as I found out after enquiring. I had to buy it from Temu.
When installing, you also need to take into consideration, is the part of your windscreen that the front facing camera going to look through, covered by the windscreen wipers when they clear the screen. I installed mine on the passengers side at the top of the screen but it misses the travel of the wipers, so I have had to move it to the drivers side. Its a small thing but now gives clear vision when raining.