Garmin Dash Cam X110 vs X210 vs X310: Which One to Buy

The short answer. The Garmin Dash Cam X110, X210 and X310 look like the same camera at three resolutions, but they are not. The X110 is a different platform inside, using older video compression and single-band Wi-Fi, and it is the only one without a magnetic mount. The X210 and X310 share the newer internals, and only the X310 has a touchscreen. If you want a Garmin X series camera, the X310 is the one worth having and the X110 is the one to be careful about.

Key takeaways

• All three are front-only. None of them takes a rear camera on a cable, so covering the back means buying a second complete camera.
• The X110 records H.264 video on 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. The X210 and X310 record H.265 on dual-band Wi-Fi. That is a generation gap, not a trim level.
• The X310 holds two Editor's Choice badges. The X110 and X210 have won nothing at all.

You have three Garmins open in three tabs and they look identical. Same shape, same 2.41 inch screen, same 140 degree lens, same 512 GB card ceiling, same GPS. The only obvious difference is the number in the name. Nothing you have read explains plainly what the extra actually buys.

Cards on the table first. We stock VIOFO, Vantrue and WOLFBOX. We do not sell Garmin and we have never had an X series camera on our bench, so every Garmin figure below comes from Garmin's own owner's manuals and Australian product pages, and we have said which. We are not neutral. We have tried to be accurate instead.

What actually separates the X110, X210 and X310?

Four things, and only one of them is on the front of the box.

Resolution. The X110 tops out at 1080p 30fps HDR. The X210 tops out at 1440p 30fps HDR. The X310 tops out at 4K 30fps HDR. Note the frame rate: all three max out at 30 frames per second at their own top resolution. Garmin's headline figures of up to 60fps on the X210 and up to 120fps on the X310 are 1080p modes, not figures you get at full resolution. That is stated in Garmin's own manuals and it is the single most misread specification in this range.

Video compression and Wi-Fi. This is the one nobody mentions. Garmin's manuals list the X110 as recording H.264 with 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi only. The X210 and X310 both record H.265 with dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi. H.265 packs the same picture into a smaller file, which means more hours on the same card, and 5 GHz moves footage to your phone faster. Buying the X110 is not simply buying less resolution. It is buying an older internal generation.

The mount. The X110 is adhesive only. Garmin lists a magnetic mount on the X210 and X310 and does not list one on the X110. If you like lifting the camera off the glass when you park in town, that is a daily difference.

The touchscreen. Only the X310 has one. The X110 and X210 use the same 2.41 inch non-touch display and are driven with buttons.

Garmin X110 vs X210 vs X310 compared

Methodology note: every specification here comes from the official Garmin owner's manual for that exact model, except mount type, GPS constellation, weight and battery type, which Garmin publishes only on its Australian product pages and which are identified as such. The Dash Cam Guys has not tested any Garmin camera and has published no controlled test measurements for these models. Nothing here is a Dash Cam Guys test result. Facts checked 10 August 2026.

The recognition is lopsided, and that is worth knowing

We went looking for every award, list placement and scored review for all three cameras, and confirmed each one in the publication's own page rather than taking it from a summary or an aggregator.

Dash Cam X310: Editor's Choice from TechRadar with 5 out of 5, October 2024. Editor's Choice from Tom's Guide with 4 out of 5, October 2024. A 5 out of 5 from Digital Camera World. A named slot in Tom's Guide's best dash cams roundup.

Dash Cam X210: no award badge. No list placement. One scored review, 4 out of 5 from Digital Camera World in May 2025.

Dash Cam X110: no award badge. No list placement. One scored review, 4 out of 5 from Digital Camera World in April 2025.

That is not a criticism of the two lower models, and a review nobody wrote is not evidence of a bad product. But if you see "the award-winning Garmin X series" on a retailer page, two of the three have not won anything, and now you know which two.

The thing the spec sheet does not tell you

All three are one camera pointing forward. That is the biggest thing to understand before you commit to any of them.

Garmin's approach to covering more of the car is a multiple camera network, marketed as Dash Cam Auto Sync, which pairs up to four separate cameras through the Garmin Drive app. It works, and the app can build a picture-in-picture clip from two views. But each camera is a separate purchase, a separate mount, a separate power feed and a separate memory card. There is no rear camera on a cable in any of these boxes and there is no rear camera accessory to buy.

Compare that with a two channel camera. The VIOFO A229 Pro 2CH is one unit, one power feed, one card, with a rear camera on a thin lead you run to the back window, recording 4K at the front and 2K at the rear. VIOFO's manual confirms the front channel keeps its full 4K 30fps with the rear connected, which is not something every two channel camera manages.

Rear-end knocks are the incident our customers ring us about most, and a forward-facing camera has nothing to say about them.

Battery or supercapacitor, and why Australian heat decides it

Here is a specification worth more attention than resolution.

Garmin publishes the power store on all three X series cameras as a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, rated up to 20 minutes. That is what lets the camera finish writing a file and shut down cleanly after you switch off.

The VIOFO cameras we stock use a supercapacitor instead. A supercapacitor holds far less energy, just enough to close the file safely, and it copes with repeated heat cycling better. A lithium cell held against glass through several Australian summers can swell. Neither part is failure-proof and we are not going to claim otherwise, but the component choice is real.

Being fair to Garmin here: Garmin's own Dash Cam Mini 3 uses a supercapacitor, so Garmin clearly understands the argument. It is only the X series that uses a battery.

Worth knowing that Garmin rates all three X series cameras to an operating ceiling of 60 degrees Celsius. A car parked in the open in a Melbourne February will exceed that. VIOFO rates its cameras to 65 degrees and then warns in its own manuals to switch the camera off above 60. Both brands are telling you the same thing in different words, and a windscreen sunshade does more for either than any specification on this page.

Do the Garmin X series cameras need a subscription?

Not to record, and the confusion around this costs Garmin buyers it should be winning.

All three record to the memory card and run Parking Guard locally with no plan and no account. What needs a paid Garmin Vault subscription is the push notification when your parked car is bumped, remote live view over an additional live Wi-Fi or phone hotspot connection, and cloud backup of saved clips. Live view over Bluetooth, standing beside the car, needs no plan. Garmin's product pages flatten all of that into "Vault subscription required", which is where people get the wrong idea in both directions.

All three also need a permanently live power feed for parking mode, because most cigarette lighter sockets die with the key. Garmin sells a Constant Power Cable for that, separately.

The VIOFO equivalent is a hardwire kit such as the HK4, which taps a live fuse. It carries a switch letting you choose your own low voltage cut-off, so the camera shuts down before the battery is too flat to start the car. No subscription, and no phone alert either. Different trade, and worth knowing which one you are making. We cover the wiring side in our guide to stopping a dash cam draining your battery.

Pro Tip: whichever you buy, test the cut-off over a weekend before you rely on it. Park the car Friday night, leave it, and start it Monday morning. If it fires up without hesitation your setting is right. If it labours, raise the threshold a step.

What we would fit instead

If you were looking at the X110, the VIOFO A119 Mini 2 records 1440p at 60 frames per second on a named Sony STARVIS 2 sensor, logs your speed, and uses a supercapacitor. Two honest caveats: it has a small screen rather than a 2.41 inch one, and VIOFO's manual states that 60fps is not available with HDR switched on, so you choose one or the other.

If you were looking at the X210, the VIOFO A229 Plus 2CH gives you 1440p at the front and 1440p at the rear rather than 1440p forward and nothing behind you.

If you were looking at the X310, the VIOFO A229 Pro 2CH matches the 4K front channel and adds the rear. If you want 4K at both ends, that is the A229 Ultra 2CH. One caveat we would raise ourselves: the Ultra's front bitrate has been measured lower in two channel mode than in one. That is a quality reduction the resolution figure hides. We put the X310 head to head with the A229 Pro in a separate comparison.

Who should buy which

Choose the X310 if you want a Garmin and you want the one that is actually finished. It is the only X series camera with a touchscreen, and the only one with real third-party recognition. It also has the 1080p 120fps mode, which can pull a plate off a fast-crossing car better than 4K at 30 can.

Choose the X210 if you want 1440p with a magnetic mount and the newer H.265 internals, and a touchscreen is not something you care about. It is a sound camera with a quiet press record.

Choose the X110 only if 1080p is genuinely enough for you and you want a screen on the camera itself. Go in knowing it is adhesive mount only, single-band Wi-Fi, and older compression, so it fills a card faster than its siblings.

Choose none of them if you want the back of your car covered without buying two cameras, or if your car parks in the sun all day and the lithium-ion cell bothers you.

Common questions

What is the difference between the Garmin X110 and X210?

The X210 records 1440p where the X110 records 1080p, and it adds a magnetic mount, H.265 compression and dual-band Wi-Fi. The X110 is adhesive mount only, uses H.264, and connects on 2.4 GHz only. Both use the same 2.41 inch non-touch screen and the same lithium-ion power store.

Is the Garmin X310 worth it over the X210?

It is the bigger jump of the two. The X310 adds 4K over 1440p, the only touchscreen in the range, and a 1080p 120fps mode the X210 cannot match. It also carries Editor's Choice badges from TechRadar and Tom's Guide, where the X210 has no award or list placement at all.

Do the Garmin X series dash cams have GPS?

Yes. Garmin publishes GPS and Galileo positioning on the X110, X210 and X310, so speed and location are stamped on the footage. Garmin does not list GPS on the Dash Cam Mini 3.

Can I add a rear camera to a Garmin X110, X210 or X310?

Not on a cable. Garmin's manuals describe rear coverage as a second complete camera, separately mounted and powered, then paired through the Garmin Drive app. There is no rear channel port and no rear camera accessory for any of the three.

Still weighing it up?

Tell us what you drive, where it parks overnight and what you actually want the footage for. Michael or Harrison will give you a straight answer, including "get the X310" where that is the right call. Get in touch here.

Looking at the small one instead? Our Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3 comparison covers it. Want the whole range in one place? Start with our Garmin dash cam guide for Australia.

Article details

• Author: The Dash Cam Guys
• Facts checked: 10 August 2026
• Models covered: Garmin Dash Cam X110, X210 and X310, with VIOFO A119 Mini 2, A229 Plus 2CH, A229 Pro 2CH and A229 Ultra 2CH as alternatives
• Independent testing by The Dash Cam Guys: none on the Garmins

Commercial disclosure: The Dash Cam Guys sells VIOFO, Vantrue and WOLFBOX. We do not sell any Garmin camera and we have no commercial relationship with Garmin. No brand paid for, sponsored or supplied anything for this article. Garmin specifications come from the official Garmin owner's manual for each model, with mount type, GPS constellation, weight and battery type from Garmin's Australian product pages where the manuals do not publish them. VIOFO specifications come from the official VIOFO user manuals and product pages. Awards and review scores were confirmed on each publication's own page. Owner feedback is anecdotal and identified as such. We have not tested any Garmin camera and have published no controlled test measurements for these models. This is retailer review and buying advice, not an independent laboratory test. Facts checked 10 August 2026. If a specification, a feature or a price on this page is wrong or has gone out of date, tell us and we will correct it.