Esky Reversing Backup Camera review

The Esky Reversing Backup Camera delivers all the backup camera basics at a super budget price.

Esky Reversing Backup Camera
(Image: © Amazon)

Top Ten Reviews Verdict

The Esky Reversing Backup Camera is the ideal budget backup camera if you've got a monitor ready to go and want bang for your buck.

Pros

  • +

    A great camera for the price

  • +

    Wide 170 degree viewing angle

  • +

    Easy to install

Cons

  • -

    Will need to buy a monitor if you haven't got one

  • -

    Specs can be bettered elsewhere

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The Esky Reversing Backup Camera is perfect if you want reversing assistance on a budget. It's by no means the very best backup camera that you can find, but when it comes to value for money, it's certainly hard to beat. Ideally, you'll have an existing monitor or infotainment system to attach it to, but even if you don't, Esky sells this backup camera bundled together with a monitor for a super low price as well. 

Esky Reversing Backup Camera review: Set up

Installing the Esky Reversing Backup Camera is less of a challenge than with some backup cameras. For a start, no drilling is required, as you simply fix the Esky to the bolts on your license plate frame - it's designed to fit any vehicle model too. A little expertise might be required to wire the backup camera to the reverse lights, and then you'll also need to thread the 19 foot long AV and power cables along your vehicle for plugging into whichever display you're going to use.

Esky Reversing Backup Camera review: Camera

For a budget backup camera, the Esky Reversing Backup Camera packs an awful lot in. A 170 degree wide viewing angle reduces blind spots to almost nothing, and there's a 45 degree adjustment angle that allows you to position the camera exactly how you want. 

Seven super-bright white LEDs will automatically come to life to light up the darkest of areas, while a special light and image sensors ensure the images that are relayed are always of the highest definition and resolution possible on a device at such a low price. 

The camera itself is sturdy, well constructed, and won't look out of place on any vehicle, that's even if you notice it at all. The Esky is also waterproof to a rating of IP68, and guaranteed not to fog up after a carwash or on a rainy day, ensuring great images are delivered whatever the weather you're driving in. 

Esky Reversing Backup Camera

(Image credit: Amazon)

Esky Reversing Backup Camera review: Monitor

While most will likely want to buy the Esky Reversing Backup Camera as they've already got a screen or display that it can be plugged into, it's also possible to buy the camera with a 4.3 inch Esky monitor for $30.99 at Amazon.

Requiring a 12V-24V power source, the monitor plugs conveniently into a cigarette lighter port, and can be quickly and easily attached to any windshield or dashboard using the included 3M tape and angle adjustable stand. It's smart enough to stay dark until you hit reverse, at which point it will automatically turn on ready for use. Admittedly, the images it relays are perhaps less clear and colorful than on some top-end monitors, but for the price that you're paying, it's hard to argue with what it delivers. 

Should you buy the Esky Reversing Backup Camera?

If you already have a monitor, or a car with a screen built in, and want a super cheap backup camera to go with it, the Esky Reversing Backup Camera should hit the spot. It's relatively easy to install, has LED lights to brighten the area where you're manoeuvring, and is waterproof and fog resistant to cope with all weather. 

Of course, there are superior backup cameras to be found elsewhere in terms of picture quality and functionality, but if you're happy with a pretty basic camera that does all that it should well for the price, then the Esky Reversing Backup Camera is too good a deal to pass up. 

Tim Leonard

With over 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, Tim has spent most of his career working for a financial data firm, where he was Online Editor of the consumer-facing Moneyfacts site, and regularly penned articles for the financial advice publication Investment Life and Pensions Moneyfacts. As a result, he has an excellent knowledge of almost areas of personal finance and, in particular, the retirement, investment, protection, mortgage and savings sectors.