No, not kidding. The good quality ones are expensive. Think of it as good insurance. I mean, there are a lot of features packed into them that you probably don’t need, thus they could be cheaper, but if you look at the reviews and see what you are getting, you may find them useful.
For me, the remote system upload, 4K front camera, and IR interior cabin features are the selling points. Also, if you have expensive or commonly stolen cars (I have both), then you will pay what you need to pay to protect your investment.
Again, if you want to go cheap, the best Recommendation is the Vantrue N2 which comes in just under 300USD and has most of the features you will actually use and nothing really more.
I guess, I should have asked you what you use case is. As maybe a Chinese copycat will provide you what you are looking for. Otherwise, the recommendations are Korean brands. Korea currently owns the quality DashCam market right now and has for the last 10 years. Vantrue is the only Quality Chinese brand that I can recommend.