Performance varies with price. Learn how a high-end radar detector protects your license in situations where a lesser model comes up short.
When searching for the best radar detector, generic radar detector features are easy to evaluate. Auto mute, city/highway modes and other common features are a cinch to quantify. If you get lost easily, the value of a
built-in compass is obvious. (Don't expect it to work right out of the box, however. If you don't bother to calibrate it before first use, you may depart from New York bound for Los Angeles
and end up in Fairbanks.)
For example, it's tough to gauge how much significance one is expected to accord the Cobra XRS 9955 feature, Spectre I Undetectable, when BEL makes no mention at all of the Spectre I radar detector detector in its description of the competing BEL Vector 995. Whistler is equally silent on the subject.
Each manufacturer offers a bewildering array of features for its radar detectors. Many are manufacturer-specific, making it impossible to compare a model from Cobra or Whistler to a competing model from BEL (Beltronics) or Escort. (Comparing GPS-enabled radar detectors is harder still. But that's covered in our GPS Radar Detector Buyer's Guide.
I've yet to meet a retailer who understands the significance of most detector features. Not that it's their fault: I don't know of anyone selling radar detectors who also is an expert on
police radar and lasers—as well as radar detectors. There are a few poseurs but every one of them is all hat, no cattle. If they really knew the subject, they wouldn't all be using the identical description for each radar detector, boilerplate text provided by the manufacturers themselves.
To the uninformed, just as the Cobra's claimed 15-band detection might seem to be superior to a BEL's detection of only three or four radar bands, having Spectre I detection sounds
like it may be preferable to having none at all. Or maybe not.
So if you're pressed for time and have no interest in spending a few decades in acquiring expertise in all three areas, here's a shortcut. Consider it the Cliff's Notes edition, a
dispassionate analysis of each radar detector manufacturer's laundry list of claims and features. Suitably armed with the facts, you'll be able to make an informed buying decision.
Listed alphabetically, by manufacturer, here's my take on some of the most-frequently mentioned features.
BEL (Beltronics)
"Digital 'POP' Radar Alert"
Radar being used in POP-mode is seldom encountered and detecting POP mode is of dubious value. Most detectors claimed to be
capable of detecting POP mode are shipped with the feature deactivated. The manufacturers know that with POP-mode detection engaged, the detector will show a big increase in false
alarms. Its microprocessor takes less time to analyze a signal, trying to catch one of these elusive 160 milliseconds-long bursts. And it frequently gets it wrong, alerting unnecessarily in
reaction to a non-threatening signal.
Feature value: Somewhat useful but only if you drive in areas where POP-mode radar is used.
"Digital Signal Processing (DSP)"
DSP is the best thing ever to happen to the radar detector. Harnessing the power of the microchip has exponentially increased detection range while helping to limit false alarms and
widen the overall utility of today's detectors. Every manufacturer uses it—with varying degrees of success.
Feature value: High, although the use of DSP technology is hardly exclusive these days.
"Dual-antenna Design"
Adding a second forward-facing radar antenna (Beltronics (BEL) STi Driver, Escort RedLine) significantly increases a detector's sensitivity, the range at which it can spot radar. This practice is hugely expensive, the reason why only a couple of high-end models use two antennas. (One model, the Valentine One or V1, has a second antenna, but it faces rearward. Under some conditions this gives it nearly the same detection range for radar coming from behind. But radar behind you is largely a non-issue, and competing detectors have one to four miles of rear detection range using their front antenna, making the V1's unique arrangement of questionable value. It also makes the V1 false-alarm hysterically in an Audi or other car that has Side Assist lane-change-warning K-band radar.)
Why is long radar-detection range such a big deal in radar detectors? Watch our video and learn why detectors with more range deliver significantly better protection than low-performance radar detectors.
The BEL STi Driver and Escort RedLine employ additional components to capitalize on the second radar antenna: another low noise amplifier (LNA) and mixer, allowing one antenna to be dedicated to X band and the second to receiving K- and Ka-band signals. The LNA amplifies very weak signals, sort of like adding a supercharger or turbocharger to a normally-aspirated car engine to radically increase performance. With all this attention devoted separately to the frequencies, sensitivity takes a big spike upward.
This is why in a recent test one of our Escort RedLine units was able to spot radar from over 14 miles away under ideal conditions. For reference' sake, this was 300 percent longer range than the most expensive Cobra and Whistler models tested at the same site, a graphic illustration of why high-end radar detectors substantially outperform cheaper units. Got some doubts about that concept? Okay, watch the video.
Feature value: Extremely high
"Easy-to-Use Options and Controls"
A Swiss Army knife is a great tool. But exploring each of its 17 functions while driving is probably not a good idea. The same can be said for a badly-designed radar detector with fussy
controls and obtuse programming. Ease of operation is crucial to a radar detector's genuine usefulness on the road. A welcomed byproduct is enhanced driver safety.
Beltronics (BEL) STi Driver was the first to offer backlit controls, a huge advantage at night.
Locating the controls can be elusive at night, particularly when you're in a hurry. But while even the lowliest of cars has backlighting for its major controls, the detector industry has
largely ignored the practice. Finally, several high-end BEL, Escort and Whistler models have backlit buttons, an industry first and a valuable addition.
You can test a radar detector's user-friendliness yourself. Power up the unit, enter menu mode and disable one of the radar bands. If after a few tries this can't be accomplished within 15 seconds or less, your
detector is an inept design.
Feature value: Extremely high
"Multi-Sensor Laser Protection"
A single infrared-frequency detector diode (sensor) is adequate to spot an incoming laser beam. But more is better. When positioned like your fingers splayed outward, an array of
sensors stands a better chance of seeing the laser beam when it's off to one side. That's commendable but unfortunately, laser alerts are usually too late to be of use. (If lasers are a
headache, you'll need a good laser jammer to handle that threat.)
Feature value: Useful in theory, but rarely in practice
"SpeedCheck: Provides a quick visual of your vehicle's speed during an alert."
(Called SpeedAlert in Escort models.) For those who don't routinely monitor their speed, this brief digital speed display at the onset of an alert might come in handy. There's a tradeoff, however, a delay before it can
display the radar signal's frequency.
Why is this important? Because an expert will have engaged Spec Display mode (see above) and the late arrival of the radar frequency's display slows your response time.
Feature value: Moderate, depending upon the driver's level of involvement.
"TotalShield Technology"
This is BEL-speak for "You're invisible to radar detector-detectors". The BEL STi Driver was designed to be the only completely undetectable dash-mount radar detector. This is a claim we've tested more than once and found to be entirely accurate. Two remote models are also totally stealthy, the Escort Passport 9500ci and its twin, the BEL STiR Plus. The Escort RedLine is equally immune to radar detector detectors, making it another top pick for those who drive in Virginia or Washington, D.C., also for professional drivers holding a CDL. Two other models also qualify for duty in detector-free zones, being 99.9 percent immune: the Escort Passport 9500ix and the BEL (Beltronics) GX65. The latter two models, along with the Escort Passport 9500ci and its BEL twin, the BEL (Beltronics) STir Plus are GPS-enabled, protecting from red light and speed cameras as well.
Feature value: Extremely high—but only for those who drive in Virginia or Washington, D.C. or in countries where detector use in cars is banned. (This includes large U.S. commercial trucks, whose drivers are banned from using detectors.)
"Spec Display"
BEL and Escort were the first to offer Spec Display mode, although BEL prefers to call it Tech Display. A similar feature by Cobra is called Frequency Display and Whistler's version is dubbed RSID. Each will digitally display a radar
signal's frequency. This permits an instant analysis of a Ka-band threat--at least if you know which Ka-band frequencies are used by police radar. Due to its extraordinary bandwidth, Ka is home to a vast number of non-police radar signals, many of these
eminating from Cobra radar detectors. Yet Ka-band radar is seriously bad news, calling for an instant reaction. By checking the displayed frequency, a savvy driver knows at a glance
whether it's police radar or a radar detector in a passing car and responds appropriately.
Very few drivers can be bothered to use this feature, leaving them guessing about how to react to an alert: "Hmmm, it says Ka band... I wonder if it's from another radar detector.
Should I stand on the brakes now or just lift from the gas and let a little speed bleed off? Maybe if I wait a few seconds will it go away." By then it's usually too late. If you're serious
about learning how to use these tricks of the trade to ticket-proof yourself, I cover this in depth in my latest book.
Spec Display technology doesn't come cheap and it's to be found only in high-end BEL models, the least expensive of which is the remarkable Beltronics (BEL) RX65.
Order your BEL (Beltronics) RX65 detector today and get the best deal of the year!
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Cobra Electronics
Only three or four platforms are used to produce dozens of Cobra models at a wide range of price points. With few significant differences between many of these detectors, Cobra's considerable marketing talent has created a dazzling array of pseudo-features to help differentiate them from one another and from the competition.
Um, sorry, but there are only three radar bands used in the U.S.—X, K and Ka. Of the remaining 12 bands claimed by Cobra, only Ku band is actually a radar frequency and there's never
been a Ku-band radar sold in this country. You'll even have a hard time finding one in Europe, Ku-band's birthplace. Only a couple of models used Ku band there and the last of those, a
French-made Sagem, hasn't been in production since Bill Clinton left the White House.
And those claimed six laser frequencies? Every police laser currently in production here and abroad shares a common frequency: 904 nanometers.
Feature value: None
Cobra XRS-9950 radar detector with ExtremeBright DataGraphix II OLED display.
"Full Color ExtremeBright DataGrafix II Display"
Like watching color TV? Great: Now imagine having a 1.5-inch TV screen in your face while you're trying to drive. It's every bit as distracting as it sounds. And that's during daylight. Within
five minutes after darkness falls, you'll likely experience an overwhelming urge to rip the radar detector off the dash and toss it into the back seat. Possibly out of the window. There's more to
the story, but you get the idea.
Feature value: Entertaining for some drivers, but not most.
"Intellimute Pro will render your detector undetectable by currently available detector-detectors."
Better read the small print before using this feature. In Intellimute Pro mode a Cobra radar detector is rendered undetectable through a very simple strategy: it shuts itself off. The detection circuitry is disabled, making the detector impossible to detect. The downside: during this time it doesn't detect radar, leaving the driver defenseless. Read more about the Cobra Intellimute Pro feature...
Feature value: Dubious, unless you're hot to meet uniformed men wearing guns and badges.
"Safety Alert - Warns drivers of the presence and/or approaching emergency vehicles, railroad crossing, and road hazard locations equipped with Cobra's exclusive Safety
Alert® transmitters"
A laudable concept but two problems keep it from greatness: 1) The Safety Alert transmiters necessary for this system to work are more than, to use Cobra's words, exclusive: They're nonexistent. I'd be willing to bet $500 there are no Safety Alert transmitters in service anywhere in the country—a fairly safe bet, since I worked on the Safety Alert project for Cobra as a consultant— and, 2) Even when a few existed 15 years
ago, no Cobra radar detector could detect them from more than a few car lengths away. Today the only Safety Alert warnings you'll get are false alarms.
Feature value: Useless
"Spectre I Undetectable"
The Spectre (called Stalcar outside the States) Mk I was introduced in 2000 and was succeeded by the Mk II two years later. If there's a Mk I Spectre still in service anywhere in the
world, whichever police department that's using this fossil should keep it in a safe place and call me. If the price is right, I'd love to buy one; it'll soon be a collector item.
It's the Spectre Mk IV (introduced in 2008) you need to worry about. The Spectre (Stalcar) Mk IV and Mk IV+ are vastly different from earlier models and we verified in a recent test and review that they can easily spot Cobra radar
detectors from hundreds of feet away.
Feature value: Zero
"Spectre Alert I/IV+ - Alerts user when they are under surveillance of Spectre I/IV+ radar detector-detectors."
Cobra uses the term "alerts" somewhat casually. When we tested the Cobras' ability to detect the Spectre Mk IV+, none could spot it from more than 15 feet away.
Feature value: Useless.
"Strobe Alert: Provides advance warning of the presence and/or approach of emergency vehicles."
As the only one who has bothered to test this feature, I can say with certainty that Strobe Alert works. Sort of, when you're staring directly at the emergency vehicle... if it's not too far
away.
This is also precisely the circumstance when, by rights, a Strobe Alert feature shouldn't be necessary. This assumes, of course, that you often drive with your eyes open.
But if the strobe-light beam is coming from the side or behind you, the very times when a little help could be useful, the system is helpless. The reason: the detector only reacts
to a nearly straight-on hit by the light beam. When it's coming from any other compass point, the detector can't see it from across an intersection.
Feature value: Useful if you depend heavily on a seeing-eye dog.
"VG-2 Undetectable: Provides complete immunity to VG-2 radar detector-detectors."
The ancient Canadian-made Technisonics Interceptor VG-2 RDD has been out of production for many years. But a few remain in service here. In an act of dazzling dimwittedness a few
years ago, the Texas Highway Patrol ignored the state-of-the-art Spectre RDD and purchased 100 of the obsolete VG-2s for their commercial vehicle enforcement units. Radar detector
use in big trucks is banned and CVE units deal with big rigs, so the Department of Public Safety armed them with RDDs.
But with the exception of a few Whistler models (when not placed in VG-2-undetectable mode) and the Adaptive TPX motorcycle radar detector, nearly all detectors sold in the U.S. since the late-nineties have been undetectable by the
VG-2. Remember, it's the Spectre Mk IV RDD you need to be concerned about. And then only if you're driving in the one state where detectors in cars are banned, Virginia. (Or
Washington, D.C., which ranks with the Texas DPS in dimbulb thinking.)
Feature value: Equivalent to being told you're immune to hoof-and-mouth disease.
Escort
"Ultra-Bright Matrix Display"
A radar detector is an information-delivery device, much of it supplied visually. If you can't decipher what it displays, the detector is of little more use than a box of Kleenex on the dash.
Trendy OLED displays pioneered by Cobra look fabulous in photos. But it's a very different story on the road, where they're often either impossible to read or immensely distracting,
sometimes both. High-intensity, high-resolution matrix displays are expensive, which explains their absence on low- and mid-priced detectors. But they're worth every nickel.
Escort's range-topping windshield-mount model, the RedLine, has a high-visibility red text display and an extra red alert light. Several other high-end Escorts use blue displays.
Beginning a few years back, blue text displays appeared. Just as with red LCDs, they vary widely in legibility and intensity. The Escort Passport 9500ix uses a blue high-res text display that's otherwise identical to the red version on the Escort Passport 9500i. Strangely, although pricier, optional blue displays generally outsell red displays on the same detector. But the choice really depends upon personal preference, visual acuity and ambient lighting conditions. Both colors have advantages.
"AutoSensitivity Mode intelligently identifies real threats from other known sources of radar."
With digital signal processing (DSP), a microchip can compare the electronic signature of a radar signal to known sources of false alarms, particularly automatic door openers and other
radar detectors. Auto mode significantly decreases the number of false alarms, especially in town.
Feature value: very high
"ExpertMeter"
Watch Expert Meter in action, along with other Escort advanced features like red light camera detection and AutoLearn false alarm reduction technology.
It's not uncommon for two microwave signals to be present simultaneously, particularly in town. This presents a dilemma for the detector: to which signal should it alert?
Traditionally manufacturers have prioritized alerts, with laser deemed most critical, followed by Ka, K and X band. But only one of these frequencies is displayed, leaving the driver
clueless about the nature of the other threat.
Escort (and BEL) developed a unique solution to this problem. ExpertMeter (called Threat Display on some models) displays up to nine simultaneous signals along with the relative signal strength of each. This allows the driver
to decide how best to react.
Feature value: Very high
"Re-Programmable Microprocessor"
The microchip supporting a detector's Digital Signal Processing (DSP) could instead, in theory at least, be an EPROM, a read-only processor. Once programmed, it's locked forever, no
changes or updates allowed.
Escort and BEL use read/write microchips that can be reprogrammed. The marketing claim is that this feature allows the detector to be updated to meet future threats. While that's
accurate, the lifespan of a detector—and the typically long intervals between significant new enforcement threats—mean that the odds of you returning a detector for software upgrades are probably an even-money bet or less.
Feature value: High, but only to attentive drivers who don't mind putting some effort into avoiding tickets.
Order your Escort Passport 9500ix detector today and get the best deal of the year!
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Whistler
The boffins at Whistler have also generated some unique acronyms in recent years. To its credit, Whistler of late has concentrated on features to enhance the performance and utility of its high-end models. Rather than lavish development money on cosmetics and marketing hype, instead the engineers have quietly pumped-up the radar-warning range and added features that give a sharp driver a better chance of surviving encounters with radar traps. Among others:
"Ka Max: Improved Ka-band sensitivity"
This one is self-explanatory and, refreshingly, accurate as well. The current models comprise its best-performing units in memory, well documented in our reviews and tests of the Whistler
XTR-690SE, the Whistler XTR-695SE and the Whistler Pro 78SE
Feature value: High
"Laser Signature ID: displays Pulses Per Second (PPS)"
Cobra introduced this feature to legitimize its use of different models of laser to create additional "bands". But while Cobras frequently incorrectly identify laser signals, Whistler
usually gets it right.
Feature value: Low, but it could be a conversational ice-breaker while you're looking for your license and registration.
Whistler XTR-695SE with RSID displays the signature of a non-threatening Ka-band signal that can be ignored. (This feature is shared with the Whistler XTR-690SE and Pro 78SE; all three are nearly identical in appearance and performance—although the latter two are less expensive.
Whistler XTR-695SE alerts to the frequency used by some photo radar. Time to pay attention.
"Radar Signature ID - RSID displays known Ka gun frequencies"
RSID is the Whistler equivalent of BEL's Spec Display and Escort's Tech mode but it's easier to comprehend and for the average driver, more effective. The BEL and Escort display a
five-digit frequency, e.g., 34.358, leaving it up to the driver to gauge its significance.
Whistler simplifies the process. It knows that a signal in the neighborhood of 34.3 GHz is home turf to one model of photo radar, the Swiss-made Multanova, and
reacts by displaying 34.3 Ka. Time to stand on the brakes, bubba. Had the frequency been too far from 34.3 to be legit, the Whistler would have displayed a simple Ka
band , plus the digital signal strength—9 in this instance—instead. This is a very elegant way to convey an important, although sometimes puzzling bit of information.
Feature value: Very high for attentive drivers
"Stay Alert"
The Australian government requires auto makers to equip new cars with audible/visual warnings that automatically remind drivers to take rest stops. Naturally, these irritating
warnings are universally ignored. Well meaning perhaps, but both dumb and intrusive. Offering the same feature in a radar detector elicits similar reactions. Worse, it's easy to
accidentally engage this feature and without the owner manual, nearly impossible to disable it. This means you'll be subjected to a woman's voice endlessly issuing periodic warnings to
get some rest, just like having your mother-in-law in back.
Feature value: Some narcolepsy sufferers may find it useful.
"Three Filter Modes: provide extra filtering"
The term filter is a good way to describe this feature's purpose in life. It passes incoming signals through an additional set of filters that help to weed out spurious signals
from other radar detectors. Most useful in town, it works as promised.
Feature value: Fairly high
"Total Band Protection"
This is Whistler's nomenclature for selective radar band deactivation. Those who don't have to fret about X-band radar can shut it off to limit urban false alarms, for example.
Feature value: Fairly high since it keeps the detector quieter.
"Vehicle Battery Saver"
A radar detector doesn't draw much power but if left on, eventually it will drain the battery. The process may take two weeks with a healthy SUV battery, but unless you can arrange
for an exemption from Ohm's Law, you can be assured that it will happen. This feature switches the detector off after period, giving your battery a break.
Feature value: Low, unless you often leave your vehicle parked at an airport or elsewhere for weeks at a time. But it can't hurt.
Order your Whistler Pro 78SE detector today and get the best deal of the year!
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