Review: Escort Passport 8500 X50
By Radartest staff
Last updated: 2023
Note: Discontinued. See reviews of the latest models.
Review Summary
Pro
- Decent radar range
- Simple controls
- Good feature set
Con
- Not upgradeable
- No voice alerts
- Elderly technology
Review Summary
Pro
- Decent radar range
- Simple controls
- Good feature set
Con
- Not upgradeable
- No voice alerts
- Elderly technology
If you're looking for the best radar detector at the under-$300 price point, that would be the Escort Passport 8500 X50. There's a slew of models in this market segment but after testing them all, the detector we've found to have the best balance of features and performance is the Escort Passport 8500 X50.
The Escort Passport 8500 X50 replaced the Escort Passport 8500 model we christened "World's Best Radar Detector" when we tested it for Automobile magazine. Among Escort's non-GPS models, the Escort 8500 X50 is positioned above the range-topping Escort Redline.
This wireless technology isn't a big deal for some, but it is for those planning to use the Escort Live app. Aside from early warnings of nearby speedtraps, the system can also be used to lock out nuisance signals causing false alarms.
The Escort Passport 8500 X50 is available with either a red or blue LED display. The same radar detector is offered as the BEL (Beltronics) Pro 300. The BEL sports a different housing but shares its platform with the Escort Passport 8500 X50 and has the same performance.
A Ph.D in electronics isn't required to operate the Escort 8500 X50. A thumbwheel switch handles the power on/off function and regulates the volume of its audible alerts. A pair of multi-function buttons atop the case handles everything else except for manually-muting the audio. (Auto-muting is standard; after a short full-volume alert the Escort 8500 X50 automatically silences the audible alert to limit the annoyance factor.)
Signal strength (proximity to the radar) is indicated audibly by beep-frequency, visually by a bar graph that rises progressively as signal strength increases. The radar band—X, K or Ka—is spelled out in the text display, making it simple to comprehend what type of radar you're encountering. (In town, an X-band alert will almost certainly be a commercial automatic door opener, all of which operate on police-radar frequencies and account for half of all urban false alarms.)
To check performance, we tested the Escort 8500 X50 and a BEL (Beltronics) Pro 300. The two use the same platform and under the skin, they're identical. In theory, the pair should perform identically as well. And to no one's great surprise, we confirmed that the Escort 8500 X50 and the BEL Pro 300 were a match.
