Customer Ratings & Reviews

Love the radar detector .. It's saved me, works great. Vroom vroom

No problems yet and have caught everything to my knowledge

Great item at a great price. Easy yo use. Works great!

BETTER THAN MY HUSBAND COULD WISH FOR. A+A+A+A++++

I enjoy using this on my travels to and from work.

Radar detector is ok, but I ended up returning and keeping my cobra radar detector. The location of the wire going from the detector to the outlet caused the wire to go right in front of my screen for my navigation.

Google how many new cars have radars integrated and you will understand that radar detectors are the thing of the past

This product is not giving enough warning when there is a police patrol car. Not sure if their radar is on or not.

It is very good for highways, but not so good for the city.

Does what it needs to do, nothing special, priced right

Have seen several police cars and the radar detector does not seem to notice them. very accurate when you come up to intersections and stationary radar detectors that show your speed. Seems like it has Old technology

Goes off at everything that my cheap one went off at

I've owned the 8500 X50 for over 5 years now and it has served in the 4 cars I've owned in that time (and still does). It's rather basic, but it's supposed to be. I leave it on highway (highest possible) sensitivity all the time so as to get better warning, but even in city mode it gets false hits galore. My positive hits have come from as far as two miles out in the right area and I always get radar hits before I'm in the sights of the radar operator. In terms of radar detection the 8500 works as it should and it does get 360 degree hits. The only serious drawback to this unit is the false hits. On the highway or in the country these are a non-issue. In town they'll drive you nuts. The extra $200 for the 9500ix gets you GPS-based tuning out of false hits after it sees them 3 times. I can't tell you how worth while that is. Save $200 more and get the 9500ix. If you absolutely can't, this unit is still worth its price. I advise picking up the $20 suction mount from Escort. The factory mount works fine but it's cheap, allows the unit to bounce around a bit, and occasionally falls off on a really hot day. Amateur users beware! Instant-on radar guns are hard to defend against. This unit will absolutely pick up an instant-on hit when the officer pulls the trigger, but if you're the only car on the road he's already got you by the time you hear the hit. This isn't a limitation with this unit, it is a fact of police radar. No detector can protect from IO radar if there isn't traffic ahead of you to get hit first (if there is, you hear them getting hit before you get in range). ALSO, laser cannot be defended against with any detector. It is a narrow beam detection unit, which means you will only hear the hit if the laser gun is aimed directly at your car. By the time the alarm sounds, it's already too late. Only a laser jamming unit can help you with laser. The point is, if you have this and you're driving along and see an officer aiming what looks like a radar gun at traffic and you don't get a hit, it's probably laser/lidar and he just never aimed it at you (or you were close enough that he just hit your license plate and not the detector). I have received confirmed laser hits on my 8500 but in every case would have received a ticket if I'd been speeding.

I recently purchased this unit as my trusty Beltronics Vector 965 just randomly failed on a car trip (it was 1.5 yrs old). Beltronics wanted 60$ and me to pay shipping to them. For a product that was expensive and is so vital to me (I'm a driver - 8 sets of tires in 4 yrs and enjoy every moment) it needs to work. I really like the 8500 - it's only picking up 1/2 of the false alerts the other unit did. I can't tell on the range - seems a little less so far but that may be that I'm basing that on false alert areas not real radar. I love the power cord and option to run completely dark! Suction cups are not an issue. Simply get an alcohol wipe and wipe the cups then the window and you're good to go. I think heat can very much be an issue with these units - although for the money and the environment they are designed for (e.g. hot car interior) they should be designed to NOT have problems.. That said I will be VERY careful with the new unit. And you should Always get the best buy warranty on something like this - I did. I will not be stuck with another failed expensive detector again.. One other thing - Beltronics / Escort factory warranty is a joke - they will not warranty anything unless you buy it direct from them..

I bought this one after I returned the V10 from Beltronics (see review). False triggers - yes/few. Did not get any alarms on the bridge I mentioned in the Beltronics V10 review. Tested on: the same minivan. No Mustang ( did not need to). Speed - the first 2 hours speed limit to see how it works. 3 out of 3 detections - LOOKS promising. Design - simple and straight to the point ( black color -wonderful, don't need something shiny saying "look at me... I am a radar detector..." hint at the V10). Ease of use- unpacked, plugged, ready to go. Perfect. Volume control- can't be any easier. Detections - here is where has the V10 beat by 2 miles (really- 2 miles). I got a signal and it kept going, then shut off, go again, etc. same thing. 2 miles later a police car. + 12 out of 12. Let me repeat: 12 police cars (in 3 different states) 12 signals - around the corner (check), over a hill (check), where is he? - ahhh (check), from the ditch - this one too (check), blind folder radar ( check). Got them all - from the woods (check).

This is the best radar detector I have ever owned! You pick up radar and have a chance to slow down even on corners before you see the "red light" ! My favorite part is the smart cord - especially when it's in the windshield and you can't reach the detector itself - it's the only radar detector where you can MUTE the beeping right at the cigar lighter .. other than that - the suction cup is a hassle - one side falls off all the time and finding a replacement suction cup is more of a task than I can say - if you know of where to get them - this size and not bigger - then reply to the review - thanks!

Was set up in a foreign language when I turned it on. No printed information. Very hard to change anything on it. I returned to Bestbuy , they were great about the return. Please note I've had 5or6 in the past and liked them...

Used it on a road trip from Phoenix, Az to Oklahoma city it has been the worst radar detector I've ever owned wouldn't pick up police till I was a few hundred feet from them... maybe I got a defective one but I won't be trying another. ..

This unit has saved me over and over again. I live in a very hilly wooded area and it always picks up radar/laser with plenty of time to slow down. People argue its range, which is amazing but state troopers are known for waiting until they see you to turn on a laser, and then no detector does any good because they got you already. This unit beats everybody I knows radar and I recommend it to everyone I know. I wish it was louder, I can't hear it with the music turned halfway up but it does blink red so that does help..just hard to notice mid-day. Also throw away the junk window suction cup it comes with and get an oval one. The one it comes with will fall off on the first hot day

I had to replace an old Beltronics V940 that had finally died after years of faithful service. Good Radar detectors don't come cheap. I had been looking at the more expensive GPS models because that is a great feature to eliminate false signals. However I succumbed to a great deal at BB for the 8500 X50 @$199.95 deal of the day. This unit was easy to setup and had exceptional range only issue was it was so sensitive to false signals. I went back to Best Buy and picked up the companion Escort - Radar Detector Smart Cord. For $35 this added not only the GPS type function of ignoring the false signals based on location but it also added the Escort Live functionality, it's almost an unfair advantage to the driver now. By putting these two together you get all the features of the $449+ detector for $200 less.