Radar Detector Reviews
Radar detectors remain an essential driving tool in helping keeping you free from the high cost of speeding tickets and subsequent insurance premium hikes.
RadarBusters' best radar detector reviews & rankings of 2024 will quickly point you to the radar detector best suited to your particular needs.
Below is a comparison review of the top 10 Best Radar Detectors of 2024 to keep you ticket free.
Best Radar Detectors of 2024
GPS Enabled Windshield Mounted Radar
Detectors
Ranked #1 Best: Uniden R8
–
Top
Seller!
Review Summary
The all new Uniden R8 is the new king of radar detectors and is the most sensitive
windshield-mount radar detector currently available, bar none. Coupled with extreme levels of
sensitivity, the Uniden R8's class-leading reactivity and responsiveness, makes it one of our favorite radar detectors of all-time.
The Uniden R8 has dual LNA (low-noise amplifiers), which add about 4dB of sensitivity to radar over the already extremely sensitive Uniden R7, yielding an impressive improvement of a
whopping 60% in potential radar detection range. LNAs also serve to reduce detectability by the SPECTRE radar detector detector.
The Uniden R8 provides full 360 degree protection with colored directional arrows and the
largest OLED display available.
The Uniden R8's advanced ability to filter out most of the false radar and laser alerts caused by the anti-
collision sensors installed on new cars today while still being able to alert to hard to detect
radars such as MultaRadar, Redflex, and now Gatso makes it a clear winner.
Pros:
- Most extreme long-distance radar detections ever
- Use of dual low noise amplifiers (LNA) for increased sensitivity and stealthness
- Super fast detections of all police radar bands, including the most important Ka
and K radar bands
- High performance digital signal processing (DSP) for extreme long range
performance
- Anti-collision radar sensor rejection filtering
- MultaRadar, Redflex, and Gatso and other FMCW speed/photo radar
detection capable
- Identification of police laser guns
- GPS enabled
- Built-in bluetooth for future smartphone application integration
- Firmware and photo enforcement database are both user upgradable
Cons:
- Would like to see a magnesium case instead of plastic
- Rear laser sensor obstructed by front of casing
- Laser detection capabilities not up to the same level of performance of police radar
Best Suited for: Highway and City Use
Retail Price: $699.99 (often discounted)
Review Summary
The new Escort MAXcam 360c is Escort's first integrated dashcam and extreme performance radar detector, providing full 360 degree protection with colored directional arrows along with the advanced ability to filter out most of the false radar alerts caused by the anti-collision sensors installed on new cars today.
The Escort MAXcam 360c is also a GPS enabled radar detector and rated as being both a city and highway detector like most GPS based radar detectors.
What we really like about this radar detector is that its behavior reminds us of the great Escort 8500 X50 introduced nearly 20 years ago.
The Escort MAXcam 360c is an exceptional radar detector that has the bonus of including a built-in high quality dash cam.
The laser detection capabilities of the MAXcam 360c are absolutely fabulous and are by far the best ever from Escort.
Having a radar detector with superior laser sensitivity is essential as it enables you to avoid police lidar speeding tickets especially when paired with Veil G6.
When on the highway it is not uncommon to get targeted by police laser from well over a quarter of a mile (1250 feet) and good laser detection can help in avoiding a speeding ticket when you can't even see the targeting officer.
While the dash cam and its WIFI have room for improvement, the overall combined capabilities of this radar detector dash cam combo is most compelling.
The MC 360c is currently our favorite detector from Escort and is our go to detector when we go on long multi-state trips in a vehicle that doesn't have a built-in laser jammer installed.
While certainly not cheap, this underrated gem, is Escort’s best value, especially when it goes on sale and the added bonus of having a high quality dash cam built-in makes it even more so.
Pros:
- Dual antenna and directional arrows
- Extreme radar sensitivity
- Consistent & reliable performance
- Integrated high resolution QHD dashcam
- All-digital signal processing (DSP) for extreme long range radar detection performance
- Exceptional at detecting instant-on police radar
- Excellent police laser detection
- Detects MultaRadar
- Among the best anti-collision sensor rejection filtering in the industry
- Escort Live!/Drive Smarter app ready
- GPS enabled
- Built in Bluetooth for wireless pairing to your smartphone
- WIFI capable to directly communicate with the Internet
- Bi-Lingual Voice Alerts - English & Spanish
- Firmware and Photo Enforcement database are both user upgradable
Cons:
- Dash cam video quality has room for improvement
- Drive Smarter app extremely buggy and difficult to use with the dashcam
- Most expensive windshield-mount detector
- No directional information provided to police laser, MultaRadar and Gatso
- Sticky cup mount can lose adhesion to windshield
- OTA firmware updates can be escruciatingly slow
Price: $849.95 (often on sale)
Best Suited for: Highway and City Use
Ranked #3 Best: Uniden R7
–
Top Seller!
Review Summary
The Uniden R7 had been the most sensitive
windshield-mount detector currently available until the new Uniden R8 came
out.
But, on an absolute basis, this is still top-performing radar detector and one
we don't hesitate to take with us on our long cross country road trips particularly at its lower price point.
The
Uniden R7 provides full 360 degree protection with colored directional arrows and the
largest OLED display available.
The Uniden R7's advanced ability to filter out
most of the false alerts caused by the anti-collision sensors installed on new cars today
while still be able to alert to hard to detect radars such as MultaRadar and Redflex and its
reduced pricing makes it an extremely good value for a dual-antenna directional
detector.
It is also a GPS enabled detector and rated as such is suited to both city
and highway driving like most GPS based detectors.
We used to rank the R7 as
our number one detector, but even though there now are some slightly more
sensitive models are available from Uniden, (Uniden R8 & Uniden R4) the R7 should still
be at or near the top of your short list, especially if you would like to save some additional
money.
Pros:
- One of the most sensitive dual antenna detectors available on the market
- Dual antenna and directional arrows
- High performance digital signal processing (DSP) for extreme long range
performance
- Best at detecting MultaRadar and Redflex radars
- Very good anti-collision sensor rejection filtering
- GPS enabled
- Firmware and Photo Enforcement database are both user upgradable
- Nearly undetectable by SPECTRE RDDs
Cons:
- Would like to see a magnesium case instead of plastic
- Some buttons hidden on left side
- Laser detection capabilities not up to the same level of performance of police radar
- Better filtering can be found on the Uniden R8
Best Suited for: Highway and City Use
Retail Price:
$499.99 (often on sale)
Ranked #4 Best: Uniden R4
–
Top Seller!
Review Summary
The Uniden R4 provides the greatest range
of any single antenna
radar detector by taking the already extreme performance of the
Uniden R3 and adding two LNAs for a 3-4dB improvement in sensitivity.
The
Uniden R4 is nearly undetectable by the Spectre RDD and provides excellent K-band
rejection from today's collision avoidance systems.
Like the Uniden R8, the
Uniden R4 can reliably alert to MRCD/MRCT and is quite good at alerting to Gatso, as
well. Currently, no other manufacturer can consistently do this..
At only $379, this detector
offers an exceptional value, making it one of the very best values available today. Uniden
comes with a 1 year manufacturers' warranty.
Pros:
- Currently the most sensitive single antenna detector currently available on
the market
- Dual LNAs for even more extreme radar detection performance
- Advanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP) for extreme range
performance
- Exceptional at detecting instant-on police radar
- Excellent Traffic Safety Rejection (TSR) filtering
- Detection of MRCD/MRCT and Gatso RT3/RT4 speed radars
- K narrow and Ka narrow sweeps for improved performance with less
falsing
- GPS enabled with auto-lockouts
- Full multi-color OLED display
- Small size
- Comes with two windshield-mounts, one conventional dual suction cup mount
and one large "sticky-cup" mount
- Comes with USB smartcord with push-button muting
- Firmware and Photo Enforcement database are both user upgradeable
- Better value than Escort's top-of-the-line detectors
- Nearly undetectable by SPECTRE RDD
Cons:
- Would like to see a magnesium case instead of plastic
- Laser detection capabilities not up to the same level of performance of police radar
Best Suited for: Highway and City Use
Retail Price:
$379.99 (often on sale)
Ranked #5 Best: Uniden R3 – Top Seller!
Review Summary
The Uniden R3 provides extreme range
and includes GPS capability and a photo enforcement database.
The Uniden R3
is nearly undetectable by the Spectre RDD and provides excellent K-band rejection from
today's collision avoidance systems.
At a newly reduced price, the Uniden R3
detector offers an exceptional value and remains one of the best values
available today.
Uniden's detectors come with a 1 year manufacturers'
warranty.
Pros:
- Remains one of the most sensitive single antenna radar detectors available on the
market
- Advanced Digital Signal Processing (DSP) for extreme radar detection range
- Exceptional at detecting instant-on police radar
- Excellent radar-based traffic safety rejection (TSR) filtering
- K narrow radar and Ka narrow radar sweeps for improved performance with less
falsing
- GPS enabled
- Full Color OLED display
- Small size
- Comes with two windshield-mounts, one conventional dual suction cup mount
and one large "sticky-cup" mount
- Comes with USB smartcord with push-button muting
- Firmware and Photo Enforcement database are both user upgradeable
- Better value than Escort's top-of-the-line detectors
- Nearly undetectable by SPECTRE RDD
Cons:
- Laser detection capabilities not up to the same level of performance of police radar
- Better filtering can be found on the Uniden R4
- Does not detect Gatso photo radar
Best Suited for: Highway and City Use
Retail Price:
$299.99 (often on sale)
Review Summary:
The new Whistler Titan is Whistler's highest
performing radar detector ever offered. The Titan's detection performance is right up there
with the very best radar detectors on our list and its filtering is superior to just about all of
them.
The Whistler Titan is an absolute pleasure to drive with and should be at
the top of your list if you insist on driving with an effective quiet radar detector.
When the Titan
alerts to radar, you can be pretty sure its a genuine police radar
detection.
Pros:
- The Whistler Titan is Whistler's highest performing radar detector released to date
and competes with the best of them
- First Whistler to incorporate DSP (digital signal processing)
- First Whistler to incorporate PLL for frequency precision
- High degree of false resistance to BSM (collision avoidance systems)
- Firmware updatable via a USB cable
- Can detect MRCD/MRCT photo radar
- Extended range K-band radar to 23.9 GHz
- Excellent highway radar detector
- Exclusive 3-year warranty
Cons:
- Would prefer an updated casing and
a multi-color display
- Latch times (signal strength decay)
could be a bit longer
- Missing LNA circuitry (maybe next Whistler radar detector will have it)
Best Suited for: Highway and City Use
Price: $349.95
Review Summary
The Escort Redline 360c is Escort's most sensitive detector ever produced. It
combines the performance of the once revered Escort Redline and the Escort Max 360c
while offering significant increases in sensitivity across all radar bands.
This is Escort's third generation of a completely undetectable radar detector and the first ever to
incorporate three antennas, two facing forward each tuned to specific radar frequencies
and a rear facing one to provide directional information.
Like the original Redline and Redline EX radar detectors, all antennas incorporate an LNA
to maximize sensitivity and add to its stealth capabilities.
Escort claims a 6dB
increase which translates to a potential increase of about 200% over the Escort Max 360c.
This puts it in the realm of the Uniden R8--the current long distance champ.
The advanced ability to filter out most of the false alerts caused by the anti-collision sensors
installed on new cars today allows the Escort Redline 360c to alert to radar from extremely
long distances while minimizing falsing from non police-radar sources, but in the case of the
Escort Redline 360c, like some other Escort detectors, K-band performance can sometimes
be erratic.
Recent firmware updates have solidified the performance of the
Redline 360c and we are pleased to see that the improvements, but even
though the Redline 360c is billed as being able to detect MRCD/MRTC speed radars, we
have not found this to be the case.
It is also a GPS enabled detector and is rated as being both a city and highway detector
like most GPS based detectors.
The Redline 360c also has built-in bluetooth and
WIFI for connecting either to a mobile phone or directly to the internet to get firmware
updates or access in real-time Escort Live!, Escort's version of WAZE.
One downside to all of these capabilities and features is its price. At a whopping $799, the
Escort Redline 360c is the penultimate most expensive radar detector on the market but the
asking price doesn't appear to have affected its popularity among enthusiasts.
While popular online, we hesitate recommending this detector for anyone concerned about encountering K-band police radar. The Redline 360c like the Max 360c Mk II/Max 360 Mk II offers errative alerting behavior, so much so that it doesn't create a level of confidence.
The real strengths of the Redline 360c are its Ka-band and X-band detections as well as its invisibility to SPECTRE.
If and when Escort finally addresses the Redline 360’s erratic K-band alerting, we would rank it in our top three.
If you are absolutely convinced you won’t encounter K-band then its detection to this band can be disabled and the matter rendered moot.
However, we see enough K-band throughout the states we drive, that we would never think of disabling it.
Pros:
- Extreme long-distance radar detections
- Recent firmware update raises performance over previous version (but is still flawed)
- Undetectable by SPECTRE (radar detector detectors) RDDs
- Unique three antenna design with directional arrows
- Use of Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) circuitry throughout
- High performance digital signal processing (DSP) for extreme long range
performance
- Anti-collision sensor rejection filtering
- GPS enabled
- Firmware and photo enforcement database are both user upgradeable
- Solidly built
- Quick release magnetic windshield mounting bracket
- Builtin WIFI & Bluetooth
- Subsequent firmware updates should improve performance further
Cons:
- Erratic and slow responsiveness to initial constant-on, instant-on, and quick
trigger K-band radar
- Constant-on K-band can first appear as strong I/O
- No directional information provided to police laser, MultaRadar and Gatso
- Small OLED display can be very hard to read in during the day
- Sticky cup mount can lose adhesion to windshield
Best Suited for: Areas where radar detectors are banned
Price: $799.95
Review Summary
The Escort Max 360c MkII provides full
360 degree protection with colored directional arrows along with the advanced ability to
filter out most of the false radar alerts caused by the anti-collision radar sensors installed on new cars
today.
The Mk II is an improved version of the previous Max 360 series of radar detectors
with even greater performance and better filtering.
The Escort Max 360c MkII & Max 360 MkII offer
equal performance but the Max 360 MkII comes without WIFI connectivity (which we
regard as not an essential feature anyway) at $100 less.
It is also a GPS
enabled detector and rated as being both a city and highway detector like most GPS based radar detectors.
Unfortunately, like the Escort Redline 360c, their detection performance to K-band radar is erratic and not confidence inspiring and can not be relied upon, in our opinion.
If and when Escort addresses this serious issue, we would rank these detectors higher.
Pros:
- Dual antenna and directional arrows
- Recent firmware updates significantly increased performance & filtering
- All-digital signal processing (DSP) for extreme long range radar detection
performance
- Exceptional at detecting instant-on police radar
- Best anti-collision sensor rejection filtering in the industry
- Escort Live! ready
- GPS enabled
- Builtin Bluetooth for wireless pairing to your smartphone
- WIFI capable to directly communicate with the Internet (Max 360c MkII)
- Bi-Lingual Voice Alerts - English & Spanish
- Firmware and Photo Enforcement database are both user upgradeable
Cons:
- Erratic and slow responsiveness to initial constant-on, instant-on, and quick
trigger radar
- No directional information provided to police laser, MultaRadar and Gatso
- Small OLED display can be hard to read during daylight hours
- Sticky cup mount can lose adhesion to windshield
Price: $699.95/$599.95
(Max 360c MkII)
(Max 360 MkII)
Review Summary
The Escort Max 3 is Escort's only single antenna model, is the third generation Max detector, and in our opinion is the
best iteration of the Max single antenna series both in terms of overall performance and in
packaging.
We were never fans of the case designs of the previous Max and Max 2 detectors as they
deviated from highly regarded designs of prior Escorts.
We are pleased that the
new Max 3 now sports a proper housing which includes the magnetic quick-release
windshield mount that is found on other top Escort detectors and unlike the previous
Escorts, this magnetic mount is interchangeable with other Escort magnetic mount brackets.
Performance on Ka-band is very good and it can hang with the best of them.
Like other digital Escorts, K-band performance can sometimes be inconsistent
and lethargic.
We attribute this to the heavy-handed (and less sophisticated)
signal processing to filter out K-band collision avoidance systems.
The software
doesn't always guess right and sometimes genuine K-band detections can be adversely
impacted.
Priced at $50 less than the older Escort iXc, the Max 3 the better
value, although it’s getting quite long in the tooth.
Pros:
- Highest performing single antenna detector from Escort
- Much improved packaging relative to the original Max and Max2
- All-digital signal processing (DSP) for long range radar detection
- Exceptional at detecting instant-on police radar
- Good K-band anti-collision sensor rejection filtering (but comes at a
price)
- GPS enabled
- Builtin Bluetooth for wireless pairing to your smartphone
- Firmware and Photo Enforcement database are both user upgradeable
- Bi-Lingual Voice Alerts - English & Spanish
Cons:
- Firmware updates needed to improve consistency of some of its radar
performance
- Erratic and inconsistent K-band alerting
- Newer models offer superior performance
- Display can be hard to read during daylight
- Sticky cup mount can lose adhesion to windshield
Price: $399.99
Review Summary
The Adaptiv TPX Pro is rated as having 4 times the capture distance of a police radar gun
and is specifically designed for motorcycle use however it can be accessorized as a
windshield mounted detector.
The TPX Pro is designed to be exposed to the outside elements, sports very large buttons for riders who use gloves, and mounts nicely on most bikes.
If you ride a motorcycle, the TPX Pro is our top pick for
you.
Pros:
- Very good range
- Good false alert filtering
- Designed specifically for motorcycle use
- Integrates with Adaptiv's H.A.R.D. in-helmet alerting system
- GPS photo enforcement database
Cons:
- Push button cord only available as option
- Performance not as high as detectors built for in-car use
Best Suited for: Motorcycle Use
Price: $399.95
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