Side by Side Comparison of: Radar Detector vs Escort

First off, I'm leaving 5 stars because the quality of the pad. Like others have mentioned, it grips very well and does the job. I say "Not for everyone" because if your car is like mine this will not be good for a radar detector. I have an LED hud in the center dash with a hood that goes over it. It slants slightly down going towards the front of the car. When mounting the radar detector, it points slightly down toward the windshield wiper and doesn't clear the rear either. So, if your dash is similar to mine, get a mirror mount. Your radar detector needs to point straight forward and not be impeded by wipers or anything else and needs to be able to clear the rear, which is why I suggested the mirror mount. Again, this does not detract from the quality of the mount itself and I will use this for something else such as to hold a phone or whatever else. This is just a warning for others like me.

This pad is naturally sticky, like a post-it. Works great to have your radar detector mounted on the dashboard, out of view, close and easy to adjust when necessary. And, you can remove it from view when parked, or leaving the car in the hot sun to avoid "frying" your detector (I lost one that way). An amazing pad, much more reliable than suction cups on the window, plus the detector is closer to me so I can read the screen.

Sticks to the dash of my FJ cruiser very well. I use it for a radar detector. The longer it sits, the more secure it gets. I have not had any issues with it or the radar detector sliding around. Interestingly, it does not seem to attract dust or small particles as some other pads do. It's easy to wipe down if needed without impacting the level of grip. I'll probably buy another one.

Been thinking of getting this for my radar detector for months. After the LAST time of the current suction cups falling off while driving I finally purchased this item. It is FANTASTIC! Not only does my detector stay in place but it also looks much sleeker without having anything mounted to my windshield. Should have purchased sooner. No sticky residue on my BMW dash. Great product.

this little matt is amazing . in south florida i go thru suction cups every 2 yrs and have to pull the detector off for the sun screen so i figured i would try this instead . i didn't think it would work to well , my challenger has a bumpy dash with the designs in the plastic that i drive hard at times, taking turns hard etc having a little fun in it :) and also my escort x50 is very heavy for a radar detector . it has not moved once sitting on this pad , and i thought for sure this thing would go flying thru the side window and also i don't have to move it putting my sunscreen up , i love it . great product !!

Like alot of other people have already posted. This thing sticks like magic. I found a perfect spot on the dash of my Corvette, placed my Escort 9500ix top of the pad. Pushed it down real good, and "bingo!" it stayed. I have not tried multiple removals and replacements on the dash, but so far, it's been GREAT!

This passport is amazing! It's not too expensive and it's not your average run of the mill $50 radar detector. I use this on a daily basis as my work revolves around driving about 100 miles a day. This outweighs the cheaper detectors because It has an amazing 360 degree protection! I also love the distance in which I can detect radars. It gives you enough time to react. As compared to my cheap radar, the design and sounds is far superior! Trust the other reviewers and buy it now!

UPDATE: We've had this radar for a few years now and it is still a great radar however with the addition of new cars using K band for the lane switching sensors it goes off on the highway ALL the time. Super annoying. I would recommend the 9500 and it is a better product all because it has the auto program feature that takes away the false reading from stationary sites. It has other nice features like warnings for speed traps and red light cameras.We've had this radar detector for about 8 months now and it is THE BEST radar detector we've ever owned. It catches the cops a miles away. It definitely has saved us on tickets. I love the smart cord, the mute feature is great and very handy for my short arms that can't reach easily to the mount. Overall great buy!

Has saved me thousands of dollars in cop tickets. Very sensitive and great for road trips. I have driven over 100,000 miles with this and without one speeding ticket. Worth every penny!! Quick and safe delivery and super easy instillation- literally plug one wire to the detector and plug into the lighter socket. GREAT!!!

This thing is fking amazing... I've had it for about 5 months and it has saved my ass so many times... it picks up cop cars from about 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile away depending on what setting you have it on and how good the line of sight is.... every band is adjustable, you can turn it off if you don't need to detect it, the display is customizable... the effectiveness of this product is a 10/10... it has alerted me of every police officer that has driven past me or was waiting for someone to speed by... sometimes it detects them so far away I end up thinking they are behind me until I pass them 1 minute down the road... I would definitely recommend this product, it saves lives

I have been using the Passport 8500x50 since generation one (in the old silver case). My first unit lasted 13yrs and starting having problems with saying needing service. I decided this device was worth replacing so I ordered a replacement generation 3 (black case). I am more than pleased as its even better than its older counterpart. So Pleased in fact I just ordered a second one for my work vehicle.Average radar range gives about 20-30sec to slow depending on highway speeds.Minimal false alerts and maximum range. No frills - No voice, sws, compass, etc. Just does what you bought it for BEST.

I bought this before taking a trip to So Cal. There were a few false alarms, but overall this thing worked like a charm. It seems that the CHP uses Ka band for the most part and the passport would pick it up as much as a mile out. I was consistently driving 85 and slowing down to 70 when i received an alert. Doing this saved me a couple hours of driving time. This device doesn't make you invincible. You are still susceptible to laser, POP and aircraft, but you will get lots of advance warning for the majority of speed traps.EDIT: I still think this is a perfectly good radar detector, but if i had it to do over again i would buy one that has GPS and false alarm lockout. I drive the same route every day and this thing goes off in the same spots every time. Sure i can mute it but it would be nice to have one of the detectors that just remembers and ignores where your false alarms are. Still though it's a good product and i haven't had a ticket since purchasing it.

My husband purchased this for his road trips back and forth to his home state of Iowa. He says that it has worked very well, sometimes too well. He said that he turned it off at times because it is so sensitive and picked up the radar in the road signs when there was no police radar around.

When I first open this item, I was disappointed by the thickness. Luckily, even though it is very thin, the pad does what it is suppose to. I haven't had any problems with my detector sliding around on my dash. Btw the mounting pad sticks to the bottom of your radar detector better than it will to the dash. I just decide to leave my radar detector always plug up because of that reason.

What a great little item. I picked it up as a cheap add-on for my Beltronics Pro200 radar detector. I didn't have a whole lot of hope for performance on such a low value item, but I have been blown away by how well it works. It's a great fit for the detector and it has never moved at all in my first two months of use. I do worry about it melting or overheating and becoming a sticky mess on my dash, so I keep a newspaper in the car to cover it on the days it is parked in direct sunlight. So far, so good and I remain pleasantly surprised and suction cup free on my windshield.

The mount definitely does what it was designed to do. Be aware that your dashboard will have to be flat, any incline or bump will obviously have an impact on its usefulness.Being somewhat sticky, it will attract dust/lint if it comes into contact with such material. I am also hesitant to leave this in my car on hot days, as I am afraid it will melt. Has a strong odor during initial use.

It does exactly what I expected it to do, hold a radar detector on the dashboard without is sliding around and falling off. I'm also tired of messing up my windows and view with the OEM suction cup.sticky cup mounts.I bought two, one for each of my cars because I put my old one in my wife's car. Now I can use my old detector in her car, or, if we're on a long trip, I can easily put my Max 2 on the dashboard.The reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because it's actually too sticky.When you lift up the detector to put it away the whole pad comes with it.I would have given it 4 & 1/2 stars but that's not an option.Still and all, it does the job well and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants the same results.

I use this to hold my Escort 8500 radar detector in place on the dash. It's handy for those times I might need to pluck the detector off my dash in a hurry or to get it out of sight when I park in an area where the detector might present a reason for a break-in. I have found this type of gummy material holds well but will deteriorate if exposed to the heat and sunlight encountered in south Texas. It left a gooey mess on my wife's dash that I'm still working to completely remove.

A little disappointing. My old X50 Grey model worked great, never failed. I've had this one for a couple months and it has performed admirably but... now in a cool mornings when I start my commute this thing is going bonkers! Full K, Ka, and X bands, erratic alarms for the first 15 minutes of operation, which is pretty much my entire drive to work. At first I thought there was a new pirate radio station in my area, or the FBI was stinging someone on my side of town lol. When I started noticing it was apparently related to temperature...that's when I finally figured it must be the detector. I'll RMA this one to Escort, maybe even see if they want to trade me out for a newer model I guess...never should have gifted the grey X50 to my brother I guess.

Not a bad "entry" level detector. Not for you if your area uses laser or POP exclusively. Or if you do more than 10 or 15 over the limit on the highway invest in something a little more expensive that picks up on the instant on radars. Some false alerts on newer blind spot detection systems (especially on new Acura, Buick and a handful of GMC models) but the alert rarely goes above 2 bars in that situation.However this does light up like a Christmas tree for town cops just sitting in a turn off with their radar on. I've gotten hits from a half mile up the road before. I've even gotten hits while driving on the highway if a town cop happens to drive on a road parallel to the highway.Tl;Dr version: great buy for the money if you can't bring yourself to buy a 3 or 4 hundred dollar detector and you don't do 90 on the highway. Otherwise spend the $$$$ or pay the town/state $$$$$$$$$$$$.

Purchased this as a lightning deal, was great for that price (not that I wouldn't purchase at full price, but its a better value at a lower price because of the age of this model). Is very accurate, only false alarms seem to be from construction equipment and door sensors on retail locations. It has already saved me a few times from sneaky cops and I would highly recommend.My only gripe is the mount (which I will be changing soon anyway). The included suction cup mount has two suction cups directly across from eachother. there is nothing to hold the bracket from bounding forwards and backwards on the window unless you move the detector in to the closest position on the bracket and it sits against the window itself. My last detector had one little rubber foot that held the bracket off the window and got rid of any annoying rattles or bumps.

Relatively cheap, easy to use, and effective. What else can you ask for? Sure there are a fair amount of false alarms in the city, but with the mute button mounted right on the base of the chord AND the automute feature, it's not bad. Plus, I'd rather be annoyed for a few seconds than get a $200 ticket. My escort paid for itself after about 3 weeks: I was cruising down a 55mph road going closer to 70 and all of the sudden the Ka band alert started going crazy. I didn't see anything until about another 2 miles down the road, and sure enough, there was a cop hitting the people in front of me with an instant-on blast. Definitely could have been me if I didn't have my escort. (And that's not the mention the 6 or 7 times it saved me on the highway this past weekend as I went to Georgia.) For the price, it'll pay for itself if it saves you even once, so there's no question in my mind that it's worth it.EDIT:After owning this product for over a year, and after having also used the 8500IX and the Redline, I have to say that this is still a solid little detector. It doesn't have the best range, and it lacks a lot of convenience features, but for ~$200 detector, this thing really isn't bad. Decent range and sensitivity, cheap, fairly effective. I think this would make a great first detector for anyone.

Typical Escort radar detector. Has it come a long way in 10 years IMO? No. Is it any lighter, smaller or better than it was 5 years ago? No. I know because I have one that is 5 years old. Can I say that it has great anti-falsing detection since 2010? No. Can I say that it is among the best wired radars on the market? Yes. That is why you buy these. They are not small, are not easy to hide, are not thin or lightweight, but do what they say and detect, almost to a fault, what you need it to do. It is a very VALID instrument in that is does what it purports it says it will do, and does it each time. Does it pick up the same mini mart every day? Yes. Does it learn from its mistakes? No. Comes with same zippered case it did 4-5 years ago, literally stich for stich. They added a new band I guess, but I bought this one because I either lost or had my other one stolen.It does what it says and does it well. Nothing fancy, not much new.

I've had one before but sold it. I decided to get back on the horse and buy another. From a functionality standpoint, this is a fantastic detector. I find the Valentine 1's too bulky, so this was the next best thing (yeah, yeah, the 9500's are packed full of GPS and mobile app compatibility, but the sensor arrays are still exactly the same, and I don't want a "social radar detector"Now, I would be throwing 5 starts all over it, but within a month of my purchase, the detector case began spidering. It has't crumbled or chipped, but it's been a few months now and I'm just waiting for the case to disintegrate. I NEVER had this problem with my previous X8500 that had the dark gray coloring. I had to knock a star off for that. BUT, if you want a detector that WORKS, this thing is a beast.

Product is a little sticky but did not do well in holding either my radar detector or my Samsung Note cell phone. Not worth the price if it was not shipped for free.

This product worked very well and kept my phone in place, but sometimes when I took sharp turns my phone would fall off. It gets dirty pretty easily and I cannot get the lint off of this thing. I don't think I would recommend this though.

It works fine if you are careful, but I found it to be so sticky to the detector that it would come off when I took the detector off ... then it would get lint and become completely un-sticky.If you are careful and/or don't pull the detector off very often it works great.If you are not that careful an pull the detector off all the time (me) it isn't quite as useful

It is pretty thin. It does a good job of holding my radar detector, but it also leaves behind a "film" of sorts on the dash and the radar detector. I'm in Texas so it gets really hot inside the vehicle and I leave it on the dash but without the radar detector. While I'm using it it does hold the radar detector securely even though it can't fully hold the detector flat due to my dash not being flat.

This was MAGIC in my Corolla. It held my radar detector as if I had super glued it to the dash. NO JOKE. But in my truck, I have the same dash (texture / curves/ etc) as my Corolla, BUT - it has somewhat of a powdery type coating. I tried rubbing alcohol, and cleaning the powdery type coating - but no-dice. Now I have this majorly sticky gel pad that sticks to the radar detector like glue, but, the pad won't even sit on the dash of my truck. It just slides right off. I guess it depends on your dash type. Both of my vehicles are modern Toyotas. I don't get it.

This pad is sticky and adheres to the dash of your car, until it gets dusty. The other issue is on very hot days, it adheres to the detector and comes off each time you remove your detector. On cold days, the detector will not adhere at all. I'd look elsewhere for a product. I had a few times when I turned the car and the detector went flying across the dash!

I ended up returning this after a few weeks. I still gave it 3 stars because it did exactly what it said it would. I live in the city and rarely go on the highway. If you live in the country/bubs/ do alot of highway driving this is for you. In the city, it was constantly going off even in city mode. It has the option to turn down the volume which was great, and the optional button to immediately silence it. However, I felt it was always going off and I never saw a cop. Just not for me.

Overall this unit isn't bad, but it is definitely getting up there in age. First let me say that this is much better than most of the junk that you can pick up at WalMart. The range on this unit will be very good and suitable for most everyone. It performs very well on the most common Ka frequency used by police. The downside is that it doesn't do well with filtering false alerts in town or against blind spot monitoring systems that are coming on new cars. When this unit came out it actually exceeded the Escort Redline (at the time) on certain frequencies. Since then there have been changes to the Redline that pushed it back to the top of the heap.If the current price point is comprable to the Uniden LRD950 or 850 (also sold here on Amazon), I would wholeheartedly recommend the Uniden over this unit. The x50 Black is not a bad unit but times have changed and technology has improved. This unit probably falls to mid pack or maybe even slightly under and there are other units out there for the same or less money with better range, reactivity, and filtering.

The device is great at detecting k-band police radar. It's also great at detecting pretty much everything else. I bought this unit to replace a cheaper detector, hoping it would eliminate so many annoying false alarms. Turns out, it gives them a run for their money with all the irritating alerts. With a detector that goes off ALL the time, it's hard to discriminate what's an actual speed trap and react. It becomes background noise and a form of muscle memory hitting the mute button. I'm starting to hear this thing in my sleep. If you can get past the false alarms, it is a very, very sensitive detector that has picked up state troopers running k-band from about 1/8 mile ahead. If I were buying again, I'd opt for a detector with a GPS lockout feature so you can whitelist certain locations that make the 8500 x50 light up and the driver rushing to hit the mute button...again.

Works well in most band ranges but it has a horrible time with K Band at 2.4 ghz. Every darn car with blind spot warning or back up warning will set off the device. This year after making a 2000 mile road trip I thought I was going to go nuts with all the false alarms . Not sure what you do to fix this but with it being a old design I don't think Escort will do anything to update it.

Way too many false positives for a $200 radar detector. However I have only came across a few circumstances where a cop was sitting on the highway and it didnt go off well beforehand. These guys must have either been shooting laser (which is very focused and you cant detect it till its too late) or not even shooting radar and just looking for people speeding by eye. I am going to hopefully save up for a V1 and compare the two side by side.

Worked very well when I lived out in the country. Almost no false readings and picked up on just about every trap or cruiser - be it radar or laser. Now I live in a bigger city and it seems like it wants to beep at everything. I suppose it's doing its job, but it's hard to take detections seriously when it seems like every automatic door causes a reading. Either way, false positives aside, it does pick up on the "bad" radar and has a great range. If it didn't work so well, I would not have held onto it for so long.

thought it would be a high quality rubber pad, but it's a flimsy thin pad that would only be appropriate for a very flat dashboard with a driver who never takes sharp turns. I don't use it. I think a dual pair of Velcro strips may work better.

This product does a good job at supplying stablility of whatever on your dashboard. However, the material breaks down into a sticky, liquid mess after being in the sun for any length of time. I live in NY , by the Canadian border, so I am not even talking about excessive sunlight or heat. I could only imagine the mess if I lived in FL.anyhow, it will last a about 2 weeks in the sunlight and you will need to throw out and replace. Not a good ecologically sound choice.

I bought this with high hopes, especially since it apparently is intended for radar detectors. It didn't take long before it went flying across my dash on an unassuming turn. The attached pictures shows the start of the product curling up.

I need to state right away that when it comes to gripping things and staying in place, it works awesome. The problem I had is that it can't be left on the dash in the summer. You have to install and remove it every time or it will melt into, and leave a permanent shape in your dash. The grip and holding abilities are great.

with all the dust that is in the car, I can't imagine this working a long time. I wanted to place this on the dash near me and with the cord needing to stretch a bit.. the radar detector wouldn't stay. Plus I needed something that would get alot of wear due to the frequency of radar detector being moved back and forth. This would lose its "stickiness" in a very short time since it collects all the dust.

I installed unit on dash. Radar radar detector real hard to take off and on you don't want to get a $300 detective stolen ..so you want to get off every time you leave a car you cannot do that because it's super sticky.

Ka band was on constantly with annoying bleeping and read too the max...couldn't adjust it. If you just turn off/down the volumeyou will lose the alarm for other devises. i have lost confidence in the product.glenn sailer

Nothing has really changed in the use case for radar detectors in 25 years. It beeps constantly, you ignore it, it serves no purpose but to annoy. This model is no different. I'm surprised at the number of strong reviews (perhaps from people in very rural areas where there is less interference)?

This radar detector does its job, as it had saved me from many uncomfortable situations. However, I haven't found it to be very durable, as I'm on my third model 8500 X50. The prior two eventually start giving an error message, "Service Required ", or something like that. I've never returned one to the factory, so I don't know the issue or expense involved. I am forced to buy the same model because I have a fitted, matching waterproof case that allows me to use it on my touring motorcycle. If you are inclined to think that the motorcycle is causing the problem, I disagree, for the first one I owned never was used there but spent its whole life in the cab of my car. It still developed the same problem after about two years. If I could find another motorcycle case out there, I'd definitely buy another brand. Buyer beware.

Set up was easy but within 24 hours I was pulled over and ticketed for speeding on the interstate for doing 9 mph over the speed limit at a speed trap when the limit dropped 5 mph from 75 to 70 (I was cruising at 79 and hadn't broke my cruise control yet). This thing never made a sound. The remaining 4 hours of my 7 hour trip were done at posted speed limits and I passed several highway patrolmen and police and was alerted about half the time. Can't say I recommend at all. If you must have one, spend more money and get a newer model, maybe it will work, this one didn't for me.

I will preface this review by saying this detector DOES work well. It saved me from a few tickets on my recent 2500 mile trip. It doesn't detect Ka band radar from a long distance, but it does give you enough time to slow down.The main reason I rated it two stars is because of the false alerts: there are a lot of them! Illinois and Florida, among other states, have radar built into their construction signs. There is a lot of construction going on right now so anytime you are anywhere close to a construction zone, whether or not actual work is being done, this detector will go off the entire time and is useless. Also, it constantly falses when around newer cars with blind spot or radar cruise control. Acura, Mercedes, Lexus and even newer GM's have this. It doesn't give you a small alert either, it's a full on K or Ka band radar alert. This does not go away until you pass the car or are out of range of their system.Because of these reasons this detector really isn't useful anymore. It's like the boy who cried wolf: the more it false alerts the less you listen to it and the less useful it really is to you. It still is a great detector, but because of the false alerts I had to return it.

I ended up returning the radar detector after having several issues with it. I should have taken others reviews a bit more serious. You WILL have false alarms. I have a cobra detector that I've owned for 9 years and decided I would replace it with a newer more up to date unit. I spent two days with this passport and put my cobra back in. The false alerts were unbearable and the sounds that this device uses are very frustrating. Please take all reviews into consideration. Please spen a little more money or buy a different brand. I wouldn't have kept this unit if it were $50.

Not sticky enough to even stay on my dashboard let alone hold my passport radar detector on the dash from jinX. I have purchased mounting pads from other sellers and they are sticky and they work just fine. This pad is worthless!

It worked good the first week, but lost it stickiness thereafter. I read that it's washable, so maybe that might help make it sticky again. I don't have time for that. My detector came with a suction mount for the windshield which I use now and should've stuck with. It has no flaws. Buy at your own risk.

WAY TOO STICKY! I would never put this on my dash. It would likely just damage the plastic. I have had other dash pads that work fine, this one feels oily and way too sticky. Wasted money, unless you want something really sticky.

Melted once it got hot outside then left a gooey mess on my dashboard. Waste of money

Total waste of money. It has lost all its adhesive ability after just two weeks. Worked great - for a week. Now it's as sticky as a sheet of glass.I haven't experienced such a poor product in years. And our weather has not been hot nor cold here in NC in early May, so it hasn't been baked or frozen, it's just useless.

Gave this as a gift to someone, and at first it was awesome. Then summer temperatures came, and even though the car was covered most of the time, this little pad melted on the dash ! Something that is going to be on your dash should be able to withstand warm temperatures !

I returned it. It was as huge as the first ones back in the 80's! And the other reviews were correct. Felt like cheap plastic and the top and bottom halves would move. Disappointed for what it cost...

Cheaply made design. Suction cups provided barely stick to clean windshield. I recive so many false alarms off of this thing its crazy. For $200 I'm not happy at all with this purchase. I would rather spend more for a better device.

outdated, slow to respond.... still way over priced.

Had this detector less than a year and less than 4000 miles driving and the screws broke off separating it in half. Plastic junk.

I have had this radar detector for about one year now and I'm getting ready to replace it. Way to many false alarms and you just start to ignore the the constant beeping and false alarms, and if law enforcement is using Laser forget about it your toast as that is what happened to me recently, the detector never warned me and the officer gave me a $200 dollar ticket. I called Escort and told them them how they are falsely advertising that there radar detector can't detect Laser and the rep really had no answer to my question.Do yourself a favor and save your money as Escort inc. is just stealing your money if you buy there crapping products.Bottom line you will have false protection using Escort Radar's and it will be only a matter of time before you get a ticket unfortunately.

I've owned this item for just over a year through 3 vehicles now and not once since I received it in the mail has the unit worked. I contacted escort radars customer service twice before receiving a response back the third most recent time, the only option they give is to purchase a new power cord or send it in for repair for a fee. If you purchase this and it doesn't work, get on it quick or be prepared to be given excuses as to why there isn't any hope of having the unit work without paying more on top of the purchase price.Not an item I would buy if you have an issue dealing with incompetent customer service reps, but then again aren't they all the same these days.