Cobra Electronics ESD 6060 Radar Detector

The Cobra ESD-6060 is about as cheap as they come, well atleast for Cobra. The more expensive ESD series detectors all prove themselves nearly worthless, but how does the dramatically cheaper and different looking model compare? The Cobra ESD-6060 can be found for around $50 in some stores, and can be purchased for even less. I decided to get a hold of one and see how it stacks up as a radar detector. Here's what I found with it.

-Price-
*The Cobra ESD-6060 can be purchased for either more or less than $50, but expect it to be around there. The only other major competitor that comes down so low is Whistler. The Whistler DE-1730 is right about there too. Well, I compared the Cobra ESD-6060 against the Whistler DE-1730, and let's just say the Cobra is almost worthless. If you have the choice of giving $50 to buy this Cobra or give the money to the town drunk, it's better spent on the town drunk. In reality, the performance you'd be getting in the $50 is horrible, but you'd still fare much better with some chance of having sufficient early warning with the Whistler DE-1730. The Cobra might look better than the Whistler counterpart, but Whistler kills the Cobra.

-Performance-
*The Cobra ESD-6060 is absolutely horrible. It has horrible sensitivity on K and Ka band, and those are what matter. Cobras are known to pick up X-band with sufficient range. I knew of a couple X-band sensors that set it off as a gun would, and the Cobra ESD-6060 provided ample warning, but X-band guns are being phased out. The first annoying thing I must say is that the Cobra ESD-6060 is yet again one of those detectors which have the K/Ka band icon which makes it impossible to distinguish between the two bands. This can be crucial in some areas. Well, not that it really matters considering it can barely pick up those bands anyhow. Well, I decided to compare the Cobra ESD-6060 to the Whistler DE-1730 in K and Ka band territories. Well, with K-band, the Cobra ESD-6060 provided very little warning considering the police cruiser was already in clear view by the time it started to warn me of the threat. The Whistler gave just about enough time to slam the gas and have a second or so to spare. Then when I came across Ka-band, the Cobra ESD-6060 failed to go off entirely, and the Whistler went off slightly before the cop was in sight. I drove around town for a while longer, and encountered another cop using Ka-band, and the Cobra ESD-6060 went off this time, but this was when I was literally in front of the gun! There's a much better tool that I have than the Cobra ESD-6060, and those are my eyes. Everyone has them. They perform better, and are free.

-Features & Ease of Use-
*There is nothing special or difficult to use on the Cobra ESD-6060. It's a bare-bones detector that's solely built to detect police radar at inappropriate ranges. There are two buttons on top, the trusty mute button which will mute the threat, and also a City/Highway mode button. The volume is controlled by the turn-wheel on the left side of the detector. It's VERY simple to use, and I can't stress that enough.

-The Verdict-
*The human eyes prove to be a much more effective tool at detecting cops than the Cobra ESD-6060. It's absolutely to have a detector and therefore start thinking that you're invincible. You'll definitely be getting pulled over with the Cobra ESD-6060. If you're so desperate to buy a radar detector in this price range, then the Whistler DE-1730 will fare much better, though it's rather not the smartest idea buying such a cheap detector. Look on eBay, you may find some deals on some higher-end Whistlers or other models, and those are much better than the Cobra ESD-6060. So, what's the Cobra ESD-6060? It makes an excellent door-stop, but a rather expensive one.