Escort 9500IX Radar Detector
- Mute: With Mute
- Detection Mode: City / Highway modes
- Detection Area: Front / Rear
- Detection Bands: X Band K Band Ka Band Ku Band Laser
- Alert type: Audio / Visual
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Best radar on the market? Hardly.
Pros
GPS: Autolearning filter, database with threats. Voltage meter/speed meter.
Cons
Miserable detection range, price...
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
I highly esteem Escort, but they handsdown goofed thistime. (Or I was unlucky to get defective that should've never passed quality inspection). 3 stars-5 for features, 2 for radar detection.
Important pre-history.
I own Escort Passport x50 8500, and, believe me, I did my research when choosing a radar detector (My review on it here and comparison to Valentine One here). So in this review I will be comparing performance of x50 vs. 9500ix as I was quite satisfied with my detector. That is, until it broke, which, on the other hand, gave me a perfect excuse to shell out $500 tax for 9500ix to see if 9500ix is indeed "The next great leap forward in total protection".
I will not list the full specifications (https://www.escortradar.com/store/passport-9500ix.html), because if you made it to Epinions, you know them already by heart. I will, however, concentrate on the performance (read - detection) aspect, as well as on Features, on which Escort makes marketing accents. I have had 9500ix for just short of one month, and below summarize my findings and experience with this detector.
DETECTION.
Why detection is important?
This is the only feature which is absolutely vital for any radar detector. If I were a professional detector reviewer, in my radar evaluation it would have total weight of 90% of the detector score. A detector has to warn its user of the radar presence in sufficient amount of time so that the user will be able to correct his speed before being hit with the radar (laser) beam. This is the most important function, and, as such, it should be as good as possible.
Detection range, systematic study
Having lived in Bay Area for ten years, I know many stationary speed meters that emit on K band. I have used four of these as my initial detection range test. On all four I have run three tests: detection range in front approach (as if a cop would be waiting for you in the bushes on a highway), detection range after I passed a meter (as in the case where a cop just entered a highway, and tries to get you from behind), and detection range approaching from perpendicular direction (a side street) This is the case when a cop stands on an overpass, hitting you from behind, or standing behind a curve, or operating a radar on-and-off, and you have to rely on your detector's ability to pick up reflections of the radar. Each test was repeated 3 times or more, and the results are compared to the performance of 8500, for which I knew detection ranges of these particular 4 meters, as I drive by them every day.
For each approach for each meter 9500ix has utterly lost in detection range compared to 8500. What is worse, in many cases the detection range was absolutely inadequate and unacceptable - it managed to detect the meter only after I had a visual detection! In real life it will be a guaranteed ticket. Also, it did not gradually increase the signal strength on the front approach; rather it would jump from no signal to full signal instantaneously.
Real-life experience
On my way to and from work I detect 1-2 Ka signals with 8500 every day. Half of detections, on average, are visually confirmed - the cop standing on the side giving a ticket to an unfortunate, or driving on a roadway, or, sometimes, even sitting in speedtraps. Thus, I know what I should expect, on average. In a month when equipped with 950ix, I have detected Ka signal 8 times on the same route, as opposed to 1-2 daily encounters. 2 of the detection occurred in the same place where I never had it before, and I had no visual both these times even though I looked really good for it. 2 times I saw a cop coming from opposite direction, 2 times I saw a cop standing on the side of the road. 2 times I did not have a visual either, but could have easily missed it on opposite side due to heavy traffic. Each of visual confirmations happened (read - I see the cop!) much earlier than I used to, and in half of the cases it would be TOO LATE. Thus again 9500ix shows shorter detection range.
But what disappointed me the most, were 4 encounters on the I-5. 8500 gives me ~2-3 miles advance warnings of the radar presence on this nice and (mostly) flat freeway. 9500ix once warned me so that I barely had time to reduce the speed; twice I had visual at the same time as the detector went (instantaneously, yak!) from complete silence to full strength on Ka band. VERY BAD. But last was the worst: I was driving side by side with another car, until at some point the other driver slammed the brakes, and in 10 seconds a cop drove in the opposite direction. I conclude that the other driver had a detector as well, and detected the incoming cop. 9500ix did not produce a single beep.
Laser detection is very hard to study systematically, unless you have a gun, and a buddy who is trained and willing to operate it for you. I did hear it once, without visual confirmation. So I cannot really say anything about it. The consensus among radar detector users is such that laser detection is at best chancy, and no radar detector on the market is able to detect it reliably.
CONCLUSION
Apparently, there can be no talks of "leaps", or even "steps forward". 9500ix was returned back to the store before 30-day expired.
It seems to me that in this model Escort made main effort on reducing the falsing. They did it at a great (and unacceptable, for me) price of reducing the sensitivity and detection range. Whether it is inferior hardware (I doubt that given performance of 8500!), or slowwitted software, or overfiltering - is hard to say. What a dissapointment for me. The unit went back to the store, my 8500 went to Escort for repair (full story on it in the link at the beginning).
Now I do realize that that particular unit I have bought might have been defective, but I have no desire to check another one.
FEATURES
For the ones, interested in features, I will express my opinion on their usefulness and implementation in 9500ix, in approximate order of importance.
GPS-Powered TruelockTM Filter
Nice. Really nice. What it does is detects and memorizes the frequency and position of every single signal 9500xi detects. If it detects the same frequency twice in the same position, 9500xi will tag this signal as false and will no longer react to it. If ever it is no longer present in this location, it is unblocked, and will be shown on the next occurrence.
User has an ability to block a signal manually as well, and unblocking it later, if required.
Safety Camera Database, updates, and Mark Location Features
The unit comes pre-loaded with a database of speed and red light cams, and confirmed speedtraps across the US.
Based on your location and speed, you get warned when approaching to such an installation.
Now I will strongly discourage anyone to run redlights. Very, very dangerous.
Thus this feature will be a nice reminder for one who might have been distracted for a moment and about (accidentally!) run a redlight. It will also remind to make a full stop before turning right on red - I've seen (ugly!) tickets sent home for this, seemingly harmless, infraction, based on redlight cam evidence.
I have never seen a speed camera yet, but will be glad to be warned beforehand, as those likely will be mighty hard to spot ahead of time, especially on the speed. So, it is very nice, very useful feature.
And, for sure, speedtraps are the major threat, especially laser(LIDAR)-based. Radar-based speedtraps are also quite dangerous as the cop might have it turned off, and if you are alone on the road, he will have it reserved and ready to turn on just for you and just on time so that you will stand no chance even with the best radar detector.
Updates for the locations of these threats, that are based on users feedback and verification, are available for subscription for this service. Everyone has to decide for himself, if he wants it. $50 for 3 years, I would certainly have signed up were I to keep the unit - I have seen redlight cameras installed on both new and existing redlights. Speedtraps position though might change too fast for Escort to be able to keep up with, but who knows? Will not hurt, for sure!
A user might as well mark any location as "a threat", tagging it either as a speed cam, or redlight cam, or speedtrap.
Power-on indicator.
Escort continues the trend, allowing users to choose what they want to see on the screen when the unit is in idle mode, and when it detects radar. My favorite settings are car voltage (though I did try speedometer, to compare my native ones to a gps-enabled, until I found it too distractive) in idle mode, and frequency meter, when detecting a signal (easy way to distinguish falses from reals on K band)
Bands
9500ix has all bands, including Ku which is very important for Europeans and Australians.
Variable Speed Sensitivity
If you are driving clearly below any possible speed limits, the unit will not bug you with alerts - just beep twice. I find it kind of useless (as I am not that annoyed by false alerts, when I understand myself that any alert is of no importance), duplicating of TruelockTM Filter, as it will learn all the malls you are visiting, and sometimes counterproductive - I want to know of the presence of a cop as early as possible, as I can get up to and above the speed limit very fast. Radar detector is always about the best detection possible period. It is plain stupid to try to reduce its sensitivity artificially. One might as well buy a lesser model.
Speed AlertTM
Blocking the signal frequency display for first 2-3 seconds, Speed AlertTM were turned off and forgotten within 2 days.
Crystal-Clear Voice Alerts
Annoying, interrupting the audio alert of signal strength, Crystal-Clear Voice Alerts were turned off and forgotten within 3 days.
Mute, AutoMute and SmartMute
They have moved the mute button from the face panel of the unit, making it much less user-friendly. The mute button on smart cord functions as usual though.
Automute is absolutely useless feature - you will always want to hear how the Ka band strength changes, once detected, to understand where the cop is, and which way he's moving. If you have music playing, and automute kicks in, you will have to turn off the music, which distracts you from what you should be doing in this case - keep your eyes on the road looking for that cop. I was unable (but did not try hard J) to find SmartMute at all. It is also missing from the instructions, and only present on the box and Escort website.
AutoVolume
This feature is supposed to adjust the volume according to the surrounding noise. Well, it did not work. In fact, with AutoVolume on, the volume behavior was completely erratic. Sometimes it will beep to an alert extremely loud, sometimes barely audible, regardless of the actual noise level in the car. With AutoVolume off, it was OK. Great idea, inferior implementation.
Sensitivity Control
You should set it to highway and forget about it. See Variable Speed Sensitivity
Mechanicals
Escort changed the shape a bit so that the unit is no longer pointing driver's way (that is, on left-sided cars) - it is less convenient. But they did move the cord on the left side of the unit, which is way less stress on the cord, and suction cup - kudos! Color became black, reducing the reflections of the unit from the windshield, but increasing the heat absorption from the sun, increasing the risk of thermal failure (an often event, I heard, even with silver-pained 8500s)
I own Escort Passport x50 8500, and, believe me, I did my research when choosing a radar detector (My review on it here and comparison to Valentine One here). So in this review I will be comparing performance of x50 vs. 9500ix as I was quite satisfied with my detector. That is, until it broke, which, on the other hand, gave me a perfect excuse to shell out $500 tax for 9500ix to see if 9500ix is indeed "The next great leap forward in total protection".
I will not list the full specifications (https://www.escortradar.com/store/passport-9500ix.html), because if you made it to Epinions, you know them already by heart. I will, however, concentrate on the performance (read - detection) aspect, as well as on Features, on which Escort makes marketing accents. I have had 9500ix for just short of one month, and below summarize my findings and experience with this detector.
DETECTION.
Why detection is important?
This is the only feature which is absolutely vital for any radar detector. If I were a professional detector reviewer, in my radar evaluation it would have total weight of 90% of the detector score. A detector has to warn its user of the radar presence in sufficient amount of time so that the user will be able to correct his speed before being hit with the radar (laser) beam. This is the most important function, and, as such, it should be as good as possible.
Detection range, systematic study
Having lived in Bay Area for ten years, I know many stationary speed meters that emit on K band. I have used four of these as my initial detection range test. On all four I have run three tests: detection range in front approach (as if a cop would be waiting for you in the bushes on a highway), detection range after I passed a meter (as in the case where a cop just entered a highway, and tries to get you from behind), and detection range approaching from perpendicular direction (a side street) This is the case when a cop stands on an overpass, hitting you from behind, or standing behind a curve, or operating a radar on-and-off, and you have to rely on your detector's ability to pick up reflections of the radar. Each test was repeated 3 times or more, and the results are compared to the performance of 8500, for which I knew detection ranges of these particular 4 meters, as I drive by them every day.
For each approach for each meter 9500ix has utterly lost in detection range compared to 8500. What is worse, in many cases the detection range was absolutely inadequate and unacceptable - it managed to detect the meter only after I had a visual detection! In real life it will be a guaranteed ticket. Also, it did not gradually increase the signal strength on the front approach; rather it would jump from no signal to full signal instantaneously.
Real-life experience
On my way to and from work I detect 1-2 Ka signals with 8500 every day. Half of detections, on average, are visually confirmed - the cop standing on the side giving a ticket to an unfortunate, or driving on a roadway, or, sometimes, even sitting in speedtraps. Thus, I know what I should expect, on average. In a month when equipped with 950ix, I have detected Ka signal 8 times on the same route, as opposed to 1-2 daily encounters. 2 of the detection occurred in the same place where I never had it before, and I had no visual both these times even though I looked really good for it. 2 times I saw a cop coming from opposite direction, 2 times I saw a cop standing on the side of the road. 2 times I did not have a visual either, but could have easily missed it on opposite side due to heavy traffic. Each of visual confirmations happened (read - I see the cop!) much earlier than I used to, and in half of the cases it would be TOO LATE. Thus again 9500ix shows shorter detection range.
But what disappointed me the most, were 4 encounters on the I-5. 8500 gives me ~2-3 miles advance warnings of the radar presence on this nice and (mostly) flat freeway. 9500ix once warned me so that I barely had time to reduce the speed; twice I had visual at the same time as the detector went (instantaneously, yak!) from complete silence to full strength on Ka band. VERY BAD. But last was the worst: I was driving side by side with another car, until at some point the other driver slammed the brakes, and in 10 seconds a cop drove in the opposite direction. I conclude that the other driver had a detector as well, and detected the incoming cop. 9500ix did not produce a single beep.
Laser detection is very hard to study systematically, unless you have a gun, and a buddy who is trained and willing to operate it for you. I did hear it once, without visual confirmation. So I cannot really say anything about it. The consensus among radar detector users is such that laser detection is at best chancy, and no radar detector on the market is able to detect it reliably.
CONCLUSION
Apparently, there can be no talks of "leaps", or even "steps forward". 9500ix was returned back to the store before 30-day expired.
It seems to me that in this model Escort made main effort on reducing the falsing. They did it at a great (and unacceptable, for me) price of reducing the sensitivity and detection range. Whether it is inferior hardware (I doubt that given performance of 8500!), or slowwitted software, or overfiltering - is hard to say. What a dissapointment for me. The unit went back to the store, my 8500 went to Escort for repair (full story on it in the link at the beginning).
Now I do realize that that particular unit I have bought might have been defective, but I have no desire to check another one.
FEATURES
For the ones, interested in features, I will express my opinion on their usefulness and implementation in 9500ix, in approximate order of importance.
GPS-Powered TruelockTM Filter
Nice. Really nice. What it does is detects and memorizes the frequency and position of every single signal 9500xi detects. If it detects the same frequency twice in the same position, 9500xi will tag this signal as false and will no longer react to it. If ever it is no longer present in this location, it is unblocked, and will be shown on the next occurrence.
User has an ability to block a signal manually as well, and unblocking it later, if required.
Safety Camera Database, updates, and Mark Location Features
The unit comes pre-loaded with a database of speed and red light cams, and confirmed speedtraps across the US.
Based on your location and speed, you get warned when approaching to such an installation.
Now I will strongly discourage anyone to run redlights. Very, very dangerous.
Thus this feature will be a nice reminder for one who might have been distracted for a moment and about (accidentally!) run a redlight. It will also remind to make a full stop before turning right on red - I've seen (ugly!) tickets sent home for this, seemingly harmless, infraction, based on redlight cam evidence.
I have never seen a speed camera yet, but will be glad to be warned beforehand, as those likely will be mighty hard to spot ahead of time, especially on the speed. So, it is very nice, very useful feature.
And, for sure, speedtraps are the major threat, especially laser(LIDAR)-based. Radar-based speedtraps are also quite dangerous as the cop might have it turned off, and if you are alone on the road, he will have it reserved and ready to turn on just for you and just on time so that you will stand no chance even with the best radar detector.
Updates for the locations of these threats, that are based on users feedback and verification, are available for subscription for this service. Everyone has to decide for himself, if he wants it. $50 for 3 years, I would certainly have signed up were I to keep the unit - I have seen redlight cameras installed on both new and existing redlights. Speedtraps position though might change too fast for Escort to be able to keep up with, but who knows? Will not hurt, for sure!
A user might as well mark any location as "a threat", tagging it either as a speed cam, or redlight cam, or speedtrap.
Power-on indicator.
Escort continues the trend, allowing users to choose what they want to see on the screen when the unit is in idle mode, and when it detects radar. My favorite settings are car voltage (though I did try speedometer, to compare my native ones to a gps-enabled, until I found it too distractive) in idle mode, and frequency meter, when detecting a signal (easy way to distinguish falses from reals on K band)
Bands
9500ix has all bands, including Ku which is very important for Europeans and Australians.
Variable Speed Sensitivity
If you are driving clearly below any possible speed limits, the unit will not bug you with alerts - just beep twice. I find it kind of useless (as I am not that annoyed by false alerts, when I understand myself that any alert is of no importance), duplicating of TruelockTM Filter, as it will learn all the malls you are visiting, and sometimes counterproductive - I want to know of the presence of a cop as early as possible, as I can get up to and above the speed limit very fast. Radar detector is always about the best detection possible period. It is plain stupid to try to reduce its sensitivity artificially. One might as well buy a lesser model.
Speed AlertTM
Blocking the signal frequency display for first 2-3 seconds, Speed AlertTM were turned off and forgotten within 2 days.
Crystal-Clear Voice Alerts
Annoying, interrupting the audio alert of signal strength, Crystal-Clear Voice Alerts were turned off and forgotten within 3 days.
Mute, AutoMute and SmartMute
They have moved the mute button from the face panel of the unit, making it much less user-friendly. The mute button on smart cord functions as usual though.
Automute is absolutely useless feature - you will always want to hear how the Ka band strength changes, once detected, to understand where the cop is, and which way he's moving. If you have music playing, and automute kicks in, you will have to turn off the music, which distracts you from what you should be doing in this case - keep your eyes on the road looking for that cop. I was unable (but did not try hard J) to find SmartMute at all. It is also missing from the instructions, and only present on the box and Escort website.
AutoVolume
This feature is supposed to adjust the volume according to the surrounding noise. Well, it did not work. In fact, with AutoVolume on, the volume behavior was completely erratic. Sometimes it will beep to an alert extremely loud, sometimes barely audible, regardless of the actual noise level in the car. With AutoVolume off, it was OK. Great idea, inferior implementation.
Sensitivity Control
You should set it to highway and forget about it. See Variable Speed Sensitivity
Mechanicals
Escort changed the shape a bit so that the unit is no longer pointing driver's way (that is, on left-sided cars) - it is less convenient. But they did move the cord on the left side of the unit, which is way less stress on the cord, and suction cup - kudos! Color became black, reducing the reflections of the unit from the windshield, but increasing the heat absorption from the sun, increasing the risk of thermal failure (an often event, I heard, even with silver-pained 8500s)
