Best Radar Detectors: Reviews, Tests, & Guides

Welcome to Vortex Radar, your trusted guide for the road. I provide comprehensive tests, comparisons, and reviews of the best radar detectors, laser jammers, and dashcams available on the market. My mission is to keep drivers safe, informed, and ready for every trip, enhancing your experience on the road with the latest tech.

Best Radar Detectors of 2023

Best Radar Detector: Escort Redline 360cEscort Redline 360c: Best Set-It-and-Forget-It Detector ($799)5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Radar Detector: Uniden R8Uniden R8: Best Performing Detector ($699)5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Radar Detector: Valentine 1 Gen2Valentine 1 Gen2: Best for Enthusiasts ($599) 5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Radar Detector: Uniden R7Uniden R7: Best Bang for the Buck with Arrows ($499) 5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase, Custom Firmware

Best Non-Arrow Radar Detectors

Best Radar Detector: Uniden R4Uniden R4: Best Non-Arrow Radar Detector ($379)5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Radar Detector: Radenso DS1Radenso DS1: Best for USB C Power ($369)5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Radar Detector: Escort Max 3Escort Max 3: Bluetooth and Autolockouts ($399)5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Radar Detector: Uniden R3Uniden R3: Best Radar Detector Under $300 ($299) 5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Radar Detector: Uniden DFR7Uniden DFR7: Best Radar Detector Under $200 ($199) 4 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Custom Installed Radar Detectors

Best Custom Installed Radar Detector: Radenso RC MBest Custom Install Radar Detector w/ ALP: Radenso RC M  ($2,099)5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Custom Installed Radar Detector: Escort Max CiMore Automated Custom Installed Radar Detector: Escort Max Ci5 Stars

Discontinued and replaced by Redline Ci-c which I haven’t tested yet. Review expected this summer, so Redline recommendation TBD.

Best Custom Installed Radar Detector: Net Radar DSPAffordable Remote Radar Detector: Net Radar DSP for the ALP ($679)4 Stars

Review, How to ConfigurePurchase

Best Laser Jammers of 2023

Best Laser Jammer: AntiLaser PriorityBest Laser Jammer: AntiLaser Priority ($1069 Dual, $1699 Triple TX BT HiFi) 5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Laser Jammer: Adaptiv TPXAffordable Option: Adaptiv TPX ($949 Triple) 4 Stars

Review, Purchase (Save 10% with coupon “Vortex”)

Best Laser Jammer: Escort ZW5 wireless laser shifterEasiest to Install: Escort ZW5 ($999 Dual) 4 Stars

Review, Purchase

Recommended Apps:

JBV1 for the V1Best Countermeasure App (optimized for the V1): JBV1 (Free)

Learn to Use JBV1, Download

WazeReal-time police spotted alerts: Waze (Free)

Download

Escort Live

Cloud-based alerting sharing with Escort radar detectors: Escort Live (Free)

Download

Recommended Radar Detector Accessories:

Best Radar Detector Mount: BlendmountRear View Mirror Mount: BlendMount ($99, save 10% with coupon “Vortex10”)

Review, Purchase

Radar detector hardwire cableHardwire Cable ($10-$70)

How to Install, Purchase

Best Dash Cameras of 2023:

Best Dash Camera: Viofo A119 Mini 2Best Entry Level Front Only Dashcam: Viofo A119 Mini 2 ($129)

Review, Purchase

Best Dash Camera: Viofo A129 Plus DuoBest Entry Level Front/Rear Dashcam: Viofo A129 Plus Duo ($179)

Review, Purchase

Best Dash Camera: Viofo A139 Pro 2CHBest 4K Dashcam: Viofo A139 Pro 2CH ($299)

Review, Purchase (1CH Front, 2CH Front/Rear, 3CH Front/Rear/Interior)

Best Dash Camera: Blackvue DR970X-2CH LTEBest 4K Cloud Dashcam: Blackvue DR970X-2CH LTE ($539)

Review, Purchase

My Recommended Countermeasure Setup:

Vortex Radar's Recommended Countermeasures

Latest Posts:

Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/

Prime Day 2023 Deals on Radar Detectors & Dashcams

Prime Day 2023 is this week! It’s like early Black Friday with some of the best discounts of the year. Check out all the Prime Day deals here. Prime Day runs July 11-12 and now that the deals are live, I’m regularly updating this page with the very best discounts on countermeasures.

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R9 Ka alert ahead

Uniden R9 Review

The Uniden R9 is Uniden’s first custom installed radar detector and laser jammer. The radar detector is based off the popular R8 and their laser jammer is all new. I and several others have been beta testing the R9 for the past 3 years while it was under development, and now that it’s available for …

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Uniden R9 and RD Test app

Uniden R9: Long Range Test Results

Today and I went out to the red barn test course to see how the upcoming Uniden R9 fares against other custom installed (CI) detectors. I was mainly just wanting to confirm that it can perform on par with other high end detectors since even there’s a lot of important things to compare between them, obviously …

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Uniden R8 1.27 update software

Improved Audio Quality on the Uniden R3, R4, & R8

Uniden has released new firmware versions for three different radar detectors to improve their audio quality. The new detectors and firmware versions include:

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Redline 360c

Escort Radar Detectors: Unified Firmware Update Overview

This week Escort is rolling out a comprehensive firmware update for a wide range of their radar detectors. These updates bring about some significant enhancements including improved performance, reduced false alerts, and some important bug fixes, creating a more trustworthy user experience. Here are the detectors being updated and their new firmware versions: All of …

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Escort Max 360 Mk II

Escort Max 360 Mk II Introduced

Escort has just released the successor to the original Max 360 ($499) and it’s called the Max 360 Mk II ($599). It’s essentially a Max 360c Mk II ($699), just without the WiFi, and it improves upon the original Max 360 by offering longer range, better blind spot monitoring (BSM) filtering, improved photo radar detection, …

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R8 Ka alert behind w/ Highway Radar

Uniden R4 & R8 Get Bluetooth Capability

Great news for Uniden R4 and Uniden R8 radar detector owners! Bluetooth capability has finally been activated on these detectors thanks to new firmware updates, adding more convenience and functionality. Let’s discuss how the Bluetooth functionality works, the features it adds, the current Android-only compatibility, and the only compatible app, Highway Radar. We’ll also touch …

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Escort MaxCam 360c

Escort MaxCam 360c firmware 1.8

Escort has just released firmware 1.8 for the MaxCam 360c which fixes a power-related bug and improves the arrow behavior. Read the official release notes here. Purchase your Escort MaxCam 360c here.

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Blackvue DR970X-2CH LTE

Blackvue Announces New Dashcams at CES 2023

This week at CES 2023, Blackvue has released a number of new dashcams and as a long time Blackvue owner, I’m pretty excited to see some of these changes. While I’m not at CES this year due to a family vacation, I wanted to share my initial thoughts and reactions about their upcoming new models. …

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Vortex 2022 Holiday Giveaway Prizes

2022 Holiday Giveaway

Time for my end of the year holiday giveaway! This year we’ve got over $7,000 in prizes including a bunch of radar detectors, dash cameras, and accessories. Vortex Radar’s 2022 Holiday Giveaway All winners will be randomly chosen after January 1st, 2023. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel! A big thank you to …

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