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 ($369)5 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

Best Radar Detector: Radenso DS1Radenso DS1: Best for Custom Mounts ($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

Uniden R9Top Performing Custom Installed RD & Laser Jammer: Uniden R9 ($3,999)5 Stars

Review, Purchase

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

Discontinued and replaced by Redline Ci-c which I haven’t tested yet, but I’m sure will be better. Review date TBD.

Best Custom Installed Radar Detector: Radenso RC MCustom Install Radar Detector to Integrate w/ ALP: Radenso RC M  ($2,099)4 Stars

Review, How to Configure, Purchase

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:

JBV1Best Countermeasure App (optimized for the V1): JBV1 (Free)

Learn More, Download

WazeReal-time police spotted alerts: Waze (Free)

Learn More, iOS, Android

Drive SmarterCloud-based alerting sharing with Escort radar detectors: Drive Smarter (Free)

Learn More, 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

Viofo A229 Plus 2CHBest 2K Front/Rear Dashcam: Viofo A229 Plus ($199)

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

Viofo A229 Pro 2CHBest 4K Front/Rear Dashcam: Viofo A229 Pro ($299)

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

Thinkware U3000 2CHBest Long Term Parking Dashcam: Thinkware U3000

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

My Recommended Countermeasure Setup:

Vortex Radar's Recommended Countermeasures

Latest Posts:

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Black Friday 2023 Discounts on Radar Detectors & Dashcams

Black Friday started early this year! We’ve now got some of the best discounts of the year on different radar detectors and dashcams. Cyber Monday is very similar, but we have discounts on some different detectors now.  Here are some of my favorite discounts on the best countermeasures to keep you protected. As new deals …

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V1Driver and R8 Companion, Ka and K alerts\

V1Driver vs. Radar Companion Apps

If you’re an iPhone user running a Valentine 1 Gen2, Radenso DS1, Uniden R4, or Uniden R8, there’s two options for apps to connect to your detector and add more useful features: V1Driver and the different Radar Companion apps. Both are excellent and help extend the capabilities of your radar detector. Both of these apps …

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Drive Smarter CarPlay, K band alert 3 dots

Drive Smarter adds Apple CarPlay Support

Escort’s Drive Smarter app recent received an update that adds support for Apple CarPlay. With this latest update, you can now use your vehicle’s display for not only turn-by-turn navigation, but also to display your radar detector’s radar and laser alerts, cloud alerts shared with other drivers, and red light camera & speed camera alerts. …

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Prime Big Deals Days 2023 Discounts on Radar Detectors & Dashcams

Prime Big Deals Days 2023 runs Oct 10-11. It’s like early Black Friday with some of the best discounts of the year. This year we’ve got deals on radar detectors, dashcams, and more. New deals will keep popping up and old deals will expire. Some deals go live Tuesday, some Wednesday. Lightning Deals will only …

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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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