Enter to win a Blackvue DR750-2CH LTE dashcam (valued at $419). One winner will be selected Dec 4, 2020.
Check out all the Black Friday & Cyber Monday deals here!
Enter the giveaway here:
Win a BlackVue DR750-2CH LTE Dash Cam
Watch my review of the DR750-2CH LTE:
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2020/11/blackvue-dr750-2ch-lte-dashcam-giveaway/
Valentine Research just released firmware 4.1021 for the Valentine 1 Gen2, bringing several important improvements to the V1.
Warning: Be careful with this latest update. BSM falsing has gotten quite a bit worse with 4.1021 so I’d recommend holding off on this update for the time being.
Update Dec. 16: Firmware 4.1023 has been released with fixes the BSM filtering issues and brings some additional improvements.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2020/11/valentine1-gen2-firmware-4-1021/
FullColorDefense now has their thin V1 Gen2 concealed displays available for pre-order. Let’s take a closer look at the new thin concealed display (CD) and how it compares to the stock CD.
FullColorDefense thin CD with the V1 Gen2
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2020/11/fcd-v1gen2-thin-display/
The Viofo A129 series dash cameras are my favorite bang for the buck dashcams, especially if you’re looking for front and rear dash cameras. They offer excellent video quality and lots of helpful features at an affordable price point.
Viofo makes three different versions, the A129 Duo, A129 Plus, & A129 Pro. What are the differences and which one should you buy?
Viofo A129 Duo – Viofo A129 Plus Duo – Viofo A129 Pro Duo
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2020/10/viofo-a129-duo-a129-plus-a129-pro-comparison-review/
Uniden has released firmware 1.54 for both the Uniden R1 and Uniden R3.
This is a minor update that gives you a little more customization for MRCD alerts. Long range performance, BSM filtering, and MRCD detection performance itself is unchanged compared to 1.53.
Download 1.54 for the R3 here.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2020/10/uniden-r1-r3-fw-154/
Uniden has just released firmware 1.33 for the Uniden R7.
Uniden R7 running firmware 1.33
This is a pretty big update with a lot of changes to K band, including improved BSM filtering, additional false alert filtering, MRCD improvements, and an improved menu structure. Auto-lockouts are still in development and are not included in this update, but they should be in the next update. Let’s run through all the new features and improvements that Uniden has been working on for the past months.
Download Uniden R7 fw 1.33 for Windows
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2020/10/uniden-r7-firmware-1-33/
K40 is releasing a new windshield mount radar detector called the K40 Platinum100 ($470). It offers a bunch of improvements over their previous K40 RLS2 ($400) including longer range and several key new features.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2020/09/k40-releases-platinum100-radar-detector/
The Escort Max 3 (purchase here) comes with a bunch of settings and options to let you customize your experience. It does a good job out of the box as a plug-and-play detector, but you can tweak it even further. Let’s go over how to use your detector as well as how to optimize its performance and false alert filtering.
You can program your detector either 1) directly in the detector or 2) using the Escort Live app. Most settings are available in both places, but doing it through the phone is faster and easier.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2020/08/how-to-setup-configure-escort-max-3-radar-detector/
Escort has recently released the new Max 3 ($399) radar detector. It offers longer range and better false alert filtering than previous generations of Max-series detectors which is surprising because it’s not based on the same digital platform. There are a few issues I’ve discovered at launch that should be addressed in an upcoming update, but the Max 3 otherwise looks like a pretty great choice for an easy to use, long range, mid-priced radar detector.
Escort Max 3
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2020/07/escort-max-3-review/
After testing the brand new Escort Redline 360c last month, we discovered a bunch of critical issues. Fortunately Escort has since released firmware 1.3 which helped resolve most all the problems that we saw in initial testing. Now that the detector is working properly, I headed back out to retest the Redline 360c. With the new firmware, it now behaves much better and performs very well. As a bonus, I had a chance to also test out the brand new Escort Max 3 as well.
Testing the Redline 360c 1.3
Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2020/07/escort-redline-360c-max-3-testing/
Escort Redline 360c
($799)
Best for Set-It-and-Forget-It Drivers
Uniden R8 ($699)
Best Performing Radar Detector
Valentine 1 Gen2 ($599)
Best for Radar Detector Enthusiasts
Uniden R7 ($499)
Best bang for the buck with arrows
Uniden R4
($379)
Best non-arrow detector
Uniden R3Â ($299)
Best performance under $300
Uniden DFR7 ($199)
Best under $200
AntiLaser Priority ($1069 Dual, $1699 Triple TX BT HiFi)
The best performing and top laser jammer on the market
Stinger Fibers ($1825 Dual, $2525 Triple)
Tiny heads for stealthy installs, great for exotic cars, expensive, poor track record of updates
Adaptiv TPX ($949 Triple)
Best affordable laser jammer (Save 10% with coupon “Vortex”)
Uniden R9 ($3,999, radar and laser)
High performance radar detector & laser jammer combo
Radenso RC M ($2099, radar only)
Can integrate with ALP, integrated controller/display
Net Radar DSP ($689, $1179 w/ arrows)
Affordable custom installed radar detector, integrates with AntiLaser Priority
