This weekend, the beta testers have been hard at work putting their new Uniden R7‘s through its paces and seeing if we can continue to expect the same top notch performance we saw with the R1 and the R3. Thanks to the group, we now have a bunch of hard data and test results to start looking through.
The R7 is based on the same platform as the R1 and the R3. However, Uniden has revised the plastic condenser lens in front of the horn, increasing the detector’s overall sensitivity by 1 dB. Will we see the R7 meet or exceed the performance of the R1 and the R3? Let’s find out…
Note 1: These R7’s are all running beta firmware. Nevertheless, they should give us a pretty good indication of what we can expect when these are released next month.
Note 2: These results are all originally posted on RDF’s testing section and I’m putting the information together and sharing it with you all here as well.
hiddencam’s R7 Long Range Testing
First up, let’s take a look at @hiddencam‘s R7 test results.
Here’s his test course:
He ran the Uniden R7 vs. Net Radar DSP, Uniden R1, Valentine One, Escort Redline EX, Radenso Pro M, and Whistler CR97. He tested front and rear detection against 34.7, 35.5, and K band. Here are his results:
As you can see the R7 is a beast! It’s running right up there with the R1. Giving the detector arrows hasn’t weakened its detection capabilities.
The R7 does really well with rear detection too, easily surpassing the V1. Only the Net Radar DSP, with its rear antenna installed in his bumper) is comparable from behind.
If you’d like to see his R7 in action, here’s some highlights from his testing:
See @hiddencam’s post on RDF for complete information and discussion about this test.
Dukes’ R7 Long Range Testing
Next up, let’s take a look at @Dukes‘ long range R7 testing up in Canada. Since he has the MRCD used up in Edmonton, he did some testing against 34.7 with MRCD on and off.
First up, here’s a look at his test course:
Testing his R7 against his R1 with MRCD enabled, here’s what he saw:
The R7 ran right up there alongside the R1. Excellent.
Turning MRCD off next, here’s his results:
Again, top notch results. This time, the R7 managed to edge out the R1 in every single run. Very cool.
Looks like the R7 hasn’t lost its touch. 🙂
See @Dukes’ post on RDF for complete results and discussion about his test.
TXCTG’s R7 Long Range Testing
Finally, let’s take a look at this weekend’s R7 test results from the Texas Countermeasure Testing Group (TXCTG).
They tested the R7 on 34.7 and 35.5, front and rear, against the R3, V1, Pro M, and Max360. Here’s their test course:
First up, here’s how everything looked driving towards the 34.7 radar gun.
The two R3’s and two R7’s went neck and neck for top range detections, beating out the V1, Pro M, and Max360.
Next, looking at range from behind, both R7’s were easily able to give longer rear detections than the V1 or Max360.
Switching over to 35.5, the R series continued to display their dominance. This time, both R7’s managed to outperform even the two R3’s on this very difficult to detect Ka frequency.
In a bit of a surprise, from behind, the other detectors managed to get reach R7 levels of sensitivity. The R7 maintained more of a lead in rear 35.5 performance in @hiddencam’s test, but even if the R7 is “only” as good as the Max360 and V1 in this test, that’s not a bad thing at all. 🙂
See the TXCTG’s post on RDF for complete results and discussion about their testing.
Thoughts on the R7’s Test Results
Uniden told us that the R7 should be able to meet or exceed the performance of the R1 and the R3 and so far, the test results are all consistently showing exactly this. Some people were concerned that changing up the detector would lead to a reduction in range, similar to what we saw in testing with going from the original Redline to the Redline EX.
If you’re looking for a long range radar detector with arrows, Uniden has delivered with the Uniden R7.
You can pre-order the Uniden R7 here.
A big thank you to all the fellow beta testers! A big thank you to Uniden as well for allowing us to test out earlier copies of their upcoming R7!
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7 comments
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Hello,
Are they still going to keep the R3 advanced? It seems as though all the focus is on the R7. I’m kind of upset because I just bought the R3 right before they came out with the R7. I just hope they don’t lose focus on the R3.
PS- When are you going to have another live chat?
Scotte
hi i currently have max 360 that you could tell me about it? I’m thinking about upgrading to the max 360c or r7 can you answer me at [email protected] thanks
Is it worth upgrading the R3 to the R7? From what I read, it seems like I would be paying an extra $200 just to get directional arrows.
Vortex et.al.
Hello, i am noticing that my rear antenna on my R7 is more sensitive than the front, is that something others have discovered?
I am requesting a replacement, i have tried multiple settings and variations of filters & this is true on all bands, as an example…as i’m driving and pass locations’ emitting freqs, the front will catch it at say 1-2 bars, but as i pass, i get the side arrows (which i’m loving the arrows, BTW), which sometimes stay constant as I pass from front receive > to side arrows (which i believe is a combo of the concave and convex receivers) > the front the results depict lower power then once the rear catches it- it jumps to 4 to 6 bars… this occurs all the time on all the Frequencies.
I think i got a “room temp” device not cold but nowhere near hot on the front notifications. as well as , when i do pick up alerts, it’s nowhere near the distance that my R3 would notify me at my locally known Freq sites…
Please before i send this back, is there some loophole I’m missing ???
i do love the device in all its’ size and features,
i just can’t trust it yet until i get this resolved.
any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you very much.
VegasVinMan
Author
When you say it’s more sensitive, have you actually tried flipping the detector around to see if you truly get longer range from behind? or are you only looking at the signal strength and rampup/down in both directions? Rampup and arrow behavior is related to, but different than actual sensitivity. Troubleshooting / tech support related posts are best shared on the forum so we can all discuss this together.
so i haven’t tested it by turning it around, 1- i haven’t thought about that and 2-it’s hard to do while driving, and effectively see the info-screen…Vortex, i did bring this up in the forum about a week ago or so, but it was a reply, with the R7 topic; i dont remember what the title was. in looking at my stats from the RD Forums they do not list it either, so i apologize but i’m not sure if anyone has replied.
the seller has agreed to replace it , but wanted to turn over every rock first. plus this unit is so much less chatty than my R3… which could be a byproduct of an issue with the front antenna.
Thanks
Vince M
Author
https://www.rdforum.org/index.php?threads/87165/