Update: As of March 2020, the new V1 Gen 2 has started shipping out to those who’ve preordered. More info coming soon!
Since March of 2019, the Valentine One has been out of stock on VR’s website.
There’s been endless discussion and speculation on the forums ever since. You guys have been regularly asking what the latest news is so let’s go over what we know.
Is Valentine coming out with a new detector? Will it be the same or will there be changes? What will the changes be? When will the detector come out? What’s taking so long? Is Valentine going out of business?
I just called them up again this morning and I’ve done that several times over the months (I have a V1 on pre-order for as soon as it becomes available again) and many others have called VR for updates and posted their findings on RDF too. Here’s the latest news on what’s going on with Valentine:
Why the Delay?
The official story from V1 for months is that they’ve been waiting on parts.
Fortunately the new parts have finally arrived at Valentine. Yay!
I’m not sure exactly what the parts are and they didn’t specify when I asked, but now they’re vetting the new parts, working on software development, and testing everything out to make sure everything works well.
Updated V1 Changes
As far as changes, the updated V1 will be different than the current version (3.8952 is the latest). There’s been lots of varying (and sometimes conflicting) information that people have been told so it’s hard to know with certainty what will or won’t be different.
This morning they told me that the circuitry is different and radar performance / range should be improved on one of the bands (they didn’t specify which band).
They have been working on improved false alert filtering against K band BSM’s and on laser, but no word on exactly what the changes are.
GPS will not be built into this detector.
They have told others that Bluetooth will be integrated in the V1 which means a cleaner setup and we’d no longer require an external V1C or V1C LE module.
I asked about the patent on a new V1 display, but they didn’t say anything about a new display.
Price is expected to go up from what they’ve told others, but still in the $400’s, so maybe $449 or $499?
There may certainly be more changes too, but that’s all I’m aware of at this time.
Updated V1 Availability?
Because they’re still working on development and the process takes time, they don’t have a specific ETA for its release. Probably for the best to not give specifics, but it’s good to hear that things are still progressing behind the scenes.
When there is more information, they will let everyone know via their mailing list and on their website. I will definitely keep you posted when they resume shipping.
Once I receive an updated V1, I’ll detail all the changes and improvements, as usual. 🙂
If you have or find out any additional information in the meantime, please let me know down in the comments.
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24 comments
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Great News
thanks Vortex
Awesome to know!! Thanks!!!
will you be able to trade in the current v1 since they have only updated this current case for a decent value
Author
That’s generally VR’s M.O so I’m sure they’ll make that available as always.
Anxious to see YOUR actual test results to verify if an upgrade (when available) is worth the $$$ in your opinion.
I pre ordered my V2 about 5 months ago. Got the same vague story. They said the parts just arrived and took my pre order. The sales person didn’t even know details except that there would be no gps and Bluetooth would be built in. I doubt we will ever see a V2. Why isn’t mike advertising his new design. Back in the early 90’s when Ka was getting more commonplace, my V1 wouldn’t detect it until it was way too late. Then mike redesigned it and the range was exceptional! I learned about the new design in a car and driver article that interviewed mike. Mike detailed all of the improvements and gave a timeline on when the new design would be available. Result, they were overwhelmed with orders.
Mike is too smart to run out of parts. And not advertising his new design doesn’t make sense. Why isn’t he still selling the Original??
I noticed the V1 went out of stock around the time the Uniden R7 was released. I believe this is the first time a competitor clearly outperformed the V1. The R7 has the arrows, longer range, equal BSM filtering, gps to quiet it down and a great display. Basically, Uniden designed the V2.
Mike is in his 70’s. I think he is winding down and clearing out his inventory. I hope I’m wrong, but no company would ever let their product go out of stock for that long without clearly letting their customers know when they can purchase a new design. Imagine how many sales they lost
Joe
Author
They told you the parts arrived 5 months ago? Wow, I hadn’t heard anyone else who’d been told that before…
Joe, you might be right. Maybe he is selling off his remaining stock and slowly getting out of the business. Hate to see that.
I can’t find a reason for Mike to tell us fake news about things..if he is going out of business he should keep beeing ouiet otherwise what’s good in it for him? saying that they’re waiting on parts.
Although i might be wrong my guess is that things went wrong with some parts & changes are beeing made.
I think we’ll see a much better V1 with improved Ka range.
Which radar detector work good in EGYPT
I would like to know how or why Valentine has kept the lights on and paid somebody to answer the phone when they haven’t had a product to sell for over a year.
Here we are at March 1st and still no news. I’d be pretty concerned that the company is experiencing financial difficulties and may be in danger of going out of business. I’m not buying “waiting on parts” BS for nearly a year!!? Something else must be going on here. I was one of the very first V1 customers back in the early 90’s and although I love the design it has failed to keep up with the modern technology age.
It will be interesting to see where this ends up.
Author
VR is planning an announcement this coming week regarding the new features and then detectors start shipping the week after. Let’s see if that indeed happens…
Just got an email from Valentine. They are shipping the new V1 to me this week!! I pre ordered about 6 months ago.
March 3. Received a phone call from Valentine one this morning that my upgrade unit was available. Drove the 40 miles and picked it up.
Brand new case which requires different mounting pieces which are included with the new unit. I was told upgraded ka sensitivity and increased false alarm rejection. Bluetooth built-in available through “v1 connection the app” in iOS or play store. Initial reaction only driving 40 miles home with it is that I did not receive one single backup sensor alarm the whole drive up interstate 75. Sleek and sexy. Anxious to get my second unit upgraded.
Author
Very impressive!
Any update as to when we can send in our old units for upgrade and what the process and cost would be?
Author
$110 trade-in credit for your old V1
Thank you for the update also one more question I hope this is in the right thread.
After reading your reviews on the R3 do you think that would be a decent detector to hold
me over until the V1 update? Live in s fla a lot of new cars on the road need decent filtering.
thanks again
Got my new unit today
Happy to post photos if someone can tell me how
The new owners manual is available online
Hello, I’m extremely new to the forum, but have a question that I’ve wondered about for a few years. I bought my V1 about 10 or so years ago. It’s still providing me with ticket less driving but I would like to update/upgrade it. Is this something that can be done without buying a new detector or do I need to bite the bullet and spend the dough for a new one? Much appreciated!
bdernbach@comcast.net
Brian Dernbach
Author
There are some options you can adjust, but your best bet at this point is likely to upgrade. You’ll see improved performance, fewer false alerts, and a number of very useful features.
Let me know when you have anymore Email (ashleyedgerjr@gmail.com)