Escort Max Ci 360 vs. DragonEye Compact: Test Results

Escort Max Ci 360 vs. DragonEye header photo

Update 7/13/17: Escort has released firmware version 1.1 which should help address the issues jamming the newest guns discussed in this article. Updated testing is showing that the ShifterMax can now detect and jam some new DragonEye guns it couldn’t before, but not very reliably.

Original Post:

Escort has released their latest integrated remote mount radar detector and laser jammers, the Max Ci and Max Ci 360. They’re the successors to the 9500ci and offer all the same benefits with even better BSM filtering, the ability to add a rear radar detector antenna to give you arrows, and they come with new laser jammers that Escort is calling their “ShifterMax” sensors. I don’t have a Max Ci on hand myself yet personally, but I will soon and am looking forward to it because the radar detector is looking very promising in initial testing. The laser jammer side is looking good against traditional guns, but against the latest DragonEye guns with more advanced anti-jamming capabilities, Escort has repeatedly claimed that their new ShifterMax jammers can jam those guns, but testing has consistently been showing us otherwise. This has been a hot topic lately so I’d like to compile and share some of the testing and videos with you so that you can see as well.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/06/escort-max-ci-360-vs-dragoneye-compact-test-results/

Blackvue DR650S-2CH Dashcam Review

Blackvue DR650S-2CH Dashcam Review

Blackvue DR650S-2CH

I’ve been testing a bunch of dashcams over the past few years in search of the ultimate dashcam and for the past 7 months I’ve been running the Blackvue DR650S-2CH full time in my car. I’m really liking it as an all-around good dashcam, jam packed with useful features. It’s like the Max360 of dashcams in that it’s got all the bells and whistles. There’s other dashcams that are superior in certain areas and there are a few things about this camera that I wish were improved, but the reason I like this camera is that it records both in front of me and behind for complete protection, the video quality is reasonably good, the camera is stealthy and black so it doesn’t stand out to other people outside my car, and it can automatically switch between driving mode and parking mode without me having to putz around with settings so it’s always there running in the background, watching my back.. which is exactly what I want a dashcam for. In short, it’s a fully-featured and well-rounded dashcam. Let’s dive into this Blackvue DR650S-2CH review.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/06/blackvue-dr650s-2ch-dashcam-review/

How to Program and Set Up Your Uniden R1 and Uniden R3 Radar Detector

Uniden R3If you have a Uniden R1 or Uniden R3, you can change the settings to give yourself better performance, filter out more false alerts, change the display color to match your vehicle’s interior, and basically tweak it to what you prefer.

Now there’s no universal “best” settings for everyone of course since what’s best depends on where you drive and even your own personal preferences. That’s why they gave us options. 🙂

Purchase a Uniden R1 here.

Purchase a Uniden R3 here.

You can download the R1 manual or the R3 manual and read over the details. Rather than just duplicating the manual here (which is a bit dated now), in this article I want to go into a bit more explanation so you can better understand the benefits of the different settings, their pros and cons, and which one you should choose. Then at the very end, I’ll share with you the settings that I run. 🙂

This guide is current as of firmware 1.65 and will be updated as new firmware updates are released. (Last updated June 2024.)

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/06/how-to-program-and-set-up-your-uniden-r1-and-r3/

How to Update the Firmware on the Uniden R1 & R3

This week Uniden released firmware updates for both their R1 & R3 radar detectors. Let’s walk through the update process so you can learn how to install the drivers, update the redlight camera database, and update the firmware for the Uniden R1 and Uniden R3 radar detectors.

Here’s a pair of videos, the first for Windows and the second for Mac, showing you how to update your detector, followed the step-by-step tutorial with important links.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/06/how-to-update-the-firmware-on-the-uniden-r1-r3/

Rocky Mountain Radar Judge Radar Detector Review

Rocky Mountain Radar Judge Review

It’s time to take a look at RMR’s latest radar detector and do a Rocky Mountain Radar Judge review. You see, many people consider Rocky Mountain Radar to be one of the biggest scammers in the radar detector industry. They make a lot of wild claims that turn out not to be true, justify their claims with nonsensical technobabble in the hopes that you get lost in the confusion of something that sounds intelligent and just take their word for it, but really they’re in the business of taking advantage of people who don’t know any better. As the saying does, “If you can’t dazzle ’em with brilliance, baffle ’em with bullshit.” :p

Their main claim to fame is that they advertise radar and laser “scrambling” capabilities, that like radar or laser jammers, they can prevent police officers from being able to acquire your speed. They claim it’s a passive technique which makes it different from jamming, but in practice, it has NO any impact on radar or laser guns pointed at you when you’re driving down the road. None.

Now you could test this out yourself by driving past a speed sign on the side of the road, but because the product doesn’t actually have any impact on radar guns, they’ll claim that there’s no computer inside of speed signs which makes no sense at all, but it’s really just a way to avoid people from discovering that their products do not work. RMR claims that their products only work against police radar and laser guns so… let’s test against those in this Rocky Mountain Radar Judge review, shall we? 🙂

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/06/rocky-mountain-radar-judge-review/

Differences between the Uniden R1 & Uniden R3

So I just sat down with the Uniden R1 and Uniden R3 to compare them side by side.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/05/differences-between-the-uniden-r1-r3/

Uniden R3 vs. Uniden DFR7

Updated: August 2017

The Uniden R3 is the evolution of the Uniden DFR7. It offers a number of different benefits and improvements over the DFR7. Let’s compare the Uniden R3 vs. DFR7 so that you can decide which detector you should buy or if you should upgrade if you already own the DFR7.

Uniden R3 vs. DFR7

Uniden DFR7 & Uniden R3

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/05/uniden-r3-vs-uniden-dfr7/

Introducing the Uniden R1 & Uniden R3

Introduction Uniden R3 First Look

Uniden R3

Uniden is introducing two new high end radar detectors which are the successors to the DFR6 and DFR7. They are called the Uniden R1 and the Uniden R3 and they’re so good, they’re rendering some of the current top of the line benchmark radar detectors virtually obsolete.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/05/introducing-the-uniden-r1-r3/

BlendMount vs. Radar Mount Rear View Mirror Mount Comparison & Review

If you want to mount your radar detector underneath your rear view mirror (RVM), there’s two main options: The higher end BlendMount or the less expensive Radar Mount Mirror Mount. They both do basically the same thing and I was wondering which one is better and what the differences are so I reached out to both manufacturers and they’ve each sent me products to review and it turns out that while both of them will do the job, there’s quite a few differences between the two in practice. Let’s take a closer look.

Max360 on BlendMount

Redline on Radar Mount

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/04/blendmount-vs-radar-mount-rear-view-mirror-mount-comparison-review/

Radenso SP Released

Radenso has just released their latest detector, the Radenso SP!

Radenso SP Radar Detector

Radenso SP Radar Detector

The Radenso SP is a GPS-less version of their popular Radenso XP. It’s essentially the same thing with the same level of performance, but without the GPS chip and related functionality (low speed muting, GPS lockouts, red light camera alerts). It also costs $150 less than the XP and so at $249, it’s a more budget friendly option for people looking for a good detector with excellent false alert filtering abilities.

The Radenso SP can be purchased online here.

Update: The Radenso SP has since been discontinued. The XP was more popular and was often considered o one of the best radar detectors and Radenso wanted to simplify their lineup. However, the SP will continue to be updated and supported.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.vortexradar.com/2017/04/radenso-sp-released/

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