If you travel frequently for work and are concerned about being caught in a speed trap (with this economic downturn I bet cities and towns will be tuning up their radar and laser guns) then this Escort Passport 9500ix is for you. Amazon has it for $409.99 shipped which is a savings of $95 off the normal price. I’ve been using this exact model for the past few months and am amazed at how few false alarms the device throws. The Passport 9500ix has integrated GPS which automatically adjusts the sensitivity for city or highway driving. My prior radar and laser detectors went in the trash heap after about a month of steady use due to their tendency to give annoying false alarms. Lets face it – if your radar/laser detector is constantly throwing false alarms you’ll either turn it off or throw it out. Neither of those things will happen with the 9500ix.

The Escort Passport 9500ix doesn’t look all that different than it’s many predecessors. Don’t let that fool you. This is one VASTLY improved device. I’ve owned several prior Escort Radar detectors. I’ve also owned the Valentine One detector. While all those earlier detectors were great — I wouldn’t trade my 9500ix for them.

In testing the advance warning was plenty. Several times I was alerted as far away as 1/2 to 1/4 mile. Laser alerts are a bit tricky because as you probably know they emit a razor thin beam which avoids detection until it’s too later. In some instances I found that I caught glimpses of laser but the warning was almost always after I spotted the fuzz.

I don’t believe there’s any detector that can completely protect you from laser. I view radar/laser detectors as primarily a way to guard against walking into a speed trap. I don’t condone speeding. As a matter of fact I’m almost always in the right hand lane of the highway with people zooming by me on the left. Even though I’m usually law abiding there are times when you’re passing a car or moving with the flow of traffic that you want to be protected from “harsh” enforcement.

Here’s my 9500 ix on a recent side trip through New York. I wanted to test out the claim that the unit would alert me to red light traffic cameras. A number of states have established traffic cameras to automatically capture those who run through red lights. When I was within a few hundred feet of this camera, the 9500ix automatically lit up and provided a directional arrow pointing to the intersection where the camera was positioned.

Another thing I like is the built in mute button located in the power cord. Instead of having to reach (dangerous while driving) across my dashboard – I can push a button on the power adapter and mute the detector.

Push the mute button twice and the 9500ix uses its built in GPS to save the exact location where you’ve muted the false alarm. The next time the detector is in the same place (which it knows due to the built in GPS) it will activate the mute automatically!

Escort has also vastly improved the startup and alert sounds. My older models had a hideously loud startup alert that made me want to cover my ears. Not so with the 9500ix. The alerts are quieter during startup. When the unit alerts during a radar (or laser or traffic camera) detection a voice also announces the radar band (X, K, Ka, etc). While the voice is announcing your speed will display on the detector so that you don’t have to take your eyes off the road to see if you’re maybe traveling a little to quickly.

This is a great gift for someone who travels. It’s expensive but worth the money because it’s not going to false alarm on your in front of every Friendlies restaurant with an automatic door opener (the built in GPS automatically adjusts the sensitivity for you when driving at low speeds).

The red light camera detection relies on a database of known locations. This requires cabling your device to a laptop (cord included) and updating the device’s internal data. Since I don’t live in an area with red light cameras (I had to travel into NY to find one to test) I haven’t applied any of the updates.

Summary: Expensive but worth it for anyone who drives frequently. Easily the best radar detector of any I’ve ever used. The only detector that doesn’t annoy me with umpteen false alarm warnings. If you’ve owned Passport radar detectors in the past and wonder whether this upgrade is worth it — the answer is yes.

What I like:
- barely any false alarms
- pleasant alerts
- shows current speed when alerting
- integrated GPS remembers where I’ve locked out a false alarm
- mute button on power cord

What could be improved:
- integrate traffic information wirelessly
- update red light / traffic cam data wirelessly and automatically

Link: Escort Passport 9500ix – $ 409.99

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