Purchased New Escort 9500i

[5H4D0WD347H]

Well here I am again owning yet another V1... I have owned my Escort for 3 years now and I am going to be testing my Escort X50 vs. a brand new Valentine One V1.8 POP2 to see how it does. The winner stays and the loser gets sold! Let the comparisons begin!

 

[5H4D0WD347H]

So far this is my impression:

Blue Escort 8500 X50 vs. Valentine One 1.8 POP2

The Good:

1. The detection range has surprised me so far. I am picking up things WAY farther away then my Escort did. But... testing continues to make sure this is the case on all bands. So far I have only encountered instant on K band threats from afar.

2. The V1 mounting system is solid - holds the thing perfectly still on the windshield. This was always a quarrel of mine with the Escort - that thing bounces around like crazy.

The Bad:

1. The display on the V1 is hard to get used to again (since its not digital). If the V1 had a digital display them it would be great. I think this should be a big upgrade consideration for V1 in the near future. I hate the LED ramp up and band display, always have - always will.

2. The V1 gives WAY more false alarms then the Escort would. Now whether this is due to superior detection range or straight up sloppy filtering that is yet to be determined.

 

[5H4D0WD347H]

Wow... The Valentine Version 1.8 POP2 is excellent! So far its actually kicking the crap out of the Escort 8500 X50 multiple times. Since I deemed the Escort 8500 X50 more sensitive then the new 9500i that can be counted as a double ass kicking.

Great Job Valentine on 1.8 POP2!

The V1 either alerts a second before the Escort 8500 OR many times an 1/8th mile before it!!! I haven't had the Escort beat the V1 in range yet! The V1s Off-Axis and Rear Detection Range is superior and not even comparable!!!!

When I stated above that the V1 had "more" false alarms then the Escort I must now admit (after doing some further testing) that it is a misstatement. The Valentine "appears" to false a lot more then the Escort but this is just due to its superior detection range. The Escort will and does false to the same frequencies as the Valentine. The Escort just doesn't false tell its with in a much closer proximity creating the illusion that it false alerts "less".

I have tested and encountered multiple speed traps with both detectors in the past few days:

X (in NJ)
K
Ka
and POP mode

I think the Escort is going to be coming off the windshield & the V1 stays! Ever since I sold my last Valentine years ago I had become a loyal Escort user. Now trying the newest version of the V1 this is no longer the case!!!! My faith has been restored in Valentine as the best detector money can buy. For those of you looking for a Radar detector look no further.

Valentine 1.8 POP2 > Escort 8500 X50 & Escort 9500i !!! :rock: