Is Buying A Radar Detector Worth The Money?

Radar detectors can identify the signature of police radar guns, alerting you to their presence. Sometimes, this extra warning is the difference between you and a costly ticket — so long as they’re legal in your state.

Right now, they should be. Only Mississippi and Virginia have banned the radar detector, and you’ll face greater fines should you choose to ignore these states’ bans on their use. Barring this, radar detectors do actually work.

Most detectors use radar frequencies to figure out how far ahead something emitting these frequencies is. Usually, the result is a sworn officer of the law pointing a radar gun into traffic. However, there is always a possibility that the same bands used by law enforcement and their radar guns are used by others.

For example, the sensors on automatic doors like the ones you’d find at your local grocery store use the same radar frequencies. In some cases, a semi-truck’s radio can use some of the same frequencies. Finally, some law enforcement agencies use radar detector counter-measures, and getting pulled over with one in your window after having it defeated likely won’t result in a warning and a finger wag.

See Also: The Best Radar Detectors

Regardless, the cops use one of three radar bands to ping you for speeding: Ka, K, and X bands. X-band is the oldest of the three and is generally being phased out in favor of the newer Ka models. Other departments may still use K-band models, which is why it’s important to shop for a radar detector that can pick up all three. Further deterrents include lasers, which officers often use from the car at a standstill. Thankfully many detectors can pick this up as well.

It’s also worth considering pricing, as the money you’ll spend on radar detectors can be all over the map. Generally, you’ll get what you pay for, though there are some cheaper options worth considering, like the Uniden DFR7. While it lacks some features you’ll find at the top end of the market, like protection against radar detector detectors, it’s generally a great value featuring all three bands.

There’s also false-positive filtering, which helps keep noise to a minimum.

Obviously, some of these higher-end features are worth having, in addition to the further support you’ll get from manufacturers at the top end of the market. The aforementioned Uniden does not have a hardwire kit, which could be annoying in smaller cars, for example.

For a bit more money, there’s also the Radenso DS1, which fixes the poor screen problem with the Uniden DFR7. This one auto-dims, which is very nice, and features laser detection to boot. We like the automatic GPS lockout, too, which helps the detector remember where it picked up false alerts.

At the very top end of the market, we consider the Valentine One Gen 2 to be arguably the best on the market. It offers a wide array of mounting solutions too, which can help make this detector much more subtle and easier to fit into a wider variety of cars. Plus, its ability to detect radar traps is pretty much unparalleled.

See Also: Do Radar Detectors Really Work?

Of course, any detector mentioned above could be described as pricey. Generally, it’s worth weighing the cost of the unit against potential fines for traffic violations. How often have you been picked up by the cops over the last two years? We certainly don’t condone speeding, but the fact is that the overwhelming majority of Americans still do — even if it isn’t by more than a few miles per hour. At the end of the day, while egregious speeding isn’t acceptable, making sure a hard-nosed police officer can’t fleece you for a few hundred bucks every six months is worth the investment in our opinion.

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