Well, this is the $64,000 question.  Lots has been said on this subject and I have to tell you that the answer to this question has become somewhat controversial.

Even at this website – Beat-the-speed-trap.com, reader opinions seem to be divided strongly among the pros and the cons.  So, what’s the Bottom Line?

Well, as you know, I am a “bottom line” person, so I will be brief.  The answer is (drum roll please) – “it is a scam, pure and simple.”  Sorry to disappoint you.  And sorry to all of you that have bought this product already.  I am ashamed of it, but your truly even promoted the product on this very website not too long ago.

A more complete answer with the caveat is this:  There is no caveat…Photoblocker Spray does not work, period. Don’t fall for their trap when they tell you that people who had bad results simply did not apply is properly.  The product was tested at Mythbusters using highly sophisticated scientific methods, and the myth was busted!  In other words, the product did not work.

The company loves to cite this fact to support their claims:

A television station, WTV09 performed a study to test the effectiveness of photoblocker spray.  Their testing showed that spray DOES in fact make a license plat unreadable when a digital camera with a flash was used to photograph it.  They did a side-by-side comparison of a plate with and without the PhotoBlocker Spray.

I and many others believe that the testing by the TV station was flawed.  It was not done by scientists and it was effective on only one type of camera and flash set up (and I also believe the lighting conditions were just perfect).  However, the type of camera and flashed used in the TV example is NOT the kind used by most municipalities.

Besides, you don’t have to take my word for it.  Numerous people on the internet will back up the fact that this spray just does not do what it is purported to do.  It does not work.  Don’t waste your money on it.

For real protection, buy a radar detector.  Read my article on the world’s best radar detector on this site.  And if you want to buy is, your best bet is RADAR BUSTERS….their link is right on this site.  They are a reputable company.

Escort 9500ix

Okay, I’m not a wordy writer.  Like many of you, I’m a “bottom line” kind of guy.  My mantra is usually: Spare me the technical details, just tell me what to buy.

Well, I will do that.  But to be fair, I will follow up with the rationale behind my recommendations.  I am not going against my mantra, but I do think it is important to show you that this is not based on my opinions, but rather real world testing.

So here it is:

• #1 with GPS – Escort Passport 9500i – Price: $460 – usually not sold at a discount anywhere
• #1 without GPS – Escort Passport 8500 X50  – price: $345

Where to Buy:

You can buy it at one of our partner sites by clicking on any of the ads on this page.  Full disclosure, we are paid a fee if you make a purchase from the partner site.  But, here’s the deal – if you’re going to make a purchase based on the information at BTST (this website), why not help us maintain and strengthen this FREE site by buying from our partners.

And Now for the Details…

Here are the details behind the recommendation above.  If you don’t like technical details or don’t care, you need not read further.  Just buy one of the units above and you will not go wrong.

Now, for those of you who what to know about the rationale behind the ratings, read on…

What is “best?”

First, to truly rate what is best, the word “best” needs to be defined.  Best can mean a number of things in the world of radar detectors – highest in sensitivity, longest in range, best in selectivity and best in eliminating false alarms.  But I can tell you from real world experience that “best” is always a compromise of all these attributes, i.e., there is no detector that is best at all the qualities that matter – sensitivity, range, selectivity and false positive elimination at the same time.

These attributes are by their very nature competing attributes.  If engineers design a radar detector to be exceptionally sensitive, they have to compromise on its ability to detect false positive signals.  If they design the unit to have the greatest selectivity, it will not have the longest range, and so on.

Three premier brands are usually mentioned when any expert talks about the best radar detectors – Escort, Beltronics (BEL) and Valentine.

Valentine V1

Valentine V1 fans love to tout about the Valentine V1′s ultra high sensitivity – this is true – it can detect a police radar in the next state (I exaggerate for dramatic effect here).  While it may be super sensitive and will not let you miss a potential radar trap, the darn thing can not keep its alarm from going off at the slightest provocation from any radar source – such as radar detectors in passing cars, cell phone towers, Little Timmy’s glow-in-the-dark wrist watch (again I exaggerate for dramatic effect).  This gets old quickly.  By the end of a 500 mile trip, you either want to surrender this thing to a cop, or smash it over and over with all four tires of your car.

BEL

Then there’s BEL (Beltronics) .  Fans of this breed love to tout about the BEL GX65 – particularly its photo band sensitivity.  We agree, this is impressive.  But in the all important category of Laser radar detection, this brand tends to fall short.  Having said that, there is one model that stands out – the BEL STI Driver – because it is mysteriously undetectable by the most sensitive police radar detector – detecting equipment.  So this makes it ideal for places where such devices are banned, such as Washington DC and Virginia.  But other than this specialized model, the brand does not stand out against Escort for everywhere else where radar detectors are legal.

Escort:

This brings us to Escort – the brand of choice.  Why are their products superior?  Well, in a nutshell, they are the “best” in our view.  For example, compared to the Valentine V1, the units above are extraordinarily good at eliminating false alarms or false positive signals and they have a lot more features to boot.  And compared to the BEL detectors, the units are nearly equal in our view for photo band detection, but offer superior camera location detection in the Escort 9500ix (the GPS enabled unit) and both the Escort 9500Xi and Escort 8500 X50 offer higher sensitivity while eliminating false positives.

So there you have it.  The two Escort products – the 9500ix and 8500 X50, because of their extraordinary sensitivity, superior features, user friendliness and exceptional elimination of false signals reign, at least for the time being, the best radar detectors on the planet.

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