Home > Consumer Reviews > Cobra ESD 9110CS Radar Detector For Vehicle

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I have been very impressed by this detector. It does what it's supposed to do and comes with no frills unlike the other more expensive detectors with voice, compass, GPS...etc

The only drawback I see from this detector (as with most detectors) is that it's pretty hopeless when it's up against Laser (Lidar) guns. When you hear the warning, it's already too late to react. It's not sensitive enough to pick up reflected/refracted laser signals from the cars ahead. And I doubt the rearward facing laser sensor is of any real use either.

And sometimes, it falses on the emergency services band (giving an ambulance-like siren tone).

But overall, it's a decent detector, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a good radar detector without overshooting the $$$$range.

The first time it worked,.... I was on hw5 to Las Vegas. I was following other 2 cars ahead at over 95 mph at 11pm. It was totally dark around (desert area), we all three cars were together & I was afraid to be left behind even though I don't know people of the other 2 cars.

Suddenly, the detector beeped once, showing "x1" strength of radar. Then, it beeped again, showing "x2" strength of radar close by. That was when I saw some light from far away behind. After half a minute, it beeped again, showing "x3" strength of radar close by. Gee, by then I was still not sure if the light behind was from a car; yet, it did seem to get closer & closer in the mirror. All, of a sudden "x4" & the radar detector beeped like crazy, the screen kept blinking.

I slowed down from over 90mph to under 70mph within 20 seconds & moved to the slow lane. After another 10 to 15 seconds, that car pasted me by fast (at around 90mph to 100mph).... man, sure enough, it was a cop with v radar on. As soon as it had passed for about 10 seconds, it siren went on. Guess what, it stopped the other 2 cars orginally ahead of me.

That was a saving of $275 for speeding over 90mph on HW5 & save time for going to traffic school, another $30 too.

That saving of over $300 already more than justified the price of this radar detector.


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Second time, there was a major construction area, it beeped & alerted me in the city. Great, it was hidden by a corner and sure enough, there was a big construction around the corner with one lane closed.

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However, it will not alert me if a cop has stopped another driver on the freeway. Only when the cop cars are moving or have the radar on, then it alerts me.

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Sometimes, it will pick up signals from big trucks on the freeway, no beeping, just showing "x1" strength. Once you pass the trucks with the walky-talky, it will go back to blank. It is not annoying at all, just FYI.

I decided to buy this because of the price. I've seem some of the really expensive ones they have out there, but it was out of my price range. I like what I have gotten for my money. It shows me the different bands and the strength of the signal. A problem that I have noticed with it is that sometimes it will go off when there is nothing there, usually the X band with a strength of 1 or 2. It also is hopeless if an officer hits you with laser. However, it is definately a good detector for $100.

I am reviewing this radar detector here simply because I have nowhere else to express my displeasure.

This Cobra radar detector is the original P.O.S budget radar detector that no one should waste money on. It doesn't detect police radar but bleeps and blares with continuous false alarms. It has features that range from counter intuitive to down right worthless.

The "smart mute" feature should be renamed to autistic mute because it is completely silent when it needs to alert the driver, and makes all sorts of stupid noise when it is least needed. The radar detector picked up the officer's radar as I approached, but then decided to "smart mute" the alarm as I got even closer and then sped by the cop.

As I sat and waited for the officer to write up my ticket, it frantically beeped "FIVE! FIVE! FIVE!" F you cobra! It still didn't make any sounds!

On the contrary, it seems to detect everything innocuous like retail store alarms, garage door openers, communications towers and manhole covers. The other day, I was driving in the city and it started beeping. The alarm escalated from 1 to 2 to .... I slowed down to see what might be ahead and it turned out to be someone's grandma sitting on her porch and picking her nose.

I am NEVER buying another cobra product. To date, I have 3 speeding tickets while driving with this stupid detector, and 0 tickets while driving without and using my own common sense.

....But now both of my units have stopped working altogether because the connection no longer worked. It started with just an annoying little wiggle to get the thing to come on and gradually croaked. Personally, I have never had any luck with power cords that are not flexible. If the straight cords get stuck on something, off the dashboard they go. Just my 2 cents worth.