Home > Consumer Reviews > Cobra XRS-9930 12-Band Radar/Laser Detector

purchased this detector for 12 hour drives through 4 states I make about 5 times a year. Amazon's price was great and I did not expect this unit to compete with others costing 3x or 4x more. When mounted high on the front windshield, it has "OK" range - not great - but OK. It receives all the most common law enforcement radars in use today, but when it sounds off the transmitter is not all that far away - trust it and slow down for anything other than an "X Band" alert (I will probably turn that off in the menu ) I really like the auto volume control where it will turn down the alert volume after the first alarm - you don't need to listen to the beeping alarm at full volume. The voice announce of the type of radar is good also, you don't even need to look at the unit display to know what type of radar is being used. I hate the short curley power cord....made my own out of straight wire (Cobra sells one, but I'm too cheap). Good unit for the price !

I got this today and couldn't wait to try it out. So i drove around the Bay Area and had a good experience. I drove from Emeryville into the city, then hop onto 280 south down to redwood city, swing back onto San Mateo bridge and then up 880 north.

First, the X band went off a lot in emeryville, which was okay to me since X band is known to have false alarms. But it didn't go off much at all when i was on the freeway.

On 19th ave, there's a digital posting of your speed and so i know for sure there's a radar there. The speed sign is 1 block from golden gate park. I got a K1 alert as i exit the park and i never got anything else after i passed it.

The next exciting road was the San Mateo bridge. It has a sign saying "Radar enforced". So i was wondering where the radar is. I entered the bridge and soon after i get a K1 alert. It lasted for maybe 20 seconds, then i get about 5 seonds of K2, and then 1 second of K3. So it seems to me that if I see K1, Ka1, or Ku1, I better slow down because if i see K3, I would be passing the cop.

Two days later, i went on east bound bay bridge. And as i approach, i get a K1 for a very long time. Then as i enter the new section of the bay bridge still under construction, K2, and then K3 for about 20 seconds, then I saw from afar a speed post with speed limit at 35mph and a digital readout of car speeds. I got closer, it becomes K4, and then K5. I pass it, then it gradually went to K4, K3, K2, K1, then nothing. Few seconds later, I got another K1, then K2, K3, K4, then I see yet another digitial speed sign, and then K5. I also got a pop detection about 45 seconds later, I didn't see a cop tho.

I should point out that on the same night, I went on the Dumbarton bridge where there is a "Radar Enforced" sign, but the 9930 did not went off at all. Also I passed by 2 parked cop cars without the detector going off. This shows that the detector only help you in certain situation. You still need to WATCH for cops.

As for features, I really like the intelliMute, it's very accurate. I drive a stick shift so i'm very aware of my RPM. The display looks great, but it's a bit too bright at night. I didn't bother with the compass because i already have a build-in navigator. the setup was extremely easy and user friendly.

I was originally going to buy an escort x50 used for $200, but amazon is selling this for $122 new. It make sense for me to get this. I don't normally speed. But i plan to drive to LA every month for the next year, and so there is no way i can stay below 70mph all the time. Highway 5 is mostly desert and farm land, so if i see a K1 alert, i'm going to slow down.

I would recommend this model because it works and it's well designed. I had an older model of Cobra a few years ago and it was dead weight. This one is different. Not great, but good for the price

Now the bad stuff:
the powercord is sooo short, no one can use it without an extension. I found one in bestbuy for $8.
The suction cup doesn't suck. I'm trying to use the velcro, but it doesn't seem to stick either. I'm thinking of getting one of those rubber mat for ppl to put cell phones on their dashboard.
The sensitivity is not as great as an escort, but if you don't ignore the level 1 alerts, you should be okay.

The only think i can say after purchasing this radar is that it is a nice little radar that really works on both interstate and city limits. Some of my friends have even borrowed this radar from me when they had to go to a different state, and i got a very good feedback from them.

The only problem i had with this radar is Power (spiral) cord because the cigarette charger is besides the passenger seat in my 350Z, so i had to call cobra and they shipped me a straight cord without charging me a penny.

Had some problem(took me 30 mins to figure it out)in calibrating the radar in the beginning.

I would actually rate this 2 1/2 stars (2 was just too harsh). I recently had my Passport 8500 stolen, and just couldn't bring myself to plunking down another $300. On physical appearance between the two, the Cobra wins hands down. Unfortunately, that's as far as it goes. Protection seems OK, but it goes off so much in the city, it's hard to take it seriously. Unless I'm mistaken, turning off the POP protection needs to be done every time it is plugged in (major inconvenience, as it regularly gives off false alerts in the city). Passport kept its settings when unplugged. Mute button is on the detector itself (inconvenient to reach) whereas the Passport's is on the plug, which is much easier to reach. This is very minor, but the suction cups for the mounting bracket are so stiff that it is hard to get them to take on the windshield...especially if it's cold at all. I spent a ridiculous amount of time and effort just to get them to stick to the windshield. Hot water is your friend when mounting the Cobra. Also, the cord is short. Don't expect to mount this anywhere but straight up from your plug and at the very bottom of the windshield. Even at that, the cord will be stretched out, and flush against your dash. Don't understand the thought behind the cord, but luckily it works in my case.
I have not yet been on a road trip with the Cobra, and I suspect I would have fewer issues with it. I do trust the protection, but don't care for all of the other nuances when driving in town. I find myself driving with it unplugged in the city more often than not. I didn't really expect to get Passport quality for this price, but I did have hope. Good protection for the dollar, but I should have bit the bullet and bought the Passport. Oh well.

Make sure you manually turn on all the radar detecting features. The unit comes with only X and K bands features on.