Home > Consumer Reviews > Escort Passport 9500i Radar and Laser Detector

Actually, this is my first review I have ever written for anything else. I have owned couple of radar detectors before (Omega Japan, which is mainly oriented for Asian market and Cobra XRS 9330). Both of them were pretty good but
were very much sensitive to false signals like X band, KA bands.
I bought Passport 9500i three months ago and it turned out to be the best radar detector comparing to the ones I have owned before. There are
a lot of cool features like 'true lock', 'mark location' which uses GPS technology,'speed alert' etc. It has very long range of detection for x-band signal as well.
But...there is big drawback! This radar detector has absolutely NO reaction against so called K-pulse signal used in Russian radar guns like Iskra-1, Berkut, Vizir etc. These radar guns are becoming quite popular in Russia and in some
former USSR countries. So my review is basically oriented for customers from Russia.
I would probably put six stars for this product if I lived in United States but in the country where I live, this radar detector has become pretty much useless!

I am a veteran user of radar detectors (this is my 6th). This unit is by far the best one I have owned. It is feature rich and includes things like adjusting the volume of the alert based on the ambient noise inside the vehicle so you don't miss alerts. The ability to turn all the lights on the detector off at night while still receiving alerts on an LED mounted on the power cord (audible alert also still goes off). That eliminates everyone knowing you have a detector at night. Support for all bands used in the U.S. including POP radar & laser detection. It allows you to use GPS to mark speed traps, school zones and red light/photo camera locations. The detector will also increase the distance you are given to respond when entering the area of a marked location based on your speed. The faster you are going the more distance given.

It is not necessary to mark locations on routes that you travel frequently when there are false alarms. Once you enter an area 3x and receive the same alarm on the same band at the same frequency the detector recognizes it as a false and blocks out that false alarm in the future. Here is the cool part it will still recognize a change in frequency and/or band from the same location (police) and then alert while still having blocked the false alarm.

I love this detector and I would only ever consider getting rid of it to go one step up to the 9500ix model. I live in a state that doesn't use red light cameras or photo radar cameras (I'm in Michigan)so not having the ix doesn't hurt at all for me. I don't run redlights so I'm not worried about those even when I travel which is often. This detector can be updated easily with a usb cable and a laptop. It will also allow you to back up your marked locations onto your windows based PC (doesn't work with a Mac).

The most important thing for any radar detector is how much time does it give you to respond to a real alert. There is no problem in that area. This thing has range. Just put it on automatic and let it work. It will automatically detect your speed and increase the sensitivity of the detector. Slow down and it also dials down the sensitivity. This gives you range when needed and not a ton of false alarms like other detectors (ahem, cough cough VALENTINE!!). Did I say this doesn't give you a ton of false alarms.

This detector is well built and nicely packaged. It comes in a black hard case that is covered in a rich looking vinyl with a molded velvet interior. It comes with a mounting bracket that is very easy to use and an additional set of suction cups. It has a coiled cord with an additional mute button on the power cord along with led's there for when you turn off the lights on the detector at night. The owner's manual fits right in the top of the case. It's very easy to put in and take out. I put mine in the case and lock it away or take it with me when out of the car.

I bought this on clearance from the evil Best Buy (lol). It was on clearance for $360.00. I also had a $10.00 Reward Zone certificate so it was 350.00 for me. That was $100.00 cheaper than I could find it anywhere else. If you don't have one of these get one especially if you can find one that cheap!

The voice prompts and great warning system cant be beat.. Flase alarms are greatly reduced the GPS functions are out of this world

I have had this new 9500i only a short time; however I have been using the 8500i prior to this. The 9500i has a few more "bells and whistles"; however, not that much different from the 8500i. That aside, this is the best detector I have ever used. I use the dectector on every drive I take and it has dropped by tickets to zero for the past seven years.

As a radar detector I find the 9500 is slightly less sensitive than the Bel STi. I can live with that given the GPS integration... however, and the reason I'm penalizing this product is the complete misinformation surrounding the use of the USB port... there are no drivers, no published data formats and no software to take advantage of this feature. Right now the product gets 1-star for misleading advertising related to the capabilities of the device. Here's the official word from Escort regarding the USB port: "It is good to hear from you! We have not had an inordinate amount of returns with the 9500i. Currently the USB port is only used internally. In the future you will be able to download and save your marked locations, and download other customer's saved locations. In the far future, you will also be able to download software from us using the USB port. We have no time line on when these functions will be available, but our engineers are currently working on them. Thank you for your patience, and we will announce any new capabilities on our website."