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 have owned this product over a year and used it occassionally on long drives. Last week of June I went long driving and on an isolated highway in Wyoming I got pulled over and cited for speeding. The passport 9500i was on the windshield all this time and did not even make a single sound or any indication that it picked up the radar of the trooper. I asked the trooper to validate what equipment he used and it was radar not laser. If it was laser maybe that would be an excuse for the company that makes the radar, but it's an old device and my very expensive detector did not do a darn thing to warn me. DO NOT BUY , DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS PRODUCT.

Waste of money and time. All the positive reviews have to be employees. This radar detector is the worst thing I have ever bought. I have had it two weeks now (unfortunately not returnable). There are soooo many false alerts, it will drive you crazy! You don't get 5 minutes of peace and quiet. Who wants a radar detector that picks up EVERY signal in the vacinity. And you can't block false alerts, after a point it just tells the device to 'mute'. then it comes back in 3 minutes, until you unplug it. I think it was invented and sold by the police dept, because there are so many false signals you just end up ignoring it, so you will never know which one was in your path. Save your money, time and peace of mind.

The 9500i works pretty good except on laser speed units. With laser it just tells you that you can prepare to get a ticket. I works pretty good on radar if you can manage to keep it stuck to your windshield.

What would seem to be a fairly simple problem Escort is not willing to address. The unit weighs 8 oz. It hangs from your windshield with 2 small thin cheap vinyl suction cups for only a short period of time. A hot day will have your 9500i bouncing off of your dash and falling to the floor; so will a cold day. Over a few weeks the cups start losing their ability to hold the detector to your windshield and it falls on the floor. I have tried proping it with the rear view mirror or spraying the cups with hair spray (a customer support suggestion) to make them hold. This works for only a little while. Customer support will send you a dozen or so suction cups if you talk to them; sales is only too happy to sell them to you without even telling you to go to customer support. They will also sell you a visor clip but the 9500i needs to be positioned so that the top of the unit has an unobstructed view of the sky so that gps satilites can comunicate with the unit.

All of the buttons controling the unit are on the top of the unit and not visible to the operator. So now it up to you to try to remember which button does what. Good luck. Or fumble around trying to remove the unit and put it back so that you can read the buttons.

It appears that Escort/Passport is trying to live on their laurels and fails to address some vary simple issues. I would look around for a company more concerned with addressing their customers legitimate complaints.

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!