Home > Consumer Reviews > Whistler XTR-695 Laser/Radar Detector with Radar Signature ID, Laser Signature ID, 7-Color Display, Real Voice Alerts and External Audio Jack

Note - see edit at end for added comments.

I bought this detector recently and just completed a 600 mile round trip to Florida. The detector performed very well, and I'm really satisfied with both the performance and value.

K-Band Performance. Very Good - On one stretch of flat road the XTR-695 alarm went off approx. 1.3 miles in advance (with traffic in front of me). Even on rolling terrain with a patrol car located at the bottom of the dip in the road, it alerted approx. a 1/2 mile away, plenty of time to slow down. Very solid performance on K-Band.

KA-Band Performance. Very Good to Excellent - It picked up an oncoming patrol car approx. a mile away with the patrolman toggling the radar on and off as he encountered traffic. Another time a patrol car was parked at the end of very long sweeping curve on an interstate, shooting across the road at about a 45 degree angle. A very difficult test, but the 695 gave about a 15 second advance warning, which was more than enough time to slow down.

Navigating The Menu - Yes, even radar detectors now have menu options, but this one is very simple to navigate. Just press the Menu button, then keep pressing it until the option you're seeking appears on the screen. You can turn off, or on, just about every feature the detector has.

X-Band - I turned this off in the menu. It's used very little in 48 states (New Jersey & Ohio being the exceptions) and turning it off cut the number of false alarms way down (all those X-band automatic door openers in strip malls are now ignored).

POP Detection - Detecting radar guns in POP mode (the few radar guns that have a POP mode that is) requires a detector to spend a lot of time searching for the very weak POP signals, usually lessening response time and increasing false alerts. I turned POP mode off. POP readings can't be used in court, they just let the police get a peek at vehicle's speed without sending out a stronger signal. I figure you'll get hit a couple of seconds later with the real radar blast if you're speeding, probably too quickly to slow down anyway, so POP detection didn't seem worth it. I had gotten a few false KA band alerts, apparently bleed over coming from other detectors, and turning off POP seems to have prevented those types of false alerts almost entirely.

Voice Alert - Great feature. This is one of those things that turns out to be much more useful than you would think. You hear a quick beep/buzz to get your attention, and then a very loud clear voice announces the particular threat (i.e. "K Band"!). You know exactly what you're dealing with without ever having to look at the detector.

Periscope LED Alert - Another feature that turns out to be of more use than anticipated (the "periscope" terminology is Whistler's btw). Two bright blue LEDs, that are raised above the top surface of the detector, flash whenever radar is detected. Even with the music cranked, the LEDs should attract your attention.

Audio Alert - The different radar bands (and laser) have their own distinct alert (buzz/beep, whatever you want to call them). According to various detector experts, the speaker in the XTR695 is one of the largest in the business. All I know is that it's capable of being very loud, depending on how you set the volume control.

Display - This is the one area I'd say Whistler has room for improvement. The main display is dim, but it's not unreadable, at least not in my vehicle. Whether or not this is going to be a major issue probably depends on the individual and the particular vehicle (or the ambient lighting in that vehicle). For me, with the voice alerts telling me which band the radar is on (or announcing a laser hit), the loud audio alerts and the flashing blue 'periscope' LEDs, the display just isn't that important.

A note on detection distances mentioned above. I run the XTR695 in Highway Mode. I do not use any additional filter modes (Filter1 or Filter2). The 695 uses a basic filter mode from the factory, and that is the only filtering that was being done. The encounters were all with traffic in front of me, which makes a big difference in the real world. If you have the bucks, some of the more expensive detectors will pick up radar farther away than the 695, but some will not. Do your research before investing a lot of money in a detector. While this detector doesn't qualify as the very best out there, it has done very well in most of the tests I've come across.

In summary, a very good detector, and well worth the money.

Edit 12/18/08: I still like this detector very much. I wanted to add however, that the main reason I chose the XTR695 over the Whistler Pro 78 was due to the RSID feature available with the XTR695. After living with RSID for awhile, it hasn't proven as useful as I thought it would (it's not a scam by any means, and works perfectly well). If you want the top-of-the-line from Whistler, by all means get the XTR695. However, if price is a concern, then the Whistler 78 should provide similar performance at a lesser price (and with the nice blue LED display to boot). Again, I'm very satisfied with the XTR695, but wanted to pass on my experience in case anyone is trying to decide between the 695 vs the 78.

Wow.

This is my first radar detector, and I spent hours and hours researching and reading reviews. I was going to initially go with the Bel Vector 955, which is one of the industry leading detectors out there, but the sheer amount of features and performance drew me to the XTR-695.

I've owned this detector for a month now, and every option in this feature-packed detector comes in handy. First time it went off, the RSID flashed up with the frequency, indicating a positive match on a known police radar. One mile later, I passed a state trooper. Since then, this little device doesn't disappoint. I've set colors to certain bands so I know just by the color what I'm up against. The periscope leds give you a quick heads up, even under the loudest circumstances. Even on windy roads in the countryside, I can still detect radars coming up in enough time to let me react.

One of the greatest features of this detector (I think) is the sheer stealth of it. I chose this detector over the Bel because the Bel has a silver casing that reflects sunlight, giving everyone a clear view that you have a detector. The Whistler is jet black, leaving no glare, and besides the two windshield cups, people really can't see that you have a detector until they are close to you (Whistler recommends you install the detector as low as possible on the windshield, right above the wipers, got my first laser detection when I finally did that).

The XTR also has several modes of dimming, so you can essentially tell the detector to turn off all lights until it gets a signal. Coupled with the fact that I've turned off X-Band to reduce false alerts, this detector stays silent and out of sight until I need it to be, which is really great since I believe a detector should be as small a distraction as possible until you really need it.

One of the biggest gripes people have with this detector is that the display is a little hard to read. Sure, it doesn't look like GPS device when it goes off, so this doesn't bother me, and I consider it an added bonus since I don't need a marquee on my windshield just to tell me the letter "K" and the number "9" (which indicates the band and strength). I can read mine just fine when it goes off, and i don't need to read it when it's not detecting anything. You don't even need the display since a woman's voice can alert you to the band, and the periscope leds flash faster with the strength of the signal.

All in all, a strong detector for a steal. My buddy has a Valentine-One, and while I didn't feel like spending $500 on a top-notch detector, the Whistler XTR-695 is worth every penny (it's saved me a speeding ticket a few times too!), and the RSID and LSID is worth it alone, since when I see those frequency digits displayed, I'm 99% confident that there will be law enforcement around.

If you want the best radar detector for the price, buy the Whistler XTR-695 NOW! I REALLY wanted a Valentine 1 or a Passport 9500xi but I refuse to pay $500 or more for a radar detector. I researched and scoured the Internet to find a good, reasonably priced radar detector and the Whistler XTR 695 kept popping up with rave reviews. For the price ($145), standard 3 yr warranty (vs. 1 year with the $500 units)and the options/performance it is the best unit for the price, hands down. I drive mostly highway to and from work and this unit is perfect for that. Everything works as advertised and I received the detector within 5 days of ordering...I couldn't be happier. I'm sort of a techno nerd when it comes to the options that this radar detector has such as radar ID and laser ID. It provides the frequency of the radar or laser being used so if you see the freq then you know that the alert is legit. It does work well and helps ID the real cop from the false alarm. Speaking of which, this unit does not false like the Cobra or cheaper Bell units do. X-band, primarily used for automatic door openers at stores or businesses, etc., will cause false alarms in the city but using the built in filter options (if you drive a lot in the city) will alleviate the false alerts. X-band is really only used by small-city cops with small budgets that haven't upgraded their equipment so I'd be surprised if you saw this type of alert on the road with a cop attached to it. Buy it...you won't regret it! It has saved my bacon twice already but remember that most cops (so I'm finding) use the KA pulse option, or instant on. Very few cops are just leaving their radar guns on anymore unless its just K-band. The really nice thing about this radar detector is that it tells you which band is coming up in both audible and visual form with color background of your choice for each alert. Hope this helps in your purchase and have fun learning...

It's a great radar detector with plenty of easy to use features.

My only complaint is that it can be extremely hard to see the screen in the day time. None of the backlit colors help with this either. At night time the multiple colors are great though.

The voice alert and blinking leds on top make up for the hard to see screen thankfully.

Bought this after extensive research and being bewildered by the alphabet soup of different types of signal and detection, but seemed to come out good value for money. Well, after my first road trip, 1800 miles from Houston into Big Bend country, its a little cracker. I just put it on the windscreen straight out of the package and away! All I needed to adjust was to switch to city mode though San Antonio and at home, but thereafter could always see where the alarm came from, after it gave me the extra set of eyes to look. Well, almost always: On one stretch of four-lane I couldn't see a patrol car or anything, but immediately pulled back 10mph to the advised limit only for the guy behind me to swing out and pass in frustration. There was the patrol car, who immediately shot passed me and pulled the other guy over. The Whistler had detected the radar from two cars behind me. Never mind how or what signals it picks up, I'd say thats about all the testimony it needs!