Hey, what's up guys? In this video, we're going to be taking a look at the best
radar detectors available for the money. Now, in my last video, we went over
the best high-end radar detectors. Those are the very best radar detectors
available in the market and they're packed with a ton of bells and whistles,
but they also cost $500 to $750. Now, in this video, I want to go over some of
the more affordable options that are also going to give you a nice degree of protection, but
they're also going to be maybe a better bang for the buck. Now to keep things kind of
short and sweet here, we're just going to run through some of the highlights here for the
different detectors that we want to talk about. If you want more information about any of
these detectors down in the video description, I'm going to link you guys to my complete
reviews for all of these different detectors, as well as links to where you can go to purchase
the detectors and then once you do buy them, you're also going to find links
down there that go over my setup, guys, that help you configure and program
all of these different detectors as well. And then the last thing to quickly mention is this
is not a paid or sponsored video. I've never done those and I never will. There's a lot of detectors
out there. Some of them good, some of them not so much, and I just want to help you guys figure out
which detectors are going to be the best for you. And so with that said, let's start with the best
inexpensive detectors and then we'll start working our way up in price to kind of talk about what
you gain as you spend more money on a detector. So starting off, your best inexpensive detector
is going to be the Uniden DFR7. The DFR7 offers surprisingly good performance compared to other
detectors in its price class and it has better than average false alert filtering as well. It
also has GPS built in to help improve the false alert filtering even further by giving it low
speed muting as well as manual GPS lockouts so it can learn stationary false alerts around you from
speed signs and door openers and shopping centers and so it's going to be able to stay extra
quiet when you're driving around in town. Plus the GPS is also going to give you your red
light camera and speed camera alerts as well. Now there's a bunch of other inexpensive detectors that are out there. There's nothing really
under a hundred dollars that I'm a fan of. They're either going to give you a ton of
false alerts or a really bad performance. One that a lot of you guys have asked about
is the Cobra RAD 480i. This is one of Cobra's newest detectors and it retails for $150 so it's
going to cost right around the same as the DFR7. Unfortunately though it lags a good amount
here behind other detectors like the DFR7. VariableWave on RDF recently did some testing
here and if you take a look at his results, you'll see that for example, on 35.5 the RAD
480i is able to almost keep up with the DFR7, but then if you go take a look at 33.8 you
find that it lags quite a bit behind the DFR7, which is kind of surprising considering the DFR7
is traditionally kind of weak on 33.8. So in terms of long range detection, it's going to be
lagging. There is also a lot of complaints about it's false alert filtering just getting a ton
of falses and it also doesn't have GPS built in. Now that said there is an app available
to the detector so you can pair your phone with the RAD 480i and add some additional
functionality such as those manual GPS lockouts, but it's not built directly into the detector
and that combined with the reduced performance and increased false alerts, the DFR7 is still
going to be the way to go. And in my opinion, it's going to be the best city and highway
radar detector available under $200. Now, Uniden's detectors, they're in general
a really good bang for the buck and they've got a number of other really nice
options as well. Like for example, if you take a look at the Uniden R1,
this is a detector that retails for $200 and it's going to be a great long range detector
that's ideally suited for more back road and highway driving. And if long range performance
is really the main thing that you're looking for, this is by far going to be the cheapest way to
get really long range radar detector performance. The downside though is there is no GPS that's
built into the R1 so you're going to be getting a lot more false alerts in town, which is why
I'd recommend this detector if you're in an area where you don't have as many false alerts, such
as out of big cities, if you're in more rural areas or if you do mostly highway driving. In that
situation the R1 is going to be a great choice. Now, if you do do a lot of driving in more
urban areas, in cities, I would actually recommend that you step up to the Uniden R3. This
is a fantastic radar detector and in my opinion, this is going to be the very best bang for
the buck that's available on the market. The R3 is outstanding. It's
going to give you really long radar detection capabilities just like the
R1 but it's going to add the GPS back in, which is going to make it really good for not
only highway driving, but also city driving too. It's going to give you your low speed muting,
your manual GPS lockouts and your red light camera and speed camera alerts and so it's going
to be much more well-rounded than the Uniden R1. It's also going to be adding in the MultaRadar
detection capabilities to give you your low powered speed camera detection. It's admittedly
not going to be quite as good as some of the more expensive detectors, but you do have the
option available here. Compared to the DFR7, you also get a nicer multicolor OLED display and
you're going to be getting more fine tuned control over the detector sensitivity, but really the
main takeaway here is you're going to be getting a detector with even a longer detection range,
even fewer false alerts, and a nicer feature set. So yes, while the DFR7 will still do the job, I
find that the extra money for the R3 is definitely worth it and in my opinion, it's going to be
your best radar detector available under $300. Next for $400 we're going to take a look at the
Escort Max 3. This is a lot like the Uniden R3. It's also got nice long range performance,
but it's going to have even better false alert filtering. The blind spot filtering is
going to be even more effective so it's going to false to maybe fewer cars nearby that also
have radar based collision avoidance systems. Additionally, the GPS lockouts here are automatic
and so instead of you having to teach it where the false alerts are located around town, the
detector can automatically figure it out after several passes. And so for that reason, it's
going to be more convenient than running the R3. The Max 3 also has Bluetooth built into the
detector. So you can pair it with your phone to do things like make it easier to go in and
change different settings in the detector. It's going to allow the detector to display the
current speed limit of the road that you're on on the detectors display. Plus, it's going to
allow the detector to share alerts in real time with other drivers. Now, a lot of this stuff like
the speed limit display and the alert sharing with other drivers, you can do the same sort of
thing with Waze. This is just going to again, make it more convenient and automated doing all
the alert sharing for you and it's also just going to give you an extra layer of protection.
It's not necessary, but it is a nice bonus. There are some downsides to the detector
too. Like for example, it's got some false alerts on Ka band, more than the R3, and
it costs a hundred dollars more than the R3 does. But if you want a detector with even
better false alert filtering and more automation and convenience, the Max
3 is going to be a great choice. Now for an additional $50, we can
also take a look at the Radenso Pro M. This is a lot like the Uniden R3,
though it doesn't have quite the range, but again, it has even better false alert
filtering, a lot like the Max 3 does,. With the GPS you've got your low speed muting
around town, you've got your manual GPS lockouts and your red light camera alerts. But the main
advantages here are the fact that the Pro M is going to be even more small and compact than
both the R3 and the Max 3. It's also going to be undetectable by radar detector detectors,
something that we can't say for the Max 3. So if you need a stealth detector this is going to
be a great option. Plus this is the benchmark for MultaRadar detection and for that reason,
it's kind of the go-to pick for a lot of drivers up in Canada who want a detector
with MRCD, with good false alert filtering, and ideally something stealth. Or if you
just want a more compact detector with good false alert filtering and whatnot again, the
Radenso Pro M is going to be a great choice. Then finally, we're going to take a quick look
here at the Uniden R7. Now this is going to be kind of a stretch price-wise. It retails for
$500. You can from time to time find it on sale and cheaper if you go shopping on places
like Amazon. Additionally, you can also find it refurbished a lot of times to save even more
money. And so down in the video description, I'm going to drop a link to both the detector
at its normal retail price as well as where you can find it refurbished if you want to try and
save a little bit of cash. And since this video is all about finding the very best bangs for
the buck, we got to talk about the Uniden R7. Now this detector is based on the R3, but it's
going to give you a little bit longer range than the R3 offers, but it now also adds arrows
to help us locate the source of the threat and the arrows can be really nice just to help you
figure out what's going on around you. The R7 also has more memory built in to allow it to get
new features coming out over time. Things like automatic GPS lockouts, something that's going
to be coming to the R7, but unfortunately can't be added to the R3 just due to the fact
that the R3 has less memory built in. There's also some smaller features, things like
a wider K band scanning range on the R7. Plus it's also got a larger display, which makes it a
little bit easier to read the information that the detector is presenting to you. In a nutshell, it's
a great all in one high-performance radar detector that also adds in arrows. Now, if you really
liked the idea of getting a detector with arrows, check out my other video, which I'll also link
to in the video description and this is going to go over the very best high-end radar
detectors that all feature arrows as well. But to quickly summarize things, as far
as kind of your best value detectors, your best bangs for the buck.
We've got the Uniden DFR7, which is going to be your best inexpensive
detector, your best detector under $200. You've got the Uniden R1, which
is going to be your great long range detector for primarily
highway and backroad driving. You've got the Uniden R3, which in my
opinion is going to be your best all around bang for the buck. This is a great long range
detector for both highway and city driving. You've got the Escort Max 3, if you
want even better false alert filtering, and more convenience with the auto lockouts. There's the Radenso Pro M, if you
want really good photo radar detection and you want a detector that's compact and
undetectable by radar detector detectors. And finally the Uniden R7, which is going to
be your best bang for the buck if you also want directional arrows to help you
locate the source of the threat. Now, for more information about any of these
detectors including my complete reviews, links to where to purchase, as well as
my recommendations on how to set up and program the detectors again, links to all
that will be down in the video description. And yeah, that's it for your quick run through
of the best radar detectors for the money. Make sure you're subscribed to this channel if
you haven't done so already. Other than that, happy driving, stay safe out there and
I'll see you on the next video. Bye.
