In honor of our old friend Brock Yates, the impresario of the legendary Cannonball Run, we use a system of one to five cannonballs to rank the detectors.  Here we go:

* * * * *  5 Cannonballs

Escort 9500i

Buy Now

Pros:  Essentially a hot-rodded, upgraded Escort 8500 X50, which ain’t bad.  Over the past couple of years the 8500 X50 has won more comparison tests in more different car magazines that any other detector.  The reason? The 8500 X50 has consistently shown virtually double the Ka band detection distance of most other units.  Take an 8500 X50, add a larger array of optical sensors for better laser detection, add GPS capability to store locations notorious for stopwatch timing, etc and well as known locations of door openers, etc.  Also adds voice alert (pretty useful) and Ku Band (probably not). Totally invisible to the VG-2 Interceptor radar-detector detector.  Has POP radar reception capability and the really handy multiple threat/bogey counter. Selectable band defeat, too.  Picks up Safety Warning System stuff (so what?).  Upgradeable software feature helps preserve your investment.

Cons:  None really. Only if you drive a commercial vehicle subject to D.O.T regs or drive in Virginia where detectors are illegal would lack of invisibility to the Spectre radar-detector detector be an issue. A bit pricey within the portable category, but still hundreds of dollars less than the best built-in units that actually have fewer capabilities. 

Bottom Line: More capability to avoid more types of speeding tickets than any other unit.