Escort Passport Solo Reviewed

The declining popularity of smoking is having an unforseen impact on the use of radar detectors: many new cars have no cigarette lighter for a detector's power plug. Even on those vehicles that have power points, the location apparently was chosen by a 19-year-old whose only concern was to power an iPod or cellphone. For example, the 2008 Jaguar XF I tested recently had its power point located inside the center console - on the bottom, at the back. When I windshield-mounted an Escort Passport 9500i radar detector for testing, its 3-foot-long coiled power cord, now crushed underneath the console lid, was stretched so taut you could play "Dueling Banjos" on it. Same problem with the PT Cruiser I'm driving this week. It has one power point at the bottom of the center stack, also a very long way from the windshield.

Fortunately there's a practical solution for this problem: a cordless radar detector. Never more than a niche market, for the past few years the high-end segment has consisted of a single model, the Escort Passport Solo. (The Whistler XTR-540 is a lower-performance model but it lists for about half the price.)

Judging from some chatter on the 'Net, battery power exacts a heavy toll on performance, making a cordless radar detector a poor choice for drivers shopping for the best possible protection.

Like many rumors, there's a kernel of truth in this one. Sensitivity (radar-detection range) has a direct link to battery life. While it's possible to design a battery-powered detector with every bit of the performance and features of a corded model, it would suck down a set of Double-A alkalines in roughly the time it takes you to back from your garage into the street. This forces designers to walk a tightrope, balancing battery longevity with sensitivity.

Looking for something else? Go directly to: More of the latest radar detector reviews Action Video: How Radar Works Secrets to getting serious protection from your radar detector Avoid tickets: What every driver should know about police radar and lasers

To do this, every cordless radar detector has a duty cycle; it's shut down a certain percentage of the time to conserve the batteries. We're talking milliseconds here and you won't notice the duty cycle in operation, but there's definitely a reduction in sensitivity, especially on Ka band. Ka is an extraordinarily wide band, 2.6 Gigahertz (2,600 Megahertz) wide to be exact. That's 52 times broader than X band and 13 times wider than K band. It takes any radar detector a considerable amount of time to scan all this real estate, looking for a signal that could be anywhere. The duty cycle only hinders this process. Net result: lower sensitivity and less advance warning of police radar guns.

The obvious question: How much sensitivity has Escort managed to retain for its cordless radar detector, the Escort Passport Solo? To find out, I ran the Solo through my battery of tests and logged a few hundred hours on the road with it. Here's what I found.

In appearance the Escort Passport Solo won't be mistaken for any other radar detector. Its compact case is low in profile and platinum-colored, perhaps not the best choice for a piece of windshield-mounted mobile electronics. The top of the case generates windshield glare in bright sunlight, meaning it's best to mount it slightly off-center, to avoid the mirror image reflected into the windshield. Those who don't drive in the Sunbelt probably won't be troubled by this.

All of its controls, except for the mute button, are on the front, which is dominated by a liquid crystal display. The LCD is flanked by a trio of status LEDs on the left plus the power switch. To the right is a pair of volume buttons and a third for mode selection. Each button is covered with a rubber-like non-slip material and operates with a well-damped, expensive feel. The volume buttons are very small and difficult to operate on the fly, although the mode button can be depressed with thumb or forefinger. Those with XXL-size fingers will probably elect to simply hold the unit in their hand, tap the button and return it to dash or windshield. That freedom is one of the advantages of cordless operation.

I've seen motorcycle riders who have choosen the Escort Passport Solo due to its battery-powered design and standard headphone jack. The latter allows an interface with helmet-mounted audio systems. When the bike is parked in the garage, they use the Escort Passport Solo in their vehicles. It takes the same windshield mounting bracket and power cord as other high-end Escort radar detectors.

The Escort Passport Solo's large mute button resides front and center on the case top, no doubt the best - and only - location for it, considering the minimal front-panel real estate available. It doubles as a battery-level indicator: press it and an icon depicting battery life is displayed in the LCD, a clever and highly useful feature.

The LCD is momentarily backlit whenever a function button has been pressed and it also stays lit for the duration of an alert. The rest of the time it's off, to save power. Like all LCDs, it struggles to overcome sunlight and reading it can be a chore. We suspect that many would gladly give up some battery life in exchange for a high-contrast red dot-matrix text display. As it is, we'd recommend keeping the Escort Passport Solo S2 directly in your line of sight for best visibility.