Customer Reviews

Beltronics Pro GX65 Radar Detector (Black)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The Beltronics GX65 is the best radar detector that I have ever owned. I have had many over the years including the Valentine V1. Although this is a good detector, the GX65 gives me more warning on the signals that matter as well as not having to worry about listening to it go off for the wrong reason (You tell it what you want to not listen to). The other thing that is great about this detector is the pre-warning it gives when you are approaching a red-light camera. It tells you exactly where these are before it is too late.
Very well built, you can immediately tell you are not buying a product that skimps on material. The GX65 also comes with a very well written owners manual that is easy to understand.
Recommend very highly!!

I've driven with the GX65 for several months now and it is without a doubt my favorite dectector and I've owned many! The GPS feature allows me to lock out annoying false alerts, plus the built-in database is preloaded with all the red light and speed camera locations popping up everywhere. These annoying camera locations alert in plenty of time to check things out in advance. $29.95 extra for the 3 year update subscription, which I haven't purchased as yet. Once I've marked all the false alerts on my drive to work, the GX65 is quiet and alerts to just true police radar. I've never driven with such a quiet detector. The unit comes with a very nice case and "Smart" power cord that works like a miniture control panel right on the dash. Highly reccommended!

First the detector - I recently bought from another retailer (see 'second' point below). It is tremendous. Great functionality, options, design, gives good warning, the GPS tells you your speed when an alert goes off (so you only have to look at the detector to know what you're dealing with and how fast you're going). I primarily bought for the red light camera detection, but it turns out there are none in my area (when I traveled out of state, I found quite a bit), but if you don't have many of the red light cameras in your area, you may want to save a few bucks and get the RX65 (also from Bell). It will save you a couple hundred bucks and (except for the GPS), it's the same detector.

Second - I was looking to buy this detector and it was $469 everywhere. About 2-3 months ago, Amazon changed the price to $429 but said they didn't have any in stock so they'd ship later. I put it in my cart. The price then dropped another $5 over the next few days, but I got caught up and didn't finish the order. I went in a few days later and it was over $470. I wrote customer service who told me what the policy was but never answered the question about how something that's not in stock can have a price change almost daily. Anyway, I didn't order it. A few weeks later they moved the price to $425, so I ordered it. A week or two after that, they said that they wouldn't be able to get it and they cancelled my order and took it down off the site for about 2 or 3 weeks. Now I see it's back. It makes me wonder why my order was cancelled a few short weeks ago.

If you want my 2 cents, it's selling for the same price on the Beltronics site (also with free shipping). Pick it up there and order a couple of accessories (visor clip, extra suction cups for another car, a USB plug which you'll need to update the database, etc.) You'll get more stuff (that you need anyway) bundled in with your free shipping.

I've had a number of radar detectors over the past 25 years, some good, some average, some poor. The Bel GX-65 is the best of the lot, by far. It's also the most expensive but in this case, price DOES say something about the reliability and quality of the product. Easy to set up and put in service, the Bel is equally easy to adjust (and subsequently lock out) to the various false type alarms one encounters around shopping centers as is the 'Mark' feature when you want the unit to remember a red light or radar trap location.

Most impressive is the advance warning provided. It alerted the other day on a Ka band while I was traveling along a 4 lane highway a good mile+ in advance of an approaching cop car. Most of my former detectors would be doing well to alarm 100-200 yards from the source, if they alarmed at all. I'm still 'shaking down' the Bel, having had it only a few weeks but so far, it's the bomb!

I find it amusing when people write reviews claiming the GX65/9500ix "beat the $#@ out of the other! I tried both!"

Escort purchased Beltronics a while back. The 9500ix and GX65 have virtually the same guts and are made by the same company. Don't believe me, go search google for things like (without the quotes) "gx65 9500ix same company", or "9500ix gx65 same unit", or "gx65 made by escort"

This means functionally (distance to pick up radar, camera databases, etc) are pretty much identical. The 9500ix is a little more foofy it is kind of like buying a Lincoln instead of a Ford. Some say the 9500ix is a hair more sensitive but in real life the difference is so small (or non-existent) it's a pointless debate.

Some minor differences are:

- The voices and alerts are different. Personal choice there. 9500ix = sexy lady, GX65 = manly man
- The display color (blue on 9500ix is more expensive to manufacture, red on gx65 cheaper)
- 9500ix auto-learns repeat alerts (door openers, etc.) where you have to manually push a button on gx65 (manual learning)
- The Passport 9500ix can display four X-band, two K-band and 2 Ka-band signals w/ strength on it's screen at the same time. The GX65 can only display one X-band, one K-band and one Ka-band signal on it's screen at the same time. Rather pointless for me as if the detector is going off I'm looking down at my speed, not the display to analyze the situation. A fun doodad but probably not important to 90% of the users.

For most the biggest concern will be auto-learn. The 9500ix will autolearn after three passes by the same signal (both units have a GPS) where with the GX65 you must push a button. Perhaps if you are a driver in a big city/metro area auto-learn may be nice. Perhaps for others they may like manually choosing what is ignored and what is not.

And there you have it.

The Beltronics GX65 is one of the best radar/laser detectors I have ever owned. I originally purchased the detector for a cross country trip from Los Angeles, to Chicago, and then down to New York City. For this trip I used my Subaru STI, a vehicle which normally gets an unfortunate amount of police "attention."

This detector alerted me to all of the red light camera locations and was 100% accurate for all speed trap locations. The two cases which impressed me the most were: radar alert from two miles away - speed trap over a hill, around a small bend, and under an overpass near the CA/Nevada border; and a radar alert from three miles away - officer parked behind a building. Enforcement across the country was very aggressive - there was not a single state that I drove through, where I did not see fewer than five people stopped.

The GX65 also allows people to enter in speed trap locations and you will be alerted to known speed trap locations. The unit also allows you lock out false signals, although these have been rare for me. Once you get the hang of the remote unit on the power plug, you can easily mark, lockout or change the volume of the detector. You simply use one button to cycle through what you could change and another button to cycle through the settings, very user friendly.

I would be hard pressed to find fault with this detector but there are a few minor glitches. Sometimes road signs will set off the X band alarm, but you can lock out the signals. The other issue is that the plastic lens is a bit softer than I would like - mine has some wear but still works very well. I remove the detector whenever I leave the car for any length of time and this "may" have helped the detector continue performing "like new" for almost 10 months now (as of June 2010).

If you want a quality radar/laser detector, this is the one to get. With my cross country trip, mine has already paid for itself several times over.

Beltronics Pro GX65 Radar Detector (Black)
Amazing product!
The clarity of the warning voices can be heard above a radio or road noise.
The advance warnings have already save me the purchase price in ticket fines.
If located properly in the vehicle the warnings from behind you are just as accurate and necessary.
Just yesterday a local police car began following me with the radar detector warning me well in advance
of their approach and I was able to review my speed because the detector announces it to me.
Great product, well worth the money.

Been a radar detector user for over 20 years and so far I've been happy with the GX65 performance and the GPS features (my first GPS unit). There are a lot of intersections here in Denver that I didn't know had red light cameras! Not that I blow through red lights; I support cameras for gross red light infractions but some are just ridiculous and obviously configured to generate revenue and do not promote safety.

My main problem is the GX65 detector keeps popping off the windshield mount on minor sequential bumps or moderate frost heave type bumps. More specifically, the detector doesn't seem to "bite" on the windshield mount enough and will shake it's way off frequently while the mount stays attached to the windshield. Nothing strange or out of the ordinary with my mounting. I do have a stiffly sprung sports car, but I imagine a lot of the radar detector owners also own sports cars. Anyone else having this issue?

I'm trying to figure out if it is a isolated defect with my unit, or a general problem with the Beltronic GX65 or Beltronics in general. Thanks!

I have owned several different high end radar detectors over the years and I must say this is by far the best performing radar detector I have ever owned. First it reduces fales alarms to the point where there almost non existent unless you are within feet of a store front. If you hit the mute button 3 times you can even make this go away as the radar detector store the location in its GPS data base. Its long range performance makes it seem almost uncanny at times as it often alerts before you can even see the officer.
The GPS feature will not assist you in navigating anywhere but it will warn you of several different types of speed traps and you can also manually program in speed traps with a couple of simple button presses.
The software update and speed trap updates that can be downloaded off the web are easy to do and keep the unit up to date. I will say the download method is painless.
I do not know if speed traps that are manually entered into the radar detector get uploaded to Beltronics data base but it seems logical that they would. If such is the case then you get the benefit of the knowledge of others thrown in to the price of this radar detector for a minimal fee.
Lots of people say there is no reason to own one of these except to break the law but I can say for myself its nothing more than a small reminder to check my speed and avoid a ticket that I am not trying to go out of my way to get.

This radar detector is the BOMB!!!! turn it on and save money...yes it did the second day I had it, crusing along 10 miles over , the state trooper is hidden behind some cement road divider, stacked up high, so when you go by, bam...you history. My littler GX65 screams at me for a sec, (instant on) and lets me kow, to slow down, it even told me how fast I was going, nice feature, to check your speedo on the car. tickets range from 100 to 300 , just for going 10 or so over, so I figure it has already been paid for now...it has earned the right to stay on in my car , 24/7...Thanks Beltronics, great product.