Customer Reviews

Beltronics RX65-Red Professional Series Radar Detector

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I got this radar as a present from my in-laws. Of course, I knew what I was getting, since that was what I asked them to get for me for my birthday :-) . Anyhow. The first week, my brother-in-law borrowed it from me to go to NYC (we live in Upstate, NY - about 6 hour drive to New York City). When he came back, he didn't want to give me the radar back, that's how much he liked it. He's had a few radars in the past, but he said that this one is by far superior to all the other ones, including the latest one from Passport. The next week, my wife and I took a trip to Niagara Falls, and this little "guy" worked its magic. I could "see" the cops long before they could "see" me. So, here is a little pros and cons list for this item:

Pros:
Range - like I already mentioned before, it's got a great "range", and gave me plenty of time to slow down before the cops could catch my speed on their radar guns.

Features - it's got "tons" of cool features. You can program it any way you like it. It's also got one of those "safety" features on it. It tells you if there is a construction going on or an accident on a road ahead (this feature is not present in all areas though).

Controls - the controls are totally awesome! Their easy to access and very "user-friendly", meaning that you don't have to read through the manual to figure out how to do something. Even the power cord has a mute button on it! Very sleek!

Cons:
Price - this is probably one of the most expensive radar detectors on the market. But, if you want the best, be prepare to pay for it.

Summary: It's certainly not cheap, but I think it's well worth the price. Great radar! Highly recommended!

I have utilized the RX 65 in over thousands of miles of highway driving. It never misses, and it has saved me tickets everywhere. One of the features I like best about this detector, compared to the Escort 8500 X50, which I also own, is the different sounds associated with each radar frequency range. For example, Ka detection emits a chirping sound, different from the warble for K band,and the tone for X band detection. This allows the driver to keep his eyes on the road rather than look at the radar detector. At those highway speeds this is a great advantage in trying to locate the source of the radar.

In informal tests by me, I found the RX65 slightly more sensitive than the Escort 8500 X50, although not by much.

In both cases, according to the some of the radar test web sites, beware that while these units claim invisibility to police radar detector detectors, they in fact do emit slight amounts of local osciallator signal detectable by newer model police radar detector detectors. Professional drivers note.

The new Beltronics STI radar detector, with zero local oscillator EMI, is the one to buy for professional drivers concerned with transmitting any measurable radar detector emissions.

This product, according to RadarRoy website is the best radar detector you can buy. The Valentine V1 is awesome (especially the arrows), but it gives too many false alarms, and the Escort x50 is great, but this edges it out with ease of use...other sites will tell you the same. I've already CLEARY have been saved from one ticket and so with the price of the ticket and traffic school, this thing is alredy paid for and to think it will keep paying for itself. It's so easy to use and works so well. JUST LAST NIGHT I was with my friends Sam and Chris and I got a Ka warning and told them this means police (here in Southern California) and the warning got stronger and stronger and sure enough on the side of the road, at night when it's hard to see them, was a highyway patrol officer. He'd already pulled someone over, but that could have been us without the Bel. But, with this no way, the range is awesome and if there gun is on, you will pick them up WAY before they see you... Really, this is simply a new addition to my must have list of things in life and I would recommend it to anyone else who drives with spirit.

Sam Kochel

I was a little concerned as to if there would be much of a difference between the Bel RX65 and my old cobra. After driving around town for a few days I was more than impressed. This is the best radar detector I've seen. It Matches up with the Valentine One and, in my oppinion, is better. The range is amazing. I compaired it to my families three other detectors and some friends. None of them matched the distance detected. I tested the range by driving to where there was a fixed sign on the highway that informs you of your speed. All the radar detectors went off, but the RX65 went off over a mile down the road and well out of sight of the radar. The only false alarm I believed to find so far, I now believe to be comming from a real source. The laser alert goes off every day at a bridge off of the interstate. No visable law enforcement was found. The mute button on the adapter is handy if an officer is following you and has constant radar on just so the beeping doesn't annoy. Great product!

I'm telling you, if you're looking for a high end professional level radar detector, get the RX 65 Pro. It features a very high-end processor for pinpoint accuracy and excellent distance. The detector is able of giving me on average about 3-4 min lead time on the highway. Considering you're driving anywhere for 75mph-90mph, this is an excellent warning. Basically, it gives you a 3-4 mile range on normal semi-hilly terrain which is plenty enough warning to slow down. THIS UNIT DOES NOT GIVE FALSE ALARMS ON KA BAND. Meaning if you get KA, there's a cop around no doubt. The unit can give flase alarms on K band & X band only because these are waves that are more frequent. Example, trains often use bands similar to X band making the unit go off. Fast food restraunts such as Burger King use wireless headsets similar to X Band making the unit go off. X band & K band can give you some false alarms. However, on the highway this is rare. I've also never had a cop shoot me with anything but KA band. KA is the latest band that police use and it's the only one they really used to my knowledge. When my RX 65 Pro buzzes on KA, there's a cop in the area no doubt.

The only problem I see with this unit is the laser detector. It's very easy to set it off. I called Beltronics tech support because my unit would not stop buzzing with the laser unit. It was constantly going off every few seconds. I found out that my car was giving off some sort of interference which was causing it to give constant false alarms. I turned the laser off because in all reality, laser detection is mostly a gimmick.

Overall, this detector is PERFECT. If you want to play mind games with the police, get this unit. It's also has REAL VG 2 Cloak proof technology that does not radiate or leak. Police won't know you have a detector unit. Worth every penny & more.

And it should be for the money. BEL is currently running a trade-in program and will give you up to $80 toward the RX65. Since I had a BEL 980 to trade in, I received the full $80 credit. At $249 it was a great deal.

In independent testing (not mine), the RX65 out-performs the Valentine V1 and the Passport 8500 X50 in radar detection performance. However, both the V1 and the Passport outperformed the RX65 in laser sensitivity. If you want laser detection you should choose one of those models. Because of the nature of laser, I'm not as concerned about detection. Even with better performing detectors, by the time you detect it it's often too late. I will invest in a jammer instead. I did not factor this into my rating as it's not my research. My rating is based on my personal experience with the RX65.

Like my old BEL 980, it picks up radar (X, K and Ka) waaaaaaay out. It gives you plenty of time to adjust your speed as neccessary. The addition of the POP detection is a key difference between the RX65 and my old 980.

The AutoScan feature does a great job in eliminating false alarms without having to reduce the detection sensitivity. I leave it on AutoScan.

The automatic muting is really nice. It allows you to keep the detector on full volume. It will beep a few times and automatically reduce the volume to a less annoying level. You can also mute the detector from the 'smart plug' (at the cigarette lighter) rather than have to reach for the detector. They also have a hard-wired smart plug that gives you more flexibility in the location of the smart-plug device.

The customization features of the RX65 are a key difference between it and lower-end detectors. You can customize the unit to your needs by eliminating bands you don't want to detect, disabling the auto muting, turning on the multiple-threat mode, etc. If you're really a techno-geek you can tell it to display the radio frequency of the radar gun that you're detecting.

If you're moving up from another BEL unit the trade-in allowance makes the RX65 a smoking deal. Even if you're not, the RX65 is probably the best detector for the money all things considered.

Like most of my electronics, I baby them. This radar detector sat on my dashboard or was placed in the comfort of its fancy foam-lined steel case when not in use. After six months, the detector croaked. I mailed it back to Beltronics with the Amazon receipt and received a letter stating that it would cost $60 to repair. Baffled, I called Beltronics only to be told that Amazon is not an authorized reseller. The customer service woman was very rude and condescending. I hung up and bought the latest and greatest Valentine directly from their website.

First night I had the unit, rainy and dark. The K band starts chirping, 2-3 bars. Slowly moves up to 4, 5 then the maximum number of bars. It was too dark to see where the cop was, but I knew he was somewhere. Sure enough, 2-3 minutes later and another 1/2 mile up the road, an officer was parked back a driveway sampling traffic. That was the first moment that I feel in love with the RX65 Pro.

I purchased this a few days ago. I had it in my car the past few days...It has already paid for it self. I am a college student that commutes from New London CT to Warwick RI on I-95 North and South Bound. I can def. say there is a lot of speed traps on that stretch of road. The nice feature of this radar is how it goes off a good two to four miles away. If theres more than one cop in the area shooting his radar it will display his type as well. So you can have two or even three radar readings on the display with strengths of how strong they are (meaning how close you are to them) I think this will be the best $290 I ever spent. It has already paid for it self three times. I love to curise at 75-80 on open stretch of I-95. I mean who doesnt? With this you should not have any fear of them clocking you it does go off well before you will see them in your sight. It almost NEVER goes off for a false readings. The only places where I have noticed in my town is at a Stop and Shop grocery store, it beeps once and goes off, and at our Giant Crystal Mall. Other than that, it only goes off when the cops running it. If you have a lead foot, and have your last warning...Get this radar it will save you. This is the best one on the market, it beats the Escort X50, and any cheap ones by a long shot. (Cobras, etc)

I would recomend this to anyone that likes to drive fast. Just keep in mind keep it with in reason. Be safe as well.

With other detectors, I eventually turned a deaf ear to the many false alarms. While you still get them, they "make sense" and you quickly develop an instinct for true versus false alarms. X and K alerts abound near shopping centres, downtown and built up commercial areas presumably due to automatic doors, and perhaps other sources radio communications interference. Unless you're right near one of those buildings, however, the false signals tend to be weaker than real ones, and they don't persist for more than a block or so. Some false alarms occur with Laser, usually when driving into the sun that is fairly low in the sky. I'm not convinced that I've had even one false alarm on the Ka band, and Ka photo radar is the pervasive and, I would say, predatory threat in Calgary, AB. While it is deployed in a forward facing direction to get you from behind as you pass by, the Bel picks them up in plenty of time to make sure you aren't speeding, and to make adjustments without panicking. Contrary to what you read, I've encountered no interference from residential garage door openers. Also, I have not had any false alerts since turning on the POP radar alert.

"Dark" mode is nice at night, when the l.e.d. display might otherwise attract the attention of a police officer approaching from behind. While it's legal to use these devices, I expect no discretionary slack from an officer who sees me doing so.

The verbal threat alert is a nice feature, as is the self-diminishing volume with signals that continue for more than a second or two. This prevents warnings from interfering too much in your conversation or radio program.

My partner got 3 photo radar tickets in the 6 weeks before Christmas -- it seems such an unromantic gift, but I couldn't afford not to get her one.