Customer Reviews

Cobra XRS9370 High-Performance Radar/Laser Detector with 360-Degree Protection

I received this new Cobra 9370 radar detector a little over a week ago. I own another one that is a little cheaper than this that also does a good job. But this Cobra model is not only more sensitive and brings the driver a better alert earlier from any direction, but it is also loaded with features that can be tailored made to any kind of area or terrain. At first I was a little intimidated by all the functions and features of this model. There is really is not much more one could ask for options on a radar detector. However thanks to a well laid out instruction booklet and a user friendly button system, it took me really no time at all to customize this baby for whatever driving situation I was in.

I tested this unit both in my town here and on the highway for several days. This being the Fall season the police around here are not all that diligent in the stationary radar on the side of the road, but I did run into some. In each instance the distance between my being received effectively by the patrol car and my being signaled by the detector of his presence was excellent. So far in advance as a matter of fact that each time I silenced the audio part of the alarm just because it went on so long. (It has both audible and visual detection options on it, among many other settings. You can set it to auto mute if you like). One kind of radar detection device that is always in vogue however is the so called rolling radar on the police cars themselves, and the new laser units. No matter where I was, I was alerted each and every time a cop was in the area from any direction, without fail. Not one time while this detector was active was I surprised by a police cars appearance. Which of course has the added advantage of saving you from a lot more infractions than just the cost of a speeding ticket. And pretty much gone are the days when garage door openers and automatic doors on store fronts had you hitting the break pedal way too often. The sensitivity adjustment on this seems to take care of false alerts in a city or congested environment where we tend not to speed anyway. It wasn't altogether foolproof. A few motion detectors and such did have it emitting a false alarm here and there. But I have always found it easy to differentiate between an alert being genuine radar, and just a door opening somewhere. The alert when its radar is loud, steady and unbroken in most cases. False alarms are frequently intermittent and last only for a second or two. In any event I was very pleased with it's performance in that respect. And it is also my opinion that this detector performed better than satisfactory in the majority of tests in city and country areas that I was able to throw at it. About the only thing I can say I didn't like about this model isn't really about the detector at all, but with its included dash mount, which is really nothing more than a thick piece of velcro. You have a choice of mounting this unit either on an included suction cup attachment for the windshield, or on the dash with the velcro strip. The windshield mount is the way to go for it to be secure for sure. It sticks firmly to the glass and the detector can be detached from the mount with just a click of a button. Not only do you need a perfectly flat surface on your dash for the other mount to be secure, (rare these days on most modern cars) but even on a flat dash it's not all that supportive. Go with the windshield mount for sure.

In conclusion, I have owned a variety of radar detectors over the years. Starting way back when they used to be available in a kit that you put together yourself, (and never seem to work no matter how well you did the job). This latest Cobra model has to easily be one of the best and most accurate for the price, with a variety of features to suit anyone, of any I have used. There are more expensive radar detectors to be sure. And in the interest of fairness I have to admit I have never owned a really high priced model. But given the performance of this Cobra 9370, I would imagine that the only person that would need something any better than this is someone really bent on breaking the speed laws at their leisure. For the average driving Joe ,I highly recommend this super Cobra 9370. Very good performance and features at a really fair price...

The Cobra XRS-9570 is, in fact, a great radar detector that doesn't break the wallet. I don't know what's wrong with many of the folks who give terrible reviews of these things but clearly they probably didn't read the instructions. This is a RADAR DETECTOR, thus, it needs a clear, level line of site (although I've seen some nice Valentine's that don't need to be level to work phenomenally, ie. motorcycle on-dash ones). The range of this Cobra series works really well. I've had maybe 1-2 false alarms in the past 2 months of using this due to X alerts from automatic doors on businesses located just off the highway. Other than that, I've seen nothing but great results. Over hills, from a distance, and 360 degrees ... I am very impressed with this radar detector. In fact I was alerted to a Ka just over a hill and sure enough, there was a sly officer hanging out in a great spot (of course I wasn't speeding so I didn't worry... heh). I have mine mounted towards the bottom of my front windshield. It is just above the wiper blades and has a line of site out the rear of the vehicle just above the back seats of my SUV (Honda CR-V).

Furthermore, this radar detector comes with 1-press mute button, and is able to be programmable to shut down during low-RPM movement which is a headache-saver during slow traffic in the city.

The only problem I had was with the mounting/suction cups. However, I installed these in the middle of winter so I had to use warm water on the cups to make them more bendable. Once they weren't basically frozen, they attached to the windshield just fine. The metal bracket that holds the radar detector works very well and is sturdy (the detector doesn't shake much when driving over bumpy roads). I do suggest to take OFF the detector to bend the bracket if it isn't level (this is also in the instructions... it's super easy).

So, in conclusion I highly recommend the Cobra XRS-9570. It isn't ungodly expensive, its range is great, and the adjustabilities (volume, detection, speed-shut down), make this a great detector. Please don't listen to the person who haphazardly gave this a 0 star review with terrible grammar. Read the easy instructions that come with this detector and you'll very much like it.

My last radar detector was a passport I paid $400 for 10 years ago. I used in on my motorcycle most of the time and it occasional got wet. Eventually it gave up and died, but it worked fantastic. So I was a bit leery of a sub $70 detector being able to work as well. To my surprise it worked perfectly right out of the gate.

I live in a small town and was headed for the next major town 20 miles away. Often in nowhere Okieville, the small town cops are always lurking around dark corners trying to get someone doing 36 in a 35. Just as I pulled out onto Main Street the alert came on. Looked around and saw nothing. As I traveled a couple hundred yards the warning became more intense. As a crested the small hill on Main Street there he was about a 1/4 mile down in the car wash. My 20 mile journey to town was uneventfull with no false warnings. I then drove out a main highway another 30 miles south and then back home. At no time did I get any false warnings.

I plan on takeing a trip in a few weeks from Oklahoma to Austin. I35 south is invested with speed traps and Highway Patrol. I'll report back when I return for an update. But for now, I'd say it works just as good as my $400 Passport did.

3-1-14 As promised I made my trip to Austin and back and the detector worked perfectly. I read many reviews where people complain about it "beeping" all the time. 1) I think they just do not have it set up right and 2) I do not think most people understand a detectors limitations. For me I have gotten no false signals, but have gotten several "X" signals which are typically motion alarms or detectors. If I had a complaint it would be that the band indicators are very difficult to see during the day.

As for the laser detection part of it....well it works but laser is just like "instant On". If you're the only car on the road and the laser or instant on goes of, you caught, there's just no defense. This is where you have to drive smart. If the detector is coming on intermittently, SLOW DOWN! Maybe they're off on a side street or something but the thing is giving you a warning that you should listen to, isn't that why you bought it?

As compared to my old $400 Escort, well I think the Escort may have had a bit more range (but not by much), but this Cobra picks up far less false signals. This is a smoking deal for less than $70, but you need to understand how to set it up, use it and know what radar dectors in general limitations are.

It has an smart volunme feature on it that automatically reduces the volume.

It detects police officers running radar with PLENTY of warning time.

It has very few alerts and I have never looked back.

I was in the market for an Escort 9500 radar detector, but Amazon sold out.

I figured I would give this unit a try.

Day one: Multiple alerts recieved but the screen didn't work at all
Day two: Still no screen function
Day three: DERP! Theres a SOLID BLACK sticker on the screen. I never thought to look for a screen cover. Haha.

Day four: Every alert (I drive about 40 highway miles) either preceeded or popped on as a cop came up behind me. I always had about 30 seconds to react. Plenty of time to let off the accelerator.

Fair warning: A police officer can STILL drift clock you from behind (Pacing your car and reading THEIR speedometer, this is legal in several states).
((This happened to me. Darn you Tx DPS- but I did get a warning).

I am simply pleased with this product. It is very accurate on the highways. I put it to test on my 2014 mustang and was driving on I-45 and i-610 in Houston, which are notoriously famous for speeding tickets. I detected six cop cars and 2 speed traps at 12-1.30am early morning. This device is very accurate and its superb value for money. Although it tends to give out frequent false alarms in the city, its very very reliable. I would say this product is the cheap worthy alternative to the more expensive escort or Beltronics radar detectors. The highway and city modes are very simple to use and overall operational instructions for this device are very user friendly. Being a 360 degree radar, its got multi directional detection capabilities. There was one instance where the cop was sneaking inside a parking lot close to a feeder, but then the signal in my 7390 became hotter and hotter until i could visually see him. It gave me ample time to slow down from a 100mph to 60mph (speed limit 70mph @ I45 and 60mph@ I610) at ease. This was indeed impressive as the device was thoroughly put to test. It also caught a little hidden speed trap in one of the deserted streets which i couldn't visually see until i got really close to it.

FYI: Most of the cops in the U.S use X band and this one locks in X bands at ease. I heard from couple of my friends that the cops might upgrade to KU band which is currently being used globally, and added perk....the KU band is detectable in this one. The detection beep is really loud and at times, when the signal gets hotter, it is really annoying. The i-mute and mute feature are pretty handy too.

*Bunch of false alarms went on inside my office parking lot which apparently has lot of radio communication going on. It is recommended to switch to city mode when there is traffic or when you are inside a parking garage / downtown / city center.

I would strongly recommend product to all those out there who want an inexpensive ones or who are tight on budget ! This a 14 band radar with only has beep alerts and digital band detection display.
*Other thing, The radar architecture is the same across all 14 band models, except the fact that higher models have text alerts, screens and voice warnings. Basically this gives you what you looked for.
This is an anti detector-detector, which means a cop wont be able to know you've got one.

High performance delivered.

Pros:

Inexpensive
Accurate
Ergonomic
Easy to install suction cups / welcrow
Small in size
Easy volume control
User friendly
Great range
360 Detection
anti detector-detectable

Cons:
False alarms
Plasticky
Annoying beep volume at times
No text display / voice alerts

OVERALL, A WONDERFUL WELL BUILT PRODUCT FOR ITS CLASS.

5 STARS, SUPERB !

I have been researching radar detectors for the last week and already own a Valentine 1. I live in SW Florida, where the greatest police radar threats are on I75 and I95. We get occasional radars in town, but they are too few to worry about.
Is it not weird, how much time it takes to research electronic products? If you have been in the market for a new TV or head phones, or phone? Hours of research are needed nowadays to narrow down "the best alternatives".
The reviews on radar detectors, are clearly biased towards high-end, expensive Escort and Bell products. On every review site they really push you to buy a $400+ radar detector.
I have also noticed that Cobras get bad reviews from these sites and are accused of marketing hype. Cobra owners however, are very satisfied with their purchases according to amazon reviews.
So instead of buying a new Escort redline, passport, or Bell Magnum STI this time, I decided to change my typical behavior of jumping into things head first and buying the most expensive product with the best reviews.
I bought a cobra Cobra XRS9570 and I also bought the Enko product (approx $43).
I shall be comparing these two radar detectors with the Valentine 1.
I shall keep you guys posted to see if this Cobra product deserves the 5 stars or less..

UPDATE 01/05/14
I tested this unit against the valentine one. This cobra unit gives off so many fake K alerts, on highway as well, not only in city. Also it failed to detect two police cars on I75 that were parked about 300 feet after a small hill. The cobra did signal a KA alert but too late. Only once i was on top of the hill did the cobra see the police cars. Please note that a hill is a slight bump on the highway (not a huge hill).
I know the valentine detects police cars after hills, well in advance. The valentine one saved me plenty of times in this same identical situation.
I am going to send this cobra back. Do not like it at all. Shall test the Enko soon.

I wanted a second radar detection unit for my second vehicle so I decided to go cheap. To test the accuracy I set this up next to my escort passport(expensive/very accurate radar unit). First of all the cobra is beeping like crazy over x band which 9,999 times out of 10,000 means nothing. So I shut off the x band reader by holding down the "dim and mute" buttons for 4 seconds. K band is usually used by speed detection signs. Ka band is emitted by most patrol cars radar units. That's the one to really look for. The cobra reads ka bands when there are no police around while my very accurate passport sits quietly. Do not waste your money. This thing will frustrate you without revealing anything. Just a side note for all current radar detectors. They won't read a lidar gun which shoots a small beam of light unless the officer points it directly at the unit. He's most likely aiming at your front license plate because of it's highly reflective properties. They very seldom use these lidar guns at night. I actually don't believe they work at night unless the officer has a clear line of view of your car. So, at night is when you can rely heavily on a good radar detector.

I purchased this for a road trip from Oklahoma to California, and it was impressive. Gave a good half mile of detection in front of us, never really had to worry about the 360 field of view for what we were doing. Had the pulse mode on and whenever it went off we were "extra attentive" for a few miles. A lot of the time it was a false positive but when it did pick up someone it more than paid for itself.

The only down side is the cord. Unless you want to have the cord dangling from the center of the windshield it is not long enough, but that is my only complaint for this.

I have to admit, the idea of purchasing a radar detector gave me a feeling of going back in time 20 years. However, after getting a ticket a mile from my office, in a place that my co-workers all consider to be a speed trap, I decided to get one just in case. The fact that the cop turned his lights on and started to pull me over at least a block before I even passed him clued me in that he was using radar/laser. Anyway...same place this morning, and my detector started going crazy just as I crested the hill, way before I could see the cop car. The price of this detector was less than the cost of the ticket I got last month, so I consider it to have already paid for itself this morning. I do get some false positives, but they are very weak signals, and they are in the same spots every time. Still reminds me to watch my speed. For the price, I would recommend this product.

Terrible. I used this for over a month every single day, and i finally took it out of my car.

The final straw was on a drive to Las Vegas, and I could see a motorcycle cop speed gunning about 300 yards in front of me. We were the only car, so he was definitely speed gunning us, and the radar detector MADE NO INDICATION at all.

Don't buy this. Waste of money. Just don't speed, and you have nothing to worry about.