Customer Reviews

Whistler Xtr-695se High Performance Radar Detector

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I really appreciate the ID feature, because when it shows a frequency it is almost certainly a police radar, not a false alert. I also like the ability to select the backlight color, as my dash lights are red and the detector doesn't clash.

Some other reviews complain that the display is difficult to read in direct sunlight, but I drive a convertible and have no problems with readability. Depending on the way you mount it, you can get a reflection off of the glossy screen, but that's expected with any LCD. Maybe their real problem was the interior color of their car was too light, making the reflection too bright to see through. The backlight may be too dim to see in daylight, but you don't need one unless it's dark. You can see the color for identifying the type of radar when set to bright. A voice announces the signal, so you don't need to see the display anyway.

The compass display isn't accurate enough to use in a boat, but plenty good for the "one of two directions" choice you face when driving a car. You do have to re-calibrate per instructions when you first mount the detector, or the compass will appear to be stuck.

Be careful when selecting your purchase to get the SE model. Amazon listed the XTR-695 without the SE suffix, and those are the older, less sensitive model.

After spending too many hours researching which radar detector to buy to replace my aging Bel, I decided on the Whistler XTR-695SE. It has received very good reviews and ratings, has the headphone jack I wanted for use on my motorcycle and was less than half the price of the "top of the line" models. After a week or so of use in the car I set it up on my motorcycle, plugging the headphones in and testing the audio. It worked. Down the road I went and all warnings were still consisitent and accurate. Now comes the problem. I put the unit back in my car and the audio was non-existant. I tried a factor reset upon Whistler's suggestion to no avail.

I contacted Amazon for an exchange, thinking I just got a bad unit. Amazon shipped a replacement the same day, next day air. Upon receiving the new unit I immediately tried that one on the motorcycle and it didn't work at all with headphones and the audio again quit working in the car. My sense is that this is a feature for the "list" of features but hasn't really been perfected. The unit itself worked very well, but doesn't play well with headphones.

I had to return the second unit for good and bought a Valentine 1. The Valentine-1 works with headphones with the add on external audio unit and is working in the car and on the motorcycle. I guess you really do get what you pay for.

If I wasn't trying to use the Whistler XTR-695SE on a motorcycle and in a car, I'm sure it would have been just fine for car use only.

The job of a radar detector is twofold. First,to give advance warning of police radar traps so you can check your speed and slow down if necessary. The second purpose is to remind the driver to attend to his driving. The Whistler XTR-695SE does both very well. As far as I can tell, it has warned me well in advance of a radar car down the road. The Whistler's entertaining and informative display along with its occasional but regular falsing on Ka-band in suburban driving keep one plenty alert. I find it best to disable the POP radar feature in built-up areas since it causes excessive falsing. It's also the case that POP radar is not used around here. The light-show LCD display is actually helpful as long as bright sunlight doesn't prevent you from seeing it. The Whistler 695SE is a terrific value and the best of the six or so radar detectors I have owned over the years.

I originally purchased this product because 1) it was one of the cheaper items ranked highly and 2) I owned a Whistler prior to this purchase. The gear works great. You can set a compass, and change face colors. Compared to my previous generation Whistler, this one by far is not set off as much my false alarms, random X band security systems, etc. It's very responsive and seems to keep my attention. My only complaint (and a big one to me) is they changed the face away from LED lighting compared to the previous generation. The face is that faint green lighting that you would see in some 80's electronics. This makes it nearly impossible to see if the radar is even on during the broad daylight. However, if it's not day time, it's not near a distraction as the bright LED lighted face from the older models. So if you do the majority of your driving during the middle of the day, you won't be able to see the face of this model.

I currently drive a PT Cruiser (2001) that has a paint-job that makes it stand out in a crowd. It is purple & silver with a bright yellow stripe! I've been driving it since the beginning of the year. My other car that I had been driving for years is a '88 300ZX. Although it too gets some (sometimes unwanted) attention, not nearly as much as the PT. This summer I started driving 4 hours round trip on the Interstate once a week. Within 60 days I got two speeding tickets for going 85 in a 70 mph zone. Guilty as charged. The point is that I drove the Z car just as fast, on the same route and never got busted. Time to take some action: 1) Slow down! and if not at least have a rough idea of where "they" were hiding. I looked online through consumer information sites and learned what I needed to know. This unit was one of three lower end priced units that was recommended. It fit my budget and so far, no tickets. I'm 52 and I don't catch onto new technology like I used to. So although I don't understand the unit 100% nor use all of it's features yet, I was able to set it up and use it quickly. It has warned me several times that my car was within the range of possible interest, subsequently I check my speed more frequently. My only issue is not with the product itself, but with the layout/design & size of the print used for the instructions (especialy the chart). I could go online and learn more about the unit, or as I have done, enlarged it using a photo-copier, but I shouldn't have to. I've never had a "fuzz buster" before so I have nothing to compare it to; perhaps it deserves 5 stars instead of 4. That being said, I liked this product alot and will probably like it more now that I can read the instructions.

I could put 4 stars to account for the endless false alarms in city, or 4 starts to account for the few false alarms on the highway, but I'll keep it at 5 since this thing saved me from at least 4 tickest so far, probably more. It does 1 thing well: gives true warnings on the highway well in advance of a cruiser. Open road, I've estimated 4+ miles. Winding, wooded road, you get maybe 10 sec of warning. Sounds like too little, but how long do you really need to bleed off 10+ mph? Its more than enough if you're paying attention. For being excellent at the basics, its a gem for the $ and worth 5/5.

I bought this item about 3 months ago and it works great. some people say that it was getting false threats and they would search and search for the cop and see nothing. well ya because it has great range and it picked up on a cop doing radar from over a mile at least away in some other direction. i drive down a straight main road going 50 and it goes off Ka band and gives you the frequency. and from the 1st beep i heard till the last beep it must have been about 20 seconds. and the cop was going 50 at least coming towards me. so imagaine how for it picked him up. and the thing beeps faster and faster as it gets closer so you know when hes close. if it goes off with beep...........beep, the cop isnt close yet so a duh your not goonna see him yet. overall great product the 1st one ive bought so cant compare to any other one. definite great 1st one to buy.

Great radar detector! Very quick to warn of cops ahead of time. The features are great to have and it is easy to see at night. Super sensitive to warnings.

The display is useless in very bright sunlight, but I knew that before I bought it. If the detector is hot from sitting in the sun, the display is even harder to see. Buy the Pro78SE if you need the display to be visible at all times. I don't usually look at the detector when it alerts, I'm usually busy scanning the road, so it's a non-issue for me.

I don't get nearly as many false alarms with this detector as I did with my Pro73 and Ka performance is better. The band identifier is nice for k-band in my area to distinguish between false and real alarms. Overall I am very pleased with this detector. I just hope the speaker lasts longer than the Pro73.

This thing works really well. After driving for 2 weeks with this nice little cops detectors I can tell that in Utah most highway patrol cops use radars with a frequency 34.7 GHz and 35.5 Ghz, sometimes I can see 34.9 or 34.3 GHZ. Some State troopers use K band only radars and this guy will tell you what it is. Basically, I got a ticket from a state trooper for 230$ and decided it's time for to know where they're hiding. This radar detector spotted an evil Dodge of local highway patrol behind the bridge where he was hiding. No way I'd see him. On Friday nights Highway patrols are all over the place, last week of a month the same thing.This detectors keeps me in check all the time and I've avoided many tickets since and it'd paid off its cost. 4 stars cos it gives false signals on X band(like all others do) and sometimes screams on K and KA band also false. But guys, don't be fooled if you pass a highway patrol car on the road that just pulled someone over and it doesn't go off, it doesn't go off because at the moment that cop pulled someone over he fixes his speed and his radar is not working anymore. Also don't be fooled when it doesn't go off when a police car drives behind you, not all police cars have speed radars, cos they're not highway patrol! So don't expect it to go off near 911 police or some detective.. Hope you drive safe and never get a ticket.