Uniden R3 EXTREME LONG RANGE Laser/Radar Detector, Record Shattering Performance, Built-in GPS w/ Mute Memory, Voice Alerts, Red Light & Speed Camera Alerts, Multi-Color OLED Display , Black

I've been running the Escort Redline since 2013, and on a recent trip to Oregon from California, I was stopped by CHP near the California-Oregon border. I was perplexed as to why my Escort had failed to warn me. I told the officer that my radar detector didn't go off, and he said that's all they use in Northern California. I asked if he used Ka, and he said that's all they use. Fortunately, the officer was gracious enough to issue me a warning for going 51 mph in a 45 mph zone. My Redline "Service Required" arrived the next day. I received the 139 after sending in my Redline to Escort. 99 service, but I needed a dependable detector in the meantime, so I bought the R3. I'd heard good things about it, and Vortex Radar's YouTube videos showed me how to properly set it up for my location. I used it to fly to Vegas from LA for a boys weekend a week later. It came in handy twice on the 15 Highway as I was driving up a hill. I was also blown away by the R3's ability to pick up Ka signals from such a long distance. It gave me a warning two miles before I saw the CHP officer in Baker. br>br>After receiving my Redline a week and a half later, I decided to put it through its paces with the R3. Don't get me wrong, I adore my Redline; it's saved my life more times than I can count, but the R3 went off while I was driving east on the 60 Highway near Rowland Heights, and about 3-quarters of a mile later, the R3 went off and about 3-quarters of a mile later, the R3 went off and about 3-quarters of a mile later, the R3 went off and about 3-quarters of The newly flashed and serviced Redline (new dual antenna/software) went off 4 seconds later, indicating Ka band, which it did twice more on the way home. I was disappointed that my Redline had been outperformed, but I'm glad the R3 did its job. I gave it a few more days to see what happened, and the results were the same. The Redline, on the other hand, picked up K bands at a rate of about 1-percentage point. 3 seconds before the R3, but in Cali, it's the Ka band that has me worried. My Redline is currently up for sale on Ebay. br>br>I really like how the R3's settings can be adjusted. There's too much to list: ride, display adjustments, low battery indicator, auto shut off with low battery, ease of updating software, GPS, auto mute memory, and so on. The R3 gets extremely hot after running it, but it doesn't appear to affect performance. Though I dislike the two suction mounting options because the smaller one is unstable and the larger one is too large for my liking, I ended up using the smaller mount because it is less visible behind the rear view mirror. It's a plus that the power cord includes an extra USB port for charging other devices. I mounted the unit on the windshield just below the rearview mirror, so I can access it without having to reach for the power cord to mute it. Instead of paying $19 for the mirror power cord hard wire, I made one out of an old RJ11 telephone cord, a couple of spade connectors, heat shrink, and solder. If you decide to build one, keep in mind that in an RJ11 connection, the Red wire is power and the Green wire is ground. br>br>So far, the unit has performed admirably and has proven to be cost-effective. $399. As of today, August 15, 2018, I noticed on Uniden's website that they are all sold out, but they do have refurbished R3 and R1 units for 329. 239 and 99 are two numbers. 99, which is a fantastic price in my opinion.

Brady Dudley

| Apr 25, 2021

So, I've had a Passport 9500ix for as long as I can remember, and this is the first time I've used it for something other than business. I used to own an Escort brand radar detector. To begin, let's look at the construction quality. It's adequate, but it lacks the sturdiness and rigidity of my 9500ix. It's a little lighter, and the detector has a "cheaper" feel to it than my old 9500ix. Even the power cord appears to be a little flimsy, and only time will tell how well it holds up. Even though my 9500ix is more than seven years old, I still have all of the original parts. br>br>Controls (br>br>Controls (br>br>Controls (br>br This layout is very simple and intuitive, with many of the same operation concepts as the 9500ix. Double-tapping the mute button on the detector or the power cord, for example, will auto-mute and GPS tag a false alert for future reference, just like the 9500ix. It's fairly simple to navigate the menu and make changes. br>br>Features - This detector comes with a lot of features and customization options. If you're looking for a plug-and-play detector, this isn't it - Not with the default settings out of the box, at least. If you're looking for a plug-and-play/auto-detect detector, I'd recommend the Escort Max 360. Figure out which detector type to use. However, if you are willing to put in the effort to learn how to tweak the settings, this detector is, in my opinion, a better option in the long run. br>br>Performance is a term that is used to describe how well a person performs. The sensitivity of this detector is insane! First and foremost, KA's performance is outstanding. A KA band radar that was over 5 miles away was recently picked up by me. Granted, I was on a bridge over water in a straight line, but this detector outperforms my 9500ix in terms of KA performance. Not. Even. Close. On the Uniden R3, I also notice that the rear detection sensitivity is improved. Running this detector with Waze gives me a lot of confidence that I'll be able to detect KA band in any situation. The same can be said for the K and X bands, though the difference between them isn't quite as large as it is between the two bands. On these two bands, the 9500ix is better, but not by much. And it is here that the R3's flaws are revealed. br>br>The Bad and the Ugly br>br>The Bad and the Ugly br>br>The Bad and the Ug This unit falses on the K band in city/mixed driving in its default factory settings. It's about as bad as a V1 (a good friend of mine has one, and it reminds me of a V1). Until you've driven the majority of your daily routes, you'll constantly use the automute/GPS function to lock out annoying false alarms around town. Prepare to teach it to auto-mute those pesky K band false alarms on a regular basis. The X band is the same way; it picks up on everything. I ended up turning off X band completely because no local or state law enforcement agencies use X band radar for traffic control where I live.


I For additional false signal filtering, I changed another setting to run it in K band Narrow mode. This made the detector much less sensitive to false alarms while still providing excellent detection range on the K band, and it's a lot easier to auto-mute those automatic doors now than it was before. In my area, KA is run by the majority of the police. Although a few local agencies use K, I can attest that my R3 is still superior to my 9500ix on K band, even with these filtered settings. br>br>The Bad. Blind Spot Filtering is a feature that allows you to filter out certain areas of your screen I was hoping for a significant improvement over my old 9500ix performance. It outperforms the 9500ix at BSF, but only by a small margin. BSF K band signals from GM and Honda cars were mostly picked up by my old 9500ix. When it did, it would usually sound the alarm, scaring the living daylights out of me for a brief moment, thinking I'd been popped by Instand On radar. The R3 isn't quite as extreme, but it's still a chatty Cathy on the road. The alerts usually last a few seconds, with the signal meter remaining at a low level. It's more like, "Hey, I found something here," rather than "The sky is falling," as my 9500ix used to do. I'd also say that BSF's weakest link is that it will always false if you're near a Honda/Acura vehicle; Uniden needs to improve BSF, as both Radenso and Escort appear to have solved the Honda/Acura problem with their latest firmware updates. br>br>So there you have it, my honest opinion in the real world. I've had detectors for decades and do a lot of traveling. I've never seen a detector more sensitive than the R3. It easily outperforms my 9500ix and even the Valentine V1 of a friend. However, there is a cost to that sensitivity. If you don't change the settings, the K band false alerts will keep going off all over town while you're driving in mixed traffic. With that said, it's still not as chatty as my friend's V1 with factory settings. There are other things you can do with the R3 to reduce K band sensitivity even more, but there's a fine line to walk between performance and quiet. If you know for sure that X band isn't used for traffic control where you live, I'd also recommend running with it turned off. KA is fantastic, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I can't speak to Laser because I haven't seen one in my area, but it's less important to me because a jammer is required to defeat Laser and have legitimate protection. So, would I suggest it? br>br> Yes, but you should be aware that you'll need to make some adjustments to the detector's K band chattiness. When it comes to customizing the R3, there are a plethora of options. I'm hoping that with the next firmware release, Uniden will be able to keep up with the other manufacturers' BSF advancements - Hondas, in particular. UPDATED! br>br> So, now that I've had this detector for almost two years, I'd like to share some additional thoughts with you. Because, as I mentioned in my initial review, the suction mounts and power cord aren't as durable as my old Escort 9500ix, I've had to replace them. Uniden can do better, but it's not a deal breaker. Second, with the K-filter, the BSM filtering has improved. The new firmware has a block feature. However, it is still not as quiet as an Escort detector, but it is perfectly acceptable for interstate driving. I only get a few false positives, and they're quick to spot. br>br>The R- br>br>The R- br>br>The R- The R-type is now the king of long range, and 3 is no longer the king of short range. 7, Valentine 1 Gen 2 or Escort Redline, and if I had to choose between them, I'd go with the R- Why? Because of the value for money and the fact that you don't need to download any additional apps to use all of the detector's features. You must continue to train it in the same way that you did with the R- 3, but that's all there is to it. Because you must run apps (V1 Gen2) to take advantage of all of the detector's features with the V1, your windshield resembles a science fair project. Someone should also tell Escort that the price of their new Redline is ridiculous. When compared to the R-, it's not worth it at all. V1 Gen2 or V7 br>br>However, let us return to R-. 3 because it's still a ridiculously good deal for the money and has a ridiculously wide range. Yes, it lacks the range and arrows of the new big three, but it still performs admirably when called upon and remains the best single antenna detector in my opinion.

Wayne Vogel

| Jun 06, 2021

The LED screen is easy to read in any light condition and comes with GPS lockout and a large alert range. So why is there only one star if I'm praising this thing? Well, the speaker stopped working in less than two months of my ownership, which for a Radar Detector without sound can be a major issue. I contacted Amazon customer service, and after overcoming the obvious language barrier, I was transferred to a Uniden representative, who informed me that I would have to pay to have it shipped back to them, which I would not be reimbursed for, and that they would have to evaluate my unit before possibly repairing the speaker components. This irritates me, and this is the first time in less than two months of use that a premium Detector has failed me. This is unacceptably bad.

Zora Kaiser

| Oct 30, 2021

This is my first radar detector, and I'm a delivery driver. It's incredible how it's already saved me from two tickets in the first week. It's quiet about 90% of the time and the false alerts that I get are mostly from automatic door openers but it works great right out of the box plugged and without changing On the road, only a few car sensors, and I mean a few, can set this off. The unit has not yet been updated. A Virginia State Trooper pulled up alongside me and didn't notice or detect it, but the detector did. I really like that it has a display mode called Dark mode, which makes it even less visible. The fact that it has remained undetected thus far is extremely advantageous. It's also very easy to detach from the mount, which is a huge plus! slide off the push button It comes with a more stealthy mount that barely holds up.

Livia Roach

| Apr 04, 2021