Beltronics PRO 500 Review & Suggestions
The Beltronics Pro 500 offers one of the best long-range detecting capabilities which includes the bands like – X, K, KA and even LIDAR. Multiple laser sensors located in the front and back of the device body provide a wide range of detection with no setbacks. Its powerful technology makes it possible to avoid the basic and most common sensors like an automatic door opener, motion sensors and many more. It comes with an ultra bright alpha-numeric display with perfect contrast ratios to bring out the best knowledge to the driver without him having to glare at it for longer durations while driving. Coming to the interface, it has a selectable marker on each option allowing you to customize on what you are to be alerted on. This should help you in driving safely and wisely.
FEATURES
- X-band: 10.525 GHz ± 25 MHz / K-band: 24.150 GHz ± 100 MHz / Ka-band: 34.700 GHz ± 1300 MHz
- Laser: 904nm, 33MHz bandwidth
- SiRFstar III GPS Receiver
- Power Requirement: 12 VDC, Negative Ground
- Sensitivity Control: Highway / AutoScan / Auto NoX
BOX INCLUDES
Right when you start unboxing your product you are greeted by another box (for safekeeping purposes). This device is very well protected and packaged to avoid any sort of damage during shipment. On opening the second enclosure, you will find the device itself, nicely laid down, surrounded by a padded foam. The compartment underneath the device holds the SmartCord (if you’ve paid for this), followed by the basic cord used to get the device up and running and amount which can be used to hang it from the glass of your windshield. All this is nicely packaged inside a polycarbonate material. Beneath all that, are the Warranty Guide and Quick Referencing Manual, however, it does lack a Quick Start Guide as Beltronics has moved its QuickStart kits online.
REVIEW
This is a particularly well performer who’s overshadowed by its massively hyped sister detectors. Not many consumers know about this one, so we thought we’d shed some light on this, a well-kept secret.
Its made up of a unique soft touch material, which is matte black and gives a somewhat satisfying feeling not only to touch but also to look at. It feels like a soft rubber compound makes it feel like a flagship device even though it’s not, but one necessary detail is that it doesn’t reflect rays onto the windshield during daylight hours, thanks to its matte black rubber textured cover.
With six buttons to operate the device, it has a more complicated user interface to get used to, but once you know your way about this, it becomes second nature. Adaptability is very nice.
One majorly important decision taken by the company was to include a GPS tracker which not only avoids false alarms but is also embedded with sensors to detect the major radars used by law enforcement like X, K and KA bands. It’s also a LIDAR detector. If detected, a loud enough beeping buzzer takes it upon itself to inform you of the upcoming distress. Although it still does provide you with a slight alert for these nuisances, tapping the “Smart Cord Mute” button three times will be the end of such alerts. Apart from this, it also comes with 360-degree signal detection. The in-built GPS tracker comes pre-loaded with several red light cams and speeds cam locations to help avoid unnecessary alerts.
This detector is compatible with the Escort Live app, providing you a rich experience of the best of both worlds. You can sync it up via the ‘Smart Cord’ which, surprisingly enough, is sold separately. However, you can also connect using Bluetooth making it a viable and excellent source of sharing and receive alerts.
They’ve included a “Threat Display” mode to show and track up to nine different bandwidths with comparative radio signal strengths of all the detected signals. A loud “Multiple signals detected” follow this through the speaker, audibly notifying the driver, allowing him to take action upon it himself.
Although its range was quite impressive during testing the rest of the bandwidths, driving through the city or the freeway, a small hiccup with the range for K-bands left us a little disappointed, especially when comparatively talking about its predecessor.
PROS
- Preloaded database of red light cams and speed cams.
- GPS functionality.
- Pairs with the EscortLive app.
- Staggering long-range performance.
- Wide range of bandwidths detected.
- 360-degree radar tracking.
CONS
- Lacks AutoLearn feature.
- Issues with the detection of K-bandwidth sometimes.
- Slightly heavy on the pocket (expensive).
- Lack of SmartCord in the packaging.
SUMMARY
The Beltronics Pro 500 has a very well-rounded list of features which make it one of the best buys. Having the functionality of a GPS with affinity to the EscortLive app is something very rare radar detectors have been able to accomplish. Alongside the GPS, it comes with a preloaded database of red light cams and speed cam giving it a massive advantage over some of the previously talked about detectors. However, all this comes at the expense of the AutoLearn feature which is primarily used to avoid recurring red light cams. It uses radar to check the flow of the traffic and not the speed, by blocking them from causing disruptions and vain alerts automatically based on the repetition pattern, but the workaround to this is that one can manually block most of the red light cam alerts. Starting at around $575 this seems like a decent buy and should help you stay safe on the road.
Note: Beltronics has left the radar detecting business and this very product has been discontinued. It has been taken over by a company called ‘Escort’ with its replacement being the “Escort iX” which has a better performance and comes packed with features, at a better affordable price. However, we will leave a link right below this note if you’re still interested in buying this phenomenal product.
