The Escort Passport X70 has been out for quite some time now. The design of the X70 resembles that of the  Escort 8500 X50. This essentially means that the X70 has approximately 4-times the capture rate as a police radar gun which will provide adequate protection in the city. However, the detector does not do as well in long-range highway driving performance like some other high-end radar detectors.

Features Overview

• High-performance laser sensors – Offer long-range warning against Ka Wideband, K-band and X-band radar. POP mode detects radar guns for added awareness of instant-on radar.
• Auto Sensitivity mode -Removes any irrelevant sources and focuses on relevant radar information to provide you with the information you need.
• Mute and auto mute functions – Reduce the volume during alerts for quiet operation during long radar encounters. Not Bluetooth equipped.
• Bar graph, Expert Meter, and Spec Display options – Allows for prioritizing information the way you want for easy monitoring.
• Live Radar app (download required) – Allows you to view major speed limit changes, speed traps reported by other drivers in the area and more on your compatible iOS or Android device.

Escort Passport X70 Review & Suggestions

The Escort Passport X70 is not your normal radar detector when it comes to size. The X70 has four primary buttons on top. The button in the middle is assigned three functions—volume up, down and mute—a space-saving but slow way of handling these tasks. To avoid accidental press of the power button it is buried really deep. On the side rests an audio-out jack and a USB port for charging and installing software updates. The updates keep your X70 up to date with all the latest software features.

The display of the X70 is a bright red OLED one. This technology has some advantages over LED, but it can lead to visibility issues during the daytime. When under direct sunlight the display looked kind of washed out and did not get as bright when compared to an LCD panel and did not have great viewing angles. However, if you don’t look at the display that much and rely mostly on the voice alerts for their primary source of information this shouldn’t be a deal breaker. There are few instances where the display is the only source of information like in Spec Mode, for example, a radar frequency is digitally displayed, allowing knowledgeable drivers to tell at a glance whether a Ka-band alert can safely be ignored. It is at times like these that users might run into some visibility issues.

The X70 comes with what some really great options that like the Ka-band segmentation which all the enthusiast drivers are bound to like. What this essentially does is the detector divides the extra-wide band into segments which drivers with good knowledge of the radar frequencies can use to shut off unused Ka-band segments. This allows the detector to ignore some signals that lead to reduced number of false alarms.

The X70 offers only four Ka-band segments, unlike other radar detectors that offer a lot more. This, unfortunately, leaves you with no choice but to keep them turned on at all time as shutting off any of them makes it likely that legitimate radar threats will be missed.

If you can overlook the average user-interface and a not so great display the X70 is a really good choice for someone looking for a budget radar detector that comes along with some great features.