Valentine One

Anyone that does any research on radar/laser detectors knows two things, a cheap one is worthless, and the Valentine V1 is always listed in as a top 2 detectors. Some people complain that it is over… sensitive, but you can just switch it to Advanced Logic Mode (big L on the screen) and it will be quiet enough. This thing is super sensitive on the highway and can give you a solid 2 miles of warning if the officer has the gun on. Arrows help a ton in the city and it will tell you the direct of the strongest signal as well as the other signals simultaneously.

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Pro: Phenomenal range. Direction arrows. Bogey counter. Actual laser detection, not just a laser-already-got-you signal. These all turn out to be way more useful than you think once you start using… it. Cons: Some LED brake lights now set off false Laser alarms. The markings on the unit are all silkscreened on and can't be read at night. The only way to tell X, K, and Ka from one another at night is by memorizing the different alert sounds. Some folks customize theirs with different color LEDs for each alert. The small volume and mute knobs aren't as good as other detector's solutions. Not a Pro or a Con: No real false-alarm filtering. It reports everything it sees and lets you decide. It just adjusts how it reports the least-likely signals so they don't bug you as much, and the level and loudness of the alerts is adjustable. Wannabe fighter pilots probably think this is cool. For the rest of us it gets annoying after a while. Where I live, I can just ignore everything except Ka and Laser. In short, this is really the only unit on the market worth the money. It delivers what you're paying for in spades, and you can live with its ergonomics in return. As a side note, the reason you'd buy it here at twice the factory price is if you live in a country where the factory doesn't sell/ship. There are a lot of those, apparently. Otherwise, get it factory direct.

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