Cobra SSR 50 Performance Radar/Laser Detector

 (12 customer reviews)

I took a chance on this Detector mainly because of the price and partially because of the clean look. The description lists almost nothing so here goes: Corded 12-volt,mute and city/highway buttons, 9 Bands only, spin wheel up/down volume control, will not auto mute like others, Tone alerts only no voice alerts. My greatest peeve about is that when you shut off the vehicle it always reverts to highway mode. If you want it in city mode, you need to set it every single time you turn on the vehicle. I would only recommend this detector if you are able to mount it where its a arms reach. That way you can press the mute/cty/hwy functions. It does detect well. I've had it warn me about 5 blocks away from an oncoming police car. It does have a very sleek look. (I must say that If you've ever had a Beltronics you'll be disappointed.)

If we all drove the speed limit the Radar/Laser business would not exist. The price of a speeding ticket where I live, here in AZ, is around $250.00 for 10mph over the posted speed. I know, a close friend just got nailed. The price of the ticket is nothing compared to the increase in insurance rates that hang on for several years, his almost doubled for, I think, five years.

My wife and I went shopping the day before Thanksgiving, we were traveling down a main street, when the Cobra went off, I looked down to the speedometer to find that I was quite a bit over the limit----whoa, we slowed down and drove a short distance. On a side street, about a block away, was a cruiser. The officer had the radar gun out, looking for speeders. Another cruiser, further down the street had a car pulled over and was writing a ticket! This thing has paid for itself and more. The cost of being captured for speeding is really not in my budget. From my experience on this short shopping...Read more

Update:
I am adding some more information; I get a range generally of about a half mile, but make sure you have the radar detector set-up properly on your windshield. The unit comes with a window attachment, it has two small suction cups that hold it in place remarkably well. I don't recommend removing the holder though, it seems to weaken the suction cups a bit. The radar detector has a small button you press to release it from the ohlder.
All the controls are well positioned, the on-off/volume button is somewhat hidden from view but I don't have a problem finding it. The only false alarms seem to come from security cameras and what may be some kind of automatic gate opener.
I have compared this to another Cobra ESD 7400 which I bought for a friend some time ago and asked to borrow it this week. They are both comparable really, apart from that I have no previous experience with radar detectors. If I had to choose between the two I would buy the ESD 700 but it is a...Read more