Escort Solo S2 Cordless Radar and Laser Detector

Comment: I bought this unit to give myself a fighting chance against the shameless Cleveland Hights Police Department. In the spring time, they make up for lost revenues during the "ice on the road" months when everyone is driving the speed limit. I have read a lot of the reviews and I hope to add a useful take on this product.

I can't say I really understand the target market for this device, but it has a very real appeal. The notion that because another radar detector has a cord, it is harder to transfer from one vehicle to the next is absurd. So I don't buy the "great for the traveler who is in and out of rental cars" schtik. All that being said, my reason was simply because I was too vain to clutter my interior space with the dangling cord, which eventually I probably would not notice anyway.Yet, when you have an older car, sometimes all you can be proud of is the fact that it is clean and neat. And I wanted it to stay that way.

Design wise, it is sleek and minimalist. It does not yell,"look at me, I'm from Wal Mart" in the way that a Cobra radar detector does with its tacky space ship design, gimmicky 3D color display, and sexy radar alert voice. In a way, it makes the S2 detector more classy. There is power in understatment.

Fit and finish wise, it is solid and has buttons that feel "right". The interface is child's play and there are enough things to enjoy tweaking in the menu for months. It mounts up perfectly just under my rearview mirror. I can see how the mount could make the detector floppy, but it works with the slope of the windshield in my E34. It mounts level and has never, not once, fallen completely off after a bump.

Battery life on this unit is great, once you pop the hood and turn off all the crap you don't need. But even before that, I could drive from Ohio to Georgia and back on a set of batteries that had been in the unit for a couple weeks (spring weather). When I turned off X band,Radar detector-detector-detector mode, and SWS warnings my battery life increased by at least a third, but that is a rough estimate from memory. So instead of a few weeks I could go for a month and drive the 20+ hr round trip (I spend about 45 minutes in the car each day). A family pack of batteries probably lasts a year.

It falses if I face directly at a store front with automatic doors. Also there are two or three places on the east side of Cleveland where it gives a low level alert. Besides that, it is really quiet. It has bailed me out at least a dozen times in various situations: Around corners on both surface streets and interstates, comming up hills on interstates, etc. For the regular cop in the median trap on a typical interstate, you get about a mile of warning. Speed cams are detected too, but it does not give a whole lot of warning unless there is another speed cam on the other side of the street tagging opposing traffic. The K band that Cleveland Hights uses around town is easy to detect as is the Ka that the City of Cleveland Uses. I detected laser from a cruiser working for what I beleive to be the city of Garfeild Heights on the highway the other day, and since there was a car in front of me to get scatter from, I was able to slow down before I was directly illuminated.

At night, people are not riding my tail because the detector is unlit unless there is a signal.

Based on what I have read on some of the radar sites., this unit is not as sensitive as the high end corded units. But this adds a level of specificity to the detector that I find fits my needs. When I get a strong signal, I slow down because I know that about a third of the time I will soon be looking at a police cruiser. When the owner of a Valentine 1 gets a strong signal, he or she slows down too. But I would bet the V1 user takes longer to think about wheather or not the alarm is real and may even get caught up interpreting arrows. Furhter, the extra-warning time may not be that significant if for example, instant on radar is being used. The extra hesitation counts.

If you are the type of driver speeding down the highway at 120 in fly-over country, this may not be your device. It can't work detection miricles. If you live in suburbs and cities like most people in the country, I think this is an excellent device and worth the premium in the price.

Many people had customer service issues. My detector was refurbished, so perhaps some of the bugs were worked out of it. I have read horror stories though and I hope the people in management and human resources read these.

Comment: I have had the S2 for over a year now. I have also owned both the V1 and passport 9500i.

All had things I liked and disliked. This is my list on the Solo. I am listing them in order of importance to me.

Like:
-Cordless means a nice clean look in the car and since you generally need to hide this if your parked in public its nice to be able to just slide it off and stash it. The real plus is when your putting it back up you do not have to plug the power cord into it.
-Display-Doesn't light up the whole car at night when it goes off (like the V1).
-Battery Life-I go about 3 to 4 weeks with Eneloop low discharge rechargables. This was about a week longer than i was getting with throw away batteries.

Dislike:
-Range-its not even close to the 9500 or V1. If the radar is over a hill its near zero. If its around a bend you need to slow down immediately. Many times the warning has only provided 2 or 3 seconds to slow down. If the radar is over a hill and they are using instant on then hide your detector and ask for a break as this unit is just not sensitive enough to pick up a zap from an earlier car ahead of you. When this unit goes off hit the brakes. I have often visually seen the police car before this unit goes off if they are in front of me in traffic. This never happened with the 9500 or V1.
-Volume-with the music turned up to a good listening level you can't hear the alert and the display doesn't stand out being basicly just lcd that you really need the audio alert to be louder.
-windshield mount, suction cups wear out fairly quick. They have a better mount but the one that comes with it is good when the cups are ok but once they stop working thats generally it. A minor issue.

Summary:
If you cannot live with a corded model this is by most accounts the best cordless out there but make no mistake you will get no where near the warning or range of the best corded detectors, its just not very sensitive. I haven't owned any other detectors recently besides the V1 and 9500 so cant speak for the more moderately priced ones. I have had some close calls due to the lack of sensitivity of this unit and am close to retiring this unit because of it.

Comment: I got this radar detector to replace an old Bell model that was corded and twenty years old. Two days before I ordered this item I got a speeding ticket - going 45 MPH in a 30 MPH zone. It cost me $150.00 plust next year's insurance surcharge. I was not using my old detector at the time. NEVER AGAIN!

This model is super compact in size and luckily the exact same color as my sun visor. Without the tell-tale cord it is virtually invisible. It has given me advanced warnings on speed traps again and again. I do wish the warning volume was a bit louder, yet I can still hear it well enough.

This awesome detector will pay for itself over and over. DO NOT DRIVE UNPROTECTED!!!

Comment: Great product, works better than any other radar I've had and love the cordless feature. Easy to remove in and out of the car without a cord displaying that I have a radar in the car..which leads to a broken window from thieves.

Comment: I've had this detector for about a year now. I also own a BEL RX65, and have previously owned a Passport and Escort. I just love this unit! It is so easy and convenient to use! And it works so well. I can't tell the difference between my corded unit and this one!

I did turn off the motion detector turn off and placed it on manual turn off. Turns out that I guess my driving was too smooth, because several times it would turn itself off while I was using it while it was in the motion turn off mode. After I did this, It works flawlessly!

All of the controls are simple and straightforward.

One thing I did do, is buy 4 everyready Nmh rechargeable batteries for the unit. I charge the 4 up, then use two at a time, which will take me a long way before recharge. In theory, I could go several years before my Nmh's wear out.

To my way of thinking, I would NOT ever buy the cord for this unit. If you do that, why not just buy a corded detector in the first place! Although I carry both my RX65 and Solo with me all the time anyway.

This Cordless is so convenient and so good, that it has become my ultimate favorite!

As per the other reviews, if the range isn't what it should be, Question, is the detector set to high range? I believe thats highway? I do agree that the display is weak and hard to see, but the noise still works fine. And I get plenty of warning for slowdown.

It's also important to mount the detector in the middle of the windshield and pointing forward aimed. Visor mounts and dash mounts cut down on range considerably.