Whistler XTR-695 Radar Detector

During the Radar Detector Shoot Out in El Paso this past weekend Marlin, a Whistler Representative, introduced me to their new XTR-695 Radar Detector.

Whistler has taken their Pro-78, which is one of my top picks in my Radar Detector Buyer’s Guide and improved the platform by adding several user customizable features that will even impress the hard core enthusiasts.

The first thing I noticed was the flat black “stealth” look of the XTR-695. Gone are the fancy chrome ribs and buttons that have a habit of causing windshield glare. Next was the SEVEN color LCD display that allows the user to select a color pleasing to the eye or to choose a distinctive color for each band.

Another feature is Whistler’s exclusive KA RSID that assists in taking out the guess work on Ka alerts. When the detector alerts on Ka it will determine if the frequency is close enough to the commonly used Ka frequency. If it is close enough it will display the normal operating frequency of the source, or it isn’t will simply display Ka.

With this new feature users can identify what commonly used frequencies are used by police in their area. Another advantage is if you have not received any 33.8 hits during your normal commute, you could rule out their use of the MPH Industries POP radar guns and disable POP mode entirely from your detector and further minimize false reporting.

And Whistler also added another exclusive feature called LSID that identifies and assigns the pulse rate the detector is seeing.

These two features are also a big plus as auto makers have been adding radar and laser cruise control systems. As some of these devices are K band based systems they have been causing radar detector alerts.  As the RSID and LSID have been preprogrammed with these known frequencies and pulse rates, thereby reducing these types of false alerts.

Whistler has also changed their laser programming to include detection of the Laser Atlanta stealth mode and have also included an audio out jack to accommodate the Cheetah Mirror as well as other new products coming on the market.