Cobra Electronics ESD 9850 Radar Detector

Pros: Nice display, compass, voice alerts, auto mute, good range.
Cons: Lots of features, all controlled by only 3 buttons. Emergency detector is useless.

Well after buying a new sports car I thought I should probably invest in a radar detector, and after a little research I bought the Cobra from Best Buy.

Set up

Overall, it's very simple to use once you flip through the manual...

Pros: great on Radar detection
Cons: below average laser detection

With all the extra features found on the Cobra 9850 how can you go wrong? This being my second radar detector after my first one was hunted down by the VG-2 as where I live Radar Detectors are illegal. The Cobra 9850 is not detectable by the VG-2 and...

Pros: Looks neat; voice quality is outstanding
Cons: Unreadable display, poor detection capability

I purchased the Cobra 9850 radar detector because it definitely offers the greatest number of features for this price range. The hi-tech display, voice alert, 9 band sensitivity. Let me tell you: that is all bunk.

The hi-tech display? The one...

Pros: Detects 2 Safety Systems and new laser signals. Compass and Voice Alert is a nice feature.
Cons: No visor mounting bracket.

If you are looking for a "talking" radar/laser detector which features some of the newest technologies on the market - then the Cobra 9850 should suit your needs.

Cobra is claiming this to be the world's first 9-Band radar/laser...

Pros: Compass looks features
Cons: Poor radar detection many false alarms not reliable

This thing has let us down twice now. Two tickets one by me and one by my son. The troopers lights went on before this things. The compass is nice and it looks cool but it is just window dressing. Buy a Bel instead.

I gave 4 for overal rating because of the excellent cobra service. 1st, i bought a 9850, after 4 mth, it failed to detect those speed detector trailer that ur city police will put on the side of the road to show whats ur speed. So i called cobra and got a replacement. Then the replacement was working fine till 2 mths later when it fail to detect a policeman on motorcycle shooting a radar directly on me. then 2 wks later, i was on a highway and met another trooper in his car shooting a radar directly on me again. and again, my radar detector didnt alert me. So I called cobra again and was happy that they replaced me with a new 9860. But, i doubt these less than $200 detector, therefore, i sold this 9860 in ebay. Maybe I am bad luck that I received 2 defective product from cobra. But the moral of the story, do not buy a detector that is less than $200.