My Escort Live impressions and review

[rondocap]

So I've had the Escort Live for a few days now, and have had a chance to use it a good amount. Previously I had a Valentine 1, and more recently a 9500ix. I liked the 9500ix - the GPS filtering really made it much quieter than the V1, which is why I had the V1 replaced. The arrows are nice, though.

Anyway - so recently I sold my 9500ix and bought a Redline, in anticipation for the Escort Live. My main goal was to give it the true lock false alert memory that the 9500 had.

Now, I think the best radar detector is one that is quiet, and requires little to know user interference. After all, while driving, you want to keep your eyes on the road and have nothing else taking away your attention. The 9500 with the auto learn was great for this, just sit there and it did all of the work.

Now for the Escort live review: Here's where I think it all goes bad.

1.) I was very happy with my direct wired 9500 setup. Now I have that jangling cord in the middle, and to add to it, I need to keep my phone on all of the time or else the Escort live won't work. My car has built in bluetooth, and a built in charger for the phone/ipod connection, so previously I could keep it hidden away. No longer can I do that - now it has to awkwardly stay on in the open.

And for what does all this messy cabin business now reward me for? Not much. Aside from red-light camera alerts on my Redline now, there isn't too much to really look at in the Escort Live screen - surely not enough users now, nor in the foreseeable future, to be able to make it do what they intended. So basically my phone is just on for me to be able to lock out a signal.

2.) I know that a direct-wire is coming, but this cord only business makes the product seem very unfinished and rushed. To boot, my phone's battery goes down very quickly now. Sure, I have plugged it in while in use - but the end result is that while it won't go down, it barely charges up when Live is on.

3.) OK - my Redline can now lock out signals. I do like that aspect of it. But! It only works if the screen is open. Not very background happy. And I've been frustrated a few times when I have gotten a call, and a signal alert at the same time - I was not able to lock it because I was no longer on the screen. They really need to make the APP and Live cord independent.

4.) My ideal way for this to work would be for you to be able to completely put your phone in sleep mode, and it run in the background. i.e, signals are stored, locked, and remembered without needing your phone hanging somewhere.

5.) The Live App itself is too slow and clumsy. When you are driving, first it's best to avoid all interaction with your phone unless it's bluetooth - and second, if you do, the worst thing is a slow app that makes you have to mess with it multiple times while driving. This also makes the traffic feature sort of useless. Too slow, and you can't be messing with it while driving.

So to summarize, I think that this is a poor application of what is potentially a decent idea. It requires too many messy wires, and user interaction to be safe and efficient in a car setting. We aren't sitting at our desks playing with it, we are driving. It needs to make the radar detector as autonomous as possible; not give us numerous slow responding features to play with while driving. Plus, I doubt there will be enough users for it to really be effective in most areas.

I am starting to wish this acted more like the 9500ix: you can just leave it alone and it will do all of the work. The new ESP/Savvy from Valentine 1 that mutes false alerts under a certain speed almost makes the V1 the one to go to, but unfortunately that Savvy feature is also not completely satisfactory as you are still open to various false signals at other speeds.

I was hoping Live would turn my RedLine into a 9500ix with better range. Not exactly. It adds a few features, but the adaptation and implementation, like I said, is still very messy and does not belong in a car's cabin.

[EscortRadar]

Thank for your feedback about Escort Live. We are listening to our customers and intend to make Escort Live the best live alert network.

3, 4, 5 are basically iPhone limitations. iPhone will not keep a bluetooth connection for an app that is in the background. I believe this is also true when the phone is in sleep mode (screen off). Without a bluetooth connection with your detector then you obviously cannot lock out falses although Live alerts and Defender alerts will still function. The separate traffic flow map screen is also an iPhone limitation. The Android version can have this data overlayed on the main map screen along with Live and Defender alerts.

I'm surprised to hear that your app is running slowly. I have not heard of or seen this before. It has always run smoothly for me on the iPhone4 and iPad2.

[rondocap]

Another issue I am having: My car has built in bluetooth, meaning phone calls come through my speaker. When it's connected to the car, I can hear no audio from the Escort Live app. It's mute. If I turn the car's bluetooth off, then I hear the live audio once again. Any work around on this?

[GPSnV1]

You are going to need to be specific because I have BT for phone calls and have no problems with audio from the LIVE app on my iP4S.

[ghz1]

Thanks for that. I guess in time these things will be corrected. Interesting how the redline is not letting you down just all the other tech. Escort's growing pains I would call it.

[AvsBest]

I drove about 75 miles with it and I am pretty happy with it.

Lockouts: I ran into 3 known false K which were easily locked out. I drove back after they were locked out to see what was what and the Iphone displays the alert but no sound from the RD or the phone. The 12v thing shows a yellow light showing it is a locked alert. I loved that feature.

Battery: It took about 30 percent; of the battery for 75 miles WITHOUT having the phone plugged in.

Alerts: I ran into 1 true Ka and it performed as advertised. It actually pin point the location of the FIRST alert so not necessarily where the LEO is sitting (if stationary).

Background mode: If Iphone is in background you CANNOT contribute to the database because if issues stated in previous posts. However, you CAN be alerted from Live! even in background mode. One nice thing is that you don't need your detector plugged in to receive alerts from the app. If you are riding with a friend without a RD, you fire up the app, leave your phone in sleep mode and still will be alerted.

App itself: It worked great for me, no lags, no glitches, not slow. Quite a bite of options so you can customize your settings as you want.

Summary: My favorite features so far is the ability to benefit from the database the app even without a RD and the fact that even locked out alert shows up on the phone (discrete) but doesnt trigger the RD or any sound. The yellow light on the 12v thing is also nice as it tells you that the RD is detecting something (you know it's not broken). SO FAR SO GOOD

[AvsBest]

This one if for escortradar:

What is the radius of the app. Basically, if I am in Seattle, how far out can I see an alert by zooming out. I tried to look in NY, CA and couldn't see anything. I guess it could be because of the minimal number of users on the network...

[Jstglockem]

So I've had the Escort Live for a few days now, and have had a chance to use it a good amount. Previously I had a Valentine 1, and more recently a 9500ix. I liked the 9500ix - the GPS filtering really made it much quieter than the V1, which is why I had the V1 replaced. The arrows are nice, though.

Anyway - so recently I sold my 9500ix and bought a Redline, in anticipation for the Escort Live. My main goal was to give it the true lock false alert memory that the 9500 had.

Now, I think the best radar detector is one that is quiet, and requires little to know user interference. After all, while driving, you want to keep your eyes on the road and have nothing else taking away your attention. The 9500 with the auto learn was great for this, just sit there and it did all of the work.

Now for the Escort live review: Here's where I think it all goes bad.

1.) I was very happy with my direct wired 9500 setup. Now I have that jangling cord in the middle, and to add to it, I need to keep my phone on all of the time or else the Escort live won't work. My car has built in bluetooth, and a built in charger for the phone/ipod connection, so previously I could keep it hidden away. No longer can I do that - now it has to awkwardly stay on in the open.

And for what does all this messy cabin business now reward me for? Not much. Aside from red-light camera alerts on my Redline now, there isn't too much to really look at in the Escort Live screen - surely not enough users now, nor in the foreseeable future, to be able to make it do what they intended. So basically my phone is just on for me to be able to lock out a signal.

2.) I know that a direct-wire is coming, but this cord only business makes the product seem very unfinished and rushed. To boot, my phone's battery goes down very quickly now. Sure, I have plugged it in while in use - but the end result is that while it won't go down, it barely charges up when Live is on.

3.) OK - my Redline can now lock out signals. I do like that aspect of it. But! It only works if the screen is open. Not very background happy. And I've been frustrated a few times when I have gotten a call, and a signal alert at the same time - I was not able to lock it because I was no longer on the screen. They really need to make the APP and Live cord independent.

4.) My ideal way for this to work would be for you to be able to completely put your phone in sleep mode, and it run in the background. i.e, signals are stored, locked, and remembered without needing your phone hanging somewhere.

5.) The Live App itself is too slow and clumsy. When you are driving, first it's best to avoid all interaction with your phone unless it's bluetooth - and second, if you do, the worst thing is a slow app that makes you have to mess with it multiple times while driving. This also makes the traffic feature sort of useless. Too slow, and you can't be messing with it while driving.

So to summarize, I think that this is a poor application of what is potentially a decent idea. It requires too many messy wires, and user interaction to be safe and efficient in a car setting. We aren't sitting at our desks playing with it, we are driving. It needs to make the radar detector as autonomous as possible; not give us numerous slow responding features to play with while driving. Plus, I doubt there will be enough users for it to really be effective in most areas.

I am starting to wish this acted more like the 9500ix: you can just leave it alone and it will do all of the work. The new ESP/Savvy from Valentine 1 that mutes false alerts under a certain speed almost makes the V1 the one to go to, but unfortunately that Savvy feature is also not completely satisfactory as you are still open to various false signals at other speeds.

I was hoping Live would turn my RedLine into a 9500ix with better range. Not exactly. It adds a few features, but the adaptation and implementation, like I said, is still very messy and does not belong in a car's cabin.

Thanks for your post.

Does your i phone use any data minutes for this app to work? Forgive me if its a stupid question!

Do you think over time if Escort can get enough users this system would be more efficient?

[rondocap]

It's definitely a good idea, and if there were a lot of users, it would be much better. But before we even get to that, I think they need to fix the interface. Everytime I get a call, the app goes away, and I have to fidget around to get it back to the live screen. While driving, this is not what I want to be doing.

[GPSnV1]

This one if for escortradar:

What is the radius of the app. Basically, if I am in Seattle, how far out can I see an alert by zooming out. I tried to look in NY, CA and couldn't see anything. I guess it could be because of the minimal number of users on the network...

I thought EscortRadar said in their official forum that the radius is 50 miles.