Escort’s new flagship detector boasts more signal, less noise

Escort’s Passport Max brings few new tricks to the radar detector’s bag of tricks. It’s got GPS connectivity, which it uses in some innovative ways. It uses new signal-processing tech to tune out the noise that triggers false alerts. It’s even got a new suction cup.

Design The Passport Max attaches to your car’s windshield with a new Sticky Cup suction mount, similar to that of the Bracketron Mi-T Grip. While it looks like a standard lever-activated suction cup, the Sticky Cup uses a tacky, indeed, sticky semiadhesive material for its cup. With this change, the Passport sacrifices a bit of liberty for security, as the new suction cup is less forgiving during positioning (as it sticks to rather than slides on glass and has only one hinged point of articulation) and is more difficult to remove, but holds to the windshield glass with great strength.

Escort refers to the Passport Max as “compact” but at 1.3 by 3.2 by 5.3 inches, it feels pretty big to me. Imagine about three Nexus 4s stacked sandwich-style, and you’ll have an idea of its size. Still, size doesn’t really matter here, as the Max isn’t really the kind of thing that you’d carry around all day, though it does ship with a nice soft carrying case for it and its accessories.

The Passport's OLED screen displays … [Read more]