Escort - MAXcam 360c Radar Detector and Dash Camera - Black

This is my first new radar detector in well over 20 years and they've sure come a long way. Last one I had was all the way back in the 90s, and it just so happened to also be an Escort. Given that they're a well known brand that's been around for so long I had high expectations for this and so far this MaxCam 360 has been (mostly) meeting them. Let me start by saying, it's been so long since I've last had one because I was never a big advocate for them. The last one I had all those years ago was constantly going off with false alerts, and being younger, and, well, dumber, it gave me a sense of invulnerability that ended up getting me into more trouble than when I was without. Now I'm older, and hopefully wiser, and keep the racing and high speeds for the track. That said, there's still valid reasons why I could still use a radar detector. With how far vehicles have come with power and ride quality, it's easier than ever to get to cruising faster than you should without even realizing it. That's why more and more vehicles and devices are coming with speed warning capabilities, and if your vehicle doesn't, well this Escort does! And that's just one of many features it has. The feature I love the most though, is that on top of being a really good radar detector, it's also a dash cam! This is huge for me since I'm an automotive content creator. That means I already have a cluttered up view between my windshield mounted phone and standalone dash cam. Adding more is just too much, but with the MAXcam, I get to add more functionality without adding more gear as I can now get rid of my standalone dash cam. The big question is, how good is the dash cam? Often times when something combines multiple devices in one, there's a sacrifice in quality or features. That's not the case here, with one exception. In regards to the video quality, I took footage from this Escort MAXcam and compared it side by side to footage from my standalone dash cam, and the video quality in this Escort is just as good, if not just a little bit better, as the standalone dash cam. Best way to compare is to look at the readability of license plates within view, and based on my opinion, they're just a touch clearer with this Escort. The one exception I brought up is that there's no option or expansion for additional camera views, like a rear cam or in-cab cam. Not a big deal for me as I don't use those other views currently but if those are important to you, then you would probably be better off with a separate radar detector and dash cam. Before we get off the topic of the dash cam there's one more thing I want to bring up in regards to it, and that's storage, because the files have to go somewhere. While most dash cams I've come across force you to buy a MicroSD separately, the MAXcam actually comes with one included in the box! Now granted, it's only 16 GB, but for the majority of users that's enough, as it overwrites the oldest footage as space is used up. Plus it has features to lock certain clips. Personally, I sometimes use my dash cam footage in my automotive content so I still had to upgrade the card to get more storage capacity. Let's get back to the radar detector. In the short time I've been using this one, it's been working great and does a pretty decent job at ignoring false alerts. That's not to say it doesn't still have them though. The biggest culprit seems to be the laser detection. This has gone off quite often for me and each time I haven't visually spotted anything to be causing it. My guess is it might be coming from cars that have all the auto-pilot capabilities, although according to what I've read in the manual for this, it should ignore most alerts coming from those sources. On the regular radar side though, it seems to do much better, although I do still get some false alerts. Some of which I'm starting to notice a pattern for where they happen, so this Escort does give you the capability to tell it when you know an alert is false, thus teaching it for the future. Additionally, it has settings so that you can fine-tune the sensitivity and which bands to ignore. Most importantly though, it hasn't failed me yet in picking up actual real alerts, at least the ones I've been able to visually verify, so it's definitely doing the job it's supposed to. We can't continue this review without talking about the companion app which Escort calls Drive Smarter. I'm sorry to say that if having an app to work with the device is important to you, you'll be sadly disappointed. While the idea behind the app and its features is great, the execution of it is a bit lacking. One of the main features behind it is supposedly a large community to report real-time hazards. Unfortunately this app doesn't have anywhere near the number of users as one of the other well known road apps, and I rarely ever saw any type of hazard reported as I was driving around. Although the navigation portion worked ok. Then there's the connectivity to the dash cam, I ran into several issues connecting, but honestly, I don't really use dash cam apps anyway and always just pull the SD card. The worst thing about this app though that makes me hate it in its current state, is that the app only has a portrait mode! My mount is setup to hold my phone horizontally for landscape, and has for years. As a software developer myself I honestly don't understand how the app developers haven't bothered to make a modern app work in landscape mode. Needless to say I've given up on the app and now only use it to check on firmware updates for the radar detector/dash cam. There are a couple other minor nit-picks I have that I'm not a fan of. One is the button arrangement and placement. With where the ideal mounting position is in my car, the buttons become hidden away on top where I can't see them and they're not very easily distinguishable from each other by feel. I'm sure I can learn the placement but it's going to take a bit of effort to do so. My last nit-pick, and one that I don't understand, is why a modern device such as this is still using Micro USB and old phone jack connectors? While that's pretty much all I have as far as negatives, there are some other small positives that I like too. One is how it mounts, including both the mount to the windshield and the way the radar detector attaches to that mount. I love that they use a suction cup style mount for the windshield, as this makes it so much easier to move between vehicles. Then there's the magnetic style way that the radar detector attaches to the mount. No hard to use tabs and slots like most other devices. The magnetic attachment just makes it so incredibly easy to grab this radar detector every night when you get home, or with you when you park somewhere. This device isn't on the cheap end and no one wants to give thieves another reason to break your window to get in your car. On top of that, Escort even includes a carry case to protect it further! That last thing I want to talk about, and what is another small thing but with big impact, is the Smart cord. This is the cable that plugs into your 12V outlet to power the device. They pack quite a few features into this often overlooked accessory. Most importantly for most people, it does have a usb port so that you can still plug another cable into it if you need to charge one of your other devices. Then on top of that, it has an additional red alert light that flashes when radar is detected, so if the plug is in your field of vision, it's just another way to alert you. But wait, there's more! It has a mute button also, so that when you get one of those loud alerts and you just want to silence it you can just press the button on the plug which in many cases might be easier to reach! Overall this is a great radar detector and dash cam combo. If you only need one or the other, this one might not make sense, but if you're looking for both with less clutter, you really can't go wrong. Escort is well-known in radar detection and it does a great job at doing that, as it does with the dash cam as well. The biggest detractor is really the companion app but in actuality it's only truly necessary for firmware updates, which it handles just fine. Hopefully they continue developing the app though and fix that over time.

The best radar detector I’ve owned. Period. Super long range, accurate, no false alarms. Upgraded from the 360c and love having the camera. Gives me piece of mind. Having two separate units was a no for me so this sleek design is awesome, love the look. Yes, I too had issues changing settings with the app but spoke to customer service and update is coming. Meanwhile it’s still awesome, and will be awesomer soon. Just gotta get around to finally hiding that cable now.

So occasionally as a driver I need to be reminded about speed limits and be more aware of my surroundings. I am a long-time user of radar detectors back to the days of the original brick like Escort model, as times have changed and the tech has improved I have gone through many different models of radar detectors. Some of the less expensive models have so many false alarms that you start to ignore the alerts, this is where more sophisticated technology comes into play. Newer generation radar detectors come with a number of different features to reduce false alarms, some as simple as an X-Band on/off switch (this was the first radar detecting frequency but is no longer widely used as that frequency is now used by automatic door openers and simple range sensing devices). As radar-based speed enforcement has evolved to using K and Ka band radar, so have the detectors. Again, other sensors have encroached on these bands, such as blind spot detection, collision avoidance, backup and adaptive cruise control sensors. So having a sophisticated radar detector with the latest technology such as the Escort MAXcam 360c comes in handy, this model also has a dashcam integrated into the unit. First impressions: this is not a compact unit, and it actually reminded me of the first generation Escort radar detectors (OK, maybe not that big). Given its size, it is more at home on your windshield than on your dashboard (mounting on the dashboard is not really feasible since this is also a dashcam and will hinder the view). Radar detection functionality: the radar detection portion of this device provides front and rear radar detection antennas as well as Laser detection lenses in the front and on top of the device. Essentially this provides 360-degree detection which displays the information about the alert on a clear OLED display and for the 360 aspect lighted arrows on a knob/push button indicating direction of where the radar signal(s) are coming from. Helpful and intuitive to provide awareness of your surroundings. As I mentioned the knob is multi-functional and is key for on device configuration (you can also use Escort’s iOS or Android applications to configure the device), muting alerts and controlling alert volume. The core functionality of the radar detection is best in class and provides ultimate detection performance as well as configurable band detection. In road testing this model, out of the box it is generally quiet and does a good job rejecting false signals and detecting positive ones. The device also is GPS enabled which allows the detector to learn false detection alerts seen in the same area every drive and with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity provides the ability to send this telemetry to their cloud as well as providing the ability to use with Escort Live or Drive Safer mobile apps. The unit also comes with Escort’s smart power cord which has a button to mute alerts on it as well as a USB A plug to power any other accessories you may have, this is a welcome addition from previous generations such as the one which came with my current Escort X70 passport detector did not have this. The front display is highly configurable, with the ability to change display colors, how alerts are displayed and also provide you with your current speed. There are five other buttons on the top for various functions as well speakers on the top and bottom of the unit. A USB port for connection to a computer, a phone like plug for power and a headphone jack (so you can use when driving with others that may be asleep and awakened by audible alerts). The suction cup mount provides a sturdy connection to your windshield and a unique magnetic notch on the top of the unit provides about the simplest way I have seen to unmount/mount the radar detector. The build quality in general is very good, also a protective case is provided for portability. Overall, the radar detection functionality and configurability is top in class as you would expect from Escort and at this price point. Dash-cam functionality: I am a user of dash cams and all my vehicles (as well family members) have one installed. Video evidence is handy if you get into an incident and actually used it when having a collision about a year ago to demonstrate to law enforcement when they arrived at the scene that another driver made a turn right in front of me while I had the right of way. Was also helpful in ensuring that the person’s insurance company quickly addressed my claim and assigned fault to their client. The Escort Maxcam 360 camera does 2K (2560 x 1440) resolution, which sits between standard HD and 4K video. In general, the video it produces is good, but not the best I have seen. My current dash-cam does 4K and has better contrast, even in HD mode video from that camera looks a bit better than the 2K video from the Escort Maxcam 360c. For instance, if you are looking to read a vehicle tag number from one passing you or even just in front of you from one of the videos it records you may be a bit disappointed in the lack of sharpness, even when zoomed. Also, I noticed a bit of “jitter” in the video which I haven’t yet diagnosed, perhaps it has something to do with my car in idle, but given the portability of the device I can easily move it to one of my other cars to test this theory. And that is a key benefit with a radar detector/dash-cam as an integrated unit, having both these capabilities in a single device is really a benefit if you travel and have a rental car, unlike my more or less permanently installed standalone dash-cams. Connectivity features: This unit provides a few ways to connect to other devices (mobile phones, computers, their crowd sourced radar telemetry cloud service) than the typical radar detector. It has Bluetooth connectivity to integrate with the Drive Smarter app or the Escort Live app. Wi-Fi capability to connect to your vehicle’s or phone’s hotspot for telemetry and cloud based/sourced data and firmware updates. Firmware updates are key with this unit as they provide updated algorithms and improvements to detection and false alerts. The Drive Smarter app also displays GPS derived information on location as well as a speed display, crowd sourced alert areas and the ability to report new enforcement areas. The app also provides you with the ability to further configure your connected radar detector, such as turning on/off radar bands which may or may not apply to your specific driving environment. Also, the Drive Smarter mobile app provides the ability to view your dash-cams video files and download them to your device. This functionality appeared to be a bit flaky and connecting this device to your computer via the USB interface or removing the supplied 16GB microSD card and copying recorded video files is a better experience. This is not unique to this device though, most dash-cams wireless connectivity is a bit unreliable for downloading video files or even playing them back. As for the Drive Smarter app, on my iPhone it seemed to drain my device battery by running a background process, changing the setting on my phone to not allow the app to run in the background seemed to improve that issue, but also means you lose some functionality if the app is not in the foreground. Others have mentioned that the Escort Live app also works with the Escort Maxcam 360c device and drains the battery less (if you do not need the added dash-cam specific video functions). Pros: - Top notch detection and false signal radar detection capabilities. - Laser detection. - Connectivity features (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and USB). - Configurability. - Display and indicators. - Loud, adjustable speakers – records audio as well as video. - Ease of mounting and dismounting. - Mobile app integration. - Integrated dash-cam, with the ability to overlay data elements as a watermark onto recordings. - Provided case and micro-SD card, along with USB cable and Smart power cable w/USB port. - Over-speed alerts (configurable/disable-able) as well as current speed display. Cons: - A bit bulky. - Average as a dash-cam, but certainly better than basic ones. - Appears to not have stealth features (counter measures against radar detector detectors).\ - Drive Smarter app is flaky, a bit of a battery hog.