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Escort Passport 8500 X50 Red

Radar detector with red display

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Escort Passport 8500 X50 Red Escort Passport 8500 X50 Red
 
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Item# 036P85X50R offer details

Item# 036P85X50R

Review Summary

 
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Escort

Our take on the Escort Passport 8500 X50 Red

With improved detection range on all radar threats, the Escort Passport 8500 X50 radar detector makes it easy to stay informed. The "V-tuned" detector utilizes a state-of-the-art microwave receiver and proprietary software for ultra-high sensitivity on conventional and "instant-on" radar, and offers even more range on K-band and Ka-band radar than the Passport 8500. Plus, the ultra-bright red display provides crystal-clear readouts and sharp text.

It arrives in an Escort travel case, with a quick-release windshield mount, built-in earphone jack, and coiled cord — it's a great traveling companion.

The Passport 8500 X50 features an AutoSensitivity mode, which automatically reduces false alarms while maintaining high sensitivity. With a SpecDisplay, you can see the actual frequency of the radar signal. And the "ExpertMeter" display identifies band and relative signal strength on up to 8 signals simultaneously.

The on-board digital signal processor rapidly determines the level of threat. "EZ Programming" lets you store your preferred settings for nine different functions. The unique power cord even has a built-in alert lamp, pilot light, and mute button.

Details:
  • radar/laser detector with red display
  • super-high sensitivity for the earliest possible warning
  • VG-2 immunity (invisible to radar detector detectors)
  • digital and audio alerts for radar, laser, SWS, and VG-2
  • multiple high-performance laser sensors for optimum coverage
  • power-on indication
  • signal strength meter
  • auto mute
  • city/highway modes, plus AutoSensitivity mode for greater resistance to false alarms
  • 3 brightness levels plus dark mode
  • EZ Programming for preferred settings retention
  • dimensions: 2-7/8"W x 1-1/4"H x 5-3/8"D
  • warranty: 1 year

Sorry, but we cannot ship radar detectors to Virginia or the District of Columbia.

 

Hands-on research from the Crutchfield Labs (what are the Labs?)

Features and Specs

Features and Specs
Detection
X Band Radar
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Yes
K Band Radar
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Yes
KA Photo Radar
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Yes
KA Wideband Radar
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Yes
Laser
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Front/Rear
Pulse Warning
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Yes
VG-2 Protection
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Yes
Display & Alerts
Dimmer
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Yes
Dark Mode
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Yes
Visual Alerts
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Bar
Audible Alerts
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5
Mute
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Yes
Earphone Jack
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Yes
General
Visor Clip
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Optional
Straight Cord
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Opt
Coiled Cord
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5'
Case Included
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Yes
Battery Powered
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No
Parts Warranty
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1 Year
Labor Warranty
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1 Year

Product Research

Product Research
What's in the box?

Download owner's manual

  • Radar Detector
  • Travel case
  • SmartCord cigarette lighter adapter with attached 5' coiled cord
  • Adapter for larger cigarette lighters
  • Windshield mount bracket with 2 suction cups
  • Owner's Manual (includes product registration and info on ordering accessories and extended warranty)

Our Product Research Team

At Crutchfield, you'll get detailed, accurate information that's hard to find elsewhere. That's because we have our own in-house Product Research team — they open the box, verify contents, check the owner's manual, and record dimensions, features and specs. We stay on top of new products and technologies to help people make informed choices.

Features
Technical Information

Features

VG2: This unit uses a SmartShield VG2 Immunity to make it invisible to radar detector detectors.

Radar Range: The Passport 8500 X50's new "V-Tuned" radar receiver provides extreme detection range on all police radar; conventional and "instant-on" radar, including the new POP mode radar threat, X-Band, and up to 50% more range than the original Passport 8500 on the all-important K and Ka bands. Digital Signal Processing (DSP) provides maximum range, with minimum false alarms.

AutoSensitivity Mode: Passport 8500 X50's patented AutoSensitivity mode intelligently distinguishes real threats from other known sources of radar, virtually eliminating false alarms.

New High-Performance Laser Protection: The multiple high-performance laser sensors provide maximum police laser (lidar) warning, with superior off-axis protection.

Ultra-Bright Matrix Display: The red matrix display uses 280 individual ultra-bright LEDs to provide crystal-clear band and signal strength indication, plus text messages for programming. The display can be adjusted to one of the following brightness settings: Maximum, Medium, Minimum, or Dark.

3 High-Resolution Meter Modes: The Passport 8500 X50 provides 3 types of meter displays: standard bar graph, ExpertMeter, and SpecDisplay. In ExpertMeter mode, the Passport 8500 X50 can identify band and relative signal strength on up to 8 radar signals simultaneously. In SpecDisplay mode, the radar detector will show you the actual frequency of the radar signal.

EZ-Programming: This radar detector provides 9 driver selectable features that allow you to customize how alerts and indicators are presented to you. These include adjustments to the power indicator, power on sequence, signal strength meter, automute function, audio tones, city mode sensitivity, display brightness, dark mode, and which bands are active.

Auto Mute: After the initial audible alert, the volume is automatically reduced, so you need not manually mute the sound. This feature can be defeated.

Mute Button: Once an alarm sounds, it can be silenced using the mute button.

Highway/City Button: The highway and city mode can be switched manually or set to automatic.

Dark Mode: In the Dark mode, the radar detector will dim the display and not show visual alerts.

Voltage Meter: One of the power indicator options is a voltage meter, this provides a continuous, digital readout of your vehicle's battery voltage and warns you if the voltage rises above 16.5 volts or drops below 10.5 volts.

Laser Ports: There are front and rear Laser sensors for complete coverage.

SmartCord Cigarette Lighter Adapter: The cigarette lighter plug has an alert LED that lights even when the unit is in the "Dark" mode and a mute button in case the unit is not within easy reach.

Earphone jack: There is a standard 3.5mm earphone jack on the right side of the unit.

Memory Retention: Memory retention eliminates the need to reset your preferred feature settings each time your unit is turned on/off.

Mounting: The detector is mounted to the windshield using the included adjustable bracket. A visor clip is also available directly from escort.

Technical Information

Operating Bands:

  • X Band 10.525 GHz +/- 25 MHz
  • K Band 24.150 GHz +/- 100 MHz
  • Ka Band 34.7 GHz +/- 1300 MHz
  • Laser 904nm, 33 MHz bandwidth
 

Product Reviews

Review Summary

Average Customer Review:

9 people say:
(6)
(2)
(1)
(0)
(0)
 

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1-9 of 9 items Sort Results By: Date Reviewed | Rating | Helpfulness
 
5 out of 5

Vince

Written By Vince, Pflugerville, TX on Sunday, August 03, 2008
Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)
Crutchfield Customer Review

The reviewer purchased this item from us, verified by the email address on the order.

 
Everything worked great - right out of the box. Two trips to Houston and back to Austin - it picked up numerous alerts along the way. Before I purchased it, I reviewed this detector's reviews on Crutchfield, and they helped me to make the decision to buy it from Crutchfield. Everything went very smoothly with my order from Crutchfield.
3 out of 4 people found this helpful
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5 out of 5

Escort Passport 8500 X50 Red

Written By James, Ohio on Wednesday, October 24, 2007
 
Great unit.

Been riding with Escort radar detectors for 15 years now. Lets just put it this way, if I wasn't impressed by the superior performance Escort products provide over other brands, I wouldn't shell out $300 for one after another. With lesser detectors, you get what you pay for.
39 out of 46 people found this helpful
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5 out of 5

Escort Passport 8500 X50 Red

Written By Randall, Grand Rapids, MI on Saturday, February 02, 2008
Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)
Crutchfield Customer Review

The reviewer purchased this item from us, verified by the email address on the order.

 
Very good product, recommend it for anyone wanting a good reliable product
2 out of 7 people found this helpful
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5 out of 5

Escort 8500

Written By Michelle, Chasapeake Beach, MD on Friday, May 16, 2008
Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)
Crutchfield Customer Review

The reviewer purchased this item from us, verified by the email address on the order.

 
The best Radar Detector you can get for the money. I have been using this
for just over year and never had a problem. Now I'm looking into a wireless
for my motorcycles. The only thing I would recomend to Escort....is an
uncoiled cord..lol.
6 out of 7 people found this helpful
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5 out of 5

Escort NJ

Written By Ronald, Wayne, NJ on Saturday, August 09, 2008
Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)
Crutchfield Customer Review

The reviewer purchased this item from us, verified by the email address on the order.

 
I finally retired my 4600 for the 8500 X50. Good move on my part. This is a great upgrade. It detects farther, has good controls and slim profile. Highly recommend this for shore-goers. In NJ one detection pays for the unit!
7 out of 8 people found this helpful
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5 out of 5

This Detector PWNS (Buy It)

Written By mfalk22, Novi, Michigan on Saturday, August 16, 2008
 
So I have had a lot of radar detectors over the past oh, 5 years or so ranging from an old Cobra to a newer Cobra 9430, to a Whistler Pro 78, to a Beltronics, to a Escort Solo S2, and finally to this Escort 8500 X50. Seriously, this thing literally gives you a mile warning to an on coming radar gun at Ka-Band. No other detector that I have had to this point has even come close to this sort of level. Not even half. Seriously, if you get a speeding ticket for say 15 over, the fines and insurance premiums will outweigh the price of this radar, so if anyone ever asks me why I would spend 350 on a radar, I just tell them, same reason why you would pay a 350 dollar speeding ticket. Believe me this is one of the best detectors on the market, and seriously, it is well worth the money.
29 out of 30 people found this helpful
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4 out of 5

Escort Passport 8500 X50 Red

Written By Kelli, Cheektowaga, NY on Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)
Crutchfield Customer Review

The reviewer purchased this item from us, verified by the email address on the order.

 
My boyfriend is what most people would call a classic speeder. Although I have had my share of tickets as well, he is the one I worry about. When it came time to get him a gift, I decided that a radar detector would be best and since he seems to love the CRUTCHFIELD website, I figured that would be the best place to look.
He loves the radar detector. It does the job just right. Not only does it catch radar from the front and back of the car, it also does the sides which is much more useful than most other detectors out there.
Although it is super sensitive and does give off a false alarm every now and then when we pass the mall or stores, it's always better to be safe than sorry. The case it came with that holds the charger and the actual detector is a great inclusion.
Overall, I would suggest this detector to anyone in need of one because it is well worth the money!
3 out of 3 people found this helpful
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4 out of 5

Has Saved Me Several Times Already

Written By jikhead, Little Rock, AR on Friday, January 15, 2010
 
I picked one up back in November with my AMEX points, after I got my 1st ticket in my
new Z. By the way, I'm trying to get out of the ticket 'cause the officer wouldn't let me
see his radar, which I didn't believe I was doing the speed he stated. Anyway, this radar
has already saved me on multiple occasions. When it has sensed a real cop, it has
given me plenty of time to correct speed. The display meter is nice. I haven't felt the
need to play with and set it to the techy specs. So I just leave it on Standard which works
well for me. It has the usual false alarms in the city with automatic doors (to be
expected). It also has helped me to identify fake radar signals on the hwy that have
been set up to try and trick radar detector users, and to get us to slow down. I would
recommend this radar is you can afford it.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful
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3 out of 5

Too sensitive for its own good?

Written By Matt, Milwaukee, WI on Thursday, September 11, 2008
Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)
Crutchfield Customer Review

The reviewer purchased this item from us, verified by the email address on the order.

 
I decided it was time to step up to a better radar detector, and upgrade my 10 year old Cobra. Based on the reviews of the 8500 X50, I felt it to be the answer to my needs.

This unit most definitely picks up X, K and Ka much sooner then the Cobra. (The LASER detection in the Cobra quit working, so I can't compare that) The problem I have is apparently most of the door openers in my area must be K band, because this thing goes off all the time while riding past retail stores. I get the same amount of falses that I got with my Cobra, and I get them a lot sooner. I guess I thought it would somehow know how to differentiate these signals. I've resorted to turning the K band off around town. Not a good thing.

More troubling to me is the LASER performance. I work a few blocks from the airport. Apparently they use infrared for wind sheer detection, and that sets the LASER detection off like crazy. It's to the point that around town or on my work commute, the detector goes off so many times I find myself not paying any attention to it.

Even with these issues, I am keeping the unit. I take frequent multi-state road trips, and I think this unit will excel on the open road. We'll see.
13 out of 20 people found this helpful
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1-9 of 9 items

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For a more in-depth review and enhanced detailed information on the Escort Passport 8500 X50 Red, please visit the Crutchfield website product page (/ISEO-rccbcspd/p_036P85X50R/Escort-Passport-8500-X50-Red.html ).

Sorry, the Escort Passport 8500 X50 Red is no longer available for purchase.

Escort Passport 8500 X50 Red