You are cruising down the road. It’s a sunny day, the windows are down, and they are playing great music on the radio. Things couldn’t be better… until you blow through that one stoplight town and a police cruiser pulls out behind you and those flashing lights come on. You’ve just been clocked at 50mph in a 35mph zone. Too bad you don’t own a great radar detector like a Cobra RAD 480i or a Uniden R3. Would you like to learn which radar detector may be best for you? Let’s compare these two great radar detectors.
Cobra RAD 480i vs Uniden R3 Side by Side:
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Cobra RAD 480i | Uniden R3 | |
| Range | Long Range, Front and Rear Detection | Extreme Long Range |
| Built-in GPS | No | Yes |
| Display | Multi-color OLED | Multi-color OLED |
| False Filter | Next Gen IVT | Advanced K /KA Band Filter |
| Red Light & Speed Camera Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Speed-based Auto Mute | Yes | Yes |
| Price | Find on Amazon | Find on Uniden.com Find on Amazon |
Range of Detection
A radar detector’s main purpose is to alert you to any radar signals that police radar guns send out. Of course, the farther away from you that your radar detector can pick up a signal, the more time you will have to react and reduce your speed if necessary. That is why detection range is so critical. The farther away from you that the detector can pick up a signal, the more time you will have to react.
Better Detector for Range of Detection: Uniden R3 Extreme Long Range Laser Radar Detector
Sensitivity
A detector’s sensitivity will determine how effective the unit is. High sensitivity allows the radar detector to pick up radar emissions at greater distances from you. When you are able to also adjust the sensitivity it’s even better because you can then help limit many of those irritating false alerts. Without the ability to adjust the detector’s sensitivity, the detector will sound off to every radar signal, like those automatic store door openers you pass and the many work zone signs near highway construction sites.
Better Detector for Sensitivity: Cobra RAD 480i
GPS Technology
Having GPS allows the detector to remember and then lock out stationary radars that you come across on your daily drive. You don’t want your radar detector to sound off when you drive by your neighborhood drugstore or grocery store. Also GPS can help notify you of speed limit changes, like in the example above. Some detectors with GPS can also automatically change the detector’s mode of operation, for example from the in-town driving mode to the highway mode.
Better Detector for GPS Capability: Uniden R3
RDD Shielding Technology
Radar Detector Detectors, or RDDs, are now being used by police in places where it is against the law to operate a radar detector. Not only are there a few states that outlaw radar detectors, but some towns and cities also prohibit the use of a radar detector. If your detector has the ability to “hide” from RDD units can be important when you come across situations like this.
Better Detector for RDD Shielding Technology: Uniden R3
Bluetooth and WIFI Connectivity
Being able to connect your radar detector to your smartphone or laptop will allow you to use driving apps like Waze or Google Maps. There are several apps that can be paired with a radar detector to increase convenience and provide additional information about road conditions or speed traps that you may be approaching.
Better Detector for Bluetooth Connectivity: Cobra RAD 480i
Cobra RAD 480i
To start with, the Cobra RAD 480i has a bright, OLED display that is easy to read and simple for anyone from beginner to expert to understand. The 480i will identify the radar band that it has detected, and even more importantly, the strength of the signal that the radar unit is emitting. The 480i uses Cobra’s Digital Signal Processing (DPS) technology for the fastest, most accurate alert notifications. It has twice the detection range of similarly priced competitors, allowing you plenty of time to react when an alert is sounded.
False alerting is greatly reduced with Cobra’s IVT technology. This is true especially when it comes to radar signals coming from things like new vehicle Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM) systems. With adjustable sensitivity settings, you will be able to dial down or up the detector’s sensitivity for either in town or highway driving.
The detector includes Bluetooth capability that allows you to easily connect your smartphone or laptop and then access Cobra’s iRadar app. With this app you can receive real-time traffic alerts from other owners of Cobra radar detectors. You can also overlay a map that shows current threats that other users have identified. You can then “filter out” any locations identified as false alert locations.
Pros
- LaserEye technology for both front and rear laser detection
- Long range detection
- Bluetooth connectivity
- Cobra’s improved IVT filtering
- Alert volume is user adjustable
Cons
- No WiFi
- No GPS
- No directional arrows to indicate which direction the threat is coming from
- iRadar app requires a subscription
Uniden R3
The Uniden R3 provides amazing long-range radar detection, possibly the longest of any radar detector on the market in this price range. (Find more options here) It does an excellent job of detecting and warning you of the presence of “instant-on” (POP) radars that police are beginning to use more often these days.
The R3 has an OLED display with 5 light settings to choose from: OFF, DARK, DIMMER, DIM, and DARK BRIGHT. In DARK mode, the display remains off until a radar signal is detected and this is great if you want stealthy driving, especially at night. In addition to visual alerts, the R3 does can be set for optional voice alerting.
Another strongpoint for the Uniden R3 is its ability to filter out alerts from new car Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM) systems. The R3 isn’t perfect, but very few radar detectors on the market can filter out BSM system false alerts as well as the R3. Another great feature of this detector is that it has the ability to detect red light and speed cameras.
With GPS the detector is able to “remember”, and then ignore, stationary radar locations that you pass by on your daily travels. This technology will also warn you as you approach red light and speed camera locations. Yet another benefit of the R3’s GPS technology is that it will allow low-speed muting, which keeps the detector from alerting when you are driving below a owner selected speed.
There are 3 sensitivity settings: CITY, ADVANCED, and HIGHWAY. HIGHWAY is of course the most sensitive setting. In its ADVANCED mode, you can have R3 completely disable X-band and reduce K-band sensitivity.
Pros
- Accurate 360° detection
- GPS technology is built-in
- Will alert to red light and speed cameras
- Virtually invisible to Spectre RDD
- Easily detects and alerts to Instant-On (POP) radar units
Cons
- Extreme sensitivity may cause many false alerts
- GPS lockouts must be manually entered
- Honda vehicles will still cause BSM alerts
- Can be difficult for beginners to customize sensitivity settings
- Consumers report quality issues with the power cords
Our Conclusion
Both of these radar detectors are mid-range in price and both do a good job of reaching out a great distance to detect radar signals. Although the R3 has been around for a while now, it is a hard radar detector to beat for overall performance (>>>Check it’s pricing on Amazon). The fact that is virtually invisible to radar detector detectors is an important addition. The RAD 480i is easier to setup and use for people that are not all that technologically savvy. Both have their pluses and minuses and either unit would be a good choice. It all will come down to which features are the most important to you.