Cobra RAD450 Review
A good radar detector is a must if you want to reduce the speed tickets from the police. There are tons of radar detectors available when you search in the market but when it comes to reviews of top quality and best buy ones, only a few products make it, including the Cobra RAD 450 radar detector.
It’s one of the high quality products many people buy and use, and it’s at a reasonable price.
Design
Commonly, the radar detector bought from the market would use the same design. But the manufacturer, Cobra Electronics, designed the Cobra Rad 450 radar detector with a distinction in its overall look, contrary to the all-black we normally see with other radar detectors.
It has a unique design—a black front and top and beige/gray sides that look sleek. Great for the price!
The front part of the Cobra Rad 450 shows the screen of the product where all the necessary notifications and information are flashed, while the top part contains the dials and buttons for display brightness, menu and mute.
You’ll find a volume control on the side of the Cobra Rad 450 as well, making it easy to turn the volume up or down as you like.
Features
Voice alerts and Automate feature
The Cobra Rad 450 radar detector is known to provide clear voice alerts, which is great to get for the price. You don’t need to glance repeatedly at the display screen to see notifications and details of any detected laser or radar signal.
The clear, as well as instant voice messages, are fully understandable, so it doesn’t distract your attention from the road. This adds a good safety feature to the high performance as well.
For volume for voice alerts, you’ll find a control scroll on the side of the Cobra Rad 450 radar detector. Adjust the volume level easily or press the mute button on the top front part of the device if you want to drive with total silence.
This Cobra radar detector has an auto-mute feature which opens up instantly to silence the model when needed.
Response
While the Cobra RAD 450 doesn’t have better range than others (expected for the price), it compensates with its quick response performance on radar and laser signals from police radar guns.
When mounted on the ideal spot (usually at the bottom center of the windshield), this product can notify you quickly of any signal detected from a radar gun from a few feet away.
Although you might not get warnings for laser or radar signals from a long range, you’ll still have time to adjust speed as the Cobra Rad 450 can give immediate alerts. The 4 control buttons that come as a part of the Cobra Rad 450 design are also easy to use.
Display
Normally, the radar detectors in the market come with a large display with red-backlit. But the Cobra RAD 450 is equipped with an OLED display (similar to XRS 9370’s UltraBright LED display) that shows notifications in a high-quality model.
Aside from the brightness and quality of view, the OLED display on the Cobra Rad 450 gives comprehensive details that are easy to read.
It shows the band identification icons for the driver to determine what band signal being detected, while the signal strength meter gives an idea of how far the source of the signal is.
Comfort
The Cobra RAD 450 detector offers optimum comfort and convenience with non-complex features, starting from the instant-on capability to the front and back signal detection.
You can also mount the Cobra Rad 450 radar laser detector wherever you deem it best located within your car for the best performance. It can be set up easily with the right mounting gear.
For notifications, you’ll find the simple buttons and volume control very helpful as you adjust the notifications volume and display brightness to levels you’re comfortable with.
If you need any support, you can even contact their customer service at any time to share your concern.
- The Cobra Rad 450 is a user-friendly device with an economical price within the middle range detectors
- You can be safer on the road with its Voice Alerts that with volume control
- You may easily see visual notifications such as icons of bands in its OLED display
- Added with IVT filter TM system to help diminish false alerts from blind spot monitoring systems and collision avoidance systems
- The Cobra Rad 450 is without Bluetooth, so it cannot connect to the iRadar app
- No GPS capability to help further filter false alerts
- Not long range
FAQ
Q: What comes with the box?
A: Aside from the Cobra Rad 450 radar detector (obviously), the package comes with the power cord with a plug-in to the cigarette lighter, the manual, and a suction cup mounting accessory.
Q: Does this come with a warranty?
A: Yes, the Cobra RAD 450 comes with one year of warranty from the date of purchase. You get the value for the price.
Q: Does this have Bluetooth?
A: Unfortunately, no. The Cobra Rad 450 cannot be connected to the iRadar app via Bluetooth unlike the Cobra iRadar—one of its major cons.
Q: How do you switch between Highway and City mode?
A: Just press the Sen button on the top front part of the Cobra Rad 450 radar detector and you can switch from its modes of sensitivity: City, City Max, and Highway.
Cobra RAD 450 Review Conclusion
For a middle range radar detector, our reviews say that the Cobra RAD 450 delivers a remarkable performance against police radar guns.
Sure, it doesn’t have Bluetooth or GPS to offer new advanced features, but when it comes to detecting radar and laser signals during your drive, this Cobra Rad 450 radar detector delivers amazing performance—and isn’t that the core of radar detectors, anyway?
So even without the advantages of new features used in new models, we still deem the Cobra RAD 450 among the high performance radar detectors in the middle range options. In 2020, Cobra released a new version of this model, the Cobra RAD480i.
William Johnson is the owner and founder of RatedRadarDetector.org. He writes about car accessories, with his passion stemming from a deep enthusiasm for all things automotive. His website, RRD, focuses on in-depth reviews of car accessories to help people find the best and latest products in the market.
