Whistler XTR-550

 

 

The Whistler XTR-550 Radar Detector is $40. Anyone who has spent any time cross-shopping radar detectors lately is well aware of what ‘$40 Radar Detector’ usually means, and for better or worse the 550 is no exception to that rule.

A series of red LED lights illuminates from left to right to indicate the signal strength of the K/Ka/and X bands the unit is designed to intercept, and a series of chirps serves as auditory notice to hit the brakes…RIGHT NOW.

And, trust it: if you hear the 550 squall an alarm don’t bother to check your speed before decelerating, since it is only generally reliable to a few hundred yards. On a clear day with a tail-wind, the user might see ¾ of a mile, but don’t count on it. And that’s IF you don’t unplug the thing completely after tiring of false alarms.

 

It’s fortunate, however, that the 550 does have a dimming feature for its LED’s and a mute for the speaker. You’ll be thankful for both these features when you’re looking into the median for orange parking lights, or need to listen for sirens behind you.

According to popular opinion, a used 550 might be best used as advance notice of the ticket you’re about to get, or to give you time to make one phone call before being booked for reckless driving.

Still, every castle is built with dirt and rocks, so don’t knock the Whistler XTR-550 as useless. As any soldier with mud in his M-16 will tell you, a gun that has a 50% chance of firing when don’t need it still beats using a sharp stick that has a 0% chance of firing when you do.