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The Radenso DS1 is a simple and user-friendly radar detector with a multi-color OLED display, auto lockout capability, red light and speed camera alerts, and long-range Ka band detection. One potential selling point of the Radenso DS1 is how it’s less fancy and flashy than an Escort unit but certainly more reliable than your average budget radar detector from a brand like Cobra.
As of this writing, the Radenso DS1 is going for about $370 on Amazon, which is $100 off the regular price. Putting aside the high retail price should this current discount disappear, my main concern with the DS1 is the number of K band falses.
The Radenso DS1 lives alongside units from Escort, Uniden, Cobra, and K40 in my collection of radar detectors. I view my DS1 in a similar light as my Uniden R4 in the sense that it’s a perfect “grab and go” radar detector. While I enjoy my tech-packed and multi-faceted Escort prodcuts, like the MAXcam 360c, sometimes it’s preferable to have something more straightforward.
I’m usually wading through stop-and-go traffic here in Detroit, particularly on main thoroughfares like M10, I-696, I-94, and Telegraph Road. One moment, you are crawling along, then suddenly back up to highway speeds. I appreciate the DS1’s Auto Sensitivity feature for such occasions. While you can custom adjust the sensitivity of each band (50 to 100 percent) in the settings menu, the DS1’s default “Auto” mode is my preference.
Rather than selecting a City or Highway sensitivity setting, the DS1 is automatically programmed to bounce between the two based on vehicle speed. If your speed exceeds 50 mph, Highway mode kicks in, and for anything under 50 mph, the DS1 defaults to City.
The DS1 comes with a magnetic suction cup mount, a USB-C power cable with a built-in USB port for charging a mobile device (2.75 feet long), a carrying case, and an owner’s manual. On the right side of the unit, next to the USB power source, is a 3.5mm headphone jack so motorcycle riders can hear the audible alerts issued by the DS1.
Every DS1 includes a one-year manufacturer warranty, a one-year ticket-free guarantee, and a lifetime updateable firmware and speed camera database. Each radar band alert has eight selectable colors, and 10 different tone sounds to pick from, depending on your preferences.
The Radenso DS1 will alert you to X, K, and Ka radar bands and laser (LiDAR) guns. Likewise, the DS1 can detect Multaradar CD and CT, often written as MRCD and MRCT for short. Multaradar usage in speed cameras and other photo enforcement devices is growing in North America. Unlike a standard radar gun, multaradar changes frequency, making it harder to catch, especially for older or bargain basement radar detectors. The default setting is off, but multaradar detection can be switched on via the DS1’s settings menu.
KA segmentation is nice because it makes for a more responsive radar detector, albeit with some caveats. With the Radenso DS1, the Ka Wide setting scans between 33.399 and 35.700 GHz. Ka Narrow segmentation, by contrast, doesn’t run the entire wave range of Ka, opting for a more focused (or narrow) scan of the frequencies where police radar is most likely to exist, based on the most common types of radar guns used by law enforcement.
In other words, a radar detector in Ka Narrow segmentation reacts quicker to potential Ka threats because it’s not “looking” at the whole frequency range.
Ka segmentation is fun to play around with, and the DS1 has nine other filtered settings (also known as custom sweeps) besides the standard Ka Wide and Narrow. If you want to experiment with segmentation filters and custom sweeps, Vortex Radar has a super informative guide on the topic. Where you live determines the best Ka segment too. You want to avoid accidentally configuring your DS1 in a way that prevents it from alerting to legitimate threats.
K-Notch filters recognize and shutter radar-based blind-spot monitoring and collision avoidance systems. As most newer vehicles today have these safety features, K-Notch filters prevent your radar detector from falsely alerting to these systems in traffic. The DS1’s K-Notch filter is off by default but can be activated through the settings menu to mute anything within the typical K-Notch range (24.199 +- 0.005Ghz and 24.121 through 24.124Ghz, according to the DS1’s manual). This setting is listed as “Block All Signals.”
You can have the K-Notch filter block only the weaker signals versus all of them. The ideal setting depends on where you live, similar to Ka segmentation. As members have discussed on the Radar Detector Forum before, a blind-spot monitoring system with a stronger frequency can “punch through,” prompting a false K band alert, hence why you might want the DS1 to block everything. However, law enforcement in your area might run a K band gun on one of those higher frequencies, and thus, you want to avoid blocking that with the K Notch filter inadvertently.
Every threat I have visually verified in Detroit is a Ka band, minus a smaller community or two in the Downriver area south of Detroit running K band. Knowing Ka is most prevalent where I drive, I’m confident having my DS1’s K-Notch filter block all available signals.
The Radenso DS1 has three display settings: Scan, Time, and Dark. Scan display is a side-to-side moving bar, while the Time display can be set to either a 12-hour or 24-hour clock. A single dot on the bottom right-hand side of the display indicates Dark mode. Optional sub-displays (visible on the upper left) include current speed, compass, and altitude.
The DS1 will simultaneously show up to three radar bands, prioritizing laser and MRCD, followed by Ka, K, and X. Prioritized threats appear front and center, with the other alerts showing in a smaller font (with an accompanying bogey tone) on the left portion of the OLED display. It’s similar to the All Threat feature of Uniden radar detectors like the R3 and R4.
When the DS1 detects the same false alert signal at an exact location three times, it automatically locks it out. As described in the owner’s manual, once a signal is saved in the Auto Mute Memory (the first counting), the DS1 will not save that same signal for eight hours even though it is detected again, which means it takes at least 16 hours (1st + 2nd + 3rd) to lock a signal out automatically. According to Radenso, the eight-hour interval avoids saving too many signals. The DS1 can store up to 16,500 auto lockouts, which is impressive.
Press the mute button on the USB-C power cable twice to lock out a false alert manually. The first press will mute the alert, while the second will save the location to the DS1’s memory, confirming with a “Lockout Stored” voice prompt. The next time you are within about 1,600 feet of that location, the display will read “Lockout.”
Since I know the Detroit area after a decade of living here, I use manual lockouts, although I have landed the occasional automatic lockout before. The Radenso DS1 can store up to 5,000 manual lockout locations.
You may hear the term “Mark Location” when researching radar detectors and their different features. Radenso calls them “User Points,” which is the same thing. User points and marked locations differ from manual lockouts in how they are for areas where you know legitimate and recurring radar sources are present. You can save up to 500 of these user points with the DS1.
Excellent “grab and go” radar detector that’s easy to set up and use.
Tremendous Ka band detection range.
Segmentation filters, different colors, and alert tones make the DS1 customizable.
Depending on your perspective, there are a few ways to answer this question. If you simply like Radenso products, you will probably love the DS1. Before I purchased my DS1, I initially looked at the Pro M after receiving recommendations from two colleagues in the auto industry, one of whom owns a late-model Shelby Mustang. Both of my colleagues swear by the Pro M but approved when I mentioned my leaning toward the DS1.
Depending on how prices fluctuate on Amazon, the Uniden R4 and Radenso DS1 may fall within a similar price range. As of this writing, the Radenso DS1 is on a $100 discount, putting the price at $369. Should that discount disappear, the DS1 jumps to $469. Meanwhile, the retail price of the Uniden R4 is $379, barring any deals that might pop up.
My preference, factoring in price and performance, is the Uniden R4 (for a quick summary of the R4, see this video). Both the DS1 and R4 offer exceptional long-range Ka band detection, auto sensitivity modes, multaradar and laser protection, and a colorful display. In that regard, they are equal. False alert filtering is another matter.
The R4 filters out false K band sources much better, making it less chatty than the DS1. Driving past a shopping plaza tends to whip my DS1 into a frenzy of K band false alerts. On the open road, it’s a similar story, as nearly every road construction zone or digital sign will cause the DS1 to false. Based on my experience, the persistent K band false alerts are a glaring drawback to an otherwise great radar detector.
It’s true that every radar detector, regardless of the manufacturer, will, at some point, issue a false K band alert; that is just part of owning a radar detector. However, when the constant false alerts interrupt your drive, things become problematic. And given the standard retail price of the Radenso DS1 at $469, the frequent K band falses are, in a word, disheartening.
Another point to consider is how the Radenso DS1 does not have directional alert arrows, which isn’t a dealbreaker when it’s on a discount (the R4 does not have directional alert arrows either). However, should the DS1 return to its listed retail price of $469, it starts to trend into Unidren R7 territory, an arguably better radar detector with more robust false alert filtering and directional alert arrows.
Excellent “grab and go” radar detector that’s easy to set up and use.
Tremendous Ka band detection range.
Segmentation filters, different colors, and alert tones make the DS1 customizable.
I don’t regret buying the DS1, and I am glad to add it to my collection of radar detectors, although I wish the false alert filtering worked a little better.
As of this writing, the Radenso DS1 is available on Amazon for about $370. For additional insight, browse the Radar Detector Forum, which has an entire discussion section dedicated to Radenso radar detectors. There are lots of people there (myself included) who can help you make the best decision.
Carl Anthony is Managing Editor of Automoblog and a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association and the Society of Automotive Historians. He serves on the board of directors for the Ally Jolie Baldwin Foundation, is a past president of Detroit Working Writers, and a loyal Detroit Lions fan.
Photos: Alex Hartman.
