Escort Passport iQ Review
 

I received an email first thing this morning to my iPhone from an Escort direct marketing campaign announcing a new completely integrated radar detector, GPS navigation device called the Escort Passport iQ.

The Escort Passport iQ, appears to be similar in concept to a product (albeit, with much greater capability) that was briefly introduced (and then retracted) by Uniden a few years ago called MapTrax 430*, a unit that provided radar/laser detection capabilities and GPS SAT/NAV capabilities in one integrated and conventional package.

Based on the same M4 platform of Escort's and Beltronics's other conventional radar detectors, performance will be on par with the 8500/9500 series.

Retailing at $650, the Escort Passport iQ is $150 more than Escort's most expensive dash-mount radar detector, the Escort Redline and for that additional amount the driver gets full turn-by-turn SATNAV abilities and access to the Trinity/Defender photo-enforcement database.

Given the proliferation of GPS-enabled smart phones with navigation capabilities along with free phone apps like Trapster, it will be interesting to see if the Passport iQ can establish itself as a viable alternative.

Its potential may be somewhat limited to drivers in areas, such as Virginia where radar detectors are banned and an undetectable iQ would be more appealing for those not wishing the scrutiny of troopers operating Spectre RDDs (radar detector detectors).

...As is standard, we will provide a complete, thorough, and unbiased real-world review of the new Escort Passport iQ when it becomes more generally available in production.

Full Article:

Veil Guy's Passport iQ Review

Hopefully they are just testing the waters for this sort of unit. A remote with some of these features would be incredible!

I purchased the Passport IQ.

REVIEW:

The unit is very large and heavy. It will shake and vibrate on its mount until it drives you nuts.

The detector component works fine. I compared it to other Escort detectors and it works just as well.

The GPS component is junk. It lacks even the most basic features that entry level GPS units offer.

Bottom line: I would not recommend it, and I would not purchase it again.