PNI RX7500 Silver Bullet
($179.95 suggested retail)
The Silver Bullet comes in two versions; this one has a compass. The other model ($149.95) doesn't. Otherwise they're identical.
The Silver Bullet is unconventional in design and operation, able to function as a cordless detector when mated to its external battery pack/windshield mount or, with power cord attached, as a corded model.
The 5.6-ounce unit's tiny dimensions-smallest cordless model on the market-seem appealing until the battery box/windshield mount is added. Then length jumps from 3.825 in. to 7.25 in. The combination of a long arm and a shaky battery box (affixed to the windshield with a trio of wobbly suction cups) leads to some serious head-bobbing in reaction to the slightest bump. You can get pretty dizzy watching the Silver Bullet bouncing around on rough roads.
The battery box assembly itself has a tendency to detach itself from the detector and the batteries not infrequently fall out if the detector is hastily pulled from the windshield.
Its LCD text display has a green backlight that operates briefly when mode is changed and during alerts. When operated in cordless mode, at night the display is dark. With no power-on status indicator, when the unit is blacked-out there's no way to know if it's working. For this reason we wouldn't recommend driving after dark with the Silver Bullet.
Features include an auto-shutoff feature that steps in after 15 minutes of inactivity to automatically power-down the unit, a feature common to most cordless detectors. Auto mute and tutorial mode are standard, as is a Filter Mode.
On the downside mode changes are achieved with glacial speed. You can brew a cup of tea in the time it takes to cycle through just the three Filter settings.
And although there's no mention of it in the owner manual, two of the three settings deactivate X band. This reduces urban false alarms but may come as a nasty surprise to drivers who encounter an X-band radar gun.
Visual band identification is handled by a text display that's legible under most daytime lighting conditions and better than most LCD designs. However, a combination of polarized sunglasses and bright sunlight make it disappear. At night it's backlit, but only in reaction to an alert or momentarily, if the manual backlight button is pressed. And pressing any of the three primary control buttons is a bit hard to do; they're recessed into the case so far you'll need time to locate them by touch alone.
The Silver Bullet is exceptionally slow to react to radar. We found that by using their instant-on feature and transmitting for less than a second, all of the seven police radar units used in the test could clock the target car without the PNI Silver Bullet making a peep.
The Silver Bullet proved to be a marginal performer on X band, adequate on K band and extremely weak on Ka band. Coupled with its ergonomic shortcomings, that was enough for us to rank it lowest of the three.
Bottom line: innovative concept but big gaps in its performance and some major design shortcomings
Rating: 1 Star
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