Whistler CR90 Review/Preview: Whistler 3600 for the Windshield

 

Whistler CR90

Read the full Whistler CR90 review.

Those of you have been following my reviews and articles over the years already know how much of a fan I have been of Whistler.  My support for this company and its value priced models began the day I witnessed a $120 Whistler windshield mount radar detector spank a very expensive remote installed detector (sold by a company with a letter followed by two numerals).  Up to that time, I had considered Whistler, quite frankly, an also ran.  In reality, I couldn't have been more wrong.

Since that time, Whistler's engineering has continued dazzling me with more improved offerings, year after year, of value-priced over-achievers.

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of installing Whistler's first GPS-capable remote radar detector, the Whistler Pro-3600, into my wife's Subaru and since that time, we have been well-served with its capable radar, laser, red light, and photo enforcement alerts as well as all the capabilities that I have come to expect from the addition of GPS.

Had it not been for some legal disputes that tied up several detector manufacturers--we likely would
have seen this detector sooner rather than later.

With the Whistler CR90, it is nice to see that the GPS-circuitry is all internal and I personally find the revised chassis more attractive than the Whistler Pro 78-SE models that the Whistler CR90 supersedes.  I say the Pro-78 series because the display will be the same high quality OLED blue display found on that most recent model. 

Unique to Whistler is verbal augmentation of RSID.  In other words, the detector can be configured to verbally indicate a specific Ka frequency, such as 35.5.  The CR90's power cord includes a secondary USB connection to power smartphones, such as an iPhone, a very handy thing, indeed.

Performance wise, nothing really new here, so I would expect essentially the same detection ability to radar and laser as the most recent SE series of detectors.

The CR90's GPS database can be quickly be kept current however the unit will need to find its way to your laptop or PC as it does not directly mate with a USB thumb-drive like the Pro 3600.  Beyond the preloaded GPS database, the CR90 supports about 1000 custom user-marked locations.

Unlike Escort and Beltronics, the Whistler comes preloaded with the GPS and doesn't require an annual renewal fee to stay current.  This makes these new radar detectors from Whistler even greater compelling values.

The suggested retail price of the Whistler CR90 is set at $279.95 USD.  The street price is surely to be less.  Expect to see the CR90 to begin shipping mid later this month and I expect to get my hands on one for an early review sometime before that as has been typical with Whistler's previous models.  Until that time, I am pleased to see that Whistler has imbued a windshield-mount radar detector with the same capabilities as their venerable Pro 3600 remote.

Happy and safe motoring!