Cobra DualPro 360 Review

Our testing and review leads us to believe that the Cobra DualPro 360 is simply the best on the market, for the money

Review Introduction

We first saw the Cobra DualPro 360 when we had visited Cobra’s parent company at their Chicago office.  We visited them to hear about and discuss their up-and-coming products at the time, the Cobra Dual Pro 360 and the Cobra Road Scout.  The Cobra team also laid out their strategy for 2019.

At the time we felt the challenge for Cobra was going to be overcoming image of the Cobra brand among the radar detector enthusiast community, whose perception is that Cobra radar detectors are not top-tier.  Historically, that may have been the case, but no longer and it’s certainly not the case with these two new Cobra detectors.  Indeed, we had noted that Cobra did start producing an upscale detector, their first DSP model, the Cobra DSP-9200BT, some three years ago and that it did offer good performance.

Going back to our meeting in Chicago last year and after having heard from Cobra’s executive team, it did make more sense why Cobra would would want to continue going more upscale in the 2019, by offering truly high-end detectors, but still at very reasonable prices aimed at their competition.  When we took into consideration what the competition has been offering at or around similar price points, we realized that Cobra was better suited to the task than Cedar’s other brand, Escort.  It’s better to take a brand upscale, so to speak, than downscale to go after the “mid-priced” tier of detectors, those priced at or below $450.

So, fast forward seven months and we find ourselves looking at two such products.  The first, the Cobra DualPro 360, is immediately available.  The other is the Cobra Road Scout first-of-its-kind dash cam integrated model.  You can read our Cobra Road Scout review in our accompanying write-up.

Cobra gave us and early Cobra DualPro 360 to take with us for the purposes of us accumulating real-world experiences (my stock-in-trade review-style) and providing candid feedback, which we did.  So software improvements have been made prior to its official release.

In the course of time that Cobra’s retail packaging has been prepared, we’ve pitted the Cobra Dual Pro 360 against a number of extremely difficult to detect police radar and photo radar systems.  The bottom-line is, DualPro’s performance is very impressive and certainly at the high-end level.

The Cobra DualPro 360 (or Cobra DP 360, for short), is easily Cobra’s highest performing radar detector ever offered to date and there is an open secret for this reason and that secret is that new Cobra Dual Pro 360 is actually derived from the same platform of Escort’s (Cobra’s sister brand) top-of-line detector, the Escort Max 360c, which costs $200 more.  Granted, the Cobra Dual Pro 360 doesn’t have all of the same features, but even so it should clear that DualPro 360 is not your father’s Cobra!

Considering what you get for the price of the Cobra DualPro 360 (only $449), we truly believe that the Cobra DualPro 360 is easily the best detector on the market for the money.

Just looking at the numbers, you’ll see why that’s the case.

The DualPro 360 is only $50 more than both the Uniden R3 and equal in price to the Valentine 1 with its optional bluetooth module.

For the cost of the Cobra Dual Pro 360, you’ll get a dual antenna detector that is more sensitive than the V1 but slightly less sensitive than the Uniden R3 (a single antenna detector priced at $399) and the Uniden R7 (currently the most sensitive detector costing $150 more).

The DualPro 360 is $50 less than Escort’s older and very much larger Escort Max 360 (a detector which is soon to be at its end-of-life) and equal to the Escort iXc which only has a single antenna and slightly less sensitivity, itself.

What you give up with the DualPro 360 in the small sensitivity differences–about 1dB-2dB–you gain back in the performance of having dual antennas, directional arrows, best-of-breed filtering, superior laser sensitivity, better build quality, full spread spectrum processing, ultra-quick response to instant-on radar, GPS for support of a photo enforcement database, bluetooth connectivity, and access to Cobra’s iRadar and the Escort Defender/Cobra Aura crowd-sourcing ecosystem.

That’s a ton of good stuff you get with the DualPro 360 and as Wind in His Hair said to John Dunbar, in the movie Dances with Wolves, that was a good trade.

Granted the Dual Pro 360 doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles of the Escort Max 360c, but for the vast majority of drivers seeking an inexpensive high-end detector, they will not miss them.

Cobra DualPro 360 Detection Performance

I’ve touched on the performance of the Cobra Dual Pro 360 and I really don’t need to go into to much detail here.  Suffice it to say, the Dual Pro 360’s performance hangs right in there with the Escort Max 360 and Escort Max 360c.  Again, this is not unexpected because the DualPro 360 is essentially a rebadged model with slightly less feature-set.  The DualPro does not have external-from-the-display arrows that can change colors reflecting the frequency band detected.  Nor does the DualPro have WIFI (as in the case of the Escort Max 360c).  The good news is that none of the DualPro’s missing features have an adverse impact on the DualPro 360’s performance.  So, at a $200 savings over the Max 360c, it’s really a no-brainer!

The DualPro 360 also gives you the ability to segment specific frequencies of both K-band and Ka-band to even further reduce any potential falsing.

Four Color OLED Display

The Dual Pro 360  has four color display modes, Red, Blue, Green, and Copper.  My personal preference is green.  The upside is the OLED screen tend to have the longest life using that color too. Color displays have been used for sometime on other Cobra top-of-the-line models, so having a color display is no surprise.

Like other displays from Escort, it can be harder to see in bright lighting conditions but that is easily offset by voice the DualPro’s voice annotations to its alerts.

The DualPro’s display has five levels of brightness, AUTO (to adapt real-time to varying light conditions), BRIGHT, DIM, DIMMER, and OFF (for completely stealth operation especially at night).

Dual Pro 360’s Packaging

The packaging is the highest quality yet for Cobra.  What’s in the box is the detector, a nice carrying case with the Cobra logo, a SmartCord cigarette adapter that includes a USB port to power your smartphone, a single sticky cup quick release magnetic mount that is found on some of the other high-end models from Escort, and a quick reference guide.  A full manual is available only and will be posted on the RadarBusters website for download (Adobe Reader format) when it becomes available.

Buttons

Buttons are as they are typically located on the top of the detector.  To save a little on the cost, the buttons are not backlit.  There are seven total.  Two (+/-) for increasing or decreasing the volume; one to MARK locations; SEN to change the sensitivity of the detector; MUTE to mute out alert tones for the duration of an encounter; BRT to change brightness; and a POWER to turn the detector ON and OFF. To enter the more advanced programming mode, you press and hold both the BRT and SEN buttons simultaneously until the programming menu appears.

GPS Capabilities

Using the GPS function, the DualPro always knows were you are.  GPS is used to display your current speed, the current speed limit of the road you are driving on, adjustable sensitivity based-upon your speed (the detector becoming less sensitive the slower you travel), and of course to alert you to known photo enforcement and redlight camera locations.

Muting Known Falsing Sources

The detector has the ability to lock-out (or unlock-out) known stationery radar that you know isn’t police radar.  This feature is currently unique to both Escort and now Cobra.  It can be convenient when you travel to and from work and come across the same falsing sources.  I personally do not use that feature and it can be turned off.  You can manually lock-out sources while the DualPro is alerting to a proximate radar source.

Marking Locations

Again using the DualPro’s GPS, you have the ability to identify speedtraps which do not use radar or laser, like VASCAR or DTC (distance time computers, eg. stopwatches) as well as other types of threats like redlight and speed cameras.  You can also mark miscellaneous hazards too.  Those marked locations can be uploaded via the iRadar app to the cloud.

Review Conclusion

Again as stated early, the DualPro 360 is a bargain at $449 because in the context of what you are getting. That makes it the best value and the best detector for the money on the market, period value.  There really is no other way to look at it.

Cobra has yet another winner on its hand, there’s no question in my mind,  I also believe it does with their new 2-in-1 detector and dash cam and I’m pretty certain the DualPro 360 is going to develop and large following.  Could it become their top selling detector of all time?  At the DualPro’s price price, I certainly believe it’s possible (if not likely).

A very complete series of video are available on a mouse-scrollable “carousel” on the front page of RadarBusters.

You can also order the DualPro 360 from RadarBusters. RadarBusters has been selected as an early provider of these units, so you’d be one of the first to be able to get one. Orders will be processed on a first come first served basis and I understand any credit card purchases won’t be actually charged until the DualPro 360 actually ships, which is expected to begin shipping early in July.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the Cobra brand is regarded in a year’s time.  I suspect it will be much more favorably once people become more familiar with its capabilities.