Best laser jammer reviews of 2023
Best laser jammer reviews: what are the top laser jammers of 2023?
Uniden R9, Adaptiv TPX, TMG Alpha-17, Escort ZR5/ZW5, AntiLaser Priority (ALP), and Stinger Laser Defense Laser Jammer Reviews
Laser jammers have improved across the board over the years and we have updated our review to reflect these changes.
Ironically, the biggest and most significant changes facing laser jammers have come from the police laser gun manufacturers, not the laser jammer manufacturers themselves as they have historically proven quite capable of giving the laser jammer manufacturers a run for their money.
However, more recently, police lasers have been appearing that are more difficult to jam as well as detect event with some of the best laser detectors / radar detectors.
To quickly summarize this review, the best laser jammers, in decreasing rank, consist of the Uniden R9 (currently a component of their custom installed system), Adaptiv TPX Automotive Laser Jammer, Adaptiv TPX Motorcycle Laser Jammer, AntiLaser (ALP), TMG Alpha-17, Escort ZR5 / Escort ZW5, and the remote installed Stinger Laser Defense laser jamming system.
Updated: 08-14-2023 by Veil Guy
Contents
Best Laser Jammers of 2023:
- #1 Best: Uniden R9 Custom Installed Radar Detection & Laser Jamming System
- Cost: $3999 – front & rear radar detectors & 6 Heads (3 front, 3 rear)
- #2 Best: Adaptiv TPX Automotive and TPX Motorcycle Laser Jammer & Parking Sensor
Costs: $949 – 3 Head (Triple) - #3 Best: Anti-Laser Priority
Costs: $1500 – 2 Head + VPR Head (Triple) - #4 Best: TMG Alpha-17 Laser Jammer
Costs: $649 – 2 Head (Dual), $1000 – 2 Head + VPR Head (Triple)
- #5 Best: Escort ZR5/ZW5 Laser Shifters
Costs: $849 – 2 Head - #6 Best: Stinger Laser Defense
Costs: $1100 – 1 Head
1. Uniden R9
After years of anticipation, Uniden America has shipped its custom-installed radar detector & laser jamming system.
A novel capability is to program the role of each laser jamming head either as receive only or transmit only when confronted with the DragonEye,
Unlike other laser jammers, the Uniden R9 does not require a separate optional purchase of a VPR (variable pulse rate) head as each head is capable of operating in this mode.
When confronted with the other standard police lasers, each head operates in duplex mode, meaning they are operate as both receive and transmit modes at the same time.
While the Uniden R9’s laser jamming system is only currently available as a component of the complete Uniden R9 system, we expect at some point, the laser jamming system will become available as a stand-alone unit.
In the meantime, after some configuration tweaks and after extensive testing with all of the latest police laser guns, including the difficult to jam DragonEye, we found it to be the best performing laser jammer we’ve ever tested yielding jam-to-gun performance on every single run regardless of what part of the front of our test vehicle was targeted.
Uniden R9 vs Latest Police Lasers Test
Full Review:
Where to purchase:
2. Adaptiv TPX
Adaptiv TPX Laser Jammer for Automobiles
The TPX Automotive Laser Jammer comes standard with three transponder heads, each capable of operating in full-duplex mode (transmit and receive concurrently) independently of each other. The TPX laser jammer supports up to five heads total, two of which can be mounted in the rear or the front for that matter (for very large vehicles).
The TPX is designed to operate without any fuss and is not complicated to install or operate. Adaptiv’s position is that they want you to focus on driving and let their jammer simply do the work. We quite agree with their philosophy and are thrilled with its operation.
Since each head is capable of operating independently, there is no minimum amount of heads required or expensive VPR (variable pulse rate) heads to be effective against the DragonEyes and Stalkers. This is a huge deal.
Prior to the introduction of the Uniden R9, the TPX laser jammer was the best performing laser jammer straight out of the box we’ve ever tested.
TPX has the ability to be configured to act as a rudimentary parking sensor too, which we feel is a handy capability.
The TPX Motorcycle jammer is simply a two-head version of the automotive jammer for the front and rear of a motorcycle.
Adaptiv TPX Laser Jammer & Veil vs Latest Police Lasers Test
Full Review:
Where to purchase:
3. Anti-Laser Priority
AntiLaser Priority (ALP)
ALP has established itself as an extremely capable laser jammer and has been widely regarded as being the best. With that title, it is also the most expensive.
The AntiLaser was the first company to offer a laser jammer that could actually defeat the new variable pulse-rate lasers, something other companies, such as Blinder and Laser Interceptor proved unable to do.
This was a massive achievement in the day and it’s likely that ALP paved the way for other newer laser jammers to be able to do so as well.
While the ALP is very popular online and on the forums and has rightfully garnered a loyal following–as they have affiliate marketing programs to compensate promoters and while it is a very solid laser jammer, the Adaptiv TPX laser jammers are available at a much cheaper price with performance equaling the ALPs and the Uniden R9 is more effective.
The Uniden R9 is only available at this time as part of their complete custom-installed system.
Eventually, we expect a separate system to become available, so we are keeping on eye out for when this happens.
4. TMG Alpha-17
TMG Alpha-17
The TMG Alpha-17 replaces the TMG Alpha-15.
In partnership with RadarBusters, we thoroughly tested the TMG laser jammers both when used as a stand-alone system and then in combination with the Veil stealth coating and we came away quite impressed.
With the a-17, TMG has further updated their jamming system make them even more effective against the most lethal variable pulse-rate police lasers, when their optional VPR laser transponder is purchased.
Even The TMG is priced similarly to the TPX Automotive Laser Jammer, it is more complicated to set up and requires the purchase of their optional VPR head to be more effective at defeating variable pulse rate police lasers where as the TPX comes standard with heads that can defeat the DragonEye guns.
With their additional VPR head, we have found that it doesn’t perform quite as well as the TPX , Uniden R9, or the ALP, but it is still a solid performer.
Veil & RadarBusters played a role in assisting Facets TMG with the development of the TMG a-17 and as a consequence of those efforts the TMG a-17 tested better against the difficult to jam police lasers than its predecessor.
Furthermore, head placement is more flexible now than it had been.
The thing that we don’t particularly care for is that the cables connecting the jamming heads must be run into the CPU which much be mounted inside the vehicle.
This makes streamlined installation more complicated and not as desirable as the other laser jammers.
Even so, it remains a good value.
TMG Alpha-17 Laser Jammer vs Latest Police Lasers Test
Full Review:
Where to purchase:
5. Escort ZR5/ZW5 Laser Shifters
Escort ZR5/ZW5
Based upon a next-generation Blinder platform, the Escort ZR5 laser shifter is very capable.
Escort also offers a wireless version of the ZR5 called the ZW5.
Either model can be run independently or be integrated into certain Escort radar detector models.
The Laser Shifters also make their appearance on the super expensive and super capable Escort Max 360ci custom installed radar and laser system and they have demonstrated that they are up to the performance task.
Compared to the earlier ZR4, these next generation police laser countermeasures are capable of defeating many of the variable pulse-rate police lasers that have appeared in the last six years.
Furthermore, if you already have an Escort radar detector, these systems can be optionally integrated a number of their radar detectors. The ZR4 is the hardwired version and the ZW5 is the wireless version, forgoing wiring of each head to the control module.
We have found that the shifters do not perform at the level of the higher rated jammers above, but still provides plenty of protection.
For those interested in staying in the Escort family of product, these shifters can do the job.
6. Stinger Laser Defense
Stinger Laser HD
We have now formally included Stinger’s Laser Defense laser jammer in the list because the product has improved since its first version appeared. The Stinger continues to have the smallest laser transponder heads of any laser jamming manufacturer which enables it to be mounted in vehicles that would otherwise be difficult to install on.
As their price point suggests, Stinger is targeted at very high-end vehicles, don’t let our 5th place ranking throw you; this is a very unique and capable jammer with design elements you can not find anywhere else.
The Stinger laser defense system is unique in that it can use fiber optics instead of conventional jammer heads. The installation flexibility is greater with such a system.
Legality of Laser Jammer Use
While radar jammers have been outlawed for years nationally at the federal level, individual states, provinces, and other countries have recently begun outlawing laser jammers.
Today, most of Canada’s provinces have outlawed the use of laser jammers as has a good number of European countries.
Don’t even think about operating a laser jammer in China, U.K, or Australia.
Recently a driver was imprisoned in England for being caught operating laser jammers and others face similar consequences for using a laser jammer.
In Hong Kong, a driver that I personally knew, had his Mazda 6, that was outfitted with laser jammers, confiscated by the authorities not to have it returned. That cost him upwards of $30,000 in equivalent U.S. dollars.
Similar instances have also been documented in Australia.
These police departments don’t take kindly to being jammed, obviously.
Fortunately, in the U.S., penalties for operating a laser jammer are not quite as severe, but can still be costly and in instances where laser jammers are outlawed, the Veil Stealth Coating is a viable option as its effective and there are no laws forbidding its use.
Nonetheless, if you are thinking of purchasing a laser jammer, familiarize yourself with the laser jamming laws in the areas you routinely drive.
As of today the states that outlaw the use of laser jammers include: Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. In Canada only the more western provinces allow the use of laser jammers: British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. All other provinces, watch out. Drive with laser jammers at your own risk.
Laser Jamming Limitations
DragonEye Technology makes several police laser guns that are quite inexpensive which use variable and random or “pseudo-random” infrared laser pulse-rates, rendering all of the laser jammers that solely rely on conventional look-up table algorithms useless against them.
While all of these laser jammers do well against the conventional police lasers including the Kustom ProLaser 4 and LTI Truspeeds, the Stalker XLR/RLR lasers are a bit more difficult to jam and the DragonEye Speed Laser and DragonEye Compact are the most difficult to jam.
When a laser jammer can’t jam or even detect a police laser gun, instant-punch-though or IPT will occurs at every distance, even very far away, as its algorithm is incapable a laser jamming at any distance (not just at close range).
It’s as if the driver has no laser jammer at all. That’s not a good situation for a driver that has spent more than $1600 on a laser jamming system. (To learn more about these new police lasers, visit our FAQ page).
Fortunately for us, the top laser jammer manufacturers have pretty much stepped up to the plate and have designs which can defeat these laser guns to in most situations.
Word of Caution About Certain Enthusiast Review Sites & Online Forums
It’s important to note as well, that a number of “independent” enthusiast testing groups have appeared over the years born in social media online forums, but some of them have proven to have hidden agendas (such as the RALTEC testing group). This online testing group has marketed itself as a purely independent and non-biased testing group, but we learned during a 2014 laser jammer shootout that RadarBusters and Veil jointly sponsored that the members had a secret undisclosed relationship with one of the manufacturers that they were testing that was discovered only after the results were posted by RadarBusters. We witnessed the group hiding specific weaknesses of a number of jammers from both us and the public by not reporting them and ceasing testing them against a number of guns that were “tearing up” some of the jammers. We witnessed some of the forum members meeting secretly collaborating with one particular manufacturer for personal profit.
Beyond the absurdity of this, these forum-driven tests are often very limited in scope; are created to favor the jammer; use targeting techniques that are not be representative of how a laser is actually operated in the field; focus on jamming performance of only the front of the vehicle; and tend to be on dead-flat road surfaces with straight-on shots all to ensure optimal conditions for them to perform. Even more alarming is that results of total jammer failure (ie; when a jammer is entirely ineffective against a particular police laser gun) are often left undocumented.
This happened repeatedly at a recent test conducted that’s been recently promoted (by a couple of retailers as being “authoritative”). As was noted on RadarBusters website’s published results:
During RALTEC’s testing they discovered an issue with the DragonEye…Because of this RALTEC requested that the results of the DragonEye be omitted from these results.
In another “test” conducted by yet another testing group, one of the manufacturer’s product that was tested and then later promoted turned out not to be representative of the models that were actually shipped to the consumer. The laser jammer heads were twin diode models, but the models that were ultimately sold were less capable “stripped-down” single-diode versions.
In yet even another supposed independent enthusiast “test” an older Blinder model was made to look bad (in videos) when their jamming heads were intentionally covered with shoe polish so that a vendor could promote an inferior knock-off that they were selling as being better. It wasn’t.
As a consequence, published test results from these supposed expert groups can be misleading, incomplete, or not entirely representative of performance in the real-world against real traffic enforcement. So take any testing or their conclusions and opinions by these forum-based groups with a grain of salt. As a consequence of calling some of these groups out, we have been targeted by some of these groups, but like our opinion of radar detectors, Veil has no financial connection to any of these jammer manufacturers.
You won’t see many tests demonstrating jammer performance from the rear and that’s because it’s very difficult to successfully jam from the rear of an automobile and also exceedingly difficult to jam police lasers that are used from an elevated position. In a number of states, like New Jersey, rear-targeting is routinely conducted and it’s not uncommon to encounter police laser traps being operated from overpasses in states like Delaware.
In either instance, drivers are especially vulnerable. Some online vendors oversell their capabilities and owners of these systems can be lulled into a false sense of security that is until they come across these sorts of speed traps.
Another huge failing of these sorts of review sites (driven by online forum furor), they focus on extreme close-range jamming performance and often decry products that don’t provide jam-to-gun or nearly jam-to-gun performance. The fact of the matter while it is true that it is hard to jam police laser at very close range, that applies to the countermeasure not the driver.
And despite their focus on sub 1000, 500, or even feet 250 feet performance, police lidar is most lethal to the drive at farther distances, like when you can not even spot the officer. Police laser was designed to target specific vehicles at far greater distance than police radar. That’s what they were created for in the first place. I’ve driven in states (such as MD where I’ve been routinely clocked at distances of 2400 feet or greater). In fact, the newest lasers are designed to clock speeders at distances of greater than a 4000 feet and some even come with telephoto lenses to do so easily.
And while we are on the subject of jamming to gun, for fun, don’t even attempt to do so. Year’s ago one online forum member from Texas started videoing his jam to gun encounters with police, essentially rubbing their noses in it and even talking to them about it. Well you know what? As a result of his bringing this activity to their attention, Texas enacted a statewide ban against jammers that exists to this very day.
So don’t get caught up in the online hype about super close range jamming, because it’s all hype to sell a particular brand of product(s) and remember police laser is the most lethal to you at far distances when you can not even see the officer, not close when you can’t miss ’em.
We also see other supposed “expert” testing performed by these same folks test countermeasures that are installed incorrectly or improperly applied and not according to manufacturers’ instruction, thereby undermining perceived performance. Some of these mistakes come from ignorance, others come from malice or by profit motive (yes unfortunately there is bias, despite claims to the contrary). So if you are continuing your online research, keep all of these things in mind and take what you read with a grain of salt, and remember…
The Golden Rule
The most important take away here is this: no single countermeasure is 100% effective and that goes for all radar detectors, laser jammers, and even Veil.
Purchasing Recommendations
Bottom line: All of these laser jammers are effective at jamming, some are simply better than others, but you really can’t go wrong with any of them. It comes down to how much you willing to spend, what features you really need.
In terms of our top pick for a stand-alone laser jammer is the Adaptive TPX series. It stands above the others, in our opinion, because of its overall effectiveness, its ease of installation, ease of use, and its price point.
It checks all the boxes and therefore the TPX is the laser jammer I currently use as my every daily driver.
In terms of which jammer is the absolute best, we tested both in the real-world and closed-course and determined it to be the Uniden R9 custom-installed system.
Our recommended purchasing source for the best laser jammers is RadarBusters, the largest and most experienced countermeasure company online:
- Uniden R9 radar detector & laser jamming custom-install system
- Adaptiv TPX automotive laser jammer & parking sensor
- Adaptiv TPX motorcycle laser jammer & parking sensor
- TMG Alpha-17 (TMG a-17) laser jammer
- Escort ZR5/ZW5 laser shifter
How To Improve Laser Jamming Performance Even Further (and Overcome Difficult Mounting Situations)
Since no single countermeasure is infallible, we are strong believers in a defense-in-depth strategy.
It’s been demonstrated when Veil is paired with any laser jammer, laser jamming efficiency can improve significantly.
Furthermore, Veil has shown that it can help to equalize the performance of all laser jammers. This means that you can effectively spend less on a laser jammer and Veil in combination and get better results than relying solely on the performance of a (more-expensive) laser jammer itself.
Veil has also proven to overcome limitations of laser jamming performance due to less than optimal mounting locations. Some vehicles are simply very difficult in mounting jamming heads close to the headlights (the most reflective portion of the front of a vehicle). In such instances owners most compromise on a less than optimal install or be faced with significant body modifications at high cost to mount the heads in a better location. For less than $100, Veil can overcome all of these issues.
Veil has also shown that it is possible to reduce the number of laser jamming heads required to be effective. For example, a three or four head system, may be reduced to only a two head system and still provide similar overall laser jamming performance.
And, if you drive in a state where jammers are outlawed or you are not interested in spending that much on such a system, know that you do have an alternative solution, for a fraction of the cost, which can also help protect your privacy from invasive photo enforcement.
So, drive safely, but most most importantly, protected!
