Cobra RAD 380 vs 480i - What's the difference? Everything you need to know! 

Thank you Jimmy. I wondered if it was meant to be bendable, but didn't want to run the risk of breaking it. I am certain I will get better performance out of these units with them being level. I am have learned a great deal about radar detectors over this last year since doing these reviews, but nobody had ever mentioned anything to me about them being level. Thank you for the heads up. 🙏😀

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Uniden dfr1

It's trash. Bought an aftermarket with single large suction cup and pivot joint.

I just bought one. Does the quiet drive not make any audible alerts or only if it’s strong?

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Darn It, Now I'm Gonna Be 2nd Guessing Myself, LOL. Just Purchased The Cobra 480i 02/05/23 Not a Huge App Person Myself, No Speeding Infractions In 21 Years, But I Must Admit You Got To Clean That Old Carbon Out, Make Sure Tires Are Good At Get Er Done. If, I Don't Like The 480i After Experimenting With It, I'll Simply Take It Back Before 30 Days.

what if i'm just trying to dodge police in general? I don't speed but I drive at night and police seem to pull over people for anything in my texas town. I am also generally observant of them.

Which did you get? Im still unsure

Thank you, Ricky. . . see if this link will work for you: www.manualowl.com/m/Cobra/RAD-380/Manual/525098 That should be the complete owner's manual.

Thank you, Chris. Glad it was helpful.

​@@carlanthony7906 hi, I intend to use the RAD 480i outside USA, in East Africa, do you think it can be helpful? Or useless outside USA?

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if you dont mind me asking, what are you getting?

Thank you Lucinda. Let us know if you have any other questions. I have been driving with these units for about seven months now. Glad the review was helpful for you.

I decided to go with the 380. So far so good. I do miss the directional arrows my Escort 360 had. However, the Escort 360 picked up way more false X band alerts than the 380. I still can’t gauge the distance before the 380 picks up a CHP’s radar. I feel like by the time I hear the alert the CHP is too close. I’m going to test it for a bit longer before I decide to keep it.

Well said. . . and to be honest with you, the more I use my Uniden radar detectors, the more I like them. I currently have an R3 and R4, along with the R7 and R8. In the near future, we will have videos up on those units. This video I did last year, before I really used another brand outside of Cobra. So yeah, after doing more research and looking at other radar detectors, I agree there are higher class units.

Glad it was helpful, thank you for watching!

Good catch and I did skip over that, I will know now for the next video - good feedback . . . thank you still for watching our channel and video and I'm glad it was helpful. Safe travels and enjoy your new RAD 480i. ~ Carl

Thank you for the feedback. The new RAD 700i has been better in our experience: www.automoblog.net/cobra-rad-700i-review/

They may not be running radar.

I have the 480i, and it's notified me multiple times here in the states to police, ka and live ka alerts

Awesome! Thank you for watching and enjoy your new 480i!

@@Automoblog thank you

Worth the money ?

@@anthonyaranda8775 I’ve had it for a year now, it is definitely worth it

Just got it 3 days ago and it's already paid for itself.

Hi Pat. . . since we filmed this video, I've been able to spend more time with the 480i. There have been a few times where my 480i has gone crazy, but there are no patrol cars around. A couple of weeks ago, I dove from Downriver here in the Detroit area, up I-275. At first I thought the alerts might be from the airport as you drive right by it on I-275, but as I passed the airport my 480i kept giving me a Ka alert with a single square on the alert display. And that happened for close to 30 miles. It started getting on my nerves. It was later at night, not a lot of traffic, and not a single cop car around.

Hi Jon . . . In my experience, the app has to be open. Otherwise you will see the alert on just the radar detector and not your phone.

Yes, both offer V2G protection. You will get a notification on the display screen if you get hit with VG2.

Thank you, Ganesh. Yes, the 480i can be hardwired with an additional writing kit. Here is what you will need I believe: www.cobra.com/products/rapscb

Hi Walter. . . I don't think I have ever received a laser alert with the 380, but I think it flashes the whole word "Laser" on the screen. While making this video, we had a laser alert with the 480i and it took over the entire screen and spelled out 'LASER." I am guessing it's the same/similar on the 380.

How do you like it so far?

@@carlanthony7906 I like it so far. I have not been able to test it by seeing a police officer yet. I turnt off xband spectre I only run k band ka band laser to That will eliminate a lot of alerts you don't need atleast where I am from. I do get a lot of k alerts on high sensitivity so in the city I run low range mode Overall I like it and the app is nice if you have time to use it.

Thank you, Paris!

Hi Todd. . . it's pretty good on the open road and in the highway setting. Here in Detroit, I have to get out of the city as a lot of the industrial areas and auto plants will give me false alerts, but away from the city, the range on the 380 is pretty good in the highway setting. According to Cobra when we made this video, maximum range is up to two miles on the open highway.

Yes, well said. These Cobra units are good for what they are and they do a good job if you don't want to spend a ton of money. But I must admit, I like the Uniden R3 better than both of these. Granted, it is more money, but it gives off way less false alerts and has longer range.

I'll let you know a secret. Cops are trained to not use radar. Specially driving in the city they keep them off so your radar is not faulty just not picking them up unless they turn there signals on.

Great question and we actually have had good luck with our RAD 380 and like it better than the 480i. The RAD 380 is good if you are looking for something on a budget, so that said, the false alert filtering won't be as good as something from Escort (the premium brand from Cedar Electronics, the parent company of Escort and Cobra). The one thing we see is that digital speed limit signs off to the side of the road will still cause a false alert with the RAD 380, false alerts that you were less likely to get with a higher and radar detector. But otherwise yes, I would agree that it's a really good unit for the money ~ Carl

Unfortunately, no . . . I think you might have to get a new unit. You might try reaching out to Cobra customer service however and seeing if they can do anything for you: www.cobra.com/pages/contact-us

Hi Jensen . . . I may not have been totally clear in the video . . . But on the RAD 380 you cannot mark a location. You can on the 480i but not the 380. What I meant to say is that I got a false alert with the RAD 380 at the CVS - but right after, I got a real alert. Basically, it was a false alert, followed immediately by a real alert from a patrol car. But with the RAD 380, I could not "mark" the CVS. But it makes me be more careful in that area of Detroit because it makes me pay more attention to any notifications I get with the RAD 380. I don't want to just dismiss it as a false alert and then end up getting a ticket. I hope that helps.

@@carlanthony7906 yeah I heard that. I was just wondering if on the 480i if you mark a spot as a false, will it still alert a positive if there is one in the area? Like will it kind of override the false if there is a different frequency?

@@jensenthurgood5723that is a good question. Yes, in my experience, the 480i will show both. You see this when connected to the iRadar app sometimes. You might get a "Live Ka Alert" from the app, but another alert (false or not) at the same time. The screen sort of divides at that point. So on the right side of the screen you get the alert as reported by the iRadar app - and a black bar moves to the left to indicate how close you are to it. On the left side of the screen then is the alert you just picked up that was not reported in the iRadar app. That might be a false alert or that might be a real alert. But either way, you will see a series of square bars that move from left to right to indicate how close you are to that alert. In my review, I have a picture of the unit doing this. It's detecting a "Live Ka" alert and a K alert (which ended up being false) at the same time. So in essence, yes. The RAD 480i will mute something you have locked out on purpose, but if a real alert is in the area, it will show you that too (and make a sound). As a rule of thumb with radar detectors, any new frequency or band will still alert, even if you have locked out something in that area before. The real alert will override (as you said) the false one. And this is the case with the 480i too. On higher end units like the Escort MAX 360c, you have a setting called "Spec FR2." That divides things up nicely on the screen to show you how many alerts you are getting at the same time, their bands, intensity, location, and if they are false or not.

@@carlanthony7906 thanks so much! That might just help me make the decision on which one I’m gonna buy!

@@jensenthurgood5723 you are welcome. And feel free to comment back here if you notice something about your new Cobra unit that I should be paying attention to.

Thank you for the comment . . . Let me look into this. I am still learning a great deal about radar detectors as I do these reviews.

Thank you. I bought the rad 480i, actually two of them for each of my SUVs. I realized that the map was not that good. I rather use my SUV's map on a 12" screen, or my Samsung Note 10+ Google map, or Android Auto. If I want to go further, I'll use Waze. The idea behind it is similar to Waze in that you try to engage by glancing at the map while driving. Looking for where the police are, or an accident which isn't there any longer. All three maps are free. Using the radar on my smartphone is very distracting while driving, because of how the map is set up. There are many more to say. It turns out not better than my Cobra XRS 9840 Ultra Performance 12 Band Radar/Laser Detector it replaced. On the positive side, I like the swiping scanner. It indicates the radar is powered on. I could have gone to the 380i, but it doesn't matter, I like the form factor. I overpaid but I'm content.

I have the 480i and you can

What are the alerts and what do they mean?

That's a good point . . . thank you!!

That's the signal strength indicator. On the Cobra RAD 380, it is on a scale of 1 to 5. If you see a 1, it means the radar source is farther away from you, whereas a 4 or 5 means you are very close to the radar source.

The RAD 380 . . . save the money and go for the RAD 380. The 480i is okay but very prone to false alerts.

Thank you for watching and I am glad the video was helpful.

Ka band 9 times out of 10 are usually troopers

Are your perhaps referring to the companion app (Drive Smarter)? If so, the speed alert function there will alert you to things like speed traps and red light cameras, provided other users of the app have reported them (basically, user generated alerts). It's been a bit since we drove with our RAD 480i, so might have to dig it back out and drive with it again to see more about what you mean.

​@@Automoblog So it is for sure the drive smarter app to use and not iRadar anymore right?

Yes, radar detectors are legal in the UK.

Thank you for watching our video!

Hi Samuel . . . How do you like the 480i so far?

Good point. . . although I read that POP radar isn't used so much anymore because(as I understand it) it's not as reliable since it's such a short burst. Instant On is a different story, which I have seen them do with Ka and laser here in the Detroit area. There are a couple of spots where they sit and wait. If I am being honest, my Unidiens and Escorts are faster at picking up instant on than my Cobras.

POP can't be used in court so that doesn't really matter

​@@carlanthony7906And a Corvette is faster than a Chevette. ✌️

Thank you Mark for the observations. I had wondered the same as the only alerts I can visually confirm are Ka around the Detroit area. I need to get an RAD 450 and drive with it.

Thank you for the feedback!

The early GM models with blind spot etc were using K band radar... Now the auto companies filed with the FCC and have their own frequencies for that stuff..Cobra cant see it. Switch off K band

Yes, thank you . . . we know. This was one of our early videos when we were still getting onto radar detectors.

Go Lions!!!!

Yes good point . . . thank you for watching and for the feedback. I will make a note of that for my next video. 🙂

🤣 He hit you with the nice card. Now you look like a douche bag. 🤣🤣🤣

Leave the man alone. He can say what he wants, we’re American!