10 Things I Like And 5 Things Don't Like About The Garrett Apex

[Steve Herschbach]

One thing that has also changed since the original post is accessory coil availability. At least 16 now by my count, not including the stock coil. On my unit iron volume works fine, so not sure what was up with that.

plus the full NEL lineup (direct links)

• NEL Big for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Attack for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Storm for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Thunder for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Tornado for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Super Fly for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Hunter for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Sharpshooter for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Snake for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Sharp for Garrett Ace Apex

and at least three Detech coils

[Jeff McClendon]

1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

One thing that has also changed since the original post is accessory coil availability. At least 16 now by my count, not including the stock coil.On my unit iron volume works fine, so not sure what was up with that.

plus the full NEL lineup (direct links)

• NEL Big for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Attack for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Storm for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Thunder for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Tornado for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Super Fly for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Hunter for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Sharpshooter for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Snake for Garrett Ace Apex
• NEL Sharp for Garrett Ace Apex

and at least three Detech coils

Yes, the choice of coils was definitely one of the additional pluses that I was going to mention. If (and that is a big if right now) I decide to keep my APEX I will definitely be trying other coils. 

Like you Steve, I have had no problems or complaints with the iron tones that are implemented with some or all of the iron target range being accepted WITHOUT the Iron Audio button being engaged. So with the button activated Iron Audio OFF Garrett's recent update has really cleaned up the "normal" iron tone responses on smaller/nail sized objects and bottle caps. 

Personally, I will not use the button engaged Iron Audio. Maybe it is just me but it is nauseating, just like it was on my AT Gold even with the Iron Volume setting on minimum 1.

The excellent Iron Volume control was another big plus that I wanted to mention.

[Steve Herschbach]

I have no use for the Iron Audio feature also. All they need is a horseshoe function instead, not whatever weird processing is going on with Iron Audio.

I’m going to have to get a NEL Snake for my Apex. One of my favorite aftermarket coils. The DeTech Ultimate is another.

[phrunt]

I hope yours is faulty Jeff, as your problems sound a little bit too bad to be how it should be.   The Apex now has a brilliant range of coils and one I'm extremely jealous of swinging my detectors with their very limited range, I'm really hoping they do well with their higher end Multi freaker so I can buy one to have access to some of these coils.  Fingers crossed you get it back and those problems are improved or resolved.

Part of the problem is they released the entry level model first and we weren't comparing it to the other Ace models, we started comparing it mostly to high end machines 🙂 It's going to be difficult for any detector to match the ID stability I can get on my multi frequency machines though, it's just unbelievable how well they do.   We have to remember though and it's easy to forget that the Apex is an Ace so having not a lot of notches to notch out and things like that are what we should expect due to it's placement in the lineup.  It even looks like a high end machine and I really like the look of it, especially the screen!

The length of time they're taking between the Apex and the ATpex might be an indication of how much they're working on improving and enhancing the performance though as really the quicker they can get it to market the better with Nokta on the verge of their release.  First to market will always get the most sales, the later you are in the game the less sales you'll get.

[Jeff McClendon]

 

21 minutes ago, phrunt said:

I hope yours is faulty Jeff, as your problems sound a little bit too bad to be how it should be.   The Apex now has a brilliant range of coils and one I'm extremely jealous of swinging my detectors with their very limited range, I'm really hoping they do well with their higher end Multi freaker so I can buy one to have access to some of these coils.  Fingers crossed you get it back and those problems are improved or resolved.

Part of the problem is they released the entry level model first and we weren't comparing it to the other Ace models, we started comparing it mostly to high end machines 🙂 It's going to be difficult for any detector to match the ID stability I can get on my multi frequency machines though, it's just unbelievable how well they do.   We have to remember though and it's easy to forget that the Apex is an Ace so having not a lot of notches to notch out and things like that are what we should expect due to it's placement in the lineup.  It even looks like a high end machine and I really like the look of it, especially the screen!

The length of time they're taking between the Apex and the ATpex might be an indication of how much they're working on improving and enhancing the performance though as really the quicker they can get it to market the better with Nokta on the verge of their release.  First to market will always get the most sales, the later you are in the game the less sales you'll get.

For the Apex, its main comparison detectors that I currently own and/or know very well are the AT Gold, Vanquish and the Simplex. I am not even thinking about other higher end detectors when I mention things about the APEX that are a plus or a minus. Comparing it to just those three detectors, I like everything about it better than those detectors except for the way it detects, which is a pretty big one, unfortunately. 🤪

[abenson]

10 minutes ago, Jeff McClendon said:

My

For the Apex, its main comparison detectors that I currently own and/or know very well are the AT Gold, Vanquish and the Simplex. I am not even thinking about other higher end detectors when I mention things about the APEX that are a plus or a minus. Comparing it to just those three detectors, I like everything about it better than those detectors except for the way it detects, which is a pretty big one, unfortunately.

When I had the Apex I mostly compared it to other metal detectors in it's price range on video. I also did my own comparisons to the Equinox but I knew that wasn't the market Garrett was going after. The amount of coils available for the Apex is amazing! I also hear the recent update has solved a few early issues. I didn't have a lot of the issues others have complained about such as uncontrolled chatter and jumpy ID on targets less than about 5" deep. I've even contemplated buying another Apex but at this point with Nokta Makro, XP and Minelab slated to come out with new models. I figure why bother.

[Jeff McClendon]

I will not decide about whether to keep the APEX I own until I get it back from Garrett and have plenty of time to test and use it some more. If I do sell it, at least I will know that Garrett checked it out and hopefully remedied anything that is wrong with it. It really may be that it just will not work very well here which will put it into a crowd of otherwise excellent detectors that also don't work very well here on deeper targets (3" or more deep). It is absolutely a very nice detector. 

[palzynski]

4 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

...

My Apex was experiencing intermittent pairing issues between the MS-3s and the control box which resulted in  annoying losses of pairing while swinging over targets or just changing settings which are accompanied by audible beeps..........I was factory resetting and pairing my APEX multiple times during 2 to 3 hour hunts and yes, I know what I am doing. I have owned MS-3s for years and operated them with no previous problems. I just ended up using the onboard speaker or brining backup wired headphones.

...

I already had this loss of pairings issue and I found a solution I think. The solution is to use the MS-3 with the bluetooth receiver on the side of the arm that sweeps the detector .   For info this receiver is located close to the MS-3 ON/OFF button . 

Example : If you sweep the Apex with your right arm , then the MS-3 ON/OFF button must be on the right side of your head , as closest as possible from the Apex control box bluetooth transmitter . Since I do this I have never had any more pbs with my MS-3 ...

[kac]

I believe the early models had issues. Mine was fairly early and I experienced unstable numbers and eventually had emi and coil knock problems. Garrett promptly replaced the coil and the machine runs like a champ. I can run it flat out in just about every place I hunt no and may drop 1 click down from gain depending on ground conditions. I have no issues with id's now and the machine locks right on targets very well.

As for depth air test inside my house that is riddled with EMI I have the following:

Clad copper penny 11"

Nickel 12 1/2"

Clad Dime 9"

This is with the stock viper coil.

So with that being said what I had problems with the previous coil  is I had pretty good stability in 5 and 10khz modes but 15 and 20khz the vdi would just jump all over even with gain down 3-4 bars. Just touching the coil or light taps would make it sound off and MF was also unstable.

If your Apex is knock sensitive give Garrett a shout and they should fix without issue.

I really enjoy the machine now and use it quite a bit as it is light and comfortable. I never thought I would like the hybrid audio but understanding the simple beep and slight nuance it has on deeper objects I don't have any problems knowing what I dig. Simple clean and effective. Buddy of mine has one and his runs like a champ and his first time out to the beach he picked up a nice silver ring about a foot down in the damp sand along with tons of clad. I was impressed how stable his was in the wet. We will be hitting the beach probably this weekend and I'll take mine out as well.

[Jeff McClendon]

14 minutes ago, palzynski said:

I will not answer for your other issues because we dont detect in the same conditions , you mineralized and me not.

I already had this loss of pairings issue and I found a solution . The solution is to use the MS-3 with the bluetooth receiver on the side of the arm that sweeps the detector .   For info this receiver is located close to the MS-3 ON/OFF button . 

Exemple : If you sweep the Apex with your right arm , then the MS-3 ON/OFF button must be on the right side of your head , as closest as possible from the Apex control box blutooth transmitter 

Thanks Alain,

As I stated in my previous post, I know how to use the MS-3 Z-Lynk system in all of its iterations. I own two of the ones with external transmitters and the same is true for them also. The transmitter and the power button side of the headphones must be as close as possible when pairing, etc.