Quest Xpointer Max Review (update 2)

[F350Platinum]

Gonna do my first review of a new product, I've only been detecting for a year, but I've got a lot of "trigger time" and know what I like in comparing and using some stuff, i.e. headphones and other accessories. I've tried quite a few things, but now fixed income makes it a bit more difficult. I want to try a review to move out of the "novice" column. 😉

I'm not gonna include videos, I can't find an .MP4 upload. Photos will have to do and y'all know I do that a lot. 🤗 Not going to create yet another social media account.

Review

I've been seeing some rumblings about the Quest X pointer Max. I looked into it and watched some videos. One day I thought "this thing might be a time saver if it does near what they claim, and I had a little extra cash on hand due to a small claim I won, so I paid the $136-ish ransom to try it out.

I can only compare it to the Garrett Propointer AT, my constant detecting buddy. I have never used anything else. I love that thing but it's finicky as those who use it know, sometimes it isn't "right" when you turn it on. I always have to check it on my shovel before using it in the hole, and sometimes while I'm searching I have to reboot it. Gotta say it sets and keeps the standard for me, but I'll let you judge whether it's been beat. I am in no way affiliated with anyone but my wife 😀

In the Box

It comes with a lot of stuff, a holster, lanyard, charging cord, extra O ring seal and two tip protectors, along with warranty literature, way cool stickers, a card hyping their detecting app, a catalog, and instructions in everything but Swahili. Took me a couple of looks to find the English instructions for the buttons.

Build Quality

The Xpointer is nothing short of built like a tank. It has a thick rubbery plastic outer shell, the orange part. The antenna portion is hard translucent polycarbonate-like plastic, with an inner core that houses the antenna that is some sort of tough poly. The end cap houses the speaker, and is kinda thin. Honestly I think it may be a bit cheesy, but it is thankfully square-threaded because you're gonna have to keep unscrewing it to charge it. The internal battery lasts about 14 hours, I hope in the long run it will equal the use of a 9v battery. The display has a battery indicator that flashes available power when you turn it on.

Unscrew the cap and you can see the board for the waterproof speaker, a mini plug that operates it, and a strange O ring arrangement where the o ring stretches on the angles around the plug to expand and seal the unit. They give you a spare but be careful. It comes loose every time you open it. Tip - always screw the cap on from the bottom while holding it upright!

Inside you can see how thick everything is, the headphone jack (yes you can use external headphones but bye bye waterproof), the screw where ostensibly you can take it apart and replace the battery (with abuse a Lithium-ion battery will just drop dead one day, trust me). The USB-C charging port which requires the use of their cable.

Size/Weight

Size is about the same as the Propointer AT, my Carrot weighs 190g on my scale, and the Xpointer weighs 188g. Not a big deal.

Compared

I'm not going to go into how to operate it or how it sounds or how you turn it on and program it, there are plenty of videos that will do that for you. I'm going straight for the kill - what it will do compared to the venerable Garrett Carrot. This new pinpointer is a whole new take on the art, you get two-tone discrimination, with lights that show you what you have, either ferrous or non. It also has a display and two buttons. The display indicates distance from the object, and the buttons allow you to turn on, adjust, or disable almost anything you want. The Carrot is simple, and this isn't too bad either. Once programmed, you press the forward button to turn it on, and use it the same way as the Carrot. You really won't need the rear mode button after that unless you get a wild hair. The detecting area is mostly forward, and it is a 9.5kHz VLF. There are links to show you specs as well, I'll try to include them in this thread later with other tests.

What I like initially

This is a dual discrimination pinpointer, maybe the first of it's kind, I haven't been detecting long enough to know. That's what attracted me to it. It seems tough but we will see, it's as waterproof as most others, and it does ratchet re-tune like the Garrett. I think the tone separation is good enough, and the on/off tones are distinct. It's loud enough. It has adjustable levels of audio, and you can fiddle with almost anything. It's definitely a unique device, and costs the same. It has a cool holster and lanyard. It feels good and grippy in the hand, and looks a bit less like something you might use in private. 😀 The most important thing is it seems to have an inch to two inch (sorry metric fans) advantage over the Carrot in air tests. One person wondered how it does on tiny targets - here is a fired .177 caliber pellet I'm amazed I found that is detected about a half-inch sooner than the Carrot, and detected properly as non-ferrous:

Ratcheting is another thing I like so far, it works exactly the same as the Propointer in air tests, but again, more distance. The real acid test will be water and I have plenty of brackish water to check it in a later post in this thread.

So far it looks pretty good, and is a definite contender.

What I don't like initially

The first thing is the internal battery and charging. If I'm gonna have to charge this bad boy often I want a magnetic charging port like the Equinox, or a waterproof USB-C port on the outside like a cell phone. I also want Power Delivery fast charging. I don't want to unscrew the cap and "deal with the seal" and have no way to use it while charging. I get out detecting a lot, and don't mind carrying a PD battery to charge my phone or my Equinox on the fly. This will get all sorts of dirt in it if I have to charge it while digging. 😵 I'm not even sure if that will work.

The next thing is the holster. It's really cool and has a thoughtful D-ring on it for the lanyard, but it has an Achilles' heel - if you use the provided tip protector you will rip it off pulling the pointer out of the holster.😵 

This is easily solved by using the Garrett holster or a cheap knockoff. 😁

You also gain "grabbability".

The snap on the quest holster is weak, unlike the "Pliers and a Blowtorch" snap on the Garrett holster. Apparently they never owned a boat and used a "lift the dot" snap. 😀

Last thing for now is that Quest claims the X pointer is very loud. It is not as loud as the Garrett Propointer AT. That may be a problem for some. I can hear a mouse in a coliseum so it isn't for me.

[mh9162013]

Great review!

And bummer on the battery life, especially given how finicky it is to charge and how it can't be charged in the field, while in use like the Equinox can (although I can't imagine what it would take to design a pinpointer that can be easily used while being charged).

The Pro-Find 35 has discrimination ability, but the ferrous and nonferrous sounds are very similar to each other...but then again, I don't have the best ears, so maybe it's just me.

[F350Platinum]

5 minutes ago, mh9162013 said:

Great review!

And bummer on the battery life, especially given how finicky it is to charge and how it can't be charged in the field, while in use like the Equinox can (although I can't imagine what it would take to design a pinpointer tha can be easily used while being charged).

The Pro-Find 35 has discrimination ability, but the ferrous and nonferrous sounds are very similar to each other...but then again, I don't have the best ears, so maybe it's just me.

Thanks! I found out the battery life is 14 hours, so maybe 2 6-hour days, but the Carrot lasts for about 8 outings or more. I corrected it, but that's still kinda a bummer.

It does seem to have very distinct tones. Videos will prove that for ya.

[mh9162013]

3 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

I found out the battery life is 14 hours, so maybe 2 6-hour days

That's a bit better. I normally detect in 1-4 hour "sessions," so it seems like it would last me several hunting sessions.

I also like how it has different colored lights for the different type of targets it detects (ferrous v. nonferrous).

[F350Platinum]

1 minute ago, mh9162013 said:

That's a bit better. I normally detect in 1-4 hour "sessions," so it seems like it would last me several hunting sessions.

I also like how it has different colored lights for the different type of targets it detects (ferrous v. nonferrous).

Yeah sorry, I corrected the review. I'm out of likes today 😀

I'm going to update this with field tests, I felt bad that I hijacked Cipher's post by actually going out and buying the darn thing. 😀 I just did initial impressions for now.

There are things for sure that I don't know, so feel free to comment and abuse as necessary. If anyone wants me to test certain conditions I'll try to do that too, like tiny targets. Just can't do videos.

[Voyager32]

I have used mine for several hunts and the battery has been charged once, I found that using it on the second level of sensitivity works best for me, still detects deep but no falsing, I made the bottom hole larger so the protective tip doesn’t get hung up, even at the lowest volume it’s still loud, I put a peace of tape over the speaker, I like the discrimination feature with the different sounds and lights, overall I’m enjoying it.

[F350Platinum]

5 minutes ago, Voyager32 said:

I have used mine for several hunts and the battery has been charged once, I found that using it on the second level of sensitivity works best for me, still detects deep but no falsing, I made the bottom hole larger so the protective tip doesn’t get hung up, even at the lowest volume it’s still loud, I put a peace of tape over the speaker, I like the discrimination feature with the different sounds and lights, overall I’m enjoying it.

Thank you! I tend to run stuff wide open but I have not as yet used it in the field. If you think it's loud borrow a Propointer. 😀 I wear headphones so I need the pointer to be loud. I will see about falsing and sensitivity!

[Calmark]

Thank you for giving us a thoughtful review of your findings on this Quest pin-pointer.  Extra depth should save time by using it to find more precisely where targets are located from the surface and limit damaging something rare and valuable when digging.  I bought a Fisher Pulse that goes a bit deeper on coins in ground than my carrot and it helps save digging time that way.  

One idea I had for users of this pin-pointer and others using a protective tip, is to perhaps use the electrical shrink wrap and shrink some of it over where the protective cap on the tip snags the holster.  This might also help to keep from getting mud and gunk underneath it.  

[Chase Goldman]

1 hour ago, F350Platinum said:

Thanks! I found out the battery life is 14 hours, so maybe 2 6-hour days

Great review, Bob!  But I'm confused by the above.  Is it always in standby draining the battery or something?  My pinpointer is turned on and in use only a fraction of the time my detector is operating.  In a 6-hour day I would imagine conservatively 12 recoveries per hour for a total of ~70, such that it is actually operating 70 to 90 minutes per outing (between 1 to 2 minutes per recovery).  That would enable it to last through about 6 to 12 hunts best case with a 14-hour run time before needing a recharge.  What am I missing?

[F350Platinum]

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

Great review, Bob!  But I'm confused by the above.  Is it always in standby draining the battery or something?  My pinpointer is turned on and in use only a fraction of the time my detector is operating.  In a 6-hour day I would imagine conservatively 12 recoveries per hour for a total of ~70, such that it is actually operating 70 to 90 minutes per outing (between 1 to 2 minutes per recovery).  That would enable it to last through about 6 to 12 hunts best case with a 14-hour run time before needing a recharge.  What am I missing?

Haha, total error. Thanks! I completely forgot it's not on all the time. 🤣 But I guess the spec is that it's 14 hours if left on. I appreciate the correction. It also has a "lost pointer" function that you can turn on or off, it will start beeping after 3 minutes.

In that light if it lasts for 8 hunts or so it ain't bad! 😀 

I have corrected the error.