Testing The Garrett Apex 1.28.1 Software Update :

[palzynski]

19 hours ago, Tahts-a-dats-ago said:

.... I think the Apex is a solid machine: it doesn't WOW me with its performance (unlike some of my other machines) but it hasn't disappointed me either.  ... 

Ok it looks like some are happy with their happy with their Apex  , some others not. For me I am done with the Apex , I have left enough time ( 1 year since Autumn 2020 ) to Garrett to fix my issues , this has not been done I prefer to give up now ....  This even I have found a few nice things with it ...

Then I will sell what I can , probably the coils and the wireless headphones . I wont sell the Apex CB as I dont want to sell something I am not confident with  ...  

Concerning the Vanquish , I have never had any reliability issue with it ,either the 540 or the 340 , it is a very reliable detector, deep and very accurate in clean soils ( low iron trash ).  On the other hand it doesnt like the high iron trash where it is noisy and unstable .  Definitely a good machine I have around 60 hours with it .

 

[DIG5050]

Like a lot of others, I watched the introduction video of the Apex back in May of 2020. I was impressed that Garrett went SMF with the machine at a time when seemingly no one else besides ML had SMF. I watched and waited until it was available through distribution. Since they touted it as "updatable", they would probably have updates in the future to improve it's performance. 

In Oct. 2020, I decided to buy it and try it out. It's constant beeping and chattering made me nuts the first week, so I reached out to Garrett service; they replaced the machine with a brand new one with a newer revision of firmware. No more chatter.  I used the detector with it's Viper coil until the winter weather set in.  Fast Forward to now, Garrett has since replaced the Viper coil with another one because of constant chatter. The current coils I have (Ripper, Viper, Raider) are all fully functional without excess chatter. I can't say anything negative regarding their post-sale service.

I've spent a little more than a year hunting (hundreds of hours) with the Apex and overall, I like it. True, there is room for improvement.  I have started a topic for improvements in the next release, that we can share with Steve Moore or the engineering people at Garrett to review for a future update.  See  "Wish List For Next Garrett Apex Update".

Like some of you, I was hoping for more frequent updates to improve the performance of the machine. i.e., to make it more "Nox-like" in terms of ability.  For me as a retired E.E., It has all of the right stuff in terms of technology, hardware and build quality, perhaps the firmware needs a bit more polish to get the maximum performance out of the hardware.

I've been using V1.28.1 since last May or so, and it seems more stable than the previous version. With the Raider coil, I am able to detect Cu Lincolns to about 8-9" in my mineralized clay soil and silver dimes about 7" or so deep. Coins aren't usually much deeper than that where I detect, so that kind of performance is OK for me. Maybe I'm missing deeper ones? I don't know, but I've found lots of silver coins, copper coins, relics and some silver jewelry with it.  Like others have said, conditions in the soil make coil size selection important.

Like Tahts-a-dats-ago has done, I have used the Apex in iron littered sites, and still find reasonably deep coins, sometimes mixed in the same hole with bits of old decayed iron nails. At times it frustrates me with its responses in all of the iron, but if I hear the sounds of a higher tone in one direction or another, combined with some iron tone, I will dig it. Usually it is a desirable target.  After spending this much time with it, I bring home much less iron junk.

I am really hoping that Garrett will listen to their customers and update the machine to improve it's function.  If not, then it will be time to move on to something better.  For a while, the "Apex Update" link disappeared from their website, and I was hoping for a new update. Then the link reappeared, and 1.28.2 was the released, but as I read elsewhere, contains no changes from 1.28.1.  Sigh...

[Cal_Cobra]

13 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

An Ace is an Ace is an Ace…..

The Garrett Ace Apex slots into the Garrett lineup just above the Ace 400, and below all the AT models. It’s priced and positioned where it is in the lineup for a reason, and makes perfect sense when looked at in context. There should be zero expectation it will satisfy people demanding top tier performance.

I think when Garrett themselves said they knew it was their first stab at SMF and it would be ACE quality, with a higher end unit coming later they did a good job of setting the stage of expectations.  Kind of brilliant move in a way, let the Ace Apex pay for the SMF R&D.  A bit like Nokta using the Simplex as a physical package mule for the Legend, shouldn't be any kinks with coil breakage or leakage, that should've all been worked out on the Simplex long ago.  I suppose there was always a chance that the Apex would perform above it's pay grade, but thus far that hasn't panned out from what I've read, any chance of anything stellar from Garrett in the SMF dept. will hing on whatever their mid-range or hi-end SMF turns out to encompass.

[GB_Amateur]

On 12/31/2021 at 10:48 AM, palzynski said:

Sometimes I wonder if the Garretts top managers have ever used their Apex in the field   ... Probably not , otherwise they would have fixed all these issues ...

Some things can't be fixed in software.  Hardware improvements are very expensive so unless it's something so severe that warranty claims cover it, it will likely have to wait for the next model.

Garrett probably has the most loyal following of any detector company today.  (At least that what I see in the USA, but I think they sell well in Europe, too.)  They don't have to put out a state-of-the-art detector to make money.  That doesn't mean they don't want more market share, but why should they wait until they have a top-of-the-line competitive detector?

What it appears they've done with the Apex is to release a moderate performance detector which they expected to sell well among their followers.  Apparently Nokta Makro and XP chose to go another route.  Is there room in this hobby for multiple strategies?  Guess we're gonna find out.

[palzynski]

1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

Some things can't be fixed in software.  Hardware improvements are very expensive so unless it's something so severe that warranty claims cover it, it will likely have to wait for the next model.

Garrett probably has the most loyal following of any detector company today.  ...

If it was only me I would be ok , but there has been several pbs with the Apex  posted by different users of this forum and I know French MD dealers who have had pbs with some of their Apex customers.  

I would have appreciated a little more communication from Garrett, at least to know what was going on with this machine. 

Bad luck this Apex was my 1st Garrett machine ..  I hope I will be more lucky with their future machines lol 🙂 🙂...

Happy New Year 2022 to everybody , this is the most important ...  🙂 ✌️ ✌️