Garrett Ace Apex Separation Comparison And Review

[abenson]

I want to start by saying that I really hate posting reviews like this when I'm disappointed in the results. Makes me feel like the bad guy or that maybe, just maybe I had the metal detectors setup wrong. Anyway here is a quick review.

Garrett Ace Apex Review Part 1

Got a Garrett Ace Apex delivered today, work is slow right now so I got right to testing it out. I’m going to post my review in 2 parts. Part 1 will be about the separation abilities of the Apex. Part 2 will be about the depth capabilities of the Apex. First wanted to say, I’m pretty impressed with the build quality and ergonomics of the Apex. I won’t bore you with the overview of the machine. I’m sure there are others that will give or have given a full run down of the physical qualities of the detector.

In my mind (and I might be wrong) the question most educated (meaning they already own a metal detector) perspective buyers will have is how does the Apex compare to the Minelab Equinox and Minelab Vanquish. Minelab pretty much has the multi-frequency thing figured out, so how will the new Apex compare in multi-frequency. Historically multi-frequency machines haven’t been known for their lightning speed separation abilities. So not only will I compare the Minelab Equinox but I’m also going to through in some other popular detectors.

There are 2 tests I like to do that will give me a pretty good idea of how a metal detector performs in iron. The end to end nail test with coins in between and Monte’s nail board (I used my own rusty square nails, not an official board you can buy from him). On the nail board (your results may vary, I think mine is tougher) I tested XP Deus 9” HF coil (sonar), Minelab Equinox 6” (park1), Fisher F19 5 x 10 coil, Nokta Makro Simplex 5 x 10 coil (park 2) & Makro Racer 2 7 x 11 (3 tones) against the Apex (zero mode MF). Results are as follows: XP Deus 7/8 hits, Minelab Equinox 5/8, Fisher F19 6/8, Nokta Makro Simplex 8/8 Makro Racer 2 7/8, Garrett Apex 4/8. If you remember my test of the Minelab Vanquish I was not impressed with either the v12 or v8 coil in this test.

The end to end nail test has nails end to end with a penny, dime and nickel in between the nails with a space of about 1.5 inches. I like this test vs the coin between 2 perpendicular nails as most metal detectors can hit a coin between 2 perpendicular nails without a problem. Not a real good test IMO. Results from end to end nail test are as follows: XP Deus 9” passes even with a fast sweep speed, Minelab Equinox 6” coil struggles 11” coil has no problem, Fisher F19 5 x 10 passes even with a fast sweep speed, Makro racer 2 7 x 11 passes but sweep speed needs to be slow, Nokta Makro Simplex 5 x 10 passes but sweep speed needs to be slow, Garrett Apex will not hit any of the coins in any mode at any frequency. If you remember my test of the Minelab Vanquish with both the v12 and v8 coils neither coil could hit any of the coins either.

The thing that’s interesting about the above tests is that some of the detectors excel at one test but not the other test and visa versa. For example the Nokta Makro detectors excel at the nail board test but kind of struggle with the end to end test. This is the very reason I like doing both tests it show performance in multiple scenarios. When I’ve taken the above knowledge into the field and compared one detector to another the performance results for the most part mirror the results I got doing the above tests.

I read about people all the time saying I took this new machine to a place I’ve pounded in the past with this other detector(s) and I found this awesome coin/relic. This new metal detector is the best on the market. Well that all fine and dandy but if you didn’t compare the two prior to digging the target how do you know one’s better than the other. Maybe you just missed that patch of ground or you approached the target from a different direction, or, or, or. You get my point. But if you get a target and run another detector over the area and get no response, or better response, etc. then you can say, yes this is a better detector. Otherwise there are no facts to back your claim.

I’ll probably do a video of the above results when I have more time.

In the end I’m not impressed with the Apex compared to other machines in it’s price range. Slightly worse separation performance than the Vanquish 540. The Apex has a lot going for it, wireless, rechargeable batteries, light weight, looks good and weatherproof. But honestly, I’ll take a Simplex over the Apex. Hopefully the Apex can redeem itself in the depth test like the Vanquish did.

[Rick N. MI]

Good report. Concentric coils pass this test very well with 2 nails with a coin in between. DD's don't like this test very well except some detectors with dd like the XP can do it.

Tesoro's worked very great in iron with concentrics.

[bigtim1973]

Looking forward to your next session results on depth. I think you have done a pretty good review so far. 

[Chase Goldman]

I think people are sleeping on the fact that this machine is also the cheapest available multiple selectable single frequency machine on the market and would like to know more about its single frequency performance (across the board) on the separation and depth tests.  That may be its true strength, not MF.  No way Garrett's first generation simultaneous multi-frequency (SMF) implementation is going to compete against ML's fourth generation of simultaneous multi-frequency (Multi IQ).  It just so happens to have a serviceable SMF mode that probably is best relegated to salt beach usage.

[Chase Goldman]

Agree, SImon.  I kind of thought they were underselling this as an ACE level model, but it definitely makes sense now that we are seeing it in action in unbiased form.  For a multiple selectable single frequency machine, it really is a great value.  SIngle frequency performance IS important.  The fact that ML is still paying attention to it by releasing that 4 khz mode for Equinox sends an important message in that regard and that is why I thought ML should have considered throwing in at least one single frequency mode choice on Vanquish (say 10 khz) for added versatility.

[abenson]

10 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

I think people are sleeping on the fact that this machine is also the cheapest available multiple selectable single frequency machine on the market and would like to know more about its single frequency performance (across the board) on the separation and depth tests.  That may be its true strength, not MF.  No way Garrett's first generation simultaneous multi-frequency (SMF) implementation is going to compete against ML's fourth generation of simultaneous multi-frequency (Multi IQ).  It just so happens to have a serviceable SMF mode that probably is best relegated to salt beach usage.

Single frequency or MF results were honestly about the same. 20KHz gave a slight edge but not enough to worry about. The relic mode actually was the best performing mode on the separation tests for me. I would have thought coin or jewelry.  It really doesn't appear there's that much difference in recovery speed between modes though. Pro zero made it plain annoying with the iron audio.

[abenson]

One other thing. Target ID is really pulled down with iron near a good target on the Apex, even in MF. Unlike the Equinox or Vanquish when they hit a target next to iron the ID suffers very little. Example: on the nail board test, even though the Equinox is not a super performer, the targets it does hit shows a pretty accurate ID. The Apex grunts just above iron on the few directions it can hit the penny. Probably explains why the relic mode was the best performing.

[EL NINO77]

Thank you for 1 observations of Garrett Apex Mr. Abenson ...

First of all, I want to write that you are one of the people who do really real tests ... tests that I strongly trust .., and I appreciate it...👍 

one of the last recent tests, for example, a comparisonin separation of some detectors in  the GhostTown  terain.....

One thing that could be observed  YT test from Rossia... is that Apex can be deep on the 6x11 "coil as well .... .... deeper Like the ACE400 8.5 x 11" coil ..... and also often on very deep targets as well as the Vanquish540 on the V12 .. . . 
...but I could not get rid of the impression that the signal even on less deep targets is strongly influenced by the iron sound of 50/50 and perhaps also the ID ..

,,,the test terrain was a forest ..... so it is almost slightly mineralized .. ..

One thing that could be observed ... is that Apex can be deep on the 6x11 "coil as well .... .... deeper Like the ACE400 8.5 x 11" coil ..... and also often on very deep targets as well as the Vanquish540 on the V12 .. .

that would mean using a lower recovery speed-lower ground filter ,, and a strong gain ...

  The average separation in your Test by Mr. Abenson also points to a higher setting of iron bias ..... 4 points out of 8 max ... still points to the Ace series ...

I have ace 400i on 3 coils .... 8x11 ", 5x10" WSS, 4.5 "CC Sniper and Vanquish 340 on V8 and V10 coils ... So I took the liberty of writing something down to it ..

 

Mr. Abenson, I will be curious about your further information regarding the Garrett Apex Detector ....

[palzynski]

On 8/31/2020 at 10:08 PM, abenson said:

I thought this would be the best topic to but this comparison under. But, Steve if you feel like it belongs under the Garrett topic, please move it.

I want to start by saying that I really hate posting reviews like this when I'm disappointed in the results. Makes me feel like the bad guy or that maybe, just maybe I had the metal detectors setup wrong. Anyway here is a quick review.

Garrett Ace Apex Review Part 1

....

Thank you for you static Apex separation tests . Very interesting .  Have you planned to do field tests to confirm the separation test results ?  I mean a place where you have already tried other machines so that you can compare them together.

I say this because from my experience sometimes the results in the field may differ from what can be seen on static tests .. 

Btw if it is confirmed that the if Apex separation is only equivalent to the Vanquish then this is not good news , because the Apex was supposed to be very good in iron trash from the Garrett Marketing specs , and the Vanquish is not a reference in nail beds , at least the ones that we have in Europe .... 

[Guest calabash digger]

Thanks for the test... I have been looking at videos of this machine (depth test). From those videos and your report this is what I think.....It is TRULY a ACE beginners detector.....Look like max depth on a dime was 6 or so inches....ACE big let down in my mind but I bet they will sell a TON to the Garrett club...I probably will buy one and show my buddies Vanquish beating the socks off of it later on....