Best Pinpointer To Buy?

[GoldenboyCO]

I recently needed a new pointer and decided to get one with standby mode.

Choices were a Sphinx-03 but couldn't find one so I chose the Quest Pro Max w/Magic Holster. I'm glad I tried a pinpointer with that function - It's way more efficient in that regard. You do need to keep an eye on how you holster it as that matters on turning it off.

The past few years I've used a profind-35 so that is the comparison and below is only my opinion on where I hunt-mild soil condition parks/fields. Also it's a 100 Promax targets vs. 1000 PF35 targets and a comfort level of use as well.

Things I noticed is that the Promax has a more precise search pattern toward the tip of the pointer. Good if you want to pop coins out of turf and like a precise pointer. Maybe not so good if you want quick general hit to pick up a coin in totlot wood chips as the PF-35 gives a more broad search pattern.
A pinpointer small LED is hard to read in the sun but all I change is signal strength and sound/vibration. You do need to push the 2 buttons at the same time to change power levels. I can say for a fact my promax is not as sensitive to thin foil and tiny aluminum coming from the ground. I have only found a few small pieces of jewelry so the jury is still out on this. It appears way more stable than the PF in regards to falsing, however I haven't been in the wet ground yet.

Overall I'm happy I bought it but I do wish it had a higher operating freq.   Take Care.
 

[pavelka72]

19 hours ago, GoldenboyCO said:

I recently needed a new pointer and decided to get one with standby mode.

Choices were a Sphinx-03 but couldn't find one so I chose the Quest Pro Max w/Magic Holster. I'm glad I tried a pinpointer with that function - It's way more efficient in that regard. You do need to keep an eye on how you holster it as that matters on turning it off.

The past few years I've used a profind-35 so that is the comparison and below is only my opinion on where I hunt-mild soil condition parks/fields. Also it's a 100 Promax targets vs. 1000 PF35 targets and a comfort level of use as well.

Things I noticed is that the Promax has a more precise search pattern toward the tip of the pointer. Good if you want to pop coins out of turf and like a precise pointer. Maybe not so good if you want quick general hit to pick up a coin in totlot wood chips as the PF-35 gives a more broad search pattern.
A pinpointer small LED is hard to read in the sun but all I change is signal strength and sound/vibration. You do need to push the 2 buttons at the same time to change power levels. I can say for a fact my promax is not as sensitive to thin foil and tiny aluminum coming from the ground. I have only found a few small pieces of jewelry so the jury is still out on this. It appears way more stable than the PF in regards to falsing, however I haven't been in the wet ground yet.

Overall I'm happy I bought it but I do wish it had a higher operating freq.   Take Care.
 

The problem is how to insert it, not because they didn't copy the SPHINX Magnetic correctly, but because of the design of the holster. You can't hit the hole in the holster the first time. This was the case in my youth, but here it is impossible to learn. You lose all the time you saved on shutdown... The devil is in the details :)

[NCtoad]

15 hours ago, pavelka72 said:

The problem is how to insert it, not because they didn't copy the SPHINX Magnetic correctly, but because of the design of the holster. You can't hit the hole in the holster the first time. This was the case in my youth, but here it is impossible to learn. You lose all the time you saved on shutdown... The devil is in the details :)

I had the same problem myself with the Pro Max.  The hole in the bottom of the holster has an inner shelf that catches the tip of the pinpointer making one have to fidget with it to drop through and fully seat. I took some epoxy putty and filled that so that the tip of the pinpointer can’t catch on it anymore.  Works great now.  

[F350Platinum]

19 hours ago, NCtoad said:

I had the same problem myself with the Pro Max.  The hole in the bottom of the holster has an inner shelf that catches the tip of the pinpointer making one have to fidget with it to drop through and fully seat. I took some epoxy putty and filled that so that the tip of the pinpointer can’t catch on it anymore.  Works great now.  

Good one NC! 👍

 

I just made the hole bigger 🤔

[phrunt]

Did they copy the Sphinx and get it wrong? 

The Sphinx 03 works fantastic with its auto on and off feature, I use it exclusively and never get any problems.  I never touch the button anymore; I do my settings by my phone which I rarely need to change anyway once setup and I turn it on and off with the holster.

 

[CPT_GhostLight]

22 hours ago, phrunt said:

Did they copy the Sphinx and get it wrong? 

The Sphinx 03 works fantastic with its auto on and off feature, I use it exclusively and never get any problems.  I never touch the button anymore; I do my settings by my phone which I rarely need to change anyway once setup and I turn it on and off with the holster.

 

So since you've had the Sphinx 03 a while now, what are your thoughts on it and how does it compare to your favorite pinpointers?

[phrunt]

25 minutes ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

So since you've had the Sphinx 03 a while now, what are your thoughts on it and how does it compare to your favorite pinpointers?

It's my favourite overall, no issues at all, love the phone setup even though it's not in English, super stable, more sensitive than the TRX and all other pinpointers I've got once you use the manual sensitivity configuration based upon your soil conditions to further enhance sensitivity beyond that of factory default settings.  As you can see the on/off magnetic feature is simple and effective, it just works.   The biggest downside is availability and I can't see that getting resolved so it's a no-go for most people which is a shame, such a good product.

[My Little Bleeper]

Nothing I have found works better than my MI-4. I have previously owned the Garrett carrot, the pulse dive and recently got the legend pro package with the Accupoint, and although the Accupoint works better than the carrot and the pulse dive, I prefer the ergonomics and button placement of the MI-4. it just feels so good in my hand and my thumb naturally rests right where the button is. Plus, the pitch sound works better than anything I've ever used to quickly locate a target. My only complaint is it's a little too quiet for my old fart ears, but aside from that, I absolutely love it and at some point here, I plan on selling my Accupoint to get another MI-4 so that my best friend who is just starting out learning to detect has a solid, reliable pinpointer.

[NCtoad]

1 hour ago, My Little Bleeper said:

Nothing I have found works better than my MI-4. I have previously owned the Garrett carrot, the pulse dive and recently got the legend pro package with the Accupoint, and although the Accupoint works better than the carrot and the pulse dive, I prefer the ergonomics and button placement of the MI-4. it just feels so good in my hand and my thumb naturally rests right where the button is. Plus, the pitch sound works better than anything I've ever used to quickly locate a target. My only complaint is it's a little too quiet for my old fart ears, but aside from that, I absolutely love it and at some point here, I plan on selling my Accupoint to get another MI-4 so that my best friend who is just starting out learning to detect has a solid, reliable pinpointer.

What you need is a deus 2 and the mi6.  Then you’ll be able to hear the pinpointer through your headphones!

[KDX]

8 hours ago, My Little Bleeper said:

Nothing I have found works better than my MI-4. I have previously owned the Garrett carrot, the pulse dive and recently got the legend pro package with the Accupoint, and although the Accupoint works better than the carrot and the pulse dive, I prefer the ergonomics and button placement of the MI-4. it just feels so good in my hand and my thumb naturally rests right where the button is. Plus, the pitch sound works better than anything I've ever used to quickly locate a target. My only complaint is it's a little too quiet for my old fart ears, but aside from that, I absolutely love it and at some point here, I plan on selling my Accupoint to get another MI-4 so that my best friend who is just starting out learning to detect has a solid, reliable pinpointer.

From the videos I've watched, the MI-4 does have a good sound to it. I really dislike the sound from my Pro Find 35.