The Truth about XP Deus

As I have never been affiliated with any metal detector manufacturer, I have kept my web site as an independent source of information for detectorists. This is why, the main principle I always follow while writing my articles is to provide all available, truthful info on any subject in focus.

I believe that all hobby enthusiasts have a right to know both good and bad facts on any particular manufacturer or its metal detector(s) and accessories. When armed with knowledge, both the beginner-detectorists and weathered treasure hunters can avoid unpleasant experiences with the latest products as well as exasperation and disappointment which may result from not only following the latest fad and/or being influenced by hype, but also by misleading info given by the manufacturer.

This article is rather lengthy because it sheds light on a development strategy, business plans and marketing tricks of XP Metal Detectors in regard to its main product - XP Deus. This write-up also describes my own experience and experiences of other users of the Deus V3.2-V5.X.

I acquired an XP Deus in the beginning of my metal detecting season 2012 and immediately began experimenting with this machine while intensively using and field-testing it five days a week for the entire season. This was the only way to climb the Deus' steep learning curve within one season instead of three seasons, and begin getting satisfactory results. As I mentioned in my 7-page review-article on XP Deus, switching from a heavy Minelab E-Trac to the lightweight, versatile Deus back in 2013 was beneficial and exciting for me because my finds rate increased, and many old, hunted out sites came back to life.

Despite a quite steep learning curve of the Deus as a feature-loaded detector, and some critical issues with the Deus charging system, the Deus coil's built-in battery that can not be easily replaced and would be inevitably losing most its capacity in a few years, and some less critical flaws in design, the Deus V3.2 turned out to be an effective machine at every hunt site I visited.

In other words, a wide assortment of the 'Expert' features and modes of the Deus V3.2 provided for maximum user adjustability almost without compromising performance, and enabled me to fine-tune my Deus to various metal detecting conditions, i.e. levels of soil mineralization, iron junk content as well as types of soil and targets sought, etc.

Well... Everything was fine until March of 2017 when XP released the V4.0 firmware version, and I installed it on my Deus. From that point, my happy Deus experience went downhill.

Fine-tuning the Deus became a hardship, my successful custom programs that I had arduously put together for V3.2 did not work well with the V4.0, and for quite some time I could not make them work again. Even after I finally made them work, my custom programs still were not as efficient as before. As a result, my finds rate plummeted.

When the upcoming firmware version 4.0 was announced in 2016, almost one year prior to its release, all Deus users, including myself, hoped that the new firmware would be somewhat an improvement on the V3.2. Actually the V3.2 itself was a third update of the V2.0 (previous updates were V3.0 and V3.1) and eventually turned out to be a solid, bug-free version.

I also hoped that all issues with the Deus design, that had not been mended since 2009, would be finally resolved. All in all, the Deus users were full of hope and expectation that XP had listened to their complaints, and would address all issues in the upcoming hardware and firmware. It did not happen.

The V4.0 was NOT the expected "corrections to the V3.2". The V4.0 was a new firmware platform designed specifically for serious gold prospecting, i.e. for detecting with new High Frequency (HF) coils which, like all XP Deus coils, were detectors themselves. (CONTINUED on Next Page...)

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