Garrett ACE Apex Reviews, Price and Specifications

All-Purpose Metal Detector

Retail Price: $579.95 (€518.10, £435.30)

See Available Reviews: 1

Avg. Rating (1.0 Stars)

Specifications:

• Technology: VLF Multi-Frequency
• Operating Frequencies: 5, 10, 15, 20 Khz, Multifrequency, Multisalt
• Detector Type: Lower Mid-Range All-Purpose Land Metal Detector for Beginners and Intermediate-Level Detectorists
• Search Coil: 6 x 11" (15 x 28 cm) Viper Search Coil; Ships With Coil Cover
• Interchangeable Search Coil: Yes
• Construction: Non-Waterproof, Rainproof Control Box, Waterproof Search Coil
• Battery Type: 1 Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery; Ships With Mini-USB Charging Cable
• Target Id: 5-tone Audio Target Id System
• Display: Large, edge-to-edge LCD Display
• Audio Output: Available With Or Without Z-Lynk Headphones, Internal Speaker, ⅛” Headphone Jack
• Pinpoint Mode: Yes
• Ground Balance: Automatic, Manual
• Vibration Mode: No
• Search Mode Types: Iron Discrimination, Salt Mode
• Backlit Display: Yes
• Volume Control: Yes
• Headphone Jack: 1/8" (3.2 mm)
• Bluetooth Compatible: No
• Interchangeable Headphones: No
• Arm Rest: Adjustable
• Total Weight: 2.5 Lbs (1.13kg)
• Warranty: Yes

Adjustable Parameters:

• Overall target volume
• Programmable Target Id
• Volume of undesired iron objects
• Detector sensitivity
• Discrimination
• Search modes
• Target notch discriminations
• Frequency adjustments to account for electrical interference
• Threshold

Reviews:

A Colossal Disappointment!

by Valentin in Vilnius, Lithuania -
Nov 24, 2021

[NOTE: Since Valentine does not speak or write English, I wrote his review based on the information he provided. - S.U.]

I should not fall for a promising statement like "the Apex is a professional metal detector, and you simply will not find such complete and powerful detecting flexibility in this price range!" in the advertisement video. And I should study the user manual carefully before making my decision. I made the mistake by unconditionally trusting Garrett - a reputable company that has produced many popular detectors over the years, and by believing that its first multi-frequency machine is up to the mark and would undoubtedly improve my find rate in the field. Instead, my find rate dropped significantly when searching with this detector, and I only got critical issues with the Apex.

My first disappointment was the Apex's detection depth using a stock 6 x 11" search coil. This coil turned out to be good only for trashy areas where the detection depth does not matter. In areas with moderate iron junk content, small- and medium-sized coins lying deeper than 18-20cm (7-8") were not detected by the stock coil. This was observed while testing the Apex equipped with the 6 x 11" coil against a Teknetics T2+ metal detector ($549.00) equipped with a 6 x 10" coil. Both machines were correctly ground balanced prior to testing. A medium-sized coin of 30 mm in diameter was buried to a depth of 28 cm (11"). The Apex failed to indicate the coin to which the Teknetics T2+ responded with a solid 2-way signal! For the Apex, a larger coil was certainly required to compensate for the poor detection depth in soil typical of my locality.

Using different preset modes did not help. Switching between them does not change the machine's performance because these search modes differ only in Notch Discrimination patterns. Thus, with the Apex detector, selection and use of any preset search mode does not provide easy matching of the machine's functionality with the corresponding type of hunting environment. These preset search modes only guide a newbie in selecting the Discrimination pattern that provides the best audio comfort. But this is against the main principle of serious metal detecting: "one must have a full "sound" picture of what is under the coil."

Besides frequency options and adjustable Sensitivity, what else does the Apex have to help the user improve detector performance? Not much, really. Unlike other brand metal detectors in this price range, the Apex does not have the minimum variety of customizable features required to optimize performance in different search conditions. Reducing the Recovery Speed is one of the ways to increase the detection depth, but the Apex's recovery speed is factory preset; thus, leaving the user no choice. While the Apex can provide decent target separation in areas with medium to high iron trash content, it does not provide a decent detection depth in areas with sparse iron junk. Unfortunately for Apex users, the lack of necessary customizable features makes Apex lag behind even its less expensive competitors when it comes to depth of detection.

Using the Zero-Discrimination mode could slightly increase the depth, but then I would have another problem... This detector makes lots of false signals when the ground balance function cannot cope with variable concentrations of miniscule hot rocks and/or iron-oxide slag particles, even when the GB setting is correct. In such challenging hunting environments, manually adjusting the correct ground balance setting is required to solve the problem. Since the Apex does not have a manual ground balance mode, the user cannot make any offsets, and the detector becomes noisy and ineffective, and even useless.

Of course, the annoying noise can be reduced or eliminated by rejecting the entire iron range on the Discrimination scale; however, doing so will cause missing all small and tiny silver coins, such as hammereds, as well as thin jewelry and low-conductive relics lying on the fringe of effective Discrimination. You never apply this method if you intend to metal detect seriously. However, the Apex's user manual suggests this approach.

Lowering the Sensitivity level may help a little, but it will also result in a loss of depth. Thus, employing the Zero-Discrimination mode to increase penetration depth through difficult ground will cause the user incredible mental and ear fatigue, in addition to masking faint good- and bad-sounding responses from the targets that I mentioned above. In this case of ground falsing, lowering the volume of iron-sounding signals using the Iron Volume feature will also be counterproductive. I was hoping that a firmware update would possibly improve the Apex performance in regard to the GB function, but unfortunately this did not happen.

Another issue I ran into with the Apex was when I took it to the field when the outside temperatures dropped just slightly below freezing point, -2°C (28°F) or so. The Apex just shut off on me without any warning, and I could not turn it back on. Back home, I checked the manual for the operating temperature range... How surprised I was not to find a mention of it in the manual!

In my opinion, the Apex has been a failure. Advertised as an excellent professional detector, and even offering the multi-frequency option, the Apex is nothing more than just a simple detector for BEGINNERS and kids searching for shallow coins. To my big disappointment, the overpriced Apex has turned out to be the same old Garrett product with the same old functions, the same old Discrimination segments notched out and the same old sounds as those of previous models. Garrett definitely needs to step up its game if it wants to be in business and not to end up like Tesoro and White's.