Worst "launch" issues of a Metal Detector?

[eman1000]

I've been metal detecting now for almost 20 years and owned over a dozen machines and I was thinking about which manufacture has had the worst launch of a new machine at least over the last 10 years?

This isn't to bash any brand and some of these detectors turned out to be great * The Launch may have been due to bad timing, price, feature points, updates or lack of, etc.

Here are a few of my own picks from several brands to get the conversation started:

#1 - Quest V80
- Quest a somewhat already controversial company was set to release the V80 in 2024 and decided at the last minute to not sell in North America due to fear of being sued by possibly Minelab. The machine probably wasn't on a lot of people's radars, but the overall lack of communication and weird website updates makes me wonder how they stay in business. They have a multi-freq S series slated to release this year supposedly in North America, but I wouldn't hold your breath. * For context I have spoken to some North American Reps and owned a Quest X10 which was a decent metal detector on par with the original simplex IMO.
#2 - Garrett Vortex
- Clearly Garrett intended for this to hit the market sooner and for whatever reason manufacturing or otherwise missed the initial launch when machines did arrive testers pointed out obvious issues with the machine that were lacking for its price point. - To Garrett's credit they have release now 2 updates and largely resolved the major issues.
#3 - Nokta Impact
- Similar launch to the Vortex the machine was supposed to be the NOX killer and eventually it would live up to its reputation, but it took at least a year of multiple updates to improve the lack of iron bias, bottle cap reject, separation issues. - Again, to Nokta's credit they continued to improve the machine to the stable release it is today.
4. - Nox 600 - At release both the 600 & 800 couldn't hit a coin on edge and the 600 had only 1 brightness level which was too bright for most people. - Nox quickly fixed the coin on edge issue and later released the option to change the brightness level on the 600. The original Equinox's had some issue's taking on water and coil ears breaking but that has also largely been resolved.
5 - Rutus Atrex - The Rutus is not a machine you see often in the U.S. mainly because they do not have a dealership here, but they are excellent machines by all accounts. The Atrex was their first attempt at multi-freq release and was not stable and the biggest issue by far was the glare from the screen which seemingly couldn't be fixed. The new release the Rutus Versa also had some target separation issues at launch but to Rutus's credit they have improved that machine as well. * Would be on my list to buy if prices were more affordable.
6. - Whites MX7 - This was Whites upgrade to the MX5 using the Whites Sport look but even in 2017 the design was dated and not noticeable improvement over the MX Sport or MX5 In my opinion. I don't believe Whites sold many of these machines as they almost never show up on the 2nd hand market, before they closed for good in 2020. * I'll add that I personally owned an MX5 it was a nice little machine, but it suffered from EMI and was sparky in most urban environments.

Can you think of a metal detector release that belongs on the list? Am I wrong about any of these picks

 

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[cudamark]

How about the Fisher Impulse AQ, which was touted as a discriminating PI beach machine that is barely "waterproof", terrible battery life, all sorts of coil, hardware, and wiring and design flaws. Buyers were asked (and they received) for feedback to improve the machine so Fisher could produce a finished final product. Many years later now and they haven't even sold the first 100 units last time I checked, (even with huge discounts) and the finished product we were expecting......nothing but crickets from Fisher. Such a shame as the machine is well balanced and has some great designs and promise, just no follow through.

 

[BigWaveDave]

10 or so years ago I won a “Naming Contest” for a new detector coming on the market.
It was a pretty big deal at the time….
Turns out, it was a piece of shit. My wife was sick of looking at it, so I sold it at a yard sale before I moved to MD.
Had $30 tag on it, guy was interested…. I said Bro gimmie $20.
I still have the certificate that I won the naming contest, they even spelled my name wrong.

 

[Loco-Digger]

10 or so years ago I won a “Naming Contest” for a new detector coming on the market.
It was a pretty big deal at the time….
Turns out, it was a piece of shit. My wife was sick of looking at it, so I sold it at a yard sale before I moved to MD.
Had $30 tag on it, guy was interested…. I said Bro gimmie $20.
I still have the certificate that I won the naming contest, they even spelled my name wrong.

I remember and wasn't it the Deteknix machine which became the Quest since the roll out was so bad?

 

[eman1000]

How about the Fisher Impulse AQ, which was touted as a discriminating PI beach machine that is barely "waterproof", terrible battery life, all sorts of coil, hardware, and wiring and design flaws. Buyers were asked (and they received) for feedback to improve the machine so Fisher could produce a finished final product. Many years later now and they haven't even sold the first 100 units last time I checked, (even with huge discounts) and the finished product we were expecting......nothing but crickets from Fisher. Such a shame as the machine is well balanced and has some great designs and promise, just no follow through.

This is a good one and I thought about it but hadn't followed the Impulse close enough to know the details. I had an F22 that I used for a week and sent back because it shorted in the rain. The replacement lasted about 3 months before the pinpoint button came unglued and moved to the point it was unusable. - My F75 ltd was a beast though and never had any issues with it, just not a fan of those laminate buttons they had on the F22/44 series. I wish Fisher would get back in the game I really like the tones on the F75 if they released a waterproof, Multi-freq version I'd be all-in to give it a go.