Only one feature on the V80 I like is how much it folds down. Everything else on that and the other SMF machines is they all have the canned modes ie park, beach, field etc. Variations on a theme and design and nothing really innovative other than maybe a couple bells and whistles like a clock, flashlight an now a gyro to help people that swing like idiots.

Thought about the machine and things I don't like about it and many others is:


Straight shaft design as it puts much of the weight on lower wrist.
Canned modes. I prefer base tone modes and instant changing between them like the Anfibio and Kruzers.

The need to dig through a menu to access manual ground balancing. Garrett AT series, Racer series and Anfibio/Kruzers have immediate access to gb where you can tweak it. This is also important for me to be able to use ANY mode or frequency in the salt and not be restricted to a beach mode.

All the new machines have built in batteries and this can make them disposable rather than repairable. There are a lot of drawbacks with having an internal lithium battery system. Those batteries are inherently noisy for starters. They throw a lot of heat that can degrade components nearby. They are difficult to replace especially in units that are submersible. What happens 3-4 years down the road when the unit is discontinued like the Kruzers and that particular battery is also discontinued? I am running into exactly that issue now with my Kruzer and support is lacking. Fortunately I have an external battery pod but that comes with a cost of extra weight and wires.

I do give Quest credit though that they ship the v80 with both with the large coil suitable for beach and low trash fields as well as a nice narrow elliptical. Something Nokta testers seemed to shrug off and left it as an add on later.

There seems to be just a lot of coat tailing with all the new machines and everyone making their own version of the Nox series. I give Garrett credit to come out with a more unique and refined Apex when it comes to SMF's

Guess I stick with what I got until the next generation of clones come out