Garrett ACE Apex Metal Detector with Raider Coil, Apex Cap, Keepers Box, Cover-Up and Book

The Garrett ACE Apex package holds Garrett's Multi-Flex multi-frequency detector with the 8.5 x 11 inch DD Raider coil, plus a Garrett ACE Apex Cap, a Garrett Keepers Finds Box, a Garrett Apex Environmental Cover-Up and Charles Garrett's autobiography. We recommend the ACE Apex to beginners and intermediate detectorists searching parks, fields, freshwater locations and saltwater beaches. It runs four single frequencies, 5, 10, 15 and 20 kHz, plus Multi-Frequency and Multi-Salt, with built-in Z-Lynk wireless and a searchcoil and lower stem Garrett rates fully submersible.

What is in the box with this Garrett ACE Apex bundle

Garrett's standard contents for the ACE Apex with Raider Search Coil (Garrett part 1142360)

• Garrett ACE Apex control box on the S-shaped stem, with built-in Z-Lynk wireless transmitter and rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Armrest with armrest strap
• Upper and lower stem, connected, with push-pin locks and camlocks
• 8.5 x 11 inch DD Multi-Flex Raider searchcoil with coil cover installed
• Searchcoil mounting hardware: nut, bolt and mounting washers
• Micro-USB charging cable
• Quick-Start Guide

This Garrett ACE Apex bundle also includes

• Garrett ACE Apex Cap (Garrett part 1621900)
• Garrett Keepers Finds Box (Garrett part 1629400)
• Garrett Apex Environmental Cover-Up (Garrett part 1628700)
• An Inventor's Garage to Global Success Story, the autobiography of Charles L. Garrett

What the add-ons in this Garrett ACE Apex bundle do

Garrett ACE Apex Cap: a lightweight, mesh-back Garrett Apex cap, one size fits most with a Velcro strap.

Garrett Keepers Finds Box: protects your best finds from being scratched or damaged while out detecting. One compartment holds a six-slot sponge pad for coins, four more can be filled with cotton for buttons and delicate finds, and a durable latch and loop let you attach the box to a carabiner.

Garrett Apex Environmental Cover-Up: black polyester with a Velcro wrap-around fit and a clear window, so it protects the ACE Apex control box screen from scratches while you still read the control panel. It carries embroidered ACE logos.

An Inventor's Garage to Global Success Story: the autobiography of Charles L. Garrett, listed among Garrett's books as Garrett: The Autobiography of Charles L. Garrett.

Multi-Frequency, Multi-Salt and single frequencies

Imagine someone who normally searches Michigan parks taking a vacation to Florida: we would use a suitable Multi-Frequency setting at home and switch to Multi-Salt on the wet ocean sand. Multi-Salt, labeled MS on the menu, uses a blend of frequencies to help overcome the negative effects of saltwater beaches, where sand saturated with conductive salt water produces signals that interfere with buried metal. Garrett notes that lower frequencies generally do better on larger, more conductive targets such as large silver coins, and higher frequencies on smaller, less conductive targets such as hammered silver coins and gold nuggets. Garrett notes that increasing levels of salt minerals can make the detector unstable, and in saltwater areas with highly mineralized black sand it suggests reducing sensitivity for maximum stability.

Ground balance, Iron Audio and target ID

• Ground balance: automatic, with 175 points of ground balance resolution ranging from ferrous ground to saltwater, the same resolution Garrett gives the Garrett AT Max. Moving from mild park soil to more mineralized ground, ground balancing helps compensate for the soil's own signals, but severe ground can still reduce detection performance.
• Iron Audio: lets you hear discriminated iron that is normally silenced, which Garrett says helps identify complex iron objects such as bottle caps.
• Iron Volume: eight adjustments lower the volume of iron targets while non-ferrous targets stay at normal volume.
• Discrimination and search modes: twenty pixels of notch discrimination, including eight pixels of iron, and six search modes: Zero, Coins, US Coins (with coin icons), Jewelry, Relics and Custom, plus Pinpoint. Garrett's iron masking tip is to use just enough discrimination to barely reject the iron trash, because a good target lying next to a nail can still register through their combined conductivity. Garrett also notes that the US Coins pattern may miss medium-sized jewelry.
• Target ID and audio: large 0 to 99 Target ID numbers on a backlit LCD, five audible tones, a target depth indicator and a hybrid audio system that adds subtle proportional audio for faint targets to the binary audio of earlier ACE detectors. Garrett notes that Target ID can vary widely with a target's size and thickness, and mineralized soil can make it less accurate, especially on small or deep targets.

The 8.5 x 11 inch DD Raider searchcoil

Garrett describes the 8.5 x 11 inch DD Multi-Flex Raider as the perfect size coil for open field searches, with great coverage area, easy target separation and excellent detection depth on coin-sized and larger targets, and smooth operation even in highly mineralized soils and on saltwater beaches. Its wider footprint searches a broader strip with each sweep. The entire coil can be submerged, its coil cover protects it from scratches, it weighs 1.2 lbs out of the box, and it works only with Garrett Apex detectors. See our metal detector search coils.

Z-Lynk wireless audio on the Garrett ACE Apex

Every ACE Apex has a built-in Z-Lynk wireless transmitter, which Garrett says is up to 6 times faster than Bluetooth. Garrett says any Garrett Z-Lynk wireless product is compatible with the ACE Apex, including Garrett Z-Lynk wireless headphones and the PRO-Pointer AT Z-Lynk pinpointer. Bluetooth headphones do not work with it, because Z-Lynk is Garrett's own technology, and Garrett's WR-1 Z-Lynk receiver module lets wired headphones work wirelessly. Wired headphones plug into the 1/8 inch jack, and a 1/4 inch plug needs a 1/8 to 1/4 inch adapter; the volume control covers both the built-in speaker and headphones. See our metal detector headphones.

Water and beach use with the Garrett ACE Apex

Garrett says the ACE Apex searchcoil and lower stem are fully submersible, but the control box should never be submerged. The control box is rainproof: Garrett builds it to keep rain and blowing rain out of the housing, provided the rubber covers are firmly seated in the USB and headphone openings. On wet sand, at the water's edge and in shallow creeks and swimming areas, keep the control box dry and above the waterline. For someone who needs a fully submersible detector, we recommend the Garrett Vortex VX7 or Garrett Vortex VX9, because the ACE Apex control housing is not designed for underwater use; see also our waterproof metal detectors.

Battery, weight and build

A built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery gives up to approximately 15 hours of use, depending on settings. Garrett lists a recharge time of 4 hours from any USB port with the detector off, longer if it is on, and recommends charging for 4 to 5 hours before first use; the rapid charging system needs 500 mA for the fastest charge. The aluminum stem adjusts from 40 to 53 inches (1.016 to 1.35 m) with push-pin locks and camlocks. Garrett makes its metal detectors in America.

Getting started with the Garrett ACE Apex

We would start with a suitable factory search mode, such as Coins in Multi-Frequency, then learn the settings that matter most on the ACE Apex: Multi-Frequency versus Multi-Salt, ground balance, Iron Audio and discrimination. The most common mistake we see is assuming that because the searchcoil is waterproof, the entire detector can be submerged. Garrett recommends lower sensitivity when the detector behaves erratically because of trash, mineralization, electrical interference or other detectors, and a different frequency channel to reduce electrical interference from sources such as power lines; higher sensitivity is for very small or very deep targets.

For dry parks and yards only, a single-frequency Garrett ACE 300 costs less and may be all you need; the ACE Apex earns its place when your ground changes between beaches, mineralized soil and mixed sites. Our Garrett Apex review covers the platform's background in more depth.

Garrett ACE Apex specifications

Garrett covers the ACE Apex with a 3-year limited warranty covering defects in materials and workmanship.

For our full Garrett ACE Apex guide, settings advice and comparisons, see the Garrett ACE Apex collection.