Yowow's advice seems pretty spot on, it's about how YOU enjoy it. I did look at efx detectors before I bought what I have. What I saw in the landscape of metal detector community is well, to put it frankly, lots of ignorance. Those are strong words, so I'd better get to explaining.... There are many, many people out there that fan boys or maybe even fan children. They will put down a detector based on nothing at all other than their own bias and speculation that usually is based only on other people's bias and speculation. They will say things like...... "gold chains can't be detected, I know, I put it in front of my etrac and my other detectors and nothing, no sound" I'm sure we all know that gold chains CAN be detected by many detectors, albeit of widely varying results. or something like " that detector is garbage, it's made in Bulgaria, what do they know about detectors ?" They were talking about a blisstool, now known for being a good performer and very deep. or this.... "detectors made in Asia (or really made anywhere but the USA in the eyes of many) are all garbage" Nevermind that the well respected minelabs detectors (that detects gold and refutes the earlier statement of gold not being detectable by a metal detector) is made in Malaysia. I suspect many detectors "made in the USA" should really be termed.... assembled in the USA from parts and components made in Asia.
The first statement about gold not being able to be detected by a metal detector is something I heard myself in a conversation I was in. That person, I'm sad to say, is an older gentleman that is the president of a local prospecting club. He also said he regrets selling is whites goldmaster vsat. Yes, that is a gold detector and this is in the same conversation where he claims gold cannot be detected. The rest of the quotes I've read online in various message boards.
The efx being made in china and being relatively new and unknown will garner many incredibly ignorant statements based on nothing but speculation, ego, fanboy enthusiasm, or just plain stupidity. I did not buy an efx because I went with used. There have since been more reviews and information posted about the efx online. Despite earlier drivel by many, now it seems more unbiased opinions can be found. Seems like many Chinese products they try to stuff many features in to give the most bang for your buck. From what I've read the efx features work but will not be the top performers. However, many features that others rave about in top detectors they've emulated in the efx models. Gps, light weight, DD coil, touch screen, color screen, backlit screen for night viewing, these features are found in some detectors that are 2k+ in price and some features not found in 2k+ detectors like I think led lights to see either the top of the coil or the ground at night. These features found on a sub $500 detector is nice. Just don't expect top performance, actually don't even expect midpack performance. The Chinese focus is to get you to buy, not to perform well in it's given task. Now this is my personal opinion based on reading what's out on the net about the efx. (wow didn't I just complain about others doing this and I'm doing it too ? lol) The efx should serve you well as a beginner and further if your expectations are reasonable. Going to the park, your back yard, having fun on the dry beach sand detecting these places the efx will serve you well. Just don't expect it to work well in difficult situations. Highly minerilized ground, wet salt sand, black sand, trashy ground, masked targets, deep targets, cherry picking targets, etc these are areas where I expect the more expensive detectors will perform much better. Use your efx and enjoy it if it does what you want it to do and your having fun doing it. I admit, I'm a bit envious of some of the features of the top-end efx like gps, backlight, etc. Unfortunately I've spent more than $500 on my used detectors (each one, not total) and I don't have the features in the three that you have in your single efx. Never mind that I bet the efx easier to learn than most other detectors. Enjoy your efx knowing that there is a guy out there (me) sitting on $1500+ worth of used detectors that is envious of some of the features in your NEW efx !
