Garrett Vortex Is It Really Just A Prototype?

Something very strange has been going on at Garrett recently. Just a few days later on June 18th, there was a big launch for the Garrett Vortex. We were told that this was a revolutionary machine that would change the metal-detecting world. And it all looked pretty good, but the Vortex was missing some quite important features that its competitors have at a much lower price point compared to its competitors.

There was a lot of comment on social media, most notably by Calabash Digger and iffy Signals, about how, in 2024, Garrett could launch a machine that was lacking basic features such as auto-noise cancel, iron filter, and tone adjustment.

Just a few days later, Garrett is now saying that the Vortex they launched to such big fanfare on June 18th was just a “prototype” and the finalized version was not yet ready for release. This doesn’t align with what we were told at the launch. We were shown the specifications, all of which were published. We were given the prices of each version of the machine and also the cost to upgrade. And we were told that the machines would go on sale in July. That sounds very much like a final, retail product. This contradicts the idea of a work in progress.

Garrett claims that the Vortex will beat the top machines on the market today. That is quite a bold claim given that this is just a prototype.

Time will tell. No one outside of Garrett and their social media influencers has been able to test the Vortex yet. We hope Garrett will make a statement soon on when the Vortex will be finalised and made ready for shipping.