Is this the end for the C.Scope EVO 6000?

A few weeks back, C.Scope released the long-awaited EVO 6000 to the metal detecting public. Many people had already signed up for pre-order so the machines were quickly snapped up.

However, all was not well in the C.Scope universe. Right from the start, we were hearing murmurings of discontent. The machine was not stable, it needed constant resetting and even when it did work, the detection depth was pretty abysmal for a machine in this price range.

It quickly became clear that these were not isolated incidents. More and more EVO 6000 owners were complaining about issues with the machine. Retailers started offering people their money back and eventually, the company issued a statement. They were aware of the issues. It was a software problem and they would put out a fix for it the following week.

That week came and went with no fix in sight. Finally, C.Scope had to admit defeat and issued a recall of all machines sold. It clearly was not just a “simple fix” that was needed here!

The EVO 6000 had been in development for at least two years. When I first saw the machine at Detectival back in 2019 I had high hopes for it. Although I must admit, the spec looked a little dated at the time. Not fully waterproof. Two frequencies but you needed to change coils in order to use either of them. And a stem that didn’t quite look like it belonged to that machine? The kicker was the estimated price. Although C.Scope would not say what that was, they did indicate it would be at the very top of their range and that put it well over the £600 mark. As it turned out, the final retail price was even higher at £679 for the basic model without the wireless headphones.

That price put it squarely up against the Minelab Equinox 600. A machine that was superior in almost every respect.

So it was always going to be a hard sell to anyone who was not a C.Scope fan. And of course, we now know that even after at least two years of testing and development and keeping to that unrealistic retail price, it didn’t even work.

This is the latest statement from the company.

I can now give you an update on how we have progressed with our EVO6000 Detector . . .

May I first of all express my sincere gratitude to everyone that has contacted us directly to provide feedback about their initial experiences with our EVO6000 Detector. We might have been designing, developing and manufacturing metal detectors ourselves for over forty years but that does not mean that we do not greatly respect and value your expertise and experience on metal detecting matters. Far from it, we value your input the most, and your recent feedback has caused us to now reassess our opinion on what would be the best course of action for us to take with this first batch of EVO6000s.

There is obviously something not right with the current issue of the EVO6000 and we are no longer entirely comfortable with our original expectation that we could rectify the issue by a simple adjustment to the factory software settings of the unit. We do not wish to take any chances at all with this and so our intention now is to undertake a thorough top to bottom reappraisal of the detecting performance of the EVO6000. It is quite clearly not operating to the high standards that are expected of all C.Scope Metal Detectors and that is simply not something we can accept.

We therefore wish to have a recall of all EVO6000s that have so far been supplied. If you have already taken delivery of an EVO6000 then we ask that you arrange for it to be returned to your retailer who will issue you with a full refund. It does not matter at all if it has been heavily used or is still in its box, unopened.

It is just left for me to offer a sincere apology to all keen detectorists who, I know, have been waiting so patiently and eagerly to get the newest C.Scope Metal Detector into their hands. Clearly this was not a part of the overall plan we had envisaged for the EVO6000 but we must now deal with this situation with integrity and with respect to your requirements.

Please do feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions or concerns. I am always very happy to chat with you.

Kind Regards,

Paul Wells

Sales Director

Contact details:

Paul Wells

e paulwells@cscope.co.uk

t + 44 07939 231908

Martin Bass

e martinbass@cscope.co.uk

t + 44 (0) 1233 629181

Perhaps it is time to call it a day on the EVO 6000? Learn from it and move on. The competition out there is even stiffer than it was two years ago. Machines costing half the price of the EVO 6000 are better specced and have superb performance.

There is also a new simultaneous multi-frequency machine on the horizon from Nokta Makro, and if there is one thing we know about that company it is that it will have a great spec, excellent build quality and be competitively priced.

The EVO 6000 was looking old back in 2019. It is positively archaic by 2021 standards!