Quest V80 and V60 Review - Updated - Treasure Hunting World

The Quest V80, along with the Quest V60, was released in January 2023. At the time, we wrote about their potential, noting that, based on the specifications, they could easily compete with other simultaneous multi-frequency machines on the market.

Initial impressions from owners and testers were disappointing, particularly in terms of performance. While the build quality was acceptable, users reported significant issues with EMI mitigation and target id stability. At times, the machines were said to be so unstable that they could not be used effectively.

Quest issued two firmware updates in an attempt to resolve these issues, but they reportedly did little to help. Many owners either returned the machines for a refund or sold them at a substantial loss. Unfortunately, I was unable to test the machines myself at the time, as Quest declined to send me one for review—naturally raising suspicions that all was not well with the Quest V60/V80.

It is only now, in late 2024, that I have managed to acquire both the V80 and V60 for testing and review. It’s important to note that I purchased these machines myself, with no involvement from Quest or their dealers/distributors.

Did the specifications and the promise of HYPERQ™ technology live up to expectations, or was the reality of using these machines somewhat less impressive?

What follows is a genuine, unbiased account of how these machines performed. It cannot be emphasized enough that my experience relates purely to usage on my ground, in my area, and in the conditions I encountered on the day. Your experience may vary significantly depending on where you are located and the particular conditions of the surrounding environment. First, though, let’s have a recap on the tech used in the V60 and V80.

Understanding HYPERQ™ Technology

Both the V80 and V60 offer the same frequencies to users in HYPERQ™ mode, with the V80 offering selectable frequencies from 5 kHz to 60 kHz, while the V60 covers 5 kHz to 40 kHz.

The HYPERQ™ platform can simultaneously deliver multiple frequencies, including signals up to 80kHz, enabling it to detect fainter targets at greater depths with higher precision, even in challenging conditions. This capability stems from its high-performance microcontroller, featuring a 480MHz Cortex-M7 STM32H750 series chip, combined with the low-latency, low-noise, 4-channel ADC5140 from Texas Instruments, which offers a 768kHz sampling rate.

With its advanced processing power, the V80 machine can generate and transmit frequencies of 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, and 60 kHz concurrently. This is made possible by the combination of the powerful MCU and ADC, which together enable the simultaneous processing of multiple targets and the rapid identification of the most valuable results.

Whilst it is great to see a manufacturer explain how their machines work in such detail it is somewhat confusing that Quest state that HyperQ™ can deliver frequencies up to 80 kHz. There is no mention of 80 kHz in the specifications below, which come directly from Quest. Indeed Quest clearly says “the V80 machine can generate and transmit frequencies of 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, and 60 kHz concurrently” so where did the 80 kHz come from? One can only assume that this is a theoretical limit and not one actually implemented on the V80.

V80 Spec:

Frequency (kHz) – 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, 60, HYPERQ
Gyroscope: Auto power saving, auto pump for ground balance, target stabilisation.
Programs – Park, Field, Beach, Gold, Cache (deep) + 20 User slots.
Tones – 2, 3, 5, 99
Gold Mode – Yes.
Iron Volume – 9 levels
Fe/NonFe Bias: Yes
Recovery Speed – 1 to 9
Noise reduction: manual, auto
Ground balance: Auto + manual pumping
Power – 1 to 5
Display: 2.7″ B/W LCD, 400 x 240 pixels
Battery: 5600 mAh
Wireless Headphones – WireFree Pro Bluetooth
Coil – 11×10″ Blizzard II
Telescopic stem – Carbon Fiber Round
Waterproof Loudspeaker, Detachable on early models but changed on later versions.
Haptic feedback vibration
Fully submersible to 5 meters.
Flashlight
Fully Submersible
Rechargeable
Firmware Upgradable: Yes
Weight 1.32kg (2lb 9 oz) with Blizzard 11 Coil
Stem collapses down to 58.42cm (23 inches)

V60 Spec:

Frequency (kHz) – 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, HYPERQ
Gyroscope: Auto power saving only.
Programs: 4 (Park, Field, Saltwater, Gold) + 9 custom.
Tones – 2, 3, 5
Gold Mode – Yes.
Iron Volume – 5 levels
Fe/NonFe Bias: Yes
Noise reduction: manual, auto
Ground balance: Auto + manual pumping
Recovery Speed – 1 to 5
Power – 1 to 3
Display: 2.7″ B/W LCD, 400 x 240 pixels
Wireless Headphones – WireFree Vibe Bluetooth
Coil – 11×10″ Blizzard
Telescopic stem – Aluminium Round
Waterproof Loudspeaker, Detachable on early models but changed on later versions.
Haptic feedback vibration
Fully submersible to 5 meters
Flashlight
Fully Submersible
Rechargeable battery 5600 mAh
Firmware Upgradable: Yes
Weight 1.41kg (3lb 11 oz) with Blizzard 11 Coil
Stem collapses down to 58.42cm (23 inches)

Functionality

The machines feature a large, sun-readable display with a high-contrast white-on-black layout. The screen becomes even more readable in bright sunlight. A clock is conveniently positioned at the top of the display, and key detector information is always visible on-screen. The clock does not keep time under the stock 3.3.0 firmware. How that got past the field testers is a mystery. It was fixed in later firmware versions.

The screen is good in terms of overall visibility in all light conditions. But fonts can be small, and if your eyesight is not great, some menu settings are difficult to read. Either the screen area needed to be larger or fonts in menus should have been bigger. There is a lot of wasted space around the screen that could have been put to good use. Is it really necessary to have all settings on the screen at the same time? They could have made it more readable by hiding some settings and only have them appear when pressing the settings button.

Below the target ID, a target probability/FeScale meter helps determine if the object under the coil is ferrous or non-ferrous. I found this feature to be quite accurate even on deeper targets. Perhaps don’t rely on it 100% but it is a useful guide to have and could save a lot of time in a trashy area. All the targets I dug that were identified as ferrous were indeed items such as iron nails and other ferrous scraps.

Noise Cancel:

The noise cancel function is easy to operate; however, it does not work automatically when you power on the machine. You need to raise the coil from the ground and press and hold the lower right black button to activate noise cancel. The machine will then analyze the surrounding area for EMI and choose a channel that provides the best chance of operating without interference. In practice, this works fairly well in most circumstance but there are instances where it does not work at all. It did however allow my pinpointer to work in close proximity without any chatter.

Tones:

These are selectable between 2, 3 and 5 on the V60 and 2, 3, 5 and 99 tones on the V80. Both machines allow for tone space, tone pitch and tone volume adjustment.

Discrimination:

Each mode has preset discrimination and there are 99 points that you can notch in or out. This needs to be done via the menu but it doesn’t take long and being able to notch out individual points rather than whole blocks makes it far more useful than on some machines.

The Ground Effect Ball:

Some machines have indicators for ground mineralization, but I don’t recall ever seeing one with this level of visual impact. The “Ground Effect Ball” is a circular meter split into three sections. The middle two sections display salt levels on the left and mineralization on the right. The outer section (correction index) surrounding the ball shows how much processing the machine is applying to mitigate these effects. It has automatic presets applied at certain levels. As an indicator of ground conditions, it appears to work, but how useful it is in practice remains uncertain. It’s a nice visual touch and interesting to observe how conditions change as you move over the ground, but does it help in practical terms?

Dynamic Signal Strength Meter:

This is another first. We have all seen signal strength meters or depth meters, as they are more commonly known, but this is more than a simple depth estimation. What we have here is a meter that shows the consistency of the signal over time. You can see in real time how the signal varies—does it remain constant or fluctuate? The idea is to provide a more nuanced view of what type of target may be under the coil. For example, a good, solid target will maintain the same level over time, whereas a poor target may vary because the machine is struggling to lock onto it. As with many of these visual aids, this is just a guide.

FeScale:

This scale, which sits below the number display, shows the ratio between ferrous and non-ferrous targets. On other machines I’ve tested with similar displays, I’ve found them to be less than dependable. However, with the Quest V60 and V80, this scale seems to be more accurate than others. That said, it’s still just a guide. Don’t rely on it 100%, as you could miss good targets that are either too small to be accurately recognized or are mixed with other targets. I did find it useful in heavy trash, though.

Pinpoint Mode:

The pinpoint function is easy to use and very accurate. Press the pinpoint button once to activate and press again to deactivate. When active, it shows a large crosshair in the center of the screen with numbers that increase as you get closer to the target. The tone is also not ear-splitting, as is often the case with some machines.

Build Quality

The telescopic shaft should have been carbon fibre on both models because the shaft is not available to purchase later as an option. V60 owners are stuck with the aluminum shaft, and this does add to the weight. In fact the difference between the V80 with carbon fibre shaft and the V60 with the aluminum shaft is a whopping 840 grams! That can make quite an impact on your swinging arm after a couple of hours detecting. The operation of the shafts is smooth, and with the control box being fully adjustable along the top part of the shaft without the need for tools, it makes for a very versatile design.

The control box is protected by a silicon surround. The Buttons on the control box can be a little finicky. Sometimes requiring more than one press before anything happens. Likewise, the buttons on the side of the control box that operate the flashlight, backlight, volume up/down, and power need to be pressed in just the right place. It is a small thing but can be annoying at times.

Additionally, the control box is fully waterproof but only rated for submersion up to 5 meters, making it more suitable for shoreline and river detecting rather than deep diving.

Headphones:

In terms of wireless audio, both machines come equipped with low-latency APTX Bluetooth allowing users to opt for non-Quest wireless headphones if preferred. Quest’s Wirefree Vibe Bluetooth headphones come with the V60, while the V80 includes the premium “PRO HE” version. Both are very comfortable to wear for long detecting sessions, and I had no problems with them at all. The “Vibe” headphones come in a sturdy carry case. The PRO HE version do not come with a case but this is likely because unlike the “Vibe” headphones they do not fold flat.

Setting up the headphone connection is much easier than on many machines that offer wireless audio. The Quest V80 and V60 feature a wireless menu that works similarly to a smartphone. It lists any previously connected headphones, allowing you to scroll through and connect the ones you are using. You don’t have to unpair one set of headphones to use another.

Overall, the build quality is very good.

Performance

I tested both the V60 and V80 on the beaches and inland. Although there is some difference in the specifications for these machines, the real-world performance was identical. The only difference of note was in the depth tests where the V80 excelled due to its deeper cache mode.

On the beach:

I spent two weeks testing both the V60 and V80 on the beaches of the West Sussex coast. It is always good to test on several different beaches as conditions can vary quite a lot, even between sections of the same beach. I also tested with different firmware versions in order to establish which was the most stable, especially on the wet sand.

Although HyperQ works in all modes, it was the beach mode that was of particular interest as it should work without much tweaking. And this turned out to be the case in general. Previous testers had shown the machines to be quite chattery on the wet sand, but this was not my experience until I was in proximity of the pier. For the most part, the V60 and V80 were silent on the wet sand except for when encountering a target. I think most of the issues are down to the coil and its poor shielding. See my article on the Quest V80 and V60 EMI Issues!

I have a lot of experience with Quest machines and it has always been the case that on the beaches where I search, auto-ground balance works but manual ground balance is better. So if you are experiencing any noise issues caused by ground conditions always try a manual ground balance. Drop it down to zero if need be. You may lose a small amount of depth but not much and the machine should run much smoother. It should be noted that this issue is not exclusive to Quest machines. Other brands also have ground noise issues too.

Both machines have a gyro built-in; however, only the V80 has the button-free “pump to ground balance” and target VDU stabilization options. It is important to turn off the VDU stabilization before you manually ground balance or it will keep reverting to auto mode. Both machines have a power-saving function whereby, when it detects that the unit is stationary, it can automatically switch to a low-power mode, extending the battery life and allowing for longer detecting sessions. I can’t see much use for that myself as the battery life is long anyway, but if you are away from a power source on a weekend group dig, it could potentially come in handy.

There is also a clock on both machines, but this does not hold time using the stock firmware. It does hold time using the later firmware. I am not entirely sure how useful a clock is on a metal detector, but if one is included, it should hold time no matter which version of the firmware is loaded.

The stock firmware 3.3.0 proved to be the most stable in all modes. I did not encounter any performance issues, either on the wet sand or the dry. Sensitivity could be run at 70-75 with the power level set at 4. The screen was clearly visible in all light conditions, including strong sunshine and at night.

Inland:

Both machines performed very well inland, and here there were no EMI issues. However, as mentioned earlier, I can only speak about where and when I searched and given my experience with EMI on the beach, near the pier I can see why some may have had issues.

Cache mode on the V80 was the deepest in soil, with a 9ct gold ring detected at 16″ using a single frequency of 10 kHz at 75 sensitivity. This is quite impressive by any measure, and more so when you consider it was showing an ID on the screen. The V60 does not have Cache mode, but in Field mode at 5 kHz with sensitivity bumped to 80, it still hit the ring at 14″ and gave the occasional blip at 16″. In general, you can expect depths of around 12″ – 14″ for larger coins such as a Victoria penny or George III Cartwheel penny, and around 10″ – 12″ for a bronze Roman, depending, of course, on the particular ground conditions where you are searching.

As impressive as those first results were, I needed to double-check them at different locations, and having done so, this confirmed my earlier results.

Coils

The V80 and V60 are compatible with two coil sizes: the Blizzard11 (11”x10”) and the Blizzard9 (9”x5”). The smaller Blizzard 9″ coil is not available in the UK at this time. I would have liked to test one as I have a feeling it would make for a more balanced machine on long detecting sessions. If/when one becomes available I will test it and update this review accordingly.

As mentioned in my article about EMI, I think the coils are an issue with these machines. This is something that needs to be addressed by the company but so far has been ignored.

Coils from the X10, Q30, and Q60 models are not interchangeable with those from the V-Series.

Pricing and Availability

The V60 and V80 are available from all Quest dealers and the pricing is as follows:

•V60: $599/€599/£679

•V80: $699/€699/£699

•V80 Bundle: $799/€799/£749 (includes the Blizzard 9″ coil)

Conclusion

Even though the V80 and V60 have been on the market for just under a year, there are very few reviews available, especially for the V60. Given the small price difference between the two machines and the additional features you get with the V80, this is probably not that surprising.

The few reviews that do exist for the V80 have not been favorable. As mentioned at the start of this review, there have been reports of EMI issues making the machine unusable in certain conditions. Additionally, the very small number of videos showing the V80 on the beach indicate that it is quite unstable. These initial reviews may have dampened enthusiasm for the machine and perhaps damaged sales, resulting in fewer reviews.

However, all of this should be taken in context. The V80 and V60 launched into a market crowded with low-cost, relatively high-performing machines from brands like Nokta and Minelab. The price point of the V80 made it seem somewhat expensive compared to the competition, especially when the first reviews appeared to indicate a lack of performance.

Given the above, my expectations coming into this review were not high. I need to emphasize again before I go any further that I paid for both machines. Quest is not involved in this review, and I am not affiliated with or sponsored by any dealer.

My experience with the V60 and V80 has, for the most part, been very different from those described by some other users. I have not had any EMI issues except for one location on the beach, and both machines have performed flawlessly everywhere else. The build quality is good, and although I have slight niggles about the size of the display, it is nonetheless clear and readable in all light conditions. The menu system is easy to navigate, although the buttons could be more precise.

In terms of power, I would rate the V80 on par with the Nokta Legend, Minelab Equinox and possibly the Deus II. Certainly in Cache mode the V80’s depth detection is quite remarkeable. A 9ct gold ring at 16″? I had to test it in several locations and conditions because I could hardly believe it myself.

The question is, do I think the V60 and V80 represent good value for money, and would I recommend you go out and buy one? Well, first off, I would say don’t bother with the V60. It is a great machine, but at its current price, it is not worth it. For an extra £20/$20/€20, the V80 gives you better headphones, a carbon fibre shaft, more modes including the all-important deep cache mode, more tone settings, full gyro functions, and the higher selectable single frequency of 60 kHz. That is a huge amount of extra bang for very little buck!

So, given all of that, you would think I would be happy to recommend the V80, right? Not quite!

There is still the unresolved EMI issue and Quest has just announced a new series of simultaneous multi-frequency machines that look as though they may soon replace the V60 and V80. This new series includes the SimultiQ S30, S40, S50, and S-PRO. I should say that I do not know for certain if this new range will definitely replace the V-Series, but it looks increasingly likely.

Personally, apart from the single EMI issue near the pier I am very happy with the V80, and my wife has taken to the V60, so that won’t be going anywhere anytime soon! I know others have not been able to use their V80/V60s as they would have wished, but so far at least, I have found the machines to be very usable in most conditions.

UPDATE: It is important to understand that although these machines are pretty good in most cases the issues around EMI cannot be ignored. Having encountered it myself I can easily see that there are some circumstances where the V80 and V60 would be completely unusable. Please see my article here for more details.