Review — Performance & Use

Positioned as an entry-to-mid detector, the Quest X10 IDmaxX aims to deliver straightforward performance on typical UK ground without the learning curve of advanced menus. On pasture and lightly worked plough, it handles everyday coin and small artefact hunting competently once sensitivity and reactivity are balanced against local chatter. The 11x10 inch TurboD coil gives decent sweep coverage and helps with field-walking efficiency, and the coil’s DD footprint copes reasonably well with mineralised soils and the iron flecks you encounter on older farmland. Target audio is clear and uncomplicated, with an immediately readable numeric Target ID that helps you decide whether to pop a plug or keep walking. As with many VLF detectors in this price band, deep targets at the fringe of detection can produce jumpier IDs, especially on scarred or misshapen conductors—thin hammered silvers, clipped coins, and small bronzes that UK sites are famous for—so you’re still relying on tone behaviour and repeatability rather than rigid numbers. In comparative UK testing resources, the X10 IDmaxX is frequently set against Quest’s own X10 Pro and the Q35. The IDmaxX tends to be praised for its simple setup and value, while the Q35 is favoured for broader feature depth; both patterns appear in retailer notes, community threads, and video tests. On pasture with moderate modern trash, the machine’s recovery speed and coil control let it separate reasonably in iron, provided you keep a sensible sweep speed and avoid overswinging the nose of the coil. Iron volume control is useful for a long day on plough-strewn stubble where constant ferrous grunts can wear you down; dialing it back reduces fatigue without blinding you to changes in site texture. The numeric ID is useful for quickly learning site baselines—where foil, lead, and small buckles tend to sit on your particular permission—though, as usual, conductive overlap remains real on distorted or tiny targets. In UK-specific low-conductive test sets, the detector shows it can find the small and awkward conductors if you stay methodical and push your sensitivity to the site’s limit without inviting EMI. The extended blade-shaped coil helps in ploughed furrows by letting you scan ridges and troughs without constantly re-levelling the coil face. On older pasture where ground is compacted, a slower sweep and willingness to interrogate faint, two-way wisps pay dividends; shallow ring pulls will sound obvious, while subtle medieval bits require patience and small wiggles to coax a repeatable tone. On beaches, inland dry sand behaves like any other low-mineral ground, but wet salt remains challenging for most single-frequency VLFs; unless you see repeated UK reports to the contrary or manufacturer emphasis on salt performance, treat wet sand claims with caution. Power is via an internal rechargeable battery, which keeps weight down and eliminates loose battery doors in the rain. The stem and cam locks are straightforward and stable, and the control box is weather-resistant; the coil is submersible, so you can work in puddled furrows and shallow stream edges. The learning curve is short. Beginners will appreciate the clear target ID and simple discrimination, while experienced diggers can run it fairly open on old sites to listen for nuance. Overall, the X10 IDmaxX is not trying to dethrone flagship multi-frequency machines; it aims to be an honest workhorse for UK farmland and club digs, trading encyclopaedic feature sets for a clean interface, sensible ergonomics, and a price that leaves room for fuel and permissions. (Sourced from outside the UK) Manufacturer material emphasises depth gains and general performance improvements; UK testers and retailers provide the context that matters here—how it behaves on pasture and plough, where it delivers steady, usable hits provided you keep expectations realistic for the class.