Vexilar Sets the Bar Higher with the Launch of the FLX-28 Sonar Systems

[fisherman-andy]

Your right no updates so you have to buy a new unit to keep up, the LX-7 has all the same fetures but even my 3 year old unit is the same as a new one sold today and not cost me a cent....

[hnd]

that was a pretty hilarious comparison.

[Werewolf]

Thanks Capt. Spike for the replys and info , I know we will enjoy our 28's this winter no matter how many times the Big Redd club has to do up dates....

[DTro]

Well I had a choice to make this year after selling my 22. I could go back to the 55 which I really liked (about an even trade or a bit less in money), go totally digital with a Marcum for a nominal upgrade fee, or stick with the Vex and upgrade to the 28 also for a bit more money. I thought pretty hard about this one, and just about went back to the 55, but I knew it might be the last flasher I buy for quite a while and the thought of the 55 maybe taking a dump on me in a few years really worried me. Nothing warranted those fears, just mostly a gut feeling and third hand stories, but nonetheless worried me. Why not the LX6 or 7? Not really sure why, other than thinking about the possibility of it being awkward and klunky for hole hopping. I'm sure I would have been very happy with one though.

With that, I pulled the trigger on a 28. After opening it up and playing around with it, I am VERY impressed with how bright and crisp the colors are. It really pops and the videos I've seen do not do the display justice at all. Vibrant is the word I would use. Next is that it is whisper quiet compared to the 22 I had and also quieter than any other mechanical flasher I've owned (understood its new out of the box and only a first impression). I can't comment yet on any other "on the water" features, but looking forward to getting it on the ice.

The one bummer I came across is the battery voltage display. It will only briefly appear when you power cycle the unit. So in other words if I'm curious of the current battery status, I have to reach down and turn the unit off then on again. Not a huge deal, but I would have liked to have seen a simple battery check mode. Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I couldn't come up with any other way other than power cycling? It does however have a warning prompt/alert for low voltage, so being anal about the status is probably a non factor.

I'm also happy to know that if for any reason I need to fish over 60ft I will now have that ability, which I didn't previously have with the 22. I was once stuck dead in the water while out on Superior in over 200FOW with my LX5, and I don't want that to happen ever again.

Now lets make some ice

[brian6715]

Congrats DTro I am sure you will like it, looking forward to hearing an honest real life report from you.

[brian6715]

Thanks Capt. Spike for the replys and info , I know we will enjoy our 28's this winter no matter how many times the Big Redd club has to do up dates....

Is the fact that you could update your flasher seriously a negative thing? I suppose you typed that from a windows 95 Compaq Presario? How could it possibly be a bad thing?!

My first update I did in the front seat of my truck at a lake access, I can't imagine the whole entire process took more than 3 minutes. Just think, you will lose that much time waiting for your autodepth to work after hole hoping 60 times

Even if having the CAPABILITY to update was a bad thing, then you just don't update and you still have the most advanced ice flasher in the world!

If you are trying to knock an LX-7 you'll have to pick a different angle, because the update argument is a joke. As the great Will Ferrel once said, "You lose that battle, you lose that battle 9 times out of 10"

[MNice]

Every time I read through some of these "brand X" is the only way to go discussions, I am somewhat saddened on the lack of maturity on these forums.

Why does everyone have to rip brand x, or y, can we not just have a discussion without "mines better than yours"??

We all know that all of the modern electronics are very good, some just have different features, colors, etc.

I really think we just need some ice

[gwiff100]

I think i just heard a rumor that Lowrance was making a play to buy out vexilar and versa electronics, along with hummingbird essentially owning all of flasher and open water sonar market...

YES now we can all argue about portables rather than which brand of sonar is better...

lol (please oh please let someone over react to this post)

[DaSwede]

Every time I read through some of these "brand X" is the only way to go discussions, I am somewhat saddened on the lack of maturity on these forums.

Why does everyone have to rip brand x, or y, can we not just have a discussion without "mines better than yours"??

We all know that all of the modern electronics are very good, some just have different features, colors, etc.

I really think we just need some ice

Actually, for someone who is looking at upgrading flashers, I like hearing why one brand "may be" better than another. It helps me to hear what one brand offers that another might not.

[Werewolf]

What sets them apart is how they work without any problems or needing up grades right out of the box , I just need it to mark fish when one is under the ice and I will take care of the rest.. I have spent over $200K in the last 10 years or so on sporting goods, Boats, Atv's, electronics , Gps , trucks and truck campers , 4x4 Motorhomes chasing fish on beach's from Key west to P.E.I in Canada and I learned a few lessons over those years, 1. Light is right 2. Keep it simple you never use all the bells and whistles, 3. Keep moving.. to stay on fish..

If the vex 28 is a bomb I will let everybody know for sure and move on to another brand. No worries!!

[Agronomist_at_IA]

1. Light is right 2. Keep it simple you never use all the bells and whistles, 3. Keep moving.. to stay on fish..

If the vex 28 is a bomb I will let everybody know for sure and move on to another brand. No worries!!

X2

[DTro]

Had the unit out on open water last night to try a few things out.  What I was really interested in was seeing how well the auto mode worked and how well it kept a lock on the bottom compared to past experiences I had with the 55. I figure it was kind of like hole hoping, just in a boat.   I tried in a couple of different spots and it worked exactly as advertised. Drop it in the water and a second later it gave you a reading (not instant but close).   However, the one spot at the end of the night was absolutely littered with big 4-9”shad (enough that it was nearly impossible to fish without snagging one every time you put a jig in the water).   I figured it would be a good opportunity to try out the flasher to see how confused it got.   I totally expected it to see the shad and get confuzled where the bottom was, but to my surprise it seen right through them and gave me an accurate  depth reading.   It was marking the shad though and filled up the screen entirely, so I figured I’d try and see if I could dial them out.  Even at the lowest gain, I was still getting a lot of feedback from the baitfish, so I hit the Low Power mode and I was able to eliminate all but the biggest of the shad and see only my jig and the bottom.  Pretty cool actually.

 

On a side note, I did notice that the digital depth display was not working in LP mode. Not sure if that is by design or not, but it was blank where the depth usually is displayed

[JP Z]

That sounds awesome, although I can't get myself to pull the trigger on a new vex when I have a half dozen mixed flashers around. Sounds like a lot of fun on the river though.

PS Dtro, your PM box is full.

[RIPN LIPS]

Its about time vex has caught up to everyone else but keep in mind you can fish anything from the fl-8, h-55, lx-7 ect but if you don't know how to read it, all the bells and whistles mean nothing.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Got out and tried my FLX 28. Not a bad unit.

I liked everything about it except I noticed that the marks seemed to "flicker" when being displayed. Is this something normal in the digital system vs the brush system like in the FL20? Is the slight flicker from the digital data being refreshed?

It was nice, yet I somewhat missed the humming from the vex!

[fisherman-andy]

Got out and tried my FLX 28. Not a bad unit.

I liked everything about it except I noticed that the marks seemed to "flicker" when being displayed. Is this something normal in the digital system vs the brush system like in the FL20? Is the slight flicker from the digital data being refreshed?

It was nice, yet I somewhat missed the humming from the vex!

The FLX28 is not digital. It uses a brushless transfer or sort that's all that's been said; but still uses brushes? Maybe a Vex pro or rep can elaborate more how this brushless system works?

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Quote:

The FLX28 is not digital. It uses a brushless transfer or sort that's all that's been said; but still uses brushes? Maybe a Vex pro or rep can elaborate more how this brushless system works?

Well regardless of what they are doing, my fl-20 doesn't flicker the display like the 28. I like the unit, but really didn't feel that there was anything game changing that was a big deal for me. I guess I should reserve my comments on game changing until I get to try out the new weed mode. Other then the flicker thing I thought the unit worked well.

[CaptainMusky]

I'm still trying to figure out how this unit is "raising the bar"?

It was kind of funny on Friday I was in Mills in st cloud and Tony Roach was in there talking with guys giving tips on tackle rods techniques, etc. All the while wearing his "ice force" jersey that had Marcum in bold letters. This guy walks up to him obviously sensing he was a "pro" and asked what he could tell him about the new "vexilars"?

I nearly peed my pants. Its clear that vexilar has made it where they are by name. They guy didn't even realize there were other brands. That is excellent brand recognition and vexilar is sure excelling there.

[DTro]

Well, I was finally able to get the unit out on the ice on Sunday.   It works exactly as advertised.  Turn the dial to Auto, drop in the hole and you are ready to go.  From there you can fine tune your color scheme, zoom options, etc.   Only took about 5 minutes and I had my first fish! 

 

 

 

 

 

For anyone who has used a late model Vex, you probably won’t be blown over by the ugrades.   I mean lets face it the technology is basically the same as the FL8.  What you will notice though is that the colors are crisper, and the detail is finer.  I think the brushless motor technology has made the Vex appear more like the competitors Fine Line mode.  I noticed less blobbing in the display.  It might have been that I was using all the colors too so that might have made the difference.

 

I haven’t used it enough to form any strong opinions yet, but the first ride was impressive.  The auto depth mode works perfect and I really like that once it locked on, it held tight.  The ICE55 I had would always get confuzzled when a school of fish was under me and it was distracting.  This did not happen once with the 28.   

 

As mentioned before, I do wish that there were numbers around the dial that updated as you switch between depths.  Only the first time out and I found myself still having to do mathematics to figure out what depth the suspended fish were at so I could tell the others to put their bait there.  Not a big deal, but keep in mind that the ticks change so you also have to decipher what mode you are in and what scale you are in before you start subtracting from the bottom or adding from the top.

 

Another thing I wish it had was a battery check mode.  From what I can find, the only way to check it is to do a power cycle.  Again not ab big deal, but something I feel it could use.

 

Also, I’m not sure if I’m in love with the soft case.  I do really like the handle and the access ports to charge, but with the transducer nest in the back its kind of cumbersome using the case.  I might just decide to go naked it will be easier and honestly, how much does the case really protect it when kept in a bucket for transport. I know some people used the fact that previous models didn’t come with a case as an argument, but I’d rather pay less at the front end then have something included that I might not use.

 

I can tell you this though. I do like it quite a bit better than the 22 and am very happy I made the upgrade.  I look forward to using it more in the coming weeks

[fisherman-andy]

I haven’t used it enough to form any strong opinions yet, but the first ride was impressive.  The auto depth mode works perfect and I really like that once it locked on, it held tight.  The ICE55 I had would always get confuzzled when a school of fish was under me and it was distracting.  This did not happen once with the 28.   

 

If the auto digital depth mode hasnt yet it will. I read on another forum of a FLX28 user having issue with not locking bottom with schools of fish passing through; as well as the display marks jumping. Ive had schools of fish under my Ice55 on auto depth and have minimal issues with it not being able to lock on. Either way its expected as I have seen this on both the bird and Marcums. I cant see how Vex would be any different. I think some nitpicking users will take such issue as a problem though.

[DTro]

I can only report my own experience.

[ice_medic]

I have never been they guy to jump on something brand new to the market. I usually wait a year or two before i buy. This year i did buy a new flx-28 and i must say that i could have never been happier. I was able to get it out on the ice yesterday for the first time and it worked amazing. I had no problems at all with the bottom lock on it even when a school of fish would swim by. I debated a lot on either this flasher or an lx-7. Remember this is my opinion and mine alone. I was fishing with a buddy who had his lx-7 there. Mine picked up on more fish than what he saw and we did switch holes with the flashers for comparison. It performed flawlessly. I am much happier with the new flasher and have no doubt in my mind that i made the right choice.

[Lawrence Luoma]

I have never been they guy to jump on something brand new to the market. I usually wait a year or two before i buy. This year i did buy a new flx-28 and i must say that i could have never been happier. I was able to get it out on the ice yesterday for the first time and it worked amazing. I had no problems at all with the bottom lock on it even when a school of fish would swim by. I debated a lot on either this flasher or an lx-7. Remember this is my opinion and mine alone. I was fishing with a buddy who had his lx-7 there. Mine picked up on more fish than what he saw and we did switch holes with the flashers for comparison. It performed flawlessly. I am much happier with the new flasher and have no doubt in my mind that i made the right choice.

I would be willing to bet that the reason you where picking up more fish wasn't necessarily because of the FLX-28 but because of the technology of the Pro-View Ice Ducer!! The secondary cone that it gives is just unbelievable awesome.

[gwiff100]

let me start by saying i do have a lx7 but have used many MANY vex in the past.... but could your buddies lx7 maybe use a little more tweaking? i mean a person could put a fl8 next to a 7 and say it saw more fish as well...i find it very hard that sonar A would pick up more fish than sonar B. unless fishing weeds or algae blooms or anything like that... even so there are settings on both units that can make adjustments...

Based on what i have been reading and what i have found out on my own both units are amazing... just think what the world of ice fishing was like 20 years ago... heck even 10 years...

my opinion vexilar did set the bar high on their own brand and what is to be expected, love the crisper colors and bottom lock. Marcums seem to still have the edge on the digital side however. So, if we are comparing the LX5 and the FLX28 (two mechanical flashers) then vex is the hands down winner...

This is most def. a Ford vs. Chevy, Polaris vs. Arctic cat debate.... there never will be a winner and loser.

[DTro]

So, if we are comparing the LX5 and the FLX28 (two mechanical flashers) then vex is the hands down winner...

apples to apples, that is really what we should be comparing.