AKA Berkut 5 Review
This was an unexpected review unlike other metal detectors I’ve heard about for a long time.
Gary gave me a text saying "I will be out of action for a while do you fancy trying a new machine from AKA".
Knowing that AKA have been making metal detectors for many years now and seeing for my own eyes the amazing depths what the SOREX PRO achieved during our tests. I was keen to get my hands on a new model and start testing right away.


Picture supplied by Gary's detecting ©

Build and Design

Without even looking at the instructions I could see that assembly would be simple soon as I opened the box. It took no longer than 3 minutes to assemble so that also makes it easy to store in a small bag if need be while travelling. What helps assembly is the way the control box slides on and off a sturdy guide rail attached to the shaft.
 There aren’t any screws to mess with or any chance of it falling off either because it sits firm and feels solid.
Once fully assembled you’ll find it a very light weight and a comfortable detector to hold and swing for many hours. With the standard 10 inch coil attached it felt very well balanced.
The faceplate and display are simple and well thought out. You can clearly see Aka's intuitive HODO system that displays lines and curves depending on targets depth and metallic qualities.

Buttons on the faceplate are well spaced out so people with gloves on will not be pressing two buttons at once. With the control box having a flat gap free touch pad surface there will be no chance of mud collecting behind buttons as there are none. This design makes it easy to clean by wiping with a damp cloth if need be.

The on and off rocker switch and speaker are placed on the back of the control box facing down towards the ground,  in case of light rain or drizzle there are no gaps exposed on the front of the faceplate for rain water to enter. I personally carry clear sandwich bags to wrap around the control box and seal so I can carry on in light rain without concern of any damage happening due to rain. I’m sure rain covers will be made available at some point if not already.

All in all I would say the metal detector is made of decent long lasting materials that should give you worry free detecting for many years providing you care of your Berkut in the right manor.


Picture supplied by Gary's detecting ©

Initial Testing

As some of you know I do like to test metal detectors in as many environments I can, whether its indoor air tests or with a tub full of soil and also in my test bed that is 15 inches deep. Instantly with a few minor adjustments I was amazed at what the Berkut 5 was achieving in these tests with consistent repeatable audio.

Some of the tests that the Berkut 5 passed I’ve not been able to get the same results with other high end mainstream machines. In my garden test bed the Berkut 5 never let me down either, producing constant quality signals with great audio results and exceeded my expectations for a detector in this price range.

Simple little tests such as a broken silver ring that has an open crack that many detectors wouldn’t be able to locate on the surface, however the Berkut managed to detect the ring at 4-5 inches under the tub of soil. Some of these video results have been posted on Garys detecting Forum for people to view.


Picture supplied by Gary's detecting ©

Field Tests and Results

Now this is where it counts for many detectorist and I’m happy to say it performed very well and with great results here also. You may be thinking at this point I have shares in the AKA company or received a free machine for praising the Berkut highly or fudging tests…. NOPE!  As always I’m just giving you my honest opinion and telling you what my thoughts are with this great little detector.

The first time I got out in the field was with my brother who is a non detectorist, who knows more about metal detecting than he wants to as I’ve dragged him and his dog around for two years now while I detect occasionally. I said to him I “have a good feeling about this one” to his sarcastic reply of “that’s nice get on with it” so off we went. I had the machine in default program 4 with a few minor adjustments and within a few minutes I got my first signal, a nice clear sharp signal what turned out to be a small button around 5-6 inches down that impressed me due to the audio quality, knowing it produced a clean signal on a small item at that depth, I couldn’t wait to find something bigger to see its capabilities.

Our next signal was a head scratcher, it was weak but gave a two way signal and sounded faint it could either be a deep or a very small target, I dug and dug and occasionally stood up and waved the coil over the hole and found it produced a stronger signal but I couldn’t get any indication from my probe in and around the hole. I checked the plug and not a beep, I eventually got down to a depth around 14 inches and still nothing, said to brother “I’m going to give up as I think its picking up the hole as many detectors do”, he said “it’s a shame” but understood so I filled the hole and moved on not knowing if it was a target or the detector sounding off over the hole.

 Anyway…. I carried on detecting finding a few nice targets and coins over a few hours, later I came across another weak signal again, I started to dig deep and same again the probe wasn’t picking up any items in the hole just like last time, eventually got down to around 13 inches and my probe started to sound off, smiled at my brother and said “we got this one”. Dug another 3 inches and bingo and my trowel caught the edge of a buckle and released it.
 Happy with that I said and now I know it’s got true depth. Checked the hole and nothing not a peep from the machine over that empty hole with my brother saying “makes you think what we missed in that other hole earlier then”
 
In my first session I found 4 coins some worn and a nice Viccy four pence along with nice little relics on well hunted ground so more than happy with its first outing. Days after I went on to more locations with persistent good results, it also pulled my first tiny  hammered coin of 2014 which was a Charles 1st half Groat around 4-5 inches with crisp clean audio.

 More days out while testing I was constantly getting clean audio on items up to 10 inches but never came across any deeper items again, maybe due to they just wasn’t under that coil.


Picture supplied by Gary's detecting ©

Final Thoughts and Conclusion
 
I’m very happy with this detector and its performance the AKA has impressed me yet again and that I’m pleased to say I’m going to be ordering one at the first chance as soon as they get released in the UK.
I found  the 10 inch 7kHz coil to be deep seeking and a magnet to the coin sized items. Being 7kHz I knew it was going to more or less avoid metal fragments that you tend to find with the likes of a machines running 18kHz or higher.
 I found there were many neat options in the menu system and that it was very easy to navigate, the search options provided were endless. The quick option menu took you straight to the important settings like recovery speed and gain simply by pressing the down key on the control pad, you can alter main detection options quickly this way without scrolling through menus this method is very easy to use if you are new to AKA's. It has a backlight to the display that can be toggled on and off if need be for those late evenings detecting, it even goes into sleep mode when no signal is detected, how clever is that !.
The Berkut 5 has options available that you haven’t got on other machines, I have never seen a machine with such complexity on the UK market.
 AKA have given you plenty of options for you to set this detector up the way it suits you and your style of detecting. It has big and small filters for allowing you to ignore objects of a certain size, be it big or small depending on what you’re hunting for.
Ground filters to help with unwanted ground feedback from mineralisation. Auto ground balance tracking and many more options and features that I have not covered in this review and will leave that for another day.


Picture supplied by Gary's detecting ©

Locating targets was a breeze using the pinpoint button (arrow up key) every target deep or shallow was right under the centre of the coil. I think if I’m honest and say the only gripe I have is a lack of a UK dealer, I think people would much rather buy from their own country.

AKA have various coils available for Berkut 5 also a multi frequency coil that operates in 3, 7 and 14 kHz so there's options to cover most search scenario's from small items shallow to huge items deep. So to sum the Berkut 5 up I can say it’s a very competent detector and packed with options that will be a winner in many hands.
 AKA have done an amazing job on the machine and looking forward to taking ownership of a Berkut 5 as soon as they are released in the UK.


Picture supplied by Gary's detecting ©

I class the Berkut as....

1 : .... A machine for beginners ( ground balance it, then away you go in the 4 pre set programs)

   2 : ...A machine for the advanced detectorist, lots of setting available to help fine tune and the power to get deep.

3 : Simple to understand after a very short time

4 : versatile machine that will suit all normal hunting environment around the world.

5: Light weight.... Swing all day machine

6 : Very versatile with coil options including ( an optional multi kHz coil for covering large and small items )

The Berkut 5 really is a good all round solid performing detector in my opinion. BRILLIANT !!!!

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