A Fisher CZ or Tesoro Vaquero are simple. Set sensitivity and ground balance, the CZ also has a toggle switch for salt water. They don't need programs and such to perform close to the top of the line detectors. Do whatever brings enjoyment to you in your hobbies.
I don’t think its really as much of a performance issue as a feature issue that people are after. I don’t think everyone is spending all that money believing that the new detectors are going to go that much deeper to find stuff.
Discrimination and unmasking that can be done better with the newer technology vs analog detectors. Having a VDI screen with numbers to cherry pick more as well as things like waterproof, rechargeable batteries, emi filters we almost need because 20 years ago there wasn’t all the wifi, cellular and other junk in the air.
Don’t get me wrong the sovereign and vaquero were my two favorite but couldn’t hardly use them to the beach and went through batteries like crazy. Those 9v batteries have gotten expensive.
You don’t need or have to use all the features of the newer detectors but nice to have the ones you do