Charles (Upstate NY) said:
Yes the two coils are different but you can't see this from the outside. These coils are constructed with an inner coil suspended on foam pads, enclosed in an outer plastic clamshell housing. Internally Minelab did change the geometry of the coil windings, specifically how they overlap, the overlap is more even front to rear on the XS II vs the XS, on the XS the winding overlap is fatter towards the rear and more narrow towards the front. Given a choice I'd chose the XS II coil which I think would give more consistent performance front to rear vs the XS which has kind of a sweet spot but which can make pinpointing a bit more difficult. Overall the difference is not that great however. That said, just buy an SE Pro coil the most awesome coil they make for an Explorer.
Something misleading, have opened allot xs and II coils , everything the same inside-except label on the coil xs 1000 II 1050. Just you have to remember that all this coils are hand made and some are better tuned and performs little bit better, but this difference very small. In my opinion this coils are best, just shaft connector not in center like on pro coils.