Vexilar FL-18 or FLX-20 or FLX-28

I realize I could search back, but I would like to pull more recent (pre-ice 2023) comments too … so, let’s say you are the sales rep (and you care) at Scheels, Mills, Joes, Reeds, BPS, or wherever you are…

I have an old Marcum (works fine – quite well actually) and a Vexilar FL-18. I want to add a new flasher to the mix … in part because if I have someone else along … I have enough units … and in-part because maybe it is time to upgrade.

Do not want a Hummingbird, Garmin, or Marcum … just Vexilar. Well unless I go live … but that is a different day and a much different dollar.

I fish in 5′ to 35′ of water. I will use the bottom isolation controls when fishing in say 20′ – 35′ feet of water. Crappies, walleye, sunnies, and perch are the targets. Northerns are mostly tip-up so no relevance except determining depth and minnow position.

What do I get (practical perspective) moving from the FL-18 to the FLX-20 ?

What do I get jumping to the FLX-28 ?

Thanks …

In addition to having all the great features of the FL-18, the FL-20 has two bottom zoom ranges: 6 or 12 feet.

The flx28 has better color palletes and weed mode is about the only difference between FLX-18

I’d stick with the 18. I got the 20 myself, and like the flat screen, but don’t use the 12’ bottom zoom ever, I usually am ice fishing in sub 30 feet conditions and don’t feel the need for it.

the flx28 has 5 different screen colors you can change from and 2 zoom modes like crappie said

Here’s my quick thoughts based on your expected use.

If you plan to use it in 5-15’, I highly recommend one with low power mode. I don’t recall which models have it but that’s my biggest recommendation.

Second, I am not a fan of the pro-view transducer. It’s advertised as a variable cone which is somewhat true in theory, but in practice it’s not all that practical. Get one with the beam you desire or go for the FLX-30 that does it all.

My FLX-28 works well but the pro-view transducer is its main downfall.

Color palletes in my opinion don’t add a ton of value unless you’re colorblind.

I’m with biggill on this one. I just bought a lightly used fl18 from a guy for 140 bucks.
I sold my flx28 because it wasn’t worth the price difference between the 18.

I have the 28 and Love it. I believe the 3 main differences between the 20 and the 28 are:

1. The 28 has more screen color options
2. The 28 has a Auto Depth setting. No need to change the setting when moving from one depth to another. I really like this feature
3. The 28 has a Digital Depth readout. Nice to be able to see subtle depth changes.
I also believe only the 28 has the battery voltage readout.

Bearcat89 wrote:

I’m with biggill on this one. I just bought a lightly used fl18 from a guy for 140 bucks.
I sold my flx28 because it wasn’t worth the price difference between the 18.

I will have to disagree with Both Bearcat and Biggill on this one. I own both and I think the difference between the 18 and the 28 are worth the extra money. I thought the 18 was a great unit, until I got the 28. I still have the 18 but its mainly a backup or a spare unit for others.

Just bought a flx-20 pro pack. Comes with the DD-100 which has the digital depth readout and battery life readout.

I’ve talked with some vexilar reps in the past. With the release of the 30, they preferred either the 20 or 30. The 28 has a one or two more functions over the 20, but not a huge jump. 30 is a giant jump.

With low power and 2 zoom functions, the 20 is a excellent unit for the cost they say. I don’t have one though lol.

crappie55369 wrote:

Just bought a flx-20 pro pack. Comes with the DD-100 which has the digital depth readout and battery life readout.

That DD-100 must be something they added since the last units I looked at. I don’t recall the 20 having that at the time. with that added on and depending on the price difference the 20 may be a better choice.

the flx28 has a digital read out for depth and battery voltage right on the flasher screen. the dd100 is a seperate little screen mounted on the shuttle

fishthumper wrote:

That DD-100 must be something they added since the last units I looked at. I don’t recall the 20 having that at the time. with that added on and depending on the price difference the 20 may be a better choice.

When Vexilar refreshed the 20 line, they added the DD-100 to the Pro and Ultra Packs. I do think the FLX-20 is the best bang for the buck flasher (features for the dollar) from Vexilar.

10klakes wrote:

I’ve talked with some vexilar reps in the past. With the release of the 30, they preferred either the 20 or 30. The 28 has a one or two more functions over the 20, but not a huge jump. 30 is a giant jump.

With low power and 2 zoom functions, the 20 is a excellent unit for the cost they say. I don’t have one though lol.

100% agree with this. If you’re leaning toward the 28 for any reason at all, get the 30 instead. Otherwise if you don’t want the features of the 28 or 30, go with the 20.

The cost of the 28 doesn’t make any sense when you get so much more in the 30 for an extra $100.

The 18 will work just fine.It has the low power mode and the bottom 6 ft zoom feature and it’s bullet proof.If i were going flat screen i would skip the 20 and get the 28 but thats just my choice.

FLX 12, 20, or 30 are all I’d look at. The flat screen and brushless is a must. The 18 and 28 don’t make sense for how I fish or the comparative price points between that and the others.

I have a 20 and 12 as a backup. Both are durable and reliable and have put a ton of fish on the ice

The FlX’s flat bright screen are a must if you are out of your shack a lot.

As a former owner of the 28 I wouldn’t buy it again. I’d fork out the extra for the 30 or like I did I went back to the 18. The 28 didn’t have many improvements over the 18, not enough for the price difference. The color schemes were OK. But rarely were they needed.

fishthumper wrote:

2. The 28 has a Auto Depth setting. No need to change the setting when moving from one depth to another. I really like this feature

While the auto depth can be convenient, I often turn it off. For a couple reasons. First, I sometimes don’t like the range it chooses. I often want a shallower range than what it chooses so there’s more definition on the screen.

And more importantly, the 28 has an issues with reflection in deep water with a hard bottom. The signal will bounce off the hard bottom and reflect off the ice above causing significant surface clutter. When you are in auto range, the surface clutter will cause it to go in 5’ range because it thinks the surface clutter is bottom. This can be really frustrating. Especially when the depth range you need is only available in auto range mode.

Vexilar has offered to kill auto range mode on mine and reprogram it with a way to manually select all of the ranges available in auto range mode. They offered to do this for free.