5 Best Metal Detectors 2022

[relicmeister]

What? No AT Pro?  Oh yeah that was last decade..

[mh9162013]

1 hour ago, relicmeister said:

What? No AT Pro?  Oh yeah that was last decade..

If the AT Pro's retail price was $200, it'd probably be on my "top 5" list.

[Tom Slick]

1. Equinox Super Pro 1000 Plus

2. Deus 3

3. Racer 3 Professional

4. Apex 17

5. Whites Treasure Master Classic III IDX Eagle Vision

[phrunt]

A "real" list would be top 5 gold detectors, top 5 relic detectors, top 5 coin detectors, top 5 jewellery detectors, top 5 diving detectors, top 5 beginner detectors, top 5 budget detectors,  etc etc.

That's where these list really go wrong.

This sets a prime example of how top lists should be, obviously this one is based upon gold detectors

Something like this for each category would be awesome and nullify all these crazy top 5 or top 10 lists scattered all over the internet.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

9 hours ago, phrunt said:

They may be words you regret 🙂 If the Equinox 1000 Pro Ultra Premium Edition comes out at some point soon we'll all want it, lets face it and I highly doubt we'll be disappointed 🙂  The Equinox is 4 years old now, that's a dinosaur in technology terms and it's still right there with the best of 'em, if not in the lead, the others are playing catch up to a detector that's due for replacement, a dinosaur! a 4 year old computer can't even run the latest Windows, Microsoft deemed it not suitable for Windows 11, killed them all off.

Maybe I'm getting that naming scheme confused with First Texas.  Either way, if the Equinox 1000 comes out I doubt it'll be a flop and won't shake up the market once again, Minelab don't settle for a paint job, although I think we all agree build quality needs to improve.  I think their bottom line with warranty claims may have pointed that out to them, at least I hope so.  It's not wise to offer a three year warranty which is now becoming standard or even more with XP and their 5 year warranty on a detector that's lucky to last three years without some form of fault resulting in a warranty repair.... coil ears, water ingress, wobbly shaft, button failures and the list goes on. 

I just think it's great we have detectors from a range of manufacturers now that are competitive either by offering a lot for your money or performance in different areas excelling over others, not to mention the multi purpose detectors meaning one detector really can do it all and do it well, a good time for detector users and the future looks bright.

Minelab, XP, Garrett and Nokta are doing well at the moment, I look forward to seeing what they all do in the future, not to mention the European brands like Rutus that really need more recognition than they get, hopefully they expand into the worldwide market.

Oh I agree, and if we thought this latest round of product release and/or subsequent "conversation" was an event 😲  Heads will blow when the next gen EQX is announced, it'll be insane haha 🤠

I would add the Legend to that list, certainly before I'd put a D1 if there's already a D2 on the list. 🧐

[mh9162013]

4 minutes ago, phrunt said:

A "real" list would be top 5 gold detectors, top 5 relic detectors, top 5 coin detectors, top 5 jewellery detectors, top 5 diving detectors, top 5 beginner detectors, top 5 budget detectors,  etc etc.

That's where these list really go wrong.

Exactly!

[EL NINO77]

12 minutes ago, mh9162013 said:

Exactly!

I completely agree with Simon .. ,, other people who think so ..👍

and there is still something in the category of evaluation ... and that is price / performance....

[Cal_Cobra]

We should develop a defacto standard for testing and rating the various categories.  All-in-one, relic, gold, beach, coin, etc.  Beginner?

Kind of like the Consumer Reports of metal detecting haha

[Steve Herschbach]

Yup, just depends what you are doing. For me, the GPX 6000 is hands down best detector, basically the only detector I will use in 2022. Anything else will just be dabbling. If I actually did have to pick my personal second place alternative to the GPX 6000, it would be the GPZ 7000. Next alternative would be GPX 5000. Gets a bit fuzzy after that. SDC 2300? GPX 4500?

It’s a good thing I passed on the Deus 2. I really just don’t use a VLF much these days. The only one I consider a keeper still is the Equinox, and so if I could only own two metal detectors right now, it would be GPX 6000 and Equinox 800. Between the two I could do any type of detecting there is, and feel like I’m running a decent option. I like the 24K for sniping small gold, and DFX Bigfoot for jewelry, but could live without both of them, as being niche units I rarely use, if at all. But just too good to let go.

[GB_Amateur]

20 hours ago, phrunt said:

A "real" list would be top 5 gold detectors, top 5 relic detectors, top 5 coin detectors, top 5 jewellery detectors, top 5 diving detectors, top 5 beginner detectors, top 5 budget detectors,  etc etc.

IMO, the first thing most people should consider when making any purchase is "what's my budget?"  It seems that gets lost here way too often.  Newbie:  "I want to get a detector under $500."  Answer:  "Minelab Equinox!"  So each category you mention should also have some kind of value/affordability ranking list added to the "if cost is no object..." list.

Are there a bunch of these "top 5" lists for detectors running around on the internet?  I'm vaguely aware of Amazon's, but pretty sure those are based upon their sales volumes -- another worthless list, IMO -- popularity among people who don't know much about the endeavor.

I assume Cipher was mostly looking to have fun.  I'll retreat to other topics so I don't play too much of the party pooper role.