Legend Vs X-terra Vs Nox 700/900

[Skyshark]

Legend (2023 version with carbon fiber and LG30) vs X-Terra Pro vs Nox 700/900

I have reviewed many posts, websites, and videos comparing. What I'd love is more of a subjective view from you gents based on specific usage and preferences.

Usage: 2 times per year at a beach focusing on wet sand, surf, and a couple feet in the water. Rest of the year in some old forest type locations or maybe some parks as well.

Desired items: Primarily jewelry (rings, necklaces), secondary would be coins.

Price consideration: None, pretend all 4 are the same cost.

Please do not recommend other detectors, stick to these lot and let me know your thoughts. Both objective and subjective feedback welcome!

[Jeff McClendon]

Personally, I would need more information about the black sand levels at the saltwater (?) beaches you might visit and the iron mineralization levels at the land based areas you will be hunting. If those naturally occurring iron levels are anything above really low, you might need to rule out the X-Terra Pro.

[Skyshark]

2 hours ago, Jeff McClendon said:

Personally, I would need more information about the black sand levels at the saltwater (?) beaches you might visit and the iron mineralization levels at the land based areas you will be hunting. If those naturally occurring iron levels are anything above really low, you might need to rule out the X-Terra Pro.

Black sand levels would be low to none. Would be mostly white sand beaches on the East coast of USA. Florida, Carolinas, etc.

[bigtim1973]

I have never had a legend so I cannot comment on it other than from owning previous other units made by nokta....it is well made. 

The new xterra I own and I also own the eq900. 

I personally would get the eq900 over the eq700 for the 20 and 40 single selectable frequencies. 

Those frequencies do real good for relic hunting and coin shooting in high iron areas where emi may be an issue. Single frequency is more forgiving in areas with high iron trash such as civil war camp sites or any areas where old farms and such once stood.

I cannot comment on beach use as I am land locked.

Plus on the equinox 900 you get the wireless headphones and the extra 6 inch coil too. Great for tight places and trashy areas. 

The xterra looks and feels like an equinox. If you go to the minelab area of this forum you can see where I made a thread on the new xterra. One of the forum users here in this site is doing very well on the beach with it. 

From my limited experience on the xterra, it will not hold correct target ID on anything deeper than 4 to 6 inches with the stock coil.  It does sound off on the target  but the numbers are bouncing around. So you will have to go by tones more than numerical ID. 

If you are determined to get the new xterra pro, you can purchase an equinox 11 inch coil for it. 

That will calm the bouncing numbers down a bit from my experience.

I think the new xterra is well made and has a great user profile. The screen is nice and large.

But with the equinox 900 you get the wireless headphones and the small coil too. 

It has a few more settings compared to the xterra that you can tweak for a particular situation and or custom tone breaks and such for your own preferred settings.

Good luck with which ever one you choose.

 

 

[bigtim1973]

Oh and yes the eq900 numbers will bounce around some too...especially in trash. But on a good target say a quarter at 6 inches, the numbers may vary slightly.

 

Where as on the xterra pro it may bounce from 65 to 88 and anywhere in between but the tone will stay consistent. 

[Chase Goldman]

 

16 minutes ago, bigtim1973 said:

Where as on the xterra pro it may bounce from 65 to 88 and anywhere in between but the tone will stay consistent. 

What tone settings are you using?  Tone should stay consistent in something like 5-tones (or less) as long as the TID variation does not cross a tone break.  Are you saying that the tone stays consistent even if it crosses a tone break? (If I recall the upper three breaks of 5-tone tone are at 20, 56, and 84, so I would expect some tone variation on the "high" bounces above 84.).  Much appreciated.

[bigtim1973]

Most if the time I use AT and yes if the target stays say from 60 s to 80s it is worth taking a look. I consider that a good tone. Mid to high on a coin at 6 inches. 

I have not had a penny dime or quarter bounce down to the 20s and 30s....not yet anyway. 

In my test garden on an 8 inch nickle it will up average it into the 60s.

I have taken it on a couple of different sites.

So with that said I think one should go by the tone more than the numbers on targets at 6 inches that has a small footprint like a coin. 

You can tell trashy items like a bolt or nail because it will go down to say the 20s and bounce up to the 60s depending on orientation of the coil over the target. I have found a few bolts and larger machine type screws. 

I am learning trash from say zinc pennies.

I do not hunt areas littered with aluminum trash most of the time like parks or soccer fields.

So I cannot comment on things like can slaw but even then most of the time that stuff is shallower and should have a more consistent reading not being deep. 

[Chase Goldman]

Thanks.  Good info.  Keep sharing your experiences with the Xterra Pro and happy hunting.

[bigtim1973]

3 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Thanks.  Good info.  Keep sharing your experiences with the Xterra Pro and happy hunting.

Your welcome. Are you thinking of getting one?

[Chase Goldman]

9 minutes ago, bigtim1973 said:

Your welcome. Are you thinking of getting one?

Doubtful, I have the Legend and 900 so I am not seeing it as a fit for me  as a backup or otherwise.  But it is a great value and I am VERY interested in how it does, especially at the beach, to see if it can hold its own as single frequency machine up against the Nox and Legends out there.  Certainly, at that price, it's hard to go wrong.  I think it's proven its worth as a solid general purpose detector already

What are you using for phones?