X Terra Elite Or Equinox 600, Which Is Better?

[Noah (FL)]

3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

That's a common response for many who moved from a 600/800 to the X-terra Pro/Elite or Nox 700/900.

I should have listened to the posts/comments I’ve seen about it but such is life 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[CliveHamy]

Seems to me that the Xterra Pro Elite is misnamed. It's not from the Xterra stable, it is just a version of the Equinox 700/900 with some differences, i.e. Multi plus just one mid range frequency option. (As a land detectorist who values Multi IQ I cannot see the point of having a single mid frequency range option what value does it give? I'd prefer to have low frequency and a high frequency options, hold on that's a Nox) All the Nox coils seems to be supported. It probably has the same chipset as the Nox, with maybe some minor software tweeks. In many respects it is a puzzle why Minelab complicated their development activities by bringing out another variant when the Nox covers this space well. (Maybe it forces retailers to stock another of their machines, or to increase overall market share like toothpaste companies do with new brands) I suspect that this is a marketing led initiative designed to counter/block a rival with a careful mix of functionality and price positioning to kill them dead. Minelab does seem to be very responsive to competitors. 

[Chase Goldman]

1 hour ago, CliveHamy said:

Seems to me that the Xterra Pro Elite is misnamed. It's not from the Xterra stable, it is just a version of the Equinox 700/900 with some differences, i.e. Multi plus just one mid range frequency option. (As a land detectorist who values Multi IQ I cannot see the point of having a single mid frequency range option what value does it give? I'd prefer to have low frequency and a high frequency options, hold on that's a Nox) All the Nox coils seems to be supported. It probably has the same chipset as the Nox, with maybe some minor software tweeks. In many respects it is a puzzle why Minelab complicated their development activities by bringing out another variant when the Nox covers this space well. (Maybe it forces retailers to stock another of their machines, or to increase overall market share like toothpaste companies do with new brands) I suspect that this is a marketing led initiative designed to counter/block a rival with a careful mix of functionality and price positioning to kill them dead. Minelab does seem to be very responsive to competitors. 

I understand your points.

To be clear, it's Xterra Pro (4 Multiple selectable single frequencies at ~$265US) and Xterra Elite (Simultaneous Multifrequency (SMF) + 15khz at ~$480US) - 2 different detectors.  Xterra Elite - the one you are describing - is an obvious direct counter to the Nokta Score series and fills a price gap niche between the Xterra Pro and the Nox 700 (at ~$750US).  For an apples-to-apples price comparison you need to add in the cost of the ML 85 wireless phones (~$115US). 

So the price delta between the Xterra Elite and Nox 700 is about $155US.  Worth it if you don't need the lighter shaft system and extra SF settings. So Having used the Nox, D2, Legend, and now Manticore over the last 7 years, I have found that I rarely select single frequency unless I am having an EMI problem that can't be solved with a SMF Noise Cancel and I have to reduce sensitivity too much to counteract the noise.  In that case, 15 khz is a perfectly fine middle-of-the-road general purpose detecting frequency that I could live with.  Or I could spend more $$$ if I need more frequencies.  From a business perspective and manufacturing perspective, it makes perfect sense as the same hardware and code can be used and it captures a niche detectorist economic demographic.

On a side note: The Score/Legend series and the Xterra/Nox series would be perfect candidates for those manufacturers' implementations of a single hardware platform, with firmware upgradeable features/performance tiers a la Garrett's Vortex design.

FWIW