Any ranking is primarily about numbers and the conclusions based on them. Therefore, in the 2021 ranking, we confidently include metal detector models released earlier, in the past period. We present to your attention the ranking models of metal detectors for 2021: for beginners and advanced treasure hunters. Ground, amphibious, underwater, deep, pinpointers, and scuba detectors. Read our article below to find out which is better.
What is the best metal detector in 2021-2025?
Of course, one wants to give a single clear answer to this question, but life is complicated, all people are different with their goals and search tasks, experiences, budgets, and preferences. Well, let's try to determine the best professional metal detector this year (see the review below).
It is impossible to select and determine "the one" detector for everyone at once, so our ranking of metal detectors for 2021 is traditionally divided and analyzed by price categories. We provide brief characteristics of the best models, including evaluating the price/quality ratio, liquidity in the secondary market for used metal detectors, and the potential for upgrades through additional accessories (search coils, underwater kits, wireless headphones, etc.).
In our ranking, only the most modern metal detectors participate, reliable ones; some older models are still good in their search characteristics, but we will only talk about the new devices.So, let's begin our ranking of metal detector models for beginners.
Entry-level metal detectors
Nokta FindX Pro - a budget metal detector with good search depth, the only fully waterproof underwater model - amphibian, capable of submersion up to 5 meters deep, with all the necessary settings for productive searching, a large DoubleD coil, built-in rechargeable battery, and backlit screen and keyboard.
Bounty Hunter Tracker IV is the simplest budget model, with 2-tone sound target identification for colored and black metals, sensitivity adjustment, and sequential discrimination.
Garrett Ace 150 – a simple, reliable metal detector that allows you to take your first steps into the world of treasure hunting.
Garrett Ace 250 – the legendary 'Asya', the metal detector that most treasure hunters started with and through which a lion's share of all treasures has been found!
Garrett Ace Euro (Ace 350) combines the best features of Ace 150/250, differs from its predecessors with an expanded discrimination scale, more accurate metal type identification, and a standard Double-D coil.
Garrett ACE 200i is based on the Ace 150, inheriting its reliability and simplicity, but now features a digital target identifier VDI/TargetID, a more informative display, and a new audio response.
Garrett Ace 300i - an updated version of the legendary ACE 250, with an extended discrimination scale for ferrous metals, a digital target identifier from 0 to 99, and a new 7x10 coil with improved depth and coverage.
Garrett ACE 400i is the highest model in the ACE lineup with an increased operating frequency of 10 kHz, a frequency shift function, a new Iron Audio feature, a universal 8.5x11 DD coil, and a wide range of settings.
Minelab Go-Find 66 is the senior model in the Minelab Go-Find lineup. It is ultra-lightweight with a unique folding design that ensures super compactness and no assembly/disassembly of the metal detector.
Tianxun TX850 - a decent lightweight model for beginners. All necessary functions for detecting and identifying the type of metal are present. Simple intuitive control in Tianxun TX-850, informative LCD display, metal type separation by sound tones, a scale of 99 segments of metals (40 of them for iron), VDI number, soil mineralization scale, sensitivity adjustment, and a waterproof search coil will allow for productive searching on land, at the beach, or along the coastline (submersion underwater is possible with the control unit).
The Tianxun X13 with a high frequency of 13 kHz is an excellent option for finding items made of gold - nuggets or jewelry, coins made of copper, gold, or silver. The high frequency provides the necessary sensitivity required for better detection of precious metals. The model has digital target identification (VDI number), audio identification + vibration, a backlight for screen use at night, ground balance, and a 'pinpoint' mode necessary for accurately locating the center of the target. - a more advanced X5 model, with more features and settings allowing full submersion under water up to 3 meters.
Metal detectors for advanced users
Minelab Vanquish 540 ProPack – an extended package of the 540 model, which includes 2 Double-D coils: 12x9" and 8x5" (water-resistant).
XP ORX (with headphones or without) is a wireless high-frequency metal detector operating in the frequency range from 13 kHz to 59 kHz with a wide range of professional features.
Nokta Simplex Lite, BT, Ultra – a metal detector amphibian, capable of being submerged in water up to 3 meters deep, with a large Double-D coil and good search depth.
Garrett Ace Apex - a multi-frequency ground metal detector with the capability to operate in multi-frequency mode, with two frequencies available, or at one of the selected frequencies of 5, 10, 15, and 20 kHz, most suitable for the required types of targets or search depth. It has a built-in wireless module, and in some configurations, headphones are included in the box.
Nokta Score (simple, double, and triple) - immersion under water up to 5 meters, operating frequency 15 kHz, built-in 2300 mAh lithium battery, graphic monochrome LCD display, automatic search modes 'Field', 'Park', and 'Beach', 'Jewelry' included with the 11-inch DD (double-D) coil makes it recommended for various search tasks.
The best professional metal detector
XP Deus (in any configuration that has a control box) is a fully wireless, very lightweight metal detector with precise target separation and metal types, a complete set of professional settings for any search conditions, and it performs excellently in all search tasks.
Minelab Equinox 900
Nokta Makro Legend - underwater, multi-frequency, with many useful improvements such as vibration in the handle, a distance counter for kilometers traveled with the detector, in the ProPack version with a second coil and a spare underwater case, with wireless headphones included.
XP Deus 2 - lightweight, wireless, multi-frequency, and underwater, with a wide range of settings and indicators about targets.
Aka Signum 7272M MFD Pro – a modified version of the metal detector from the domestic manufacturer 'AKA', with deep firmware MFD, capable of detecting targets at greater depths than most metal detectors, included with wireless headphones.
Aka Intronik STF (Intronik) - an innovative metal detector with a large detection depth for targets and accuracy in their identification. It operates at two frequencies simultaneously, has 3 graph options, 10 digital target indicators, and ground balance adjustment using multiple methods.
Looking for the best metal detectors in terms of search depth?
All ground metal detectors for coin hunting operate on the same principle, which means that the detection depth of targets is approximately the same for all metal detectors. Therefore, always focus on the coil size - the larger the coil, the greater the depth. The most effective devices in terms of detection depth are: Nokta Makro Simplex, Nokta Makro Anfibio Multi, Minelab Equinox 600/800, Aka Signum, Aka Intronic, Tianxun 850, Tiamxun 960. Alternatively, check if larger coils than the standard one for the metal detector you are considering are available for purchase; these are usually sizes 13 inches, 15 inches, and above. All of these are ground metal detectors; if a detection depth of more than 1.5-2 meters is required, let’s move on to the next paragraph.
The best metal detector for treasure hunting
For treasure hunting, the metal detector models listed above are suitable - with good search depth and stable performance on challenging terrain. However, if a guaranteed even greater depth is required, one should consider a deep-search metal detector. At the top of the metal detectors, this would be the Svarog Rubizh model, equipped with a coil or a frame. One of the features of this model is the presence of a mode that ignores small surface targets (metal debris), allowing the operator to focus exclusively on deep targets, and this model will be discussed further.
Specialized metal detectors
Magic Lab Delta 100 - the deep metal detector Delta 100 from the Russian company Magic Lab. Main areas of application: military archaeology, treasure hunting, searching for gold nuggets or meteorites, sunken objects.
Configurations:
block + coil 40x60cm
block + frame 125x125cm
block + coil 40x60cm + frame 125x125cm
cover for block, cover for frame.
The Gephest 4 magnetometer is a tool for measuring magnetic induction (magnetic field) around objects and at various points on the Earth's surface. As of 2023, Gephest 4 is one of the most accurate and modern magnetometers and simultaneously deep metal detectors used for searching large ferromagnetic targets, conducting scientific research on the geomagnetic field, expedition work, searching for minerals, and creating maps of magnetic anomalies on the Earth's surface. A stable and practically error-free detection of large objects made of ferromagnetic metals at considerable depths while simultaneously ignoring small surface targets and targets made of non-ferrous metals (such as spent brass cartridges, etc.) is a distinguishing feature of this device.
Svarog Rubizh is a domestic deep impulse metal detector with maximum search depth. It can have various configurations and works effectively with both a coil and a frame. To date, about 10 configurations have been released that address any tasks. What configurations are available for Svarog Rubizh? The detection depth for metal targets is from 2 meters and more; particularly large targets can be detected at 3-5 meters using a 2-meter frame, and some targets can even be detected up to 10 meters.
For gold and gold nuggets
All metal detectors for gold hunting must have a high operating frequency (not lower than 14 kHz and up to 80 kHz and higher), with manual or both manual and automatic ground balancing (monitored by the device's electronics) that displays ground indicators on the screen, so that the operator can monitor changes in varying search conditions and promptly adjust the ground balance to ensure that signals from gold do not get lost among the noise from the ground. Therefore, devices for gold hunting are classified into a separate category, and the cost of such models is higher than that of ground metal detectors. The best metal detectors for gold hunting in a high budget include Minelab CTX 3030 Pro, Minelab GPZ 7000, while in a lower budget: Nokta Makro Kruzer Gold, Garrett AT Gold, Minelab Equinox 800, XP Deus or XP ORX with a white high-frequency elliptical coil (24x13 HF).
Underwater
Minelab Excalibur II – a long-standing leader in underwater searching, for which no new model has yet emerged to take its place. It operates on the basis of 17-frequency BBS technology (1.5-25.5 kHz). It can dive to an extreme depth of up to 60 meters. Reliability, stable performance in highly mineralized waters, ease of adjusting settings, and extreme operational diving depth make it the number one recommended device among 'divers'. Undoubtedly, the Minelab Excalibur II metal detector is the most advanced underwater metal detector for saltwater. However, if you do not plan to dive with a scuba tank and underwater searching at a depth of 1.5 meters suits you, then for shallow (up to 3-5 meters) underwater searching, the Minelab Equinox 800 / 600, Nokta Makro Anfibio and Kruzer, as well as the first amphibians from Garrett: AT Pro, AT Gold, AT MAX, or scuba detectors, which will be discussed below, are excellent options.
Waterproof metal detector - rating of affordable options
Waterproofing of metal detectors is gradually becoming a must for any modern device. The new models of 2021-2022, XP Deus2 and Nokta Makro Legend, as well as the higher models Minelab Equinox, Nokta Makro Anfibio, or Kruzer, have long been able to dive underwater, but their prices are not cheap.
Affordable models for underwater searching include the Quest X10 Pro and the Nokta Makro Simplex+. Which one to choose depends on your budget.
Multi-frequency metal detectors of 2021 and 2025 - modern multi-frequency metal detectors
In addition to all the models listed above, you may also wonder about "multi-frequency metal detectors 2021-2022" - which models these are. As of today, only five models that work in true multi-frequency mode have been released: the Minelab Equinox 600 or 800, which appeared a few years ago, Vanquish 340 / 440 / 540 / 540 Pro Pack - last year, as well as the Garrett Ace Apex. At the beginning of 2022, new multi-frequency metal detectors were released for sale, one from the Turkish company Nokta/Makro, and initial information about what it will be like can be found in our article "Multi-frequency metal detector from Nokta Makro 2021," along with the new Nokta Makro Legend and the new metal detector XP Deus 2 from the French manufacturer XP Metaldetectors.
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