Happy New Year!
As another year passes by, we can look back on what has turned out to be a very interesting 12 months for the detecting community.
Most interesting was the number of new machines that entered the market. We have seen new detectors from Nokta Makro, XP, Minelab and Garrett.
At the start of 2022, it was all about the XP Deus II. A groundbreaking machine in many ways, it was XP’s first simultaneous multi-frequency machine. And they hit the ground running. There was no machine that could go deeper and certainly no machine that could knock out a bottle cap and still detect the good target underneath. It was also fully waterproof and submersible to 20 meters. XP also introduced bone-conduction headphones.
A few months after XP released Deus II they gave us the Deus II WS6 Master. A cut-down version of the Deus II but with almost all the features of its more expensive sibling intact. At the time it was the lightest and most powerful machine on the market under £1000. It is still certainly the lightest.
Nokta Makro released the Legend. Intended as competition for the market-leading Minelab Equinox it had more features at a slightly lower retail price. Initially, performance was not as good as expected but via several firmware updates, the machine slowly began to realise its potential and eventually began to equal and even overtake Equinox in some scenarios. Nokta Makro put further pressure on Minelab by dramatically cutting the price of the Legend.
Garrett returned to gold prospecting with the Axiom. Equipped with Garretts ‘ Ultra-Pulse technology, the Axiom promises gold prospectors an advanced independent dual-channel ground balance system that covers the full range of mineralization, from heavily mineralized magnetic ground to saltwater, and everything in between.
Minelab announced the Manticore. Punching deeper on many targets than any other detector currently available. The 2D screen helps Identify your targets with greater visual and audible target insights. Some have said this is a direct replacement for the CTX3030. Whether it is or not remains to be seen.
Minelab then surprised us with the release of the Equinox 700 and 900 machines. At the time the company said that these were “additions to the range” and not replacements for the existing Equinox 600 and 800. It is hard to see how how it makes any business sense whatsoever to continue with those models. They have essentially been made redundant by the newer machines. Expect to see the 600 & 800 dropped sometime in 2003.
What will the new year bring us? We know that XP is working on an update for Deus II. Nokta Makro will continue to refine the Legend with further updates and likewise, Minelab will have firmware updates for the Manticore and Equinox. Garrett meanwhile is very likely to bring out a pro version of the Apex. And let’s not forget the other brands. Rutus will no doubt want to address issues with the screen glare on the Atrex. And Quest will very likely release its first simultaneous multi-frequency machine. DR.ÖTEK will be launching their MT6-PRO
pinpointer and from what we have seen, it will be real competition for the big brands both in performance and price. They are also making inroads into the budget detector market with their MTXE machine.
Whatever 2023 brings, it looks to be a good year for metal detecting.
Happy New Year & Happy Hunting!
Links:
Join Treasure Hunting World Facebook Group