Minelab Launches Equinox 700 and 900
Minelab has launched the new Equinox 700 and Equinox 900 which apparently are not replacements for the Equinox 600 and 800 but rather, additions in order to fill out gaps in the range.
Apart from the physical changes to the control box, yes it looks the same as the Equinox 800 but the angle of the hand grip has changed in order to provide better balance. Also, the waterproof seals have been upgraded to avoid those rather too-common leaks! The internal tech is different. We are 5 years on from the launch of the Equinox 800 and a lot has changed in that time. So these new machines are fitted with upgraded processors and this means faster performance and better signal processing.
Obviously, these machines have only just been announced so there is no way of knowing how the changes from the existing models will pan out, The new machines are supposed to reach stores by the end of December but going on past experience this could stretch into the New Year.
Equinox 700 Specs:
- 3 x Search Modes. Park, Field, Beach
- All Metal Shortcut
- 6 x Custom Search Profiles
- Operating Frequencies. Multi, 4, 5, 10, 15 kHz
- Auto Noise Cancel. 19 Channels
- Ground Balance. Auto, Manual, Tracking
- Sensitivity levels 1 – 25
- Target Volume 0 – 25
- Threshold Level 0 – 25
- Fixed Threshold Pitch
- Target ID. 119 segment notch discrimination: Ferrous: -19 to 0 I Non-ferrous: 1 to 99
- Target Tones. 1,2, 5, All Tones (At), Depth (dP)
- Tone Break. Ferrous (T1)
- Tone Pitch. Tone 1 adjustable: 0 to 25
- Tone Volume. Tone 1 adjustable: 0 to 25
- Recovery Speed. 1 – 3
- Iron Bias. 0 – 3
- Depth Indicator. 5 Levels
- Pinpoint Mode
- Wireless Audio (Not Bluetooth. Not compatible with Equinox ML80 Headphones)
- Length. Collapsed: 61 cm (24 in) – Extended: 144 cm (56.7 in)
- Weight. 1.27 kg (2.8 lbs)
- Display. Monochrome LCD
- Display & Keypad Backlight, Red. Off, High, Low
- Flashlight
- Vibration Mode with separate Ferrous Control
- Coil. EQX11 11″ Double-D coil with skid plate
- Audio Output. In-built loudspeaker, Wired 3.5 mm (1/8″) headphones, Wireless headphones
- Supplied Headphones. Minelab ML 85 Low Latency wireless headphones
- Battery. 3.7V/5100 mAh Internal Lithium-lon battery
- Waterproof. 5m (16 ft) IP68
- Multi-IQ
Equinox 900 Specs:
- 4 x Search Modes. Park, Field, Beach & Gold
- All Metal Shortcut
- 8 x Custom Search Profiles
- User Profile Button
- Operating Frequencies. Multi, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 40 kHz
- Auto Noise Cancel. 19 Channels
- Ground Balance. Auto, Manual, Tracking
- Sensitivity levels 1 – 28
- Target Volume 0 – 25
- Threshold Level 0 – 25
- Threshold Pitch 0 – 25
- Target ID. 119 segment notch discrimination: Ferrous: -19 to 0 I Non-ferrous: 1 to 99
- Target Tones. 1,2, 5, All Tones (At), Depth (dP)
- Tone Break. Ferrous, Non-ferrous (t1, t2, t3, t4)
- Tone Pitch. All Tones adjustable: 0 to 25
- Tone Volume. All Tones adjustable: 0 to 25
- Recovery Speed. 1 – 8
- Iron Bias. 0 – 9
- Depth Indicator. 5 Levels
- Pinpoint Mode
- Wireless Audio (Not Bluetooth. Not compatible with Equinox ML80 Headphones)
- Length. Collapsed: 61 cm (24 in) – Extended: 144 cm (56.7 in)
- Weight. 1.27 kg (2.8 lbs)
- Display. Monochrome LCD
- Display & Keypad Backlight, Red. Off, High, Medium, Low
- Flashlight
- Vibration Mode. On, Off per Tone Region
- Coil. EQX11 11″ Double-D coil with skid plate, EQX06 6″ Coil with skid plate
- Audio Output. In-built loudspeaker, Wired 3.5 mm (1/8″) headphones, Wireless headphones
- Supplied Headphones. Minelab ML 85 Low Latency wireless headphones
- Battery. 3.7V/5100 mAh Internal Lithium-lon battery
- Waterproof. 5m (16 ft) IP68
- Multi-IQ
The two machines are pretty similar. The main differences have been highlighted in bold for the Equinox 900.
For many, the Equinox 700 will be more than enough. The Equinox 900 allows for a little more fine control over settings and has a handy user profile into which you can save your settings. Although really that should also be on the 700 as it is something that is becoming pretty standard these days even on machines at the budget end of the market.
Pricing & Availibility
The Equinox 900 will be priced at £1099 here in the UK and the Equinox 700 comes in at £799.00.
Both machines should be available by the end of this month, December 2022 but it is likely that if they are available the numbers will be limited and a regular supply of stock will not make its way to stores until the new year.
Alternatives:
Who is the competition? Really there is only one main competitor to Minelab and that is XP with their Deus II and WS6 Master detectors. The WS6 is priced at £799 and whilst you don’t get the full controller from the Deus II, you do get 99% of the features in the lightest package on the market at the moment. The Deus II retails at £1399 which is considerably more than the Equinox 900 however it is arguably a more powerful machine that you are getting for your money.
We can’t of course leave out the Nokta Makro Legend. This was intended to be as good as if not better than the Equinox 800 but at a lower price point. When it was released it didn’t quite live up to the billing but the company has done a lot of work updating the software and capabilities of this machine. Right now, it is the equal of the Equinox 800 but, for whatever reason, Nokta Makro made a substantial cut in the retail price and right now you can pick up a Nokta Makro Legend for as little as £499 here in the UK. That is an absolute bargain. However, the company has said that this price will only be held until Dec 31st 2022. They may extend that but if you were considering a purchase, now would be the time to do it.
Will you be buying one of the new Minelab machines? Or will you perhaps decide to go down the XP route? Let us know in the comments below or join us on our Facebook Group.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/treasurehuntingworld
The newly released 700 and 900 Equinox look absolutely awesome, the upgrades are exactly what everyone has been asking for, then to boot they added some performance upgrades and a wider VDI, doesn’t get any better
Certainly for anyone who was considering buying the 700 or 900 these are great upgrades. I went with XP myself because the only thing Minelab has that competes is the Manticore and they is way out of my price range. Will have to wait a couple of years for them to hit the used market 🙁
The upgrades on the 700 /900 should have been a free patch for people who already tipped up good money for what is now an ”also ran”.
They are not just firmware updates 600 & 800 though Kevin. The internal hardware has been updated too. The Equinox 700 and 900 sport new processors as well as firmware that won’t run on the older machines. Also, the seals have been upgraded to make sure the control boxes stay watertight. All machines have their day. There comes a point when firmware just won’t cut it.
I bought the 700 too much interference too much noise I cant seem to discriminate I like my old whites 6/d coin master better
Quite different machines there Ronnie!
It takes a while to get used to a machine. You probably know your old Whites inside out. The Nox 700 is a very powerful machine but it takes time to learn. Have you used it in single-frequency mode? It should be a lot less susceptible to EMI. Maybe the new X-TERRA PRO could be a possibility for you, have you checked that one out?
Join us on the group if you get some time. https://www.facebook.com/groups/xterrapro
I purchased the 700 one reason it’s allot lighter than the 800 .I tried both 800 and 700 both friends of mine has the 800 the other 700.yeah I haven’t been fair to the machine we still have snow and ground is frozen.we have a park with about a 100 square feet we can dig up goodies been their twice nothing but junk.im trying to learn the metal detector I’m learning everyday.too me it’s not easy but once I catch on it will be a good investment.