Experts recommend Minelab Equinox 800 more than Minelab CTX 3030
As of 10 Jan 2025, experts prefer Minelab Equinox 800 over Minelab CTX 3030, but both Metal Detectors have solid expert endorsements.
As per this month's meta ranking, Minelab Equinox 800 received 4 recommendations: from ZD Net (2 Aug 2024), The Strategist (23 Jun 2023) Popular Mechanics (3 Jan 2025) and 1 other. By contrast, Minelab CTX 3030 received only 3 recommendations from money.com (19 Dec 2022), The Strategist (23 Jun 2023) and Metal Detecting in the USA (6 Jul 2023).
| Rank | Change | Price | Metal Detector | Task and Purpose  | money.com  | Bob Vila  | ZD Net  | BestReviews  | The Strategist  | Popular Mechanics  | Your Best Digs  | Metal Detecting in the USA  | Tech Metals Research  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | -1 | $799 |  Minelab Equinox 800 The Minelab Equinox 800 is a highly versatile and feature-rich metal detector that offers wireless audio, accurate target identification, and a waterproof design, making it suitable for a wide range of detecting needs. | - | - | - | 3 | - | 4 | 5 | - | 4 | - |
| 11 | +1 | $2424 |  Minelab CTX 3030 The Minelab CTX 3030 is a versatile and effective metal detector with customizable features, waterproof capability, and excellent target identification, making it suitable for experienced treasure hunters. | - | 4 | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | 5 | - |
Curious to see this month's entire Metal Detectors ranking? It's here
Endorsement summary:
- On 23 Jun 2023
The Strategist ranked Minelab Equinox 800 as #4 and Minelab CTX 3030 as #6
Rank Metal Detector Comment ... ... ... #4 out of 8 Minelab Equinox 800 Best For Deep Detection... ... ... #6 out of 8 Minelab CTX 3030 Best Waterproof... ... ... Source: nymag.com - On 6 Jul 2023 Metal Detecting in the USA ranked Minelab Equinox 800 as #4 and Minelab CTX 3030 as #5
Rank Metal Detector Comment ... ... ... #4 out of 12 Minelab Equinox 800 our pick for relic hunting#5 out of 12 Minelab CTX 3030 our pick for high-end features... ... ... Source: metaldetectingintheusa.com - On 19 Dec 2022 money.com ranked Minelab CTX 3030 as #4
Rank Metal Detector Comment ... ... ... #4 out of 6 Minelab CTX 3030 Best All-Terrain Detector... ... ... Source: money.com - On 2 Aug 2024 ZD Net ranked Minelab Equinox 800 as #3
Rank Metal Detector Comment ... ... ... #3 out of 5 Minelab Equinox 800 Best metal detector for relic hunting... ... ... Source: www.zdnet.com - On 3 Jan 2025 Popular Mechanics ranked Minelab Equinox 800 as #5
Rank Metal Detector Comment ... ... ... #5 out of 9 Minelab Equinox 800 Best Expert Upgrade... ... ... Source: www.popularmechanics.com
After counting and adding up the 70 expert endorsements of the January rankings, Minelab Equinox 800 outranks Minelab CTX 3030. This is not to say that Minelab CTX 3030 is a bad option. Like Minelab Equinox 800, it is recommended by experts, but less.
As can be seen below, Minelab Equinox 800 outranks Minelab CTX 3030 by 4 positions. This indicates that, as of 10 Jan 2025, Minelab Equinox 800 is more critically acclaimed than Minelab CTX 3030.
| Rank | Change | Price | Metal Detector | Task and Purpose | money.com | Bob Vila | ZD Net |
BestReviews | The Strategist |
Popular Mechanics | Your Best Digs | Metal Detecting in the USA | Tech Metals Research |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +1 | Check price |  Nokta Makro Simplex The Nokta Makro Simplex metal detector is a highly regarded and versatile device with advanced features, target identification capabilities, and ease of use, making it suitable for both land and underwater treasure hunting. | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | -1 | $71 |  Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker IV The Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker IV is a reliable and versatile entry-level metal detector praised for its reliability, versatility, and ease of use, making it suitable for beginners and casual users. | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | - | - | 2 | - | - |
| 3 | - | $270 |  Garrett Ace 300 The Garrett Ace 300 metal detector is a versatile and reliable option for general-purpose metal detecting, with impressive target identification capabilities and customizable discrimination settings. | - | - | 1 | 2 | - | - | 4 | - | - | - |
| 4 | +4 | $299 |  Minelab Vanquish 440 The Minelab Vanquish 440 is a versatile and user-friendly metal detector with a waterproof coil, multiple frequencies, pinpoint mode, and accurate target identification, making it suitable for various treasure hunting scenarios. | - | - | 4 | - | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | - |
| Show all rows | |||||||||||||
Expert reviews [21]
Total expert reviews: 21
- with a score: 6
- without a score: 15
| Highest score by cutaplug.com | 100 |
| Average score based on 21 reviews | 93 |
| Lowest score by huntingformetal.com | 88 |
Score distribution:
| 80-100 | |
| 60-80 | |
| 40-60 | |
| 20-40 | |
| 0-20 |
Expert reviews [18]
Total expert reviews: 18
- with a score: 1
- without a score: 17
| Highest score by detecthistory.com | 96 |
| Average score based on 18 reviews | 96 |
| Lowest score by detecthistory.com | 96 |
Score distribution:
| 80-100 | |
| 60-80 | |
| 40-60 | |
| 20-40 | |
| 0-20 |
From Seller:
- Minelab CTX 3030 Metal Detector, 17" Smart Coil, 11" DD Smart Coil
- Coil Cover, UR-30 Headphones, WM-10 Charging Cable & Auto Charger
- Battery Holder, WM-10 Wireless Module & Belt Clip, Removable Headphone Module
- Read more
From Seller:
- SIMULTANEOUS MULTI-FREQUENCY. The Equinox 800 combines the power of multiple detectors into 1. Equipped with our revolutionary Multi-IQ technology, it automatically employs 5 frequencies at once so you can search all metals, all soils, all the time.
- Read more
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