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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.
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3
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4
5
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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.
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4
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6
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5
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Curious to see this month's entire Metal Detectors ranking? It's here

About our ranking methodology

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
    ... ... ...
  • 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
    ... ... ...
  • 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
    ... ... ...

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.

MetaRanking Common points from expert reviews summarized.
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
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3
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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.
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1
3
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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.
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1
2
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4
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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.
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4
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2
1
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Show all rows
Expert Reviews There are people on the Internet whose job is to review products. Below are their opinions.

Expert reviews [21]

93
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]

96
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
Video Reviews Most popular unboxing/review videos.
Metal Detecting: Minelab CTX3030 Review
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Is The CTX 3030 Still The Best Metal Detector In 2021?: Metal Detecting NYC
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Minelab CTX 3030 Review, Unboxing Assembly Test Hunt, First Silver!!
Review by The Hoover Boys
Popular! 53K views!
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Minelab Equinox 800 Beginners Tutorial
Popular! 85K views!
Play video review
Minelab Equinox 800 Review 2021
Popular! 22K views!
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Minelab Equinox 800 Getting Started 2020
Very popular! 150K views!
Play video review

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