Whites Spectra V3i Reviews, Price and Specifications

All-Purpose Land Metal Detector

Retail Price: $2,079.00 (£1,429.00, €1,475.00)

Available Reviews: 5

Avg. Rating (5.0 Stars)

Specifications:

• 3 Optimized Hunting Frequencies: 3 optimal frequencies for the widest variety of targets - 22.5 kHz for gold, 2.5 kHz for silver, or 7.5 kHz for general use. Hunt simultaneously in all 3 for the best target ID, or use a single frequency for prospecting, relic hunting or on the beach.
• On-Board Quick Reference Guide: a built-in instruction manual
• Stereo Mixed Mode Audio: All Metal in one ear, Discrimination in the other.
• Language: Spanish, German, Russian, Turkish, and English.
• Polar Plot Vector Screen: See the phase and strength of each frequency on a vector graph.
• Loop Selection: Reliable depth information with all your accessory coils.
• Prospecting Scan: scrolling graphs shows changes in the ground minerals as you sweep to indicate gold bearing areas. Highly mineralized areas signal gold.
• Soil Type Select: choose Normal or Salt to tailor ground rejection to the type of soil.
• Status Bar Mode Indicator: a simple icon indicates Search, Analyze or Pinpoint.
• Full-Color High Definition Display: all the target information in bold, high contrast color, bigger VDI numbers, icons and SpectraGraph. Use the ZOOM key to enlarge or reduce display info. Hunt using the preset color pallets or create your own custom color schemes for each program.
• Analyze and 3 Frequency SpectraGraph Screens: Analyze shows a "shape" based on the strength of each frequency. 3 Frequency SpectraGraph displays a bar-graph at each frequency.
• Wireless SpectraSound Headphones: engineered just for Spectra V3i by White's. Multiple channels to choose from to avoid picking up signals from other Spectra V3's in the area, or set two headphones up to hear targets from one detector.
• 9 All-New Turn-on-and-Go Hunting Programs: Coin and Jewelry, Salt Beach, Relic, Prospecting, Deep Silver, High Trash, Hi-Pro, Mixed Mode Pro, and Meteorite.
• Live Controls for Real-Time Adjustments: make on-the-fly adjusts as you hunt from the "dashboard-like" Live Controls on the bottom of your display. Live Controls are customized for each Preset Program.
• Six-Block Menu
• Search Coil: waterproof 10" Double D is the standard for performance and depth, especially in hard-to-hunt grounds.
• Adjustable Backlight: 20 different intensity levels.
• Owner Registration: embed your name and contact information with a special password.
• Selectable Ground Filters: 8 different ground filtering levels from 5 Hz Band through 12.5 Hz to suit the ground minerals and your search coil sweep preferences.
• Recovery Delay: 200 different signal processing speeds to choose from matching sweep speed and search conditions.
• 3 x 3 Target I.D. System: check targets with 3 different target screens you activate with the trigger. All-new SpectraGraph, Pinpoint, and Analyze screens.
• On-the-Fly Adjusts: use the Live Controls at the bottom of every search screen and adjust while you hunt. Different Live Controls for every program.
• Color-Keyed Disc Pattern: current discrimination pattern appears across the bottom of the search screen's SpectraGraph. Red = Rejected, Green = Accepted.
• Dozens of Expert Menu Options
• NIMH Rechargeable Battery System
• Detector's length: 114 cm - 133 cm
• Weight: 2.01 kg (4.4 lbs)
• Batteries: NiMh 8 AA batteries
• Spectra V3i is White's new turn-on-and-go metal detector using 3 frequency detection to find the oldest, deepest treasures. A V3i update is available for Spectra V3. The update adds 8 new features and removes the wireless transfer feature.

Reviews:

I Would Not Part with My V3i

by John Devereux in UK -

The display screen is a big factor in my mind. It is clear and gives plenty of information. The best display by far of any detector I have tried. Wireless headphones from its release. No other manufacturers had this at the time. I have been detecting for about 5 years. I did not know what machine to get. Then I bought a used V3i. I found an Elizabeth 1 shilling at about 9 inches, a very thin token also about 9 inches down early on in my use. Then I got sidetracked sold it and tried a few other machines. Trouble was none gave me what the V3i did by way of versatility. Or that screen. So I traded my last detector and bought a new V3i. Whilst some are put off by its apparent complexity, it is actually pretty intuitive to adjust settings either from the live options or via the expert menu. There is plenty of information out there. This machine was so far ahead of the other makers and in my view still is. Did I mention that screen? Minelab have bought out the Equinox. Only taken them 9 years to catch on to true multi frequency operation. Does it work in the UK? Most definitely. If you can use a smart phone you can use a V3i. Do not be intimidated. And that screen. If you struggle reading your screen on your current machine get a V3i. Hands down the best out there. Still.

Mar 20, 2020

Spectra v3i is King of the Hill

by Jeepdog in Lexington ma -

To begin I have been into this great hobby way of life for 37 yrs. I have honestly tested every new super machine from Minelab, First Texas, Fisher, Tesoro, Aka, Nokta, XP. All have their strong points, all are great in their own right, but only the v3i does it all very well. The v machine with the 13 in ultimate is the deepest and most accurate unit I ever used. The ocean beaches are not very detectable with anything other than the Minelab Explorer, Etrac, Equinox or Excalibur. Some pulse machines work fantastic but the v3i once again tops them all ! I can do 50-60 pages of tech advantages settings tweaks that you can do on a v machine that is not possible on too many other units on the market today. It is 12-yrs old now but still not surpassed. The v3i is the only unit I will still be using 6 months or 6 yrs from now.

Mar 17, 2020

Have used every top shelf unit

by George in Peru ny -

After using more than 17 different detectors, all top shelf, I have chosen to keep my v3i with Spectra sound hp. This machine is truly configureable to all conditions: from wet salt beaches to mountain top mine sites. It is an awesome beast of a machine. I use the 13 in ultimate and the whites eclipse 6x10 inches coil the most. Both give unreal depth and separation. I have used the Deus, E-Trac, F75, Rutus, Makro, Nokta, the Garrett line, T2... the list goes on and on. Yes, over 27 yrs I have owned and used many units that work well in some areas but fail miserably in others. The v3i is the best of the best.

Feb 14, 2020

A beast

by Chris in mass -

I've had alot of detectors in my time and a main reason why, I out grew them, there's only so much you can do with the other detectors before you run out of things to play with. There are never 2 detecting spots alike with this machine. You could adjust endless to any, any condition you come across for maximum performance. There's no other detector out there with this amount of adjustments on one machine!!!

Jun 02, 2013

High tech fun detector

by Carlos in California -

This detector can be used as a turn on and go machine or you can play with the adjustments to a program and create one that will work best for your soil conditions. I have had other machines and fortunately they all worked well. What this machine has done for me is forced me to study and test how different adjustments affect the performance of the machine. I have learned more about metal detectors and detecting in a couple of months with the V3i than in years of using simpler machines. I have had a lot of fun testing what I can do adjusting sensitivity, ground filters, frequencies, recovery delay, tone, mixed mode tones, etc, etc... And at the same time I play with it, I learn more. I guess if you get bored with a detector, the V3i would be a great choice to challenge yourself. On the fly adjustments are great! Target ID is probably one of the best on today's high end machines. It is a deep machine and the coil selection is also impressive. I read a lot of comments on MD forums and some say they rather spend more time detecting than adjusting features on a complicated machine. Once you find the right settings for your favorite MD spots and save them, this machine can do just that for you too. Just turn it on, select your program and start detecting. I love a challenge. Too simple can get boring fast. So the amount of things you can adjust in this detector and being able to create programs just add to the fun and the thrill of the hunt! Like all Whites products, it feels well built and that company has excellent customer service. I am impressed with the versatility of this machine! As for the price, well, I think it is worth every cent! Also the machine will most likely pay for itself in a hurry. It has brought life to some places that I thought were hunted out long ago. Great machine and fun to learn!
[This review is posted without any corrections because it is professionally composed like an ad. Keep in mind that no supporting factual details (finds, settings, stories) are included in it! - editor]

Jan 25, 2013