The Truth About XP Deus, page 8

8. Minelab Equinox 800, Fisher F75+ and Similar Detectors of Nokta | Makro vs. XP Deus and XP ORX

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At the end of 2017, Minelab introduced the best VLF configuration of all - a "union" of two "rivals" - the multi-frequency and selected-frequency platforms! This union was provided by a new multi-frequency technology - Multi-IQ (Simultaneous Multi-Frequency In-phase and Quadrature Synchronous Demodulation), based on a fusion of the Minelab's FBS and VFLEX technologies. This technology appeared in the Minelab Equinox metal detectors which were released in late January of 2018.

With the Equinox detectors, those coin/relic hunters who want to detect only one specific type of targets or eliminate excessive ground falsing can easily switch from the multi-frequency to a single-frequency operation and select one out of 3 (Equinox 600) or 5 (Equinox 800) available frequencies by pressing one button! The Equinox users certainly can have "both worlds", and the best of each! Currently no other metal detector on the market offers such an option. This cutting-edge configuration may finally bring the end to the before-mentioned debate as to which VLF platform is better.

Minelab declares that the Equinox series is "equally adaptable for all target types and ground conditions and obsoletes all single-frequency VLF detectors." This bold statement may hold true because, besides the mighty Multi-IQ technology (also providing the dual-frequency operation in the 'Gold Field' mode!), wireless headphone operation, absolutely waterproof up to 3 meters and updatable firmware, the Equinox detectors also boast all advanced features required for excellent Target ID (both visual and audio), Target Recognition (also utilizing tonal patterns and Iron Volume) and Target Separation (high settings of Reactivity).

This is why the Equinox series is most likely to bring XP's "novelty" to the end as well. In fact, those Deus users who got sick and tired of XP's brilliant business plans, continuous firmware-patching and creeping featurism began turning to the Minelab Equinox 800 which can be a decent alternative to the XP Deus.

This is what I have been hearing from those Deus users who have also acquired the Equinox 800 and compared the machines. However, since I have not had an opportunity to field-test the Equinox, I can not confirm that statement as well as whether the Equinox 800 is easier to use than the Deus.

Everything looks good on paper, but only results of comparative field-testing can prove whether or not the Minelab Equinox 800 can outperform the XP Deus, or at least match its performance. In any case, a new trend in the metal detector technology is certainly taking shape reflecting that the multi-frequency operation is the future of metal detecting.

Is the Equinox 800 easier to learn than the Deus? It may well be because, while looking through the Equinox user's manual, I did not come across any incomprehensible or confusing piece of information unlike I did while reading the Deus' manual. Plus, there are only 33 features and modes in the Equinox 800 compared to 58 in the Deus V5.X, not counting the preset modes, status displays and features not affecting the detector's performance.

Minelab definitely makes the Equinox 800 attractively priced, especially if one compares its price with that of the XP Deus. The retail price of the Equinox 800 ($899.00; Equinox 600 - $649.00) with two additional search coils ($439.00) is $1,338.00. The XP Deus package with a remote controller ($1,825.00) and two additional X35 LF coils ($1,017.00) retails for $2,842.00!!! (no comments)

Time will tell whether the Minelab's new multi-frequency technology can be operated by everyone, no matter what the user's skill level is. If I get a chance to test both machines side by side, I will be able to gather enough test data for analysis, and then write and post my article with extensive information.

XP is not the only manufacturer offering the single-VLF-selectable-frequency detector on the today's market. In May of 2018, Makro Metal Detectors released a Multi Kruzer metal detector which operates on one of three available frequencies - 5, 14 or 19 kHz, and accepts 5 optional coils! It retails just for $749.00 (635.00 EURO).

Another cutting-edge, selectable-frequency metal detector - Nokta Anfibio Multi by Nokta Detection Technologies, was released to the market in October, 2018. According to its specifications, it also operates on one of three available frequencies - 5, 14 and 20 kHz, accepts 7 (!) optional coils, and retails for $899.00 (762.00 EURO).

Both metal detectors are fully submersible up to 5 meters (16.4 feet) (!), come with wireless headphones (optional wireless underwater headphones are available) and incorporate all advanced features required for superb Target Separation (adjustable Recovery Speed), Target ID (including identification of iron) and Target Recognition! And these detectors are not loaded with features and modes which most users may never benefit from!

Without field-testing these machines, I can not say whether they would be on par with the XP Deus under various metal detecting conditions. Time will show. However, their configurations and prices seem very attractive. In September, 2018, Nokta Detection Technologies and Makro Metal Detectors merged, and now their recent detectors, including the Nokta Anfibio series, are released under the brand name "Nokta | Makro".

Besides, unlike XP, both Nokta Detection Technologies and Makro Metal Detectors have never "put all eggs in one basket", i.e. they have never tried to "squeeze" five detectors into one. Their latest detector series include both a reasonably versatile flagship-detector of each series and a few cheaper detector-models designed for specific tasks such as coin shooting, detecting both coins and relics, beach hunting, or searching for tiny artifacts and gold nuggets.

Out of all recent newcomers to the market, there are two detector-models - Fisher F75+ and Teknetics T2+, which I got my hands on and field-tested against the Deus during the 2019 metal detecting season. And guess what? These machines, which cost $650 and $550 respectively, beat the Deus in the number of good finds in every comparative field-test I ran!

The F75+ and T2+ (the F75+'s "cousin") are single-frequency (13 kHz) detectors; however, due to their fast user-interface, simplicity and a couple of amazingly effective search modes which are not available on any other modern detector, these machines outperformed a few advanced detectors including the multi-frequency Minelab Equinox 800 operated by my fellow detectorists who happened to search at the sites where I ran my tests.

My girlfriend (my long-time treasure hunting partner) switched from the Deus to the T2+ immediately after trying it herself on a hunt site that had previously been "pounded to death" with several high-end detectors, including the Deus. My detailed guides to the features, modes and capabilities of both detectors will be posted soon.

As "the ball is in XP's court" now, many wonder what XP Metal Detectors is going to do in order not to fall behind in the competition? Rumors about XP releasing a simplified version of the Deus, so-called Q-Mond, have been circulating on the Internet.

It could be fake news just because using a smartphone paired with a metal detector is highly impractical in adverse metal detecting environments (moisture, mud, sand, dust, and rocky surfaces) and could bring absolute disappointment to many users even though it seems like a cool innovation.

If XP has been really developing the simplified Deus, it is right time for XP to do some serious featurectomy - the act of removing all unnecessary features from the Deus; thus, making it a cheaper, learner-friendly metal detector for coin/relic hunting!

XP ORX

On 14 September 2018, all rumors and discussions about the Q-Mond went into the background as XP Metal Detectors revealed its upcoming ORX metal detector (released in November of 2018). The XP ORX's specs suggest that this metal detector is primarily for... GOLD PROSPECTING (Oops!.. Again?!) and only secondary for coin/relic hunting.

At first, I thought that the XP engineers had finally done the Deus featurectomy. But, after I read the ORX's specifications, I felt really disappointed. With the exception of two additional coin/relic modes, the XP ORX's specs look identical to specifications of the existing XP Depar DPR 600 metal detector which was released to the African, Mid-Eastern and Asian markets in 2016. So the ORX is not the Deus MINUS, but is rather the Depar DPR 600 PLUS!

And the gold prospecting is the ORX's principal function as the ORX comes with the HF coil as standard. To use the ORX detector for regular coin shooting and/or relic hunting, the user MUST purchase additional X35 LF coils (detectors). XP has come up with another clever, money-making scheme! If the user buys two additional X35 LF coils for coin/relic hunting, the user's total expenses increase to $1,877.56 ($941,56 + ($468.00 x 2)); with the Euro-to-Dollar exchange rate being 1:18! If the user buys one additional X35 LF coil, the user's total expenses increase to $1,409.56 ($941,56 + $468.00).

And what one gets with the ORX metal detector for a double price of the XP Deus LITE (the Deus without an essential remote controller currently retails for $689.00)? The ORX user gets a gold sticker on the remote, the WS Audio headphones that have no display and are not compatible with the Deus, much less options than with the Deus LITE, only 2 factory preset programs, no waterproof, a non-adjustable armrest with its uncovered innards being exposed to dirt and mud, 100g lighter weight and the old gold-prospecting platform of the Depar DPR 600. By the way, the Deus' WS4 or WS5 headphones are not compatible with the XP ORX.

The XP ORX neither represents any new technological advances nor the long-awaited multi-frequency operation. It is just an iteration of the gold-prospecting, dated selectable-frequency platform under a different name. So, what the regular coin/relic hunters had waited for - a reliable, cheap coin/relic detector that accepts the Deus components (WS4, WS5 and legacy LF coils), is not happening. With the XP's release of the ORX, all hopes of the regular coin/relic hunters crashed... However, many enthusiasts enjoy metal detecting with the XP ORX machine! Well, "different strokes for different folks."

As for XP's implementation of an unnecessarily large number of frequency offsets (30 for the X35 LF coils) in the latest Deus V5.X updates, without introducing no new innovations, it only reflects that the Deus platform has reached the performance limits of the 40-year old VLF technology.

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