How Good is the Minelab XTerra Pro vs Nokta?

How Good is the Minelab XTerra Pro vs Nokta?

Minelab released the Xterra Pro in a direct counterattack to the Nokta Simplex. The Nokta Simplex being one of the best selling, highest quality detectors in its price-range. 

The Nokta Simplex was an unbeatable $270-dollar single-frequency detector, fully waterproof up to 3-meters, with many features that even high-end detectors didn’t have. Until now…

Minelab ingeniously added 3 selectable single frequencies to the Xterra Pro, to move it above the Nokta Simplex in capabilities. 

To understand more about the differences, see the graph below of the Xterra Pro vs the Nokta Simplex

Why are Adjustable Single Frequencies Important?

Being able to toggle between single frequencies is important for a number of reasons. 

• Some frequencies experience less EMI than others. If you are in a hunting environment where EMI levels are causing your detector to be erratic, you have the option to switch to a more stable frequency. (Note, this is different than doing a noise cancel, which is also available to do). 
• Certain frequencies are better suited for specific types of hunting. For instance, lower frequencies like 5kHz are often said to have better reaction to high conductors like silver dimes. However, lower frequencies may be more susceptible to EMI. While higher frequencies like 10 and 15kHz might be more reactive to copper, brass, and gold. Higher frequencies tend to be more stable with EMI, and in the writer's experience run quieter in highly mineralized soil. 

Why are Tones Important? 

Target tones are a type of discrimination.Each tone has a specific pitch. More often than not a tone will represent a group of Target ID numbers (TID), and therefore a group of targets. 

Tone 1 might be from TID 0–25 for example, Tone 2 TID 26–50, etc.. 

Some machines offer an “All-Tone” mode where every TID number is assigned a slightly different pitch. This makes for a very harmonic detecting experience and can be confusing to newcomers, and very useful to seasoned experts. 

For simplicity, a 2 or 3 tone machine can be great, especially for new detectorists who don’t want to be overwhelmed by noise. However as you grow with your machine it is important to have more tone options so that you can better discriminate between targets with your ears. 

Xterra Pro vs Nokta Simplex Recovery Speed 

Contrary to what some might think, the Nokta Simplex does have recovery speed, it’s just an uncustomizable setting that you as the user will never see. Only Nokta knows how fast that recovery speed actually is. 

Whereas the Xterra Pro has three recovery speed settings. Higher levels of recovery speed are great for high trash conditions and allow you to separate targets more easily. Lower recovery speed settings get you more depth, but mean you have to slow your swing speed down so you don’t miss deep iffy targets. 

Adjustable recovery speed gives you the advantage of being able to customize your detector to specific environments. 

Minelab did pull one more sneaky trick over Nokta to edge out more depth–they put a 12” inch coil on the Xterra Pro. In good ground, that might give a good advantage in depth. In highly mineralized ground a larger coil might have a small edge in depth. 

In Nokta’s defense, they are coming out with a new Simplex series including the Simplex BT and the Simplex Ultra!

If you are interested in more details about the Xterra Pro CLICK HERE!