The Garrett AXIOM vs Minelab GPX 6000

The Garrett AXIOM vs. Minelab GPX 6000 and why I was EXCITED when the AXIOM was announced!

ATX vs. AXIOM

The Garrett ATX was under-appreciated and misunderstood. When it first came out Garrett suffered because the ATX got a bad rep for having a faulty cable. 

When Garrett fixed the issue but didn’t admit there had been a problem, it was too late because the damage had already been done. 

The ATX is an incredibly balanced detector. Many people say it is too heavy. The misunderstanding here is that imbalance detectors do way more harm than heavy, balanced detectors. 

For example, would you hold a long ultra-light pole with a weight at the end of it for hours? Or would you hold a heavier pole directly in the middle with two balanced weights on both ends for hours? 

This is what balance means. 

A coil is exponentially heavier than its actual weight the farther out away from you it is on a detecting shaft. That has to be balanced, and a carbon fiber rod will barely make a difference. 

The Axiom shaft and coil are extremely light, and Garrett still kept the battery pack under the elbow to balance the weight of the coil.

The Garrett ATX is Deep–the AXIOM will be DEEPER!

My boss did a test with multiple gold detectors: 

The Garrett ATX VS Minelab GPZ 7000 VS Minelab SDC 2300, VS Minelab GPX 5000. 

They found that the Garrett ATX was only slightly less deep than many of these detectors, and in some cases had better results! 

The Garrett Axiom then should be extremely powerful and an excellent runner up to the Minelab GPX 6000, and at a much better cost. 

Garrett Axiom vs. GPX 6000 

Waterproof vs Rainproof

It sickens me that Garrett only made the Axiom control box “rainproof”. Garret most likely did this so that the fully waterproof ATX did not become obsolete. However, they shot themselves in the foot with an important feature that could have edged the Axiom over the GPX 6000. 

Similar to the Axiom, the GPX 6000 has a rainproof, or water resistant control box. 

Weight

The GPX 6000 weighs in at 4.6 lbs, while the Garrett Axiom is 4.2lbs (with mono coils on). 

Special Features

The Garrett Axiom has four detection modes (Fine, Normal, Large, and Salt), whereas the GPX 6000 has only two. 

The Axiom also has three recovery speed options, and two different tone options. 

The Axiom has an actual iron discrimination feature “Iron Check”, which can only be activated when using a DD coil. 

The GPX 6000 performs much better in heavy mineralization and EMI with a DD coil, but it does not have actual iron discrimination. 

The GPX 6000 has Auto & Auto+ Sensitivity. Auto provides smoother audio, and Auto+ gives you higher sensitivity revealing weaker signals. 

Collapsibility 

• Axiom: 25” inches
• GPX 6000: 30” inches

Battery Life

• Axiom 16hrs. 
• GPX 6000 8hrs on one Lithium ion battery, with an option to stack another additional one for an additional 8 hours (at a cost of course). 

At first glance it might look like an obvious win for Garrett. However, it is important not to underestimate the simplicity of the GPX 6000. 

Minelabs are incredibly capable machines in heavy iron mineralization, with or without special features. 

We won’t know definitive answers until it is released for testing, but I think the Garrett Axiom will be a very tough challenger in the gold detecting industry.