All Products
Shovels, Diggers & Picks
Eight machines, picked by the people who answer the phone here. These are the detectors our staff hand back to customers most often once they hear where someone hunts and what they want to find — a short list rather than a catalog, spanning a first waterproof kit through the current flagships from Minelab, Nokta, and XP. Every one ships from an authorized US dealer with the full manufacturer warranty.
Want the full range and filters by price, terrain, and technology? See all metal detectors.
This is not a ranking, and nothing buys its way onto it. It is the short list of machines that come up again and again when a customer describes their ground and their budget on the phone — the ones that get recommended, get bought, and do not come back. The selection is deliberately small and covers the useful range: a couple that make sense as a first detector, several in the middle where most hunters end up staying, and a few flagships for people who already know exactly what they are missing. It gets revisited whenever manufacturers refresh their lineups, so what sits on this page reflects what we would actually put in your hands today rather than what was current two seasons ago.
An entry pick has to do one thing above all: get you detecting on day one instead of reading menus. That means preset or simple ground balance, a clear target ID, a waterproof coil, and often a kit that includes the bits you would otherwise have to order separately. The step up from there adds multi-frequency performance and a more capable coil, which is the choice for someone who suspects the hobby will stick. If nothing at this level quite fits your budget, the wider range is under beginner and intermediate detectors, with price-sorted options in under $200 and $200 to $400.
This is the tier that quietly wins, and where the majority of serious hobbyists stop upgrading. The machines here bring simultaneous multi-frequency, real waterproofing rather than splash resistance, dedicated modes for parks, fields, and beaches, and often a second coil in the box — which is the difference between owning a detector and owning a setup. Weight and balance matter as much as any spec at this level, because a comfortable machine gets swung for six hours and a heavy one does not. Compare the full tier under multi-frequency detectors and $400 to $1,000.
Flagships are for hunters who have logged the hours and know precisely what they are missing. Expect the strongest processing available, refined audio and target separation, deep customization for people who want to tune every parameter, full waterproofing, and complete kits that bundle multiple coils and accessories. These are the machines people move to when they are convinced there is still something under a site they have already worked hard. The rest of this class is under advanced and expert detectors and $1,000 to $3,000.
Where you hunt narrows the field faster than any spec comparison. Salt sand and surf reward multi-frequency and a real waterproof rating — see beach metal detectors and waterproof and underwater machines. Mineralized goldfields are their own category entirely, covered under gold detectors. Old homesites, farm fields, and battlefields call for target separation in iron, which is the territory of relic and treasure detectors.
We are an authorized US dealer for every brand we carry, which means factory warranties, manufacturer support, and new models on release day. Full lineups, coils, and accessories are on the Minelab, Nokta, XP, Garrett, and Fisher brand pages.
Treat these as a shortlist, not a verdict. If one of them matches how you would describe your own hunting, you can stop reading and buy it. If none quite fits, the full catalog with filters for price, terrain, waterproof rating, and technology is on all metal detectors, and the long-form comparisons and category-by-category recommendations live in our complete metal detector buying guide.
Tell us where you hunt. Soil type, how wet you plan to get, and what you are hoping to pull out of the ground narrow a shortlist to one machine faster than any spec sheet. Call (844) 771-0707, Monday to Friday 10am–4pm ET, or come handle them in person at our Ypsilanti, Michigan showroom before you spend the money.
Get real answers from outdoor explorers and our product experts. Browse questions about performance, features, and setup —or ask your own to make sure this gear fits your next adventure.
Visit our Ypsilanti, MI store to handle metal detectors before you buy. Authorized US dealer.
