In this guide we’ll take a look at the best metal detectors for beginners.
We’ve compared ease of use, weight, detecting ability, and cost
to give you our top recommendations.
What Is The Best Metal Detector for Beginners?
More Detailed Metal Detector Reviews
Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker Metal Detector
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Bounty Hunter TK4 Tracker Metal Detector Review
The Bounty Hunter TK4 (great name!) is the best metal detector for beginners on the market!
It has an 8” concentric coil that’s waterproof and fully submersible, but the control box is not. Look out for those larger waves and stay standing in freshwater.
The Bounty Hunter has three search modes – all-metal, tone discrimination, and full discrimination. They don’t take too much understanding so technophobes will get the hang of them quickly. Especially as it has the coveted autotrac ground balance – more on that later.
The modes are switchable. Choose which you want and off you go. All metal will obviously detect everything, full discrimination will ignore low-value targets like iron, and tone discrimination will emit a different tone for each find.
Out of all of my recommendations, I find this one easiest to hold and swing. Its ergonomic setup really suits me and lots of reviewers agree. I’m not sure why because it isn’t the lightest, but it’s certainly well balanced.
If you’re looking for exciting treasure over trash turn the adjustable sensitivity down. Turn it up, and the detector will alert you to everything – sometimes even minerals in the soil.
A good trick is to hold the detector over an item you want to find, maybe a coin for example, and see how far you can turn it down before the detector doesn’t register.
So, the ground balance – this is a real bonus on an entry-level model.
Automatic ground balance sets the Bounty Hunter to your soil conditions and figures out whether it’s highly mineralized or not.
This is a great feature that will save you time and aggravation. Highly mineralized soils tend to give out lots of signals that metal detectors love to pick up. Ground balance means your machine will behave.
The Bounty Hunter measures 28.2 x 10 x 6.2 inches and weighs 3.7 lbs. You’ll need two 9V batteries.
If you’re looking for the best metal detector for beginners that’s fantastic value for money – look no further than the Bounty Hunter TK4.
Pros
- Great for newbies & kids
- Good value for money
- Easy to use
- Sensitivity control that actually works well
- Waterproof coil
- Automatic ground balance
Cons
- No volume control
- No pinpoint mode
Garrett Ace 300 Metal Detector
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Garrett Ace 300 Metal Detector Review
The Garret Ace 300 is recommended everywhere as one of the best metal detectors for beginners.
This machine is simple yet informative and a great place to begin.
It has a large 7 x 10-inch search coil for better depth and discrimination and runs on an 8kHz frequency that you can adjust. 8 kHz means you’ll pick up pretty much everything if you listen closely, but using the kHz finds objects with greater conductivity such as gold.
The search coil is submersible which is a great benefit as you can search in freshwater for dropped jewelry.
Know what you’re searching for? Simply flick a switch to the relevant search mode. There are five to choose from – Jewelry, custom, relics, coins, and no discrimination.
The modes work by turning off segments from the Target ID scale. Other targets will still show up on the digital readout but the audio won’t alert you to it.
And speaking of audio – there are three tone IDs of low, medium, and high so you know what you’ve uncovered without beginning the dig.
The digital target ID function is really handy and not always featured on beginner models. Target ID will provide you with a numerical scale from 0-99. High-frequency metals such as gold register a high reading whereas low frequency like iron will fall lower on the scale.
This helps you pinpoint valuable stuff rather than junk and tin foil.
When you are ready to dig the depth indicator shows how far down you need to go. This is a handy pro and makes the hobby of metal detecting so much more pleasurable.
This package also gives you free headphones, a search coil cover, and an ACE environmental cover-up.
The ACE Garrett 300 weighs 2.8lbs and measures 22x11x6 inches. Its light, ergonomically designed, easy to swing, and sturdy enough for the more professional hobbyist.
You’ll need 4 AA batteries to power up.
For a more detailed Garrett ACE 300 review see here.
Pros
- Great for beginners
- User-friendly
- Depth Indicator
- 5 search function to help pinpoint the finds you want
- Multi-tone audio
Cons
- No adjustable ground balance
- Need to avoid salt water
Fisher F22 Metal Detector
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Fisher F22 Metal Detector Review
The Fisher F22 is another one of the best metal detectors for beginners and well worth your consideration.
It has a 9-inch search coil that’s waterproof and a superfast re-tune speed. Fast re-tune speed means once you’ve found and rejected a signal you can move on to the next without fuss.
Only the best entry-level metal detectors retune themselves quickly, which the Fisher F22 does with ease. It’s a major plus point that reduces boredom.
Discrimination levels are reliable. You can choose between jewelry, coins, artifacts, and custom. This helps you locate the types of objects you most interested in.
Category ID numbers further help you along by indicating the type of metal you have found, such as iron or gold, and the two-digit number target gives a readout of 1-99. High numbers indicate gold, low numbers usually mean junk-type iron.
All this is displayed on a large LCD screen with simple controls.
Audio is a helpful feature and the Fisher F22 had four audio tones you can set to preference.
Audio tones alert you when you’ve found a target. If you set the audio to a high pitch for gold and bass for silver you don’t even have to look at the screen, just keep your eyes applied to the soil.
Other menu controls include a target depth indicator which shows how deep to dig for the target, and a battery level indicator so you’ no caught short.
It measures 22 x 8 x 5 inches and weighs 2.3 pounds – very lightweight and maneuverable. You’ll need 2 x AA batteries to power the detector.
If you’re looking for the best metal detector for beginners that’s ideal for all weathers, the Fisher F22 is a must-have.
Pros
- A waterproof search coil for all weathers
- Multi tone audio
- A large easy to use LCD screen
- Fast retune capability
- Good discrimination modes
Cons
- No manual ground balance
Teknetics EuroTek PRO Metal Detector
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Teknetics EuroTek PRO Metal Detector Review
Waterproof with an 8-inch concentric coil the Teknetics EuroTek PRO is capable of hunting for treasure in wet conditions and in freshwater streams. It’s the best metal detector for beginners that takes iron discrimination to the next level!
Stopping every few feet to dig up iron is what makes or breaks this hobby, so it’s important to get yourself a detector that can discriminate well.
The Teknetiks PRO has variable iron discrimination that you can adjust from 0-39, and FEtone which allows you to adjust the tones emitted from targets. This gives you a better indication of what’s under the soil before you sweat it out digging down.
This machine really doesn’t like iron! It also has an iron identifier LED that lights up when you swing it above yet more coke cans and trash.
Pinpointing is easy too – in some basic models, and more expensive ones, you need to continually move the machine over your suspected target to get a signal, but this one has pinpointing capability that allows you to hold it steady and locate the target easily.
3 tone audio identification can ping out audio tones set to differing metals, so set gold to high for example, and listen for the high-pitched tones.
There’s an adjustable sensitivity so you can fine-tune the machine to suit the soil conditions and your preferences. The very high sensitivity will pick up small earrings for example, but also iron particles in the soil. Not all entry models have this so it’s a top-rated bonus.
Last but not least it has a large no-nonsense LED screen that’s simple to understand.
The Teknetiks Pro measures 50 x 8 x 14 inches and 2.4 pounds. You’ll need a 1 x 9V battery to power up.
Lots of serious hobbyists recommend this machine saying it’s underrated, and that they keep one as a back-up in case their million-dollar machine breaks. That’s got to be a good review!
Pros
- Lightweight
- Easy to use
- Good adjustable sensitivity
- Pinpoint mode
- Waterproof coil
- Large LED screen
Cons
- No ground balancing
- Need to assemble from the box
RM RICOMAX Metal Detector for Adults & Kids
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RM RICOMAX Metal Detector for Adults & Kids Review
If you are looking for a metal detector that detects all metals, this is a reliable one. This metal detector detects copper, aluminum, zinc, gold, and silver on the All-Metal mode.
Reading this metal detector is super easy due to the LCD display. All of the metal detector’s key features are clearly displayed in use so that you can be sure that you are searching for treasure on the modes you desire.
Pros
- Clear LCD display
- Great All-Metal mode
- Easy to identify metals
Cons
- Short battery life
Winbest Pro Edition Metal Detector by BARSKA
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Winbest Pro Edition Metal Detector by BARSKA Review
This metal detector has two operation modes that allow for custom detecting. The detector also has highly sensitive detectors that have the ability to adjust to different terrains, letting you treasure hunt anywhere you like.
If you are concerned about the detector being too loud and alerting others around you when you have a hit, you can use the device with headphones for more privacy. This is ideal for anyone thinking of metal detecting on beaches and in other busy public areas.
Pros
- Adjustable features
- Detects all metals
- It can be used with headphones
- Reliable
Cons
- Falls apart easily
How To Pick The Best Metal Detector For Beginners
New to the hobby? Welcome and good gold to you. We know there’s lots of options out there – but don’t worry, we’re here to help you find the best metal detector for beginners!
As with all hobbies, it takes a while to get hooked, but metal detecting is one of those that can give you a bug fast.
We’ve been practicing for this all our lives with Easter egg hunts and now as grown-ups, we can continue the treasure hunting fun.
In 1874 Gustav Pierre Trouve built the first metal detector that was huge and not particularly successful. These days we have machines that weigh 2lbs and discriminate between different metals but we can still be unsuccessful.
The basics haven’t changed over time and taking potluck is all part of the game.
Still, it makes sense to buy an entry-level machine until you are sure this is the hobby for you.
It doesn’t take a professional metal detector to find treasure. It might help especially when it comes to specifics such as gold nugget hunting, but an entry-level machine will do you proud until you want to upgrade, and they go for a good price on certain auction sites.
Metal detecting is popular because although it’s seen as a solitary pursuit it can also be social.
For example, metal detectorist clubs arrange hunts and compete against each other in time trials, they hold show-and-tell-meetings, and swap tips on internet forums.
Metal detecting is a zoning-out solitary hobby and a social one – it’s whatever you want to make of it.
What Can You Find With a Beginner Metal Detector?
Every squeak, hum, squeal, or flashing LED is a signal telling you what might lie under the soil, but maybe there’s something that really floats your boat?
Plenty of detectorists specialize. There’s no end to internet forums showing off collections.
Here are the main groups:
- Jewelry
- Coins
- Militaria/ Relics
- Gold, silver other precious metals
An entry-level metal detector will pick up all of these metals, but if you want to find a certain type of object, say gold, you’re more likely to find it with a specialized detector that runs a high frequency.
If you want to look for jewelry, rings in particular, you’re likely to find these at the beach where cold fingers shrink and slippery sun cream means jewels work free.
In this case, you’ll need a fully waterproof detector with excellent ground balancing because black sand is highly mineralized, and this can set the detector squealing and popping without a break.
Relics are often made from iron and these can be picked up with pretty much any machine, there’s a lot of iron out there though, so make sure you do your homework and find a site that was host to a battle or barracks.
If you’re looking to get rich, it’s probably not going to happen unless you are really, really lucky, but it’s the thought you might find something amazing that keeps metal detectorists heading out in all weathers.
Where To Go Metal Detecting if You’re New to The Hobby?
Do you have some location ideas?
If not, here are a few suggestions – but always check for permissions first.
The beach: Surfers often lose St Christophers, and cold, wet fingers mean rings just slide off.
Your yard: Simple, easy with no permission required – who knows what’s been left behind over the years.
Parks: Dropped coins and jewelry are waiting for you near the kiosks and benches.
Historical sites for buttons and weaponry discards from the civil war. You’ll need to consult an old map and historical records for this but it’s exciting – a real treasure trail where X marks the spot.
Lots of folks are excited at the thought of prospecting for gold nuggets and wiping out their mortgage in one fell swoop. This is not an easy task, and if you don’t go where gold is known it’s nigh on impossible.
One Final Piece of Advice on Metal Detecting for Beginners
The simple rule for trying to find the best metal detector for beginners is to buy the best you can afford and really get to know how it works.
A budget detector is capable of alerting you to a gold ring and may end up paying for itself, but only if you can understand what it’s saying to you. Luckily, budget machines have less faff and are simpler to understand.
It’s the thrill of the hunt that keeps us all searching, and you get a good time feeling whether you spend $200 or $2,000.
FAQ
When you are looking for the best metal detectors for beginners, it is important to understand as much as you can about metal detecting and treasure hunting. With so many types of metal detectors on the market, it is only natural to get confused about what you should go for.
This frequently asked questions section should help out first-time metal detectors get started and find some gold, coins, or jewelry. Let’s begin.
Q: What metal detector should I use for coin hunting?
A: These are the best metal detectors:
- Fisher F22
- Garrett Ace 300
- Fisher F4
- Bounty Hunter Gold.
Q: What are the best beginner metal detectors on the market?
A: The Fisher F22 is the best entry-level metal detector.
Q: Should beginners use high-end metal detectors?
A: The Bounty Hunter and Fisher F22 are better for beginners than high-end metal detectors.
Q: What features should I look for in a metal detector?
A: Here are some important features to keep an eye on when looking for the best metal detectors:
- Battery life
- Metal mode
- Year warranty
- Good target separation
Q: What can I look for when metal detecting?
A: You will be surprised how many hidden treasures are hidden in wet sand and secret corners. Here are a few you can look out for:
- Gold nuggets
- Coins, jewelry, and relics
- Different types of metal
- Small gold nuggets