Garrett ACE 200 Review (Nov 2023)

Garrett ACE 200 Metal Detector Review

Garrett’s Ace 200 is an entry-level model that’s replaced the discontinued ACE 150.

It’s a low cost, simple-to-use metal detector suitable for beginners and even mature kids, but it still has Garrett’s build quality and reliability.

The ACE 200 is usually available for around $150, but that doesn’t mean you’ll miss out on great targets. There’s plenty of tech to uncover hidden metals.

If you’re looking for a machine that’ll hunt in saltwater and wet sand this isn’t for you as mineralized ground will send out so many false-positive tones you’ll lose the will.

But if you want a well-priced reliable VLF metal detector with quality build this is the best around for the price point.

Features and Benefits of the Garrett ACE 200

Controls

Garrett’s ACE range has a simple easy-to-use control box with clearly labeled buttons.

The ACE 200 has three buttons. Mode, sensitivity, and power. The power button is pretty obvious – it’s the on-off button.

Mode we’ll talk about below and sensitivity, well, that helps you hone in on targets with more accuracy on good hunting ground. If you’re on mineralized ground, turn that sensitivity down or it’ll be falsing and sending out squeals.

What you’ll be looking at for the most time is the identification scale. This is Garrett’s numeric target ID and it’ll tell you what you’ve found before digging.

The display is scored on a 0 – 99 scale and the number that flashes up when you hit a target shows what metal it’s made from – silver, bronze, or iron for example. Then on the vertical side is a display indicating the depth it’s buried.

This is good tech for an entry-level metal detector.

Frequency

The ACE 200 works on a fixed 6.5 kHz frequency that’s best suited to coins and jewelry.

Modes

Let’s talk modes.

The ACE 200 has fewer modes than its big brothers, but they are (in my opinion anyway) the best ones of the bunch.

You get zero disc mode which is the ‘search for everything’ option, coin mode, and jewelry mode.

Coin and jewelry modes filter out any iron signals and focus on metal that coins and jewelry are most often made from such as gold, brass, copper, bronze and silver.

These modes will help no end in your quest for buried treasure. Use them and you WILL find decent targets.

Waterproofing

The Ace 200 is not waterproof so don’t drop it in a river or let the control box get drenched in a storm. You should be wary of setting it down on wet grass too.

The search coil is waterproof and submersible to a few inches which means you can hunt in a creek or on the banks of a river for example.

Audio

When hunting with the ACE 200 you’ll hear three tones.

These are upgraded from the ACE 150’s tones to include ‘pulse width modulation’ which gives sharper more responsive audio. A low tone indicates low conductivity like iron and a high tone means higher conductivity such as a coin.

You’ll get used to the audio really fast and it makes a nice change from constantly looking at the control box. Forgot your glasses? No problem, just listen.

This is the only ACE that doesn’t come with headphones as standard and you’ll want some of those unless you like an audience.

Ground Balance

There’s ground balancing on the ACE 200 but it’s pre-set and you can’t change it.

To be fair, this is a good move for a beginner’s metal detector as manually adjusting ground balance is both boring and time-consuming.

The Ace 200’s fixed ground balancing works well on the majority of soils, but avoids wet sand and highly mineralized grounds.

Where Is Best To Use The Garrett ACE 200?

VLF machines don’t like salty water, wet sand, and highly mineralized ground. This means you should avoid the beach unless you stick to dry sand. If you want to search wet sand save up for Garrett’s ATX.

You could use this machine in the bleachers, parks, gardens, fields, dry sand, and shallow freshwater courses.

What Will The ACE 200 Find?

This detector is built to uncover coins and jewelry but it’ll find other targets such as relics and trash down to a depth of around six inches. Pop on the correct mode to enhance your chances.

Gold nuggets are the dream of course, but it’s unlikely you’ll find one with the ACE 200 as it’s a VLF machine not suited to ‘wild gold’ land. Gold rings, well that’s a different story!

Coils

As standard, the ACE 200 has Garrett’s 6.5″ x 9″ concentric PROformance coil which is powerful enough to pick up all metals and gives mid-range ground coverage.

This machine will also fit other coils in the ACE range such as the bigger 9 x 12-inch PROformance or the smaller Super Sniper 4.5 inch.

No coil is better than another, they just better suit your target preference and search ground.

How The ACE 200 Compares to Other Garrett Detectors?

The ACE 200 is Garrett’s entry model in the ACE series. Start here if you’re a beginner or want a decent detector for your child. It’s easy to use as it has fewer features to confuse you.

However, if you’re looking for a slightly more advanced model, consider the ACE 300 or ACE 400.

That said, plenty of experienced detectorists rate the ACE 200 for its simplicity, low cost, and high target pick up rate.

For a more detailed comparison between ACE 200 vs ACE 300 see here.

Other Important Bits

It’s easy to get bogged down in specifics when you’re looking for the best metal detector, but don’t forget these basic bits of information.

Weight and Length

The ACE 200 weighs 2.75 pounds and adjusts from 40 inches to 53 inches which is comparable with the rest of the ACE series and pretty lightweight even after a day of swinging.

Batteries

You’ll need 4 x AA batteries which can last up to 40 hours. I’d recommend keeping a spare set in your bag just in case.

Warranty

There’s a two-year warranty on the ACE 200.

What Are The Cons of Garrett ACE 200?

I don’t like talking about the cons of the ACE 200 because it‘s the beginner model and of course, it won’t have the same high-tech features as its more expensive brothers.

If pushed I’d say that being able to adjust ground balance is something that comes quite quickly when you enjoy the sport and the ACE 200’s ground balancing is fixed.

It also doesn’t have the iron filtering capabilities or pinpointing function of its big brothers and you may find yourself digging more trash that you’d hoped.

Plus there are no headphones included in the pack which I think is a bit tight-fisted of Garrett because everyone needs headphones in the field so they can hear what their machine is telling them.

Conclusion

I’d recommend Garrett’s ACE 200 to beginners and mature kids. It’s a powerful machine with everything you need to enjoy a day’s detecting but without the bells and whistles that serious hobbyists want.

Plus the price – I mean you can pick it up for under $150 and that’s a bargain buy.