Nokta The Legend Metal Detector Review, p. 2
Why I Consider the Nokta Legend My Primary Coin and Relic Detector
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• PRO #2:
Sufficient Assortment of 5 Search Coils (shown in the picture) - The Legend's coil options include two 'sniper' coils - 6"/15cm Round Double-D coil (Nokta LG15) and 9.5x6"/24x15cm Elliptical Double-D coil (Nokta LG24), 11"/28cm Round Double-D coil (Nokta LG28), a stock coil - 12x9"/30x23cm Elliptical Double-D (Nokta LG30), and 13.5x12.5"/35x31.5cm Elliptical Double-D coil (Nokta LG35).
This selection of search coils produced by Nokta itself is optimal because it undoubtedly covers the entire spectrum of metal detecting tasks and all possible metal detection situations. In other words, there is a coil for any search conditions you may encounter when detecting coins/relics.
Compared to its competitors, the Legend has the largest assortment of search coils. And this, of course, gives the Nokta Legend a huge advantage over all competing multi-frequency metal detectors.
For instance, the XP Deus 2 metal detector does not have a 'sniper' search coil in its limited assortment of coils and therefore cannot compete with the Legend in the 'nail blanket' areas. The three searchcoils XP produces for the Deus 2 are 9"/22cm Round DD, 11"/28cm Round DD and 13x11"/33x28cm Elliptical DD.
The Minelab Equinox 900 metal detector also has only 3 search coils in its assortment of coils made by Minelab: 6"/15cm Round DD, 11"/28cm Round DD and 15x12"/38x30cm Elliptical DD. And there are also only 3 coils for Minelab Manticore - 8x5.5"/20x14cm Elliptical DD, 11"/28cm Round DD and 15x12"/38x30cm Elliptical DD.
If users of these two Minelab metal detectors need search coils that are different in size from the factory-made ones, they have no choice but to look for them on the aftermarket. However, aftermarket coils are not fine-tuned individually to any particular metal detector and therefore may cause reduced performance.
If the search conditions in your hunt sites do not vary much or your metal detecting objectives come down to only two or three, you do not need to have all five search coils available for the Legend. For example, in my case of coin/relic hunting mostly in the fields and in former homestead sites in wooded areas, I use the 9.5x6" (LG24) and the 12x9" (LG30) coils - the highest performers in my hunt sites.
The LG24 elliptical search coil provides some of the advantages of both LG15 and LG30 search coils. It provides excellent target separation similar to the LG15 coil, while providing greater area coverage and detection depth (close to that of the LG30 coil). And the LG30 elliptical search coil also provides adequate target separation while giving a broader sweep (covers more area) similar to that of the LG35 coil. Elliptical coils always give a great advantage. Both LG24 and LG30 coils are capable of finding the largest and smallest of targets.
Once in a while, I use the 13.5x12.5" (LG35) coil to locate a coin cache when its presence is indicated by various clues at the site. And I use the 'sniper' 6"/15cm coil (LG15) in areas heavily littered with nails ('nail blankets') and/or other iron rubbish ('iron blankets'). This coil is a real "silver slayer" in areas heavily littered with iron junk or a mixture of iron and non-ferrous trash.
Most trashy huntsites require the use of two or three different search coils. It is best to purchase the required coils along with additional lower shaft - this will save you lots of time when frequently changing coils during the search.
• PRO #3:
Attachable Spare Battery/Power Bank - Considering the Legend's low battery runtime (on average 12 hours) - which is the bane of all multi-frequency metal detectors today, the attachable spare battery is a must-have accessory. Another good reason to take it with you on every hunt is that you may miscalculate the remaining runtime of the built-in battery and end up with a dead battery in the middle of the hunt.
This has happened to me unexpectedly several times because the bars inside the battery icon are not designed to indicate a truly critically low battery level. Unfortunately, there is also no 'Low Battery' advance warning. A second before the battery is completely depleted, you will only hear a double low beep, the message 'Lo' will appear on the display, and the Legend will shuts down immediately!
When connected to the detector, the spare battery acts as a power bank that recharges the internal battery during metal detecting. This is definitely a clever solution to the common problem of the detector's internal battery draining when there is no way to recharge it in the field.
The charging time for the spare battery is longer than the charging time for the internal battery/power bank. Charging a depleted internal battery using a 5V 2A USB power adapter takes approximately 3-4 hours. Expect it to take 5-6 hours to charge a drained spare battery using the same adapter.
• PRO #4:
Unbelievably Long Battery Life of Wireless Headphones - I was really surprised to find out that the built-in battery of the Nokta wireless headphones can last 65 hours on a full charge! I used the Legend's 'Time Tracking' feature to determine such an insanely long battery runtime.
If I want to use the Legend with wireless headphones for six hours a day, these headphones will function almost 11 days without recharging! For comparison, the battery life of the Minelab Manticore headphones (ML105) is 35-40 hours, the Minelab Equinox headphones (ML85) - 35-40 hours, and the XP Deus 2 headphones (WS6, WSA II and WSA II XL) - only 14-17 hours.
• PRO #5:
The Legend's performance does not deteriorate in sub-zero temperatures - At the end of the 2023 season, I searched for coins/relics using the Legend until the first wet snow began to fall in mid-November. Temperatures dropped to -5°C (23°F) at night, and this was the best chance to test the Legend's performance in sub-zero temperatures.
Since the instruction manual does not specify an operating temperature range in the technical specifications section, I was not sure if the Legend would withstand freezing temperatures. Some modern metal detectors, including XP Deus 1 and 2, become dysfunctional at sub-zero temperatures. To my joy, the Legend withstood them very well as there were no glitches in the LCD screen, and the detector's performance did not deteriorate.
Unfortunately, I had to end the season when thick snow finally covered the ground, but the temperature had not yet dropped below -5°C. So, I was unable to determine the lower limit of the Legend's operating temperature range. But further testing at lower temperatures was not that important because, based on my own experience with 'winter metal detection', I can say that metal detecting in temperatures below -5°C is inconvenient and impractical unless you are metal detecting in wooded areas where the ground freezes to a depth of only 2-3 inches.
The main reason I do not recommend testing the Legend's sub-zero temperature limit during winter metal detecting is that the battery life of the built-in Li-Po battery may be permanently reduced by freezing temperatures. And this will be a big problem since the Legend's battery is not easy to replace.
• PRO #6:
The Lowest Price compared to all competing metal detectors makes the Nokta Legend the most affordable, high-performance, professional-grade multi-frequency metal detector on the market today. This is especially important when it is necessary to buy two more search coils - a 'sniper' coil and a large coil, in addition to the stock coil of a medium size in order to cover all possible coin/relic hunting situations.
The total price of the Legend with two optional search coils is around $1,068.00/€998.00 (MSRP). For comparison, let's look at how much it will cost to buy a competitor's metal detector with two additional coils. The Minelab Equinox 900 with two additional searchcoils will cost you $1,820.00/€1,701.00. The XP Deus 2 with two additional coils would go for $2,502.00/€2,333.00! And the price of the Minelab Manticore with two optional coils will be $2,985.00/€2,790.00!
Considering the Legend's remarkable capabilities that I have discovered through using this detector, experimenting with it, and field testing it together with several high-end machines, I can only say that the Legend is insanely underpriced!
• PRO #7:
The Most Advanced Tonal Discrimination - The level of effectiveness of any tonal metal detector, which is what the Nokta Legend primarily is, depends on the advancement level of its assortment of Tone Settings that are the basis for Tonal Discrimination. This level is reflected by the number of key features that allow the user to discern desired targets mostly by ear and use only fewer traditional techniques to verify questionable iron and non-ferrous targets in the most difficult cases.
Using Tonal Discrimination is the key to the most successful coin and non-iron relic hunting with the Legend. Tonal Discrimination allows you to maximize results while maintaining REASONABLE ear-friendly audio set to suit ANY personal preference and not discriminating out undesirable metal objects. The latter means using 'Zero-Discrimination' (Discrimination pattern 'A') to avoid missing many desired targets.
Fortunately, the Legend's Tonal Discrimination incorporates not only all the standard 'Tone' features available in today's technology, but also a couple of innovative settings such as 'Deep Target Identification' ('dt') and 'Beast Mode' that no one has ever dreamed of before. These two features, combined with key 'tonal' settings, allow the Legend to not only be on par with the competition, but also to outperform the most advanced multi-frequency detectors in tonal differentiation and verification of targets.
Of all the advanced tone metal detectors I have used so far, the Legend is the only one that has such surprisingly all-inclusive Tonal Discrimination. The Legend offers absolutely all the standard 'Tone' settings that can be found in modern metal detectors: Number of Tones, Tone Volume, Tone Frequency, Tone Break, Threshold Level, and Threshold Frequency.
For example, the 'Number of tones' setting alone gives the user several important advantages. As this setting offers 6 options ('1-Tone', '2-Tone', '4-Tone', '6-Tone' (unique to the Legend!), '60-Tone' and 'P' (Tone Pitch)), the user can create and automatically SAVE 5 customizable 'tonal-discrimination' patterns for target verification in each Discriminate search mode! The '60-Tone' and 'P' options are included in the pattern-creating options group because in the Legend they can be divided into 2 zones, just like the '2-Tone' option.
The 'tonal-discrimination' pattern is created by dividing the Target ID scale (the Discrimination/Conductivity scale) into 2-6 audio zones of different ranges. In each zone, the user can assign specific audio characteristics to desired or unwanted targets with corresponding VDI read-outs. This helps the user not only maintain comfortable audio and easily distinguish good targets from bad ones during the search, but also verify questionable good targets on the go by quickly switching between any of the 6 specially configured 'Number of Tones' settings in the currently used Discriminate search mode.
Competitors' metal detectors do not provide the same advantages in verification and tonal differentiation of targets as those provided by the Legend. The maximum number of customizable 'tonal-discrimination' patterns that XP Deus or Minelab users can create is only 3. And these patterns are not saved automatically!
Additionally, the maximum number of audio zones in the Deus or Minelab 'tonal-discrimination' patterns can only be 5 (the '5-Tone' setting), unlike the Legend which allows you to create a 6-tone pattern. One extra customizable tone makes a big difference, especially when it comes to verifying iron objects that typically produce false positives, or identifying deep, high-conductivity coins that produce a 'wrap-around' effect.
By using Legend's Tonal Discrimination to its full potential, along with other key features, the user can create a wide variety of search sub-programs to successfully complete virtually any coin/relic hunting task that may arise during the search process. Not to mention several metal detecting tasks that, prior to the Legend's appearance, had been impossible to program and therefore impossible to perform with less advanced metal detectors. With those machines, only using old-school, time-consuming methods could save the day.
Of course, my statement about the Legend's ability to perform absolutely all coin hunting tasks is very subjective as it is based solely on my own experience using the Legend only in my local hunt sites. Since these sites represent a limited variety of search conditions, including the most challenging ones, I have no way of knowing whether the Legend could be programmed to operate effectively under other adverse conditions found in other parts of the world.
For me, the Legend's multi-functional Tonal Discrimination makes this machine a top-notch tone detector and is certainly the basis for the Legend's surprisingly wide, if not the widest, range of customization (see below).
My Review Continues on the Next Page > > > 3 Main Pros of the Legend