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C.Scope CS6MXi vs Nokta Legend vs XP ORX
C.Scope CS6MXi vs Nokta Legend vs XP ORX – I recently decided to take a closer look at the range of metal detectors offered by C.Scope in comparison to their competitors. After all not only are C.Scope a British company who design and build their detectors here in the UK but a C.Scope was my first ever metal detector back in the 1970’s with their IB100.
The thing is that over the years they have gone from the leading UK brand to being something of a somewhat overlooked minority brand with the likes of Nokta, XP and Minelab completely dominating the market, but are C.Scope actually something of secret weapon out there that ‘if you know, you know’?
So I have decided to compare the C.Scope CS6MXi with two more mainstream machines that sit at a similar price point. The C.Scope CS6MXi can be purchased for around the £650 mark. Now this is actually a price point that sits right in the middle of most mainstream manufacturers ranges.
For example Minelab have nothing here. The Vanquish 540 is available for just £429, but the next model up, the Equinox 700 starts at £799 with nothing between the two so we don’t have a Minelab at the price to compare it with. Maybe the cheaper Vanquish is better than the C.Scope, but maybe that’s a challenge to play out another time?
Nokta are of course hugely popular, but they are currently putting their main focus into the starter end of the market with the Score models. The closest Nokta in price is the impressive Legend at around £599.
Then we have the other heavyweight brand XP, who really focus on the higher end of the market with the amazing Deus II, their entry level model is the XP ORX also at £599.
So here we have our contenders, the C.Scope CS6MXi, the Nokta Legend and the XP ORX. On paper the C.Scope doesn’t stand a chance, it is not only the most expensive of the three, but it also seems to be the most basic machine here, it doesn’t even have a display, it only has one frequency and just has 5 twiddly knobs to play with! How can it stand a chance against these other two? Well lets find out if the C.Scope has something special up its sleeve, because surely there has to be a reason why people buy it? Is it just blind brand loyalty, or is there really something else about this machine that most of us are overlooking?
Let’s just do a quick over view of the features of each machine first.
Nokta Legend
- Simultaneous Multiple Frequencies
- Fully submersible waterproof everything
- Weighs 1.4kg
- Large clear digital display
- 4 search modes
- USB rechargeable
- Target ID depth
- 99 discrimination levels
- 30 sensitivity settings
- 20 hour battery life
XP ORX
- Selectable multiple frequencies depending on which coil you are using
- Wireless and incredibly lightweight at just 870g
- 23 hour battery life
- USB rechargeable
- 99 discrimination levels
- 99 sensitivity setting
C.Scope CS6MXi
- Single frequency – 17kHz
- Weighs 1.45kg
- 30-40 hour battery life
- 10 discrimination levels
- 10 sensitivity levels
So what does that brief overview of the main features tell us? Well on paper, the only thing going for the C.Scope is its battery life…but is it?
The thing is these are three very different machines and once you have got used to your machine and understand what it is telling you, you will find things and you will very likely tell everyone that it is better than anything else on the market. Nokta Legend users will tell you that it is better than anything from Minelab or XP. Personally I am a great fan of the XP ORX, I am completely at one with the machine and never fail to find great things with it. But are we missing something with the C.Scope?
Yes it doesn’t have a display screen like the other two, but display screens are always secondary to the tone that a metal detector makes, so if the tones are accurate and precise, how important is a display?
It only has a single frequency, but is that important? Well yes, you can argue that a machine running on multiple frequencies at once has to be better than just one frequency, but of course, only if you can work out what the machine is trying to tell you from those multiple frequencies and if it can separate signals and identify signals.
With the ORX you have to choose one frequency from those available and use that. My go to frequency is 17kHz, exactly the same as the C.Scope. I still dig iron, and foil, I kind of know when I am, but still dig it, just to be sure.
The C.Scope’s special power is in its preciseness, you can dial out anything you don’t want to find on those simple twiddly dials. It can separate the smallest of targets, deep targets. You know what you are digging before you dig. Will you miss anything good? Very unlikely, if you pass the coil over it, you will almost certainly detect it. It is actually a pretty simple, very powerful and precise machine.
The Cutting Edge in Metal Detecting
Comparing the three, the Nokta Legend is like a Swiss Army knife, it is great at doing lots of things and will suit many detectorists who want a solid reliable all terrain machine for detecting when they want to just drop everything and go detecting.
The XP ORX is like a steak knife, lightweight, sharp, nimble and easy to use. It is one that you can learn and grow with, that will find you some amazing things.
The C.Scope is more like a surgeon’s scalpel, precise, accurate and thorough. I know which blade I would want to use to take an appendix out, or in the metal detecting world to find that tiny cut half in a vast field of trash.
So to sum up, at this price range all three of these detectors have something to offer, but if I was going to rank them in order of preference, I surprisingly might just be tempted to put the C.Scope in first place because I think that if you take the time to learn and understand it, it just might be your surprise secret weapon out there in the fields.
I can’t wait to take the CS6MXi out onto some fields that I had previously done to death….. or ones I previously thought I had!
