Manticore Metal Detector

Minelab Manticore

The Perfect Beast

If you’ve been around metal detecting for even a short while, you’ve probably heard rumours from other detectorists about the New Minelab and maybe even talk of a metal-detecting beast! Well, both of these rumours are true, as in September 2022 Minelab announced their new flagship coin and treasure detector, the Manticore.

The Manticore is a high-performance metal detector which sits in the higher echelons of the Minelab detecting hierarchy. This is the next generation of metal detectors, both physically in its construction and through its power and intelligence.

Physical Composition

The Minelab Metal Detector range is quite diverse in terms of aesthetics, in this regard they’ve always been very considerate, and not lazy when it comes to product design. If we compare for example the Go Find range, with their portable, boxy style with that of the very, loud and dramatic red, angular styling of the Vanquish range and then finally into the elegant, slimline, cool grey styling of the Equinox series you can see diversity in construction and market potential. We think Minelab have catered to another segment of the detecting community with the design of Manticore, we’ve reached what we would describe as, tactical or stealth mode and this is reflected in the almost military and advancing colour and construction.

Telescopic

Feeling somewhat like a toy for a 00’ agent, due to its lightweight, black carbon fibre stem the Manticore reduces down to the size of a dumbbell. Gone are the days of worrying about detector length, and having to angle your machine into the boot of your car, or purchase telescopic aftermarket shafts, 

Then there’s another spy-like feature, its waterproof nature. The Equinox & CTX3030 series were waterproof to 3 metres, but this has been expanded to 5 metres. The 5-metre waterproof rating seems slightly un-impressive, but please take the time to appreciate that in metres, particularly depth, that 5 metres is a very significant amount.

The Scorpion Arm Rest, despite its daunting name, has become one of our most cherished features of the machine. Its comfort is unparalleled; it cradles your arm in a manner unlike any other detector. This exceptional comfort is likely attributed to the flexible material and inner cushioning, as well as the machine's noted lightweight design and excellent balance.

Multi-IQ+

More power didn’t just mean more power in the coil, it meant more power in the brain too. We don’t yet know the specifics, and maybe never will, of how Multi-IQ+ differs from Minelab's first version of Multi-IQ found in the Equinox and Vanquish series. We do know however that the increase in pre-sets requires more in terms of how Multi-IQ+ processes and delivers information. Also, in terms of general processing, there are a lot of neat, configurable characteristics (see below) within the machine, which aren’t relevant to Multi-IQ+ but must be enabled by an increase in general processing power.

Configurability

You can configure anything on this detector that you would expect with other sophisticated metal detectors such as Equinox, but there’s a lot more to be tinkered with if you so wish. Here’s a great example of how adjustable this machine is to the user’s preferences.

We really believe Minelab have sat back and watched and learned from the metal detecting industry with the Manticore. There have been some good competitor machines over the last 18 months, but to some degree, they’ve been the same generation of detectors that we already had in the industry. As a metal detecting retailer, we regularly see detectorists looking to improve their machines physically, making them more portable, stylish, stronger or lighter, but that’s just not going to be needed now. The Manticore is strong, light, very portable and looks amazing.

Ease of Use

The Equinox 800 comes with 4 pre-set modes, field, park, beach and gold and although is a brilliantly versatile machine can also be used by a beginner with little training. The CTX3030 in contrast requires a little more time invested to decipher the received information. 

The Manticore combats this by having a few more pre-set modes and adapting the previous 2D ID mapping system of the CTX3030 into a much simpler, and easier-to-read system (more on this in a minute).

The telescopic nature of the shaft, quick locking bolts, and quickly adjustable scorpion armrest even mean that physically, it’s simple to set up and adjust. We know that Minelab spent a particularly long time on the main pre-set. They aimed to create a machine which was as optimised as possible for the widest variety of detecting situations.

Pre-set modes available:

• 5 x All-Terrain Modes
• 4 x Beach Modes
• 1 x Goldfield Mode

Minelab has also examined its suite of metal detectors and pulled the best elements from across its range. Their new offering is as deep, lighter and more intelligent than the CTX3030, and according to Minelab themselves, surpasses the Equinox range in every way.

It’s hard not to be excited about the Manticore. This is not just hype, this is the future of metal detecting.