XP Deus II Review: The One to Buy If You Walk In to Your Beaches
The Deus II does something no other flagship detector does: it weighs almost nothing, has no cable running down the shaft, and folds into a bag. If your detecting involves a van, a ferry, a bike or a two-mile walk over dunes — and in Scotland it usually does — that matters more than any specification on the box.
Fully wireless — and why it’s not a gimmick
On every other detector, a cable runs from the coil, up the shaft, into the control box. It snags, it wears at the coil end, it is the single most common physical failure point on a metal detector, and it means the machine cannot properly collapse.
XP removed it. The coil talks to the headphones and control unit wirelessly. The consequences compound:
- Around 750 g in the WS6 configuration — roughly 40% lighter than the flagship competition
- Packs genuinely small, with an S-telescopic stem, into a rucksack or a van locker
- Nothing to snag or fray — no cable failure mode at all
- In the WS6 Master package there is no separate remote control at all: the headphone backphone is the control unit, so there is one less thing to lose or flood
The packages, decoded
XP’s naming is genuinely confusing and costs people money. Here is what the UK options actually are:
| Package | UK price (18 Aug 2026) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Deus II WS6 Master | £719 | Coil + WS6 wireless headphones. No separate remote — you control it from the headphones. Our pick. |
| Deus II Master (with RC) | £799 | Adds the handheld remote control with its own screen |
| Deus II full (RC + WS6) | £1,129 | Both remote and wireless headphones |
Coil sizes (9″, 11″, 13×11″) vary the price within each package. Prices from UK specialist retailers, checked 18 August 2026.
It undercuts the Legend 2 by £280 and the Equinox 900 by £330, at broadly comparable performance. If you do not need a separate screen in your hand — and most people do not once they have learned the tones — this is a lot of detector for the money.
On wet salt sand
The Deus II’s Fast Multi-Frequency engine stays stable on wet salt sand, which is the baseline requirement for Scottish beach work, and it is notably quick at separating targets in trashy ground — the reason people rate it around slipways, car parks and old picnic spots where the ratio of junk to good targets is grim.
You can run one of 12 simultaneous multi-frequency factory programs, or drop to any of 49 single frequencies from 4 to 45 kHz when you want to chase something specific. That range is unusual and it is the reason relic and gold hunters like it.
Who it doesn’t suit
Waterproofing depends on the package. XP’s UK listings describe the WS6 Master configurations as weatherproof rather than fully submersible; the coil is fine, but check the exact package rating before you plan to work the surf line. If deep-water use is your priority, an Equinox 900 or Legend 2 with a clear IP68-to-5m rating is the safer buy.
It is not a beginner’s machine. XP’s interface has a reputation for depth and for being unlike anything else. If this is your first detector you will find the learning curve steep, and you will not be using most of what you paid for.
Ready to buy?
Check the exact package before you commit — XP’s naming is genuinely confusing, and the waterproof rating differs between them. The link below is the WS6 Master with the 9-inch coil, which is the configuration we would buy.
Where we stand
We tour Scotland in a motorhome, and from that perspective the Deus II is the obvious flagship. The beaches worth detecting up here are frequently at the end of a track — Machrihanish, the Kintyre Way shore, half of Caithness — and a machine that folds into a bag and weighs three-quarters of a kilo changes what you are willing to walk to.
Buy it if you carry your gear, you have detected before, and packing size and weight are real constraints. Don’t buy it if this is your first machine, or if you specifically want to detect underwater — check the package’s waterproof rating carefully first.
Before you buy — check the law where you’ll detect
Compare with
- Nokta Legend 2 — £999.95. More machine, more weight, clearer waterproofing.
- Minelab Equinox 900 — £1,049. The proven beach standard.
- Our full beginner’s guide — what the hobby is really like in Scotland.
Checked 18 August 2026. XP package naming changes and waterproof ratings differ between configurations, so read the exact listing before ordering. No sponsorship, no freebies.