Nokta Simplex+ Review

I will tell you straight away why it means a lot to me. The Simplex gave me my first ever hammered coin, a 1571 Elizabeth I half groat, dug out of a clay field on a quiet October morning. Years of detecting, and that was the machine in my hands when it finally happened. That sort of thing colours how you feel about a detector, so take the warmth with that in mind, but everything below is genuinely how I and most owners rate it.

Why a cheap detector caused such a fuss

The Simplex landed and changed what people expected from a budget machine. For not much money you get serious features that used to live on detectors costing two or three times as much, and the community reaction has been overwhelmingly positive for that exact reason. It is, by very broad agreement, one of the easiest detectors to pick up and learn, which matters more than people admit, because a machine you understand quickly is a machine you actually use rather than one that sits in the cupboard intimidating you.

For me the standout features are the practical ones. The wireless headphones, the genuinely brilliant battery life, the light weight and the simple setup all add up to a detector that just gets out of your way. The discrimination is good and the numeric target ID is accurate, which is what lets you make sensible dig-or-leave calls in the field. And being waterproof at a budget price is a big deal, because it means you can chase a signal into wet grass, mud or the shallows without panicking about the control box. A point owners rightly make, and I would echo, is that Nokta kept supporting it with free firmware updates that added features over time. If you buy used, updating the firmware is a sensible first move.

The honest limitations

Two things to be clear-eyed about. First, my own niggle: the stock shaft can feel a touch flimsy. It is not a dealbreaker and plenty of owners never think about it, but it is the one bit of the build that does not feel as solid as the rest.

Second, the bigger one to understand before buying. The Simplex is a single-frequency machine. It does not have the simultaneous multi-frequency tech of pricier detectors, and the consensus is honest about what that means: on heavily mineralised ground and especially on salt beaches, a true multi-frequency machine will have the edge. As a single-frequency VLF the Simplex sits right at the top of its class, so for general inland UK detecting it is more than enough, but if salt-beach hunting is your main game, know that going in.

If I were buying one, and which version

Buying used, check the waterproof seal looks intact and ask about battery health since it is a built-in rechargeable, then update the firmware before you judge it. Beyond that there is not much to go wrong, which is part of the appeal. Worth knowing where the range went, because it affects what you buy. The original Simplex became the Simplex+, and the line has since grown into the The The Simplex Ultra remains a single-frequency Simplex-family detector; buyers wanting simultaneous multi-frequency should compare the Nokta Legend or other SMF models. If multi-frequency matters to you and you are buying new, that is the one to look at. If you just want a brilliant, simple, capable machine and you find a clean original or Simplex+ cheap, you are getting a lot for your money.

Who I would hand one to

This is the detector I point most people at when they ask what to buy on a budget. A beginner who wants something properly capable without spending silly money, or a returning detectorist who wants an easy, reliable, waterproof machine, will be very well served. About the only person I would send elsewhere is the dedicated salt-beach hunter who really needs multi-frequency, and even then the newer Simplex Ultra now answers that.

It gave me my first hammered, so it will always be the one I am soft on. If you have owned one and you see it differently, the contact page is read by a real person.