Minelab ML105 Review: One Wireless Set for Four Machines

Because of timing. A detector tells you about a target through a tone that has to coincide with where the coil is at that instant. Standard Bluetooth introduces a delay that is irrelevant for music and fatal for detecting: the tone arrives after the coil has moved on, so you cannot centre a target by ear, and you will dig wider holes for longer. Minelab publishes this set as using enhanced, super-fast, low-latency technology for minimal time delay and faster detection response, which is the specification that matters and the one general-purpose headphones cannot meet.

The second argument is coverage. One set that Minelab publishes as working with the Manticore, the Equinox 700 and 900 and the X-Terra Pro means a two-machine household does not need two sets, and it means a machine upgrade does not orphan the headphones. The third is the AUX cord: because the set converts to wired, it still works if the battery dies mid-hunt, which is a genuine advantage over wireless-only designs. Battery cost is worth planning for, and the battery runtime calculator shows what wireless audio and a backlight take out of a day.

Published compatibility and features only. Note how narrow most of these sets are by comparison.

The column that catches people out is the last one, because no wireless set in this table works underwater.

Minelab publishes low-latency wireless headphones as included with both the Minelab Equinox 700 and the Minelab Equinox 900. If you own one of those machines and nothing else, this set at $180.00 is a replacement or a spare rather than an upgrade, and the honest recommendation is to keep your money until the originals fail or you buy a second machine. The case for the ML105 is a household with a Manticore and an Equinox, or an Minelab X-Terra Pro owner whose machine does not publish headphones in the box at all. That is a real use, and it is narrower than the price suggests.

The second weakness is water, and it is the one that costs people a hunt. These machines are published as waterproof to 16 feet, and wireless audio does not travel underwater at all. Submerging an Equinox or a Manticore therefore means Minelab Equinox Waterproof Headphones at $170.00 or an aftermarket submersible set such as Gray Ghost Amphibian Headphones for Minelab at $169.95, which publishes waterproofing to 200 feet. The AUX cord supplied with the ML105 makes the set wired, and a wired set is not a waterproof set. Read the saltwater guide before assuming a waterproof machine is a complete water kit.

Third, the ordinary costs of wireless. It is a battery to charge and a USB-C cable to remember, and over-ear cups are warm in summer. At $180.00 the set also costs a meaningful fraction of a whole mid-range machine: it is roughly what an Minelab X-Terra Pro costs at $282.14, which is worth weighing if you are assembling a first kit rather than adding to an established one.

Two themes recur in published owner reviews. The first is that the latency claim holds up: owners who have tried ordinary Bluetooth headphones with a detector describe the difference as the reason they stopped, and report that pinpointing by ear works normally with a set built for the job. The second is the convenience of one set covering several machines, which is precisely what Minelab published it for.

The consistent complaints are comfort over very long sessions, charging discipline, and the price. A number of published reviews also note the obvious point that the set is not submersible, usually from people who discovered it at the water. Owners chasing faint deep signals sometimes prefer a specialist wired set such as Gray Ghost Original Platinum Headphones at $129.95, which publishes sound-blocking muffs eliminating ambient noise up to 24 decibels, and keep a cheap wired pair such as Garrett MS-2 Headphones in the bag as a backup. Battery behaviour matters here too, which the Equinox 900 battery and specs page covers for the machine end of the link.

Buy it if:

• You own more than one current Minelab and want a single set for all of them.
• You own an X-Terra Pro, which does not publish headphones in the box.
• Your original included set has failed and you want the current replacement.
• You want a wireless set that still works wired when the battery dies.

Skip it if:

• You own one Equinox 900 or 700, which ships with low-latency wireless already.
• You intend to submerge the machine, where only a wired submersible set works.
• You are building a first kit and the money belongs in the detector.
• You want maximum isolation for faint signals, where specialist wired sets do more.