Nokta The Legend 2 Review: A Flagship Price With a Waterproof Number Missing

Four things Nokta states plainly. First, 99 target IDs with harmonic tones and adjustable frequencies, which is a finer scale than the simpler ID systems on the company's entry machines. Second, 15 custom user profiles spread across the search modes, each mode carrying a factory default plus three user slots, which lets a single machine hold separate setups for a park, a beach and a ploughed field without re-entering settings each time. Third, wireless firmware updates pushed from a phone or a laptop rather than only over a USB cable, which matters because Nokta has a history of shipping meaningful firmware improvements after launch. Fourth, a 6700 mAh battery that Nokta states adds up to a third more runtime than the pack it replaces.

Those are real, specific improvements, and they are the kind of thing a returning Nokta owner will notice immediately. The Legend tone profiles reference covers how the harmonic tone system is meant to be read, and the battery runtime calculator is the place to work out what wireless audio actually costs you against that bigger cell.

Only figures each maker prints appear below. A dash means that maker publishes no figure for that model, which at flagship money is itself part of the comparison.

Read this beside the specification table. At this price, box contents and a depth rating are not small print, they are most of what you are paying for.

Start with water, because it is the first question any buyer at this price asks. Nokta's general reputation is for waterproof machines, and the Nokta Simplex Ultra and Nokta Double Score both carry a published 16 foot figure in their own listings. The Legend 2 listing used here states none. That does not mean the machine is not waterproof, it means you should get the depth rating in writing from a dealer before you pay flagship money, rather than assuming it from the brand's other models. The Nokta waterproof ratings page sets out what is confirmed across the rest of the range.

Second, coils. The Legend Pro Pack this model replaces named two coils in its own listing at $659.00, roughly 34 percent less. The Legend 2 listing prices higher and states no coil in the box. If a second coil is not included, the real price of matching the old Pro Pack's kit is higher than the sticker suggests, and Nokta's own LG series coils for this platform, including a smaller unit for iron and a larger one for open ground, are a separate purchase either way. Buyers used to the Pro Pack model should confirm exactly what ships before comparing the two prices directly.

Third, headphones. Minelab states low latency wireless headphones are included with the Minelab Equinox 900 at the identical $999.00 price point. This listing states nothing either way for the Legend 2. Wireless audio matched to the machine is not a small accessory, and if it is not in the box, budget for it separately before comparing the two machines on price alone.

Published owner discussion of the Legend platform, carried over from the original Legend, centres on the depth of the menu and how much a serious operator can tune per site. The multiple user profiles per mode come up repeatedly as the reason people keep the machine rather than moving on, because a park setup and a mineralised field setup can both live on the machine at once. The step to wireless firmware updates is the kind of change owners notice mainly through fewer complaints about being stuck on old software.

The recurring caution in published discussion of Nokta flagships generally is the same one this review keeps returning to: confirm exactly what a given retailer's box contains, because coil and headphone bundling has changed between Nokta's models and between regions. Owners moving up from a mid-range Nokta consistently recommend re-learning target numbers on the new machine rather than assuming the old numbers carry over, which is exactly what the Nokta target ID comparison argues as well.

Buy it if:

• You want Nokta's current flagship platform with the deepest published menu in the range.
• You value 15 stored profiles across modes and will actually use more than one setup.
• You want wireless firmware updates rather than a cable to a PC.
• You already own Legend-compatible coils or plan to buy them separately.

Skip it if:

• You want a written waterproof number before you order, which this listing does not give you.
• You want two coils bundled at purchase, where the older Pro Pack named them and this listing does not.
• You are comparing strictly on price against the Minelab Equinox 900, which publishes more in the box for the same money.
• You want the lightest possible flagship, where XP Deus II is published lighter still.