Garrett AT Pro Metal Detector Product Review

Unfortunately, Garrett AT Pro Metal Detector does not fall under the Cheap Category of MDs. 

It is actually an equipment intended for those individuals that already have experience in metal hunting industry. 

So if you are a complete beginner or an amateur then it is best to consider choosing a cheaper but reliable one especially for training or learning purposes. 

But if you have the budget that you are willing to spend, then there is no other reason why not to purchase one for yourself.

Are you a treasure hunter?

Many treasure hunters are impressed about the performance of Garrett AT Pro because of its powerful depth of detection. 

You have to know that as a treasure hunter myself, a detector capable to penetrating deeply buried objects is what really matters the most. 

Detecting such extreme depths of buried items is actually possible because targets are in the form of large sizes.

Are you a coin hunter?

Garrett AT Pro has a special feature for coin hunters. This is the Coin Depth feature which is located at the right side of the MD’s display. 

Interestingly, the depth of the buried coin is accurately displayed here which gives you the confidence of digging it and being able to recover it once the specified depth has been dug.

Are you a jewelry or gold nugget hunter?

If your interest is to find buried jewelries or gold nuggets then you will love and enjoy using this MD. 

It’s because this MD operates at 15 kHz which is the perfect frequency range for detecting small objects. Based on my own field test, small items can be detected up to 10 inches depth.

Product Features of Garrett AT Pro Metal Detector

Control Unit Display

The physical aspect of Garrett AT Pro that impressed me much is its Control Unit Display. It is very well designed delivering complete user-friendliness. 

There are actually labels for each settings which clearly defines their functions. But if this is not your first time to handle such model, then you should definitely read the User’s Manual.

Digital Target ID

Located at the center of the digital display are two large digit numbers. This is the Digital Target ID where its purpose is to give an equivalent number to the detected object under the ground. 

If the number that you are getting is below 35 then it means that the buried object is probably made of iron. But if the number is above 70, it means that the object is made of silver. 

While, if the number is between 35 and 70 then the item is probably gold.

However, if you are performing a field test of your own then it is important for you to know that you will get different results from an On-Air Object Test in comparison to an actual Buried Object Test. You will probably ask why the difference?

There are several factors involve such as the level of the ground and the way you are swinging the search coil on the surface of the ground. 

But, what mostly influence the difference is the content of how much the ground is mineralized.

Iron Eliminator

The presence of iron on the ground can confuse your equipment to give false feedbacks. Many junk items are composed of iron such as rusty nails and even natural elements found on the soil. 

For this reason, manufacturers of the Garrett AT Pro came up with a feature called “High Res Iron Discrimination”. 

Through this amazing feature, iron can be disregarded by adjusting the setting which is between numbers 1 to 40.

Adjusting this setting is easily done by pressing the (+) or (-) under the Iron Disc label. Increasing the number at a high level will filter out the iron but you have to adjust it correctly otherwise you will end up missing a lot of your precious targets. 

One good way to properly set it up is to have a sample of the object that you wish to eliminate. Detect it with the search coil then make the necessary adjustment until the object is fully discriminated. 

In my own personal preference, setting it between 25 to 30 works perfectly fine for me.

Ground Balance

It is critical that every metal detector must have a Ground Balance feature because this will eliminate all unwanted noises caused by high mineralized soil. 

Garrett AT Pro’s Ground Balance feature consists of two modes which can be set to Automatic or Manual. If you are an amateur then it is best to set it to its Automatic setting.

Pro Mode Audio Sound Alert

Garrett AT Pro has two different modes of generating an alert sound. If a certain metallic object is detected, the Standard Audio Mode will generate a steady audio sound alert. 

There is no changes on the sound regardless of the depth of the object or type of metal detected. In short, the only information you know is that there is an object buried on that particular spot.

The Pro Audio Mode provides more information about the target than the Standard Mode. 

On this audio setting, when a certain target is located the strength of the sound will vary which will either go stronger or weaker. 

The explanation to this is that, when the buried item is close to the search coil the sound gets stronger while the sound will be weaker when it is buried a lot deeper.

Aside from the varying strength of the Pro Audio Mode, it also give specific tones for distinguishing the type of metals. 

Iron will emit a low tone while silver produce the highest tone. Gold and nickels are defined at the medium tone level.

Depth Penetration

Small objects up to the size of a coin can be detected to a maximum depth of 10 inches. But for larger sizes of objects, they can be detected at a deeper depths. 

Based from the field test that I performed, a metallic can with 5 inches diameter by 10 inches height was detected at a depth of 6 feet.

Despite my field test, other testers might have different results because there are other several factors that are involve that can affect a MD’s detection. These includes the composition of the soil, density and moistness.

Battery Indicator

The Battery Indicator is another important part of a MD. Just try to imagine how annoying can be if you went out for a hunt then just a few minutes of using your equipment, it goes OFF because you forgot to recharge. 

Some MDs don’t actually have battery indicators which you don’t know if the batteries needs recharging.

Garrett AT Pro actually have a Battery Condition Indicator. It is a feature that allows you to check how long the batteries will be able to lasts. 

It is pretty quiet accurate that you will be amazed about how long you can use it before the batteries needs to be recharge. And surprisingly, it is run by only 4 pieces of AA batteries.

Works on All Locations

As the final feature presented on this post, Garrett AT Pro Metal Detector works at any place or locations. 

You can use it to detect buried objects at the beach, parks, stream, desert, rain forest and anywhere else except with a limitation when used underwater.

Final Words

There are many other features of Garrett AT Pro Metal Detector and covered on this post are only the most interesting aspects of it. 

But overall, this is a metal detector that brings good promising results of finding buried items. There are already a lot of valuable items recovered in my metal hunting career through the use of this MD.