You can buy a working metal detector for well under £100, and for gardens, parks and beaches it will find coins, jewellery and plenty of rubbish. But budget detectors have real limits in UK fields, so it’s worth knowing what you’re getting before you buy.
How we chose: from specifications, current Amazon UK prices and ratings, and what owners say in reviews. We haven’t tested every model ourselves.
The honest short answer
- Best under £100: SUNPOW Rechargeable (about £80). A built-in battery, a waterproof coil and useful discrimination modes.
- Best for bigger areas: SUNPOW DSP with 12-inch coil (about £80). A larger coil covers more ground on beaches and open grass.
- Cheapest decent option: SUNPOW OTMD13 (about £64). Simple, light and suits adults and older children.
- For young children: Bounty Hunter Junior (about £48). A long-standing, very simple starter detector.
- If you can stretch to £150: the Minelab X-Terra Voyager is a big step up. See the end of this guide.
What a detector under £100 can and can’t do
It can find coins, rings and other metal objects near the surface, sort some rubbish from good targets with a notch or discrimination mode, and cope well on dry sand and in gardens.
It will struggle on wet, mineralised UK soil and wet salt sand, where cheap single-frequency detectors chatter or lose depth. Target ID on budget detectors is also rough, so you’ll dig more rubbish. None of the detectors in this price range are multi-frequency.
That doesn’t make them bad buys. It means they’re best for trying the hobby, for children, and for beaches and parks, rather than serious farmland detecting.
The best metal detectors under £100
1. SUNPOW Rechargeable: best under £100 (about £80)
This SUNPOW has a built-in 1500mAh battery that lasts about 20 hours and charges by USB-C, so you never run out of AA batteries in a field. It has four modes, including all-metal and notch to ignore unwanted metals, a backlit LCD screen, and an 8-inch IP68 waterproof coil for wet sand and shallow water. It's rated 4.4 stars on Amazon UK. Note that the review count of over 4,500 is shared across several SUNPOW models.
2. SUNPOW DSP with 12-inch coil: best for beaches and big areas (about £80)
This model has a larger 30cm (12-inch) waterproof coil, which covers more ground with each swing, plus five modes and a large backlit screen. The shaft adjusts from 50cm to 150cm, so it suits adults and teenagers. The bigger coil makes it better for open beaches and grass than for trashy parks, where a smaller coil separates targets better. It's rated 4.4 stars, again with reviews shared across the SUNPOW range.
3. SUNPOW OTMD13: cheapest decent option (about £64)
A simpler, lighter SUNPOW with four detection modes, a big LCD screen and an IP68 waterproof coil. The shaft adjusts for adults and children. It's a sensible choice if you want to try the hobby for as little as possible. It's rated 4.4 stars from 481 reviews.
4. Bounty Hunter Junior: for young children (about £48)
The Bounty Hunter Junior has been sold for years and is about as simple as a detector gets. It has an on switch, a sensitivity control and adjustable trash elimination. It's light and sized for children, and it has more than 4,700 ratings averaging 4.2 stars. For older children, the SUNPOW models above are more capable. See our guide to detectors for kids. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Quick comparison
| Detector | Price (approx.) | Coil | Power | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bounty Hunter Junior | £48 | Small | Batteries | Young children |
| SUNPOW OTMD13 | £64 | IP68 waterproof | Batteries | Trying the hobby cheaply |
| SUNPOW Rechargeable | £80 | 8" IP68 waterproof | Built-in, USB-C | Best all-rounder under £100 |
| SUNPOW DSP | £80 | 12" waterproof | Batteries | Beaches and open ground |
Prices are Amazon UK prices checked in September 2026 and change often.
Is it worth spending more?
If you think you’ll stick with the hobby, and particularly if you want to detect farmland, a detector from a major brand is worth saving for:
- About £150: the Minelab X-Terra Voyager comes with headphones and gives much better target sorting.
- About £155: the Garrett Ace 150 is a long-running, simple beginner’s detector from a major brand, rated 4.4 stars from 1,700 reviews.
- About £199: the Minelab Vanquish 340 adds multi-frequency, which makes the biggest difference on UK ground. See our beginner detector guide.
Frequently asked questions
Are cheap metal detectors any good? For gardens, parks and beaches, yes. On mineralised farmland they struggle, and you’ll dig more rubbish.
What’s the best metal detector for £50? For a child, the Bounty Hunter Junior. For an adult, it’s worth stretching to the SUNPOW OTMD13 at about £64.
Can a £100 detector find gold? It can find gold jewellery near the surface, which is the gold most detectorists actually find. Small gold items are among the hardest targets for any detector.
Do I still need a pinpointer? It helps, but it can wait. Our pinpointer guide includes budget options.