Nokta Simplex Ultra Review: The Waterproof Argument and What It Leaves Out

Four published things, and they are unusually concrete for the money. First, the IP rating: Nokta publishes the machine as fully waterproof to 16 feet, which is the same published figure Minelab prints for the Minelab Equinox 700 at more than twice the price. Second, a fully carbon fibre shaft, which is what keeps a waterproof housing down to 2.6 lb rather than the 2.9 lb Minelab publishes for the Minelab X-Terra Pro. Third, a shaft that retracts to 25 inches, which matters if the machine travels in a pack or goes diving. Fourth, firmware updates over USB, so the machine you buy is not frozen at the software it shipped with.

Taken together that is a machine built around one decision: the maker chose water resistance and build over processing. For a hunter working river banks, flooded pasture, fresh water margins and wet turf, that is the right trade, and it is the reason this model appears on the waterproof machines roundup rather than in the depth conversation. The Nokta waterproof ratings put the 16 foot figure next to the rest of the range.

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

Read this beside the specification table. Waterproofing and frequency behaviour are two separate questions, and only one of them is settled in this machine's favour.

Start with frequency, because it is the one that changes where you can hunt. Nokta publishes simultaneous multi-frequency for the Nokta Double Score and the Nokta Triple Score Pro Pack and publishes no such claim for the Simplex Ultra. On dirt, pasture, fresh water and wet turf that costs you very little. On a salt beach it costs you the hobby, because sea water conducts and a machine working one frequency at a time has no second reading with which to separate the salt response from the target. The usual workaround is to drop sensitivity until the machine is stable, which spends the depth you paid for. The frequency chart explains why simultaneous multi-frequency was invented at all.

Second, the box. Nokta states plainly in its own listing that Bluetooth headphones are not included, on a machine whose main selling point is that it can be submerged. Wireless audio does not work underwater in any case, so a buyer who intends to go under rather than wade needs a wired submersible set such as Thresher Submersible Headphones for Nokta at $157.99, and a buyer who just wants cable-free audio on land needs Nokta Bluetooth Low Latency Headphones for The Legend or a comparable low-latency set. Either way the real price of this machine is higher than the sticker, and the listing does not flag it.

Third, and quieter: the coil range. Nokta publishes the LG series coils, including Nokta LG15 Coil (6 inch) and Nokta LG35 Coil (13.5 by 12.5 inch), for The Legend rather than for this platform, so a Simplex owner has a narrower upgrade path than an Equinox or Legend owner who can change coil size to suit a site. If your plan is to run a small coil in dense iron and a large one on open ground, buy into a platform with the coils already published for it.

Two themes dominate published owner reviews. The first is that the waterproofing is real rather than nominal: this model is bought by people who hunt in weather that ends a splash-resistant machine, and the reports back that use. The second is the interface, which owners consistently describe as short enough to learn in an afternoon, which is the quality that gets a machine used rather than left in the car.

The recurring complaints are consistent too. The missing headphones come up in almost every published review. Owners working dense iron report wanting a smaller coil and finding the options thin. And owners moving to this from a simultaneous multi-frequency machine report the salt limitation immediately, which is the single most useful thing a prospective buyer can read. A Simplex Control Box Cover at $9.95 is the accessory most owners add first, because the screen is the part that scuffs. Keep your own buried targets and check the numbers after each firmware update rather than trusting a printed table, which is what the Simplex Ultra target ID chart says as well.

Buy it if:

• You hunt rivers, creeks, flooded pasture, wet turf or fresh water margins.
• You want the lightest fully waterproof machine at this money, published at 2.6 lb.
• You travel with the machine and want a shaft that retracts to 25 inches.
• You want a short menu you can learn in one session rather than a season.

Skip it if:

• Salt beaches are your main ground. Buy published multi-frequency instead.
• You want coil options later, where the Legend platform is deeper.
• You expect wireless headphones in the box, because Nokta states they are not.
• You already own a capable dry-land machine and are only chasing depth.