Garrett Ace 150 in 2023 review

Garrett Ace 150 Reviews

While researching other Garrett Ace 150 reviews I quickly learnt that it is probably THE most popular beginners budget metal detector. A very simple to use, lightweight metal detector equaling the power of others twice it’s price.

The Garrett Ace 150 is super simple to assemble it comes in just a few parts, the brains of the detector, the pole, the coil, the coil wire, and a little wingnut to fix the coil to the pole. It will literally take you 2 minutes to put together and you can be off!

The settings on the Garrett Ace 150 are very simple to understand and are self-explanatory. With just 3 buttons, Mode, Sensitivity and the power switch.

There are 3 different modes you can use, All metal mode, Coins, and Jewelry.

  1. The mode button changes through the 3 modes.
  2. The power button turns it on and off, and powers up instantly.
  3. The sensitivity button changes the sensitivity of the machine.

Garrett ACE 150 ReviewsThe LCD display has a battery indicator but unfortunately, it does not work for the 150 it was only ever added to the software ready for it’s successor the Garrett Ace 250 which is a shame. A display which shows the modes you have selected, a depth of target indicator which shows you roughly how deep your item is, and a sensitivity bar to show you how sensitive you have set the machine.

The Garrett Ace 150 is lightweight but durable and it does feel very comfortable to hold, it has grip padding and padding on the armrest at the top of the machine as you can see in the pictures. It is a machine you could be out with all day and not feel the strain on your arms, which is great for beginners, children, and the elders.

Battery life on the Garrett Ace 150 is another great feature of the machine, I personally have had between 25 – 30 hours of metal detecting from it but some users have reported more, this will depend on the quality and age of the batteries you are using. It takes 4 AA batteries to power it. I would always recommend purchasing rechargeable batteries as this will save you money in the long run.

The tones of the 150 detector become very easy and clear to understand after a few hours of getting used to the machine. Just keep an ear out for the “double dinger” you will understand when you hear it!

The machine performed very well in some field tests I performed and according to other sources from around the internet performed the same for them.

In all metal mode, the machine picked up everything with Iron giving a low tone, small coins giving a short clear tone and larger coins giving a bell tone (the double dinger)

Jewelry mode rejected the Iron gave no signal whatsoever. Coins and other metallic items were still picked up by the machine

Coin mode rejected, ring pulls, Iron and picked up coins with ease, including pennies, sixpences, crowns, florins, and some modern coinage.

In the depth test, the Garrett Ace 150 could pull out targets from approx 6 – 8 inches. However, it is worth noting that this depends on ground conditions as some people have reported having pulled targets with the 150 from deeper.

The 150 does not have a pinpointing feature so if you do not own a Garrett Pro-Pointer then finding the target in the hole can take forever. Although it is accurate within a 9-inch diameter it can still take some time finding the target, so I would recommend buying one to complement the machine it will literally save you hours of time.

The machine is not waterproof and if you are planning on being out in the rain you will need a waterproof housing cover for the control panel. To my understanding the rest of the machine is OK.
Overall the machine I feel would be the perfect starter, and I can see why it is recommended as one of the best beginner detectors. If you are working with a budget and want to know if metal detecting is for you then this machine is a very low price, simple, effective machine. If you have a little bit more money to play with then perhaps it would be worthwhile reading the review for the successor of the 150 the Garrett Ace 250 model.

Check out the below video of the Garrett Ace 150 metal detector in operation.

  • Clear tone Speaker
  • Great battery life!
  • Push button controls
  • All metal, coin and jewelry modes
  • Sensitivity control
  • The visual depth and target indicator
  • Interchangeable coil
  • Large LCD display
  • Perfect for beginners
Steve

I’m one of the founders of this blog. A 32 yr old from Lincolnshire & proud father of 3 beautiful children. My first metal detector was a garret ace 150 but I am currently using the Garrett ace 400i. My best find was a roman coin. Feel free to ask me any questions.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below

Victor Lambert - August 29, 2017

I’ve lost my wedding ring in the sea on a stony beach with the tide in, the tide goes out well past the point of lose.
Will the Garrett Ace 150 be the tool to do the job.

Reply
    Steve Race - August 30, 2017

    Hello Victor,
    I’m really sorry to hear that you lost your wedding ring in the sea.
    Sadly this model has a weak depth and won’t be able to pick a strong signal in the sand. What I’ll suggest is to look at Garrett Ace 250 because is an improved version of this model and it has better depth detection and a bigger frequency.

    Reply
    Many Pesch - October 20, 2020

    Some of the best metal detectors will also have memory capabilities, which means that you can save your previous results so that you can come back to them later on. Some of these also have a remote control, which means that you don’t need to make any adjustments when using it, which means that you can get to grips with using the metal detector much quicker and easier than if you were using the one without a remote control.

    Reply
Angela - January 2, 2019

Hello, I have a horse who is a whizz at losing her shoes, would this detector find horse shoes ok? Thanks.

Reply
    Steve - January 3, 2019

    Hi Angela, that’s an out of the box thinking, thanks for sharing this with us. As long as they are made out of metal and not an alloy you should have no problem finding her shoes and this will be a good metal detector for this job.

    Reply
Stephen - September 26, 2019

Hi my name is Stephen and i have an ace 150 but how much better is the 400?

Reply
    Steve - September 26, 2019

    Hi Stephen,
    Well, if you got really used to the ace 150 and you would like something with more options, then the 400 is the right way to go.

    Reply
      effren Hernendez - December 10, 2020

      Does the Garrett ACE 150 Metal Detector give you more depth range and wider sweeping capability?

      Reply
        Steve - December 26, 2020

        Simply put, yes, if you compare it with other models in the same range.
        If you want even more depth, then I’ll suggest you decided on e mid-range metal detector.

        Reply
      Phoenix - January 9, 2023

      Hi I’m using the ace 150 but it’s not able to detect gold. Is there any settings or something I can do?

      Reply
John Watts - December 3, 2019

Hi there – I am looking at the ace 150 for my son for Xmas. He is 13 but the size of most 10 year olds. So you can imagine he would not want a kid’s metal detector. Do you think this unit is ok for a kid who is about 4 ft 8 inches tall? Appreciate your help!

Reply
    Steve - December 4, 2019

    Hi John,
    First of all, I want to say that I like your initiative! Something to do outdoors that involves movement and a great thing to do as a hobby.

    I think that the ace 150 will be a great Xmas gift for your son, but, keep in mind that you should spend some time with him helping to assemble it.

    Reply
sharon - November 16, 2020

hi i am thinking of purchasing the 150 for my 2 sons aged 10 and 11. Is this suitable for beaches also as we tend to spend a lot of time walking beaches. its a pity about the no pinpointing feature. would the 250 be a better buy

Reply
    Steve - November 18, 2020

    Hi Sharon,
    Yes, 250 would be a better buy, in this case, it has improved detection.

    Reply
Andy Pearson - December 1, 2020

Hi, my 8 year old is tall or his age, about 147cm (4′ 10″) – equivalent of average 10 year old. Does the Ace 150 ‘shorten’ for a child this size?

Reply
    Steve - December 26, 2020

    Hi Andy,
    I think he may be ready for a Garrett Ace 150 if he’s that tall (147cm at his age, wow!).

    Reply
      Andy Pearson - December 26, 2020

      Thanks for the reply. He got it yesterday and it’s perfect for him. The first thing he found buried under or lawn was a spade! That’s from 30 years ago when house was converted. Good find 🙂

      Reply
        Steve - December 26, 2020

        That’s amazing Andy, that’s a great piece of history there!

        Reply
Effren H Hernandez - December 10, 2020

Hello Steve, do you have any detailed photos of your beautiful and unique find?

Thanks in anticipation of looking at your find!

Reply
Lee - February 16, 2022

Hi i do alot of woodland metal detecting and was looking for one like the 150 as a back up or to take a friend with me…
What deep dose it detect too,

Reply
    Steve - March 4, 2022

    Hi Lee, with the default coin attached to it, your Garrett Ace 150 should find things up to ~21cm or 8” depth.

    Reply
Mark - January 5, 2023

Are the garret 150s any good on the beach as I live quite close to the beach and would mainly use it there I have seen a one of these models for sale cheap and if I was to purchase it the beach is where I would mainly use it

Reply
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