XP ICON vs Deus 1 vs Deus II: What's the Difference?
The XP ICON, Deus 1 and Deus II are clearly members of the same family. All three use XP's distinctive wireless architecture, all are exceptionally light compared with many conventional detectors, and all use telescopic stems with much of the detector's electronics contained within the search coil rather than relying on a conventional coil cable running to a control box.
Look beyond the physical similarities, though, and they are three quite different detector platforms.
The original Deus 1 is a selectable-frequency detector, with the frequencies available depending heavily on the coil fitted. The Deus II moved XP into simultaneous multi-frequency with its FMF system, while retaining selectable frequencies and adding considerably more programmes, audio choices and advanced adjustment. The newer ICON also uses FMF and can share Deus II FMF coils, but deliberately provides fewer programmes and controls.
That last distinction is particularly important because hardware compatibility can make the ICON and Deus II look more closely related than they really are. A Deus II coil fitted to an ICON doesn't turn it into a Deus II. The coil may be shared, but the software, controls and level of adjustment available to the detectorist are different.
This comparison of XP ICON vs Deus 1 vs Deus II is therefore less about identifying a simple good-better-best progression and more about understanding three different stages of XP's approach to lightweight, wireless metal detecting.
XP ICON XP DEUS I XP DEUS II
XP ICON vs Deus 1 vs Deus II: Specifications Compared
Detector | Frequency technology | Weight | Waterproofing | Coil system | General approach |
XP ICON | FMF simultaneous multi-frequency + mono operation | Approx. 843 g with remote* | 5 m** | Compatible with Deus II FMF coils | Simplified modern XP platform |
XP Deus 1 | Selectable frequency; range depends on coil | Approx. 900 g with remote* | Coil waterproof; remote requires protection | X35/HF coil families | Highly adjustable single-frequency platform |
XP Deus II | FMF simultaneous multi-frequency + selectable mono | From approx. 750 g* | Up to 20 m with suitable equipment | Deus II FMF/HF2 ecosystem | XP's most configurable platform |
* XP detector weights are highly configuration-dependent. Coil, remote and headphone arrangement can materially alter the complete weight.
** Full underwater ICON use requires compatible waterproof audio equipment.
Even this fairly simple table shows why arranging the three purely by age or price doesn't really work. Deus 1 uses the older selectable-frequency technology, but it remains a highly adjustable detector. ICON has the newer FMF system, yet deliberately restricts some of the adjustment available to the user. Deus II combines FMF with the deepest configuration system of the three.
To understand why, it helps to start with what made the original Deus different in the first place.
Deus 1: Why It Was Such a Different Detector
The original Deus took a very different approach to detector construction. Instead of treating the search coil as a relatively passive component connected by cable to a control box, XP placed significant electronics and signal processing within the coil itself. The coil, remote and headphones communicate wirelessly, removing the conventional coil cable and allowing XP to build an exceptionally light and compact detector.
That also made the system modular. A Deus 1 can be operated with the remote mounted on the stem, but compatible headphones can also provide detector control in configurations where the remote isn't being used in the conventional position. The detector can therefore be configured differently depending on how the owner wants to use it.
This basic philosophy has survived into ICON and Deus II. The major change between the generations isn't really the physical concept of the detector; it's what the electronics and software are capable of doing.
How Do Deus 1 Frequencies Work?
There isn't one frequency specification that describes every Deus 1 because the available frequencies depend on the coil fitted. The X35 coil family provides a range of selectable frequencies, while the HF coils provide a different range again.
The important distinction is that these are selectable frequencies. The detectorist chooses an operating frequency rather than using XP's newer FMF system to work with multiple frequencies simultaneously.
That places Deus 1 in an earlier technological generation than ICON and Deus II, but it doesn't make the detector obsolete. Independent reviews and owner evidence repeatedly highlight its low weight, fast recovery, useful separation around iron and detailed audio. It also provides extensive control over how targets are detected and reported, which is one reason the original Deus developed such a strong following on difficult and iron-contaminated sites.
Moving from Deus 1 to one of XP's newer machines is therefore not as simple as replacing old technology with better technology. You are moving from a mature and highly configurable selectable-frequency platform to a newer simultaneous multi-frequency system, but the amount of control you receive depends very much on whether you choose ICON or Deus II.
Deus II: XP Adds FMF Without Taking the Controls Away
The Deus II retained the wireless, modular architecture of the original Deus but introduced Fast Multi Frequency, or FMF. Instead of choosing one operating frequency, FMF programmes can use multiple frequencies simultaneously. Selectable mono-frequency operation remains available when the detectorist wants it, so the newer platform adds simultaneous multi-frequency rather than simply replacing the ability to select frequencies.
XP then built a much deeper configuration system around it. Deus II provides a large collection of factory programmes and user programme slots, extensive audio configuration, adjustable Reactivity and considerable control over discrimination and ground behaviour.
This is where Deus II starts to separate itself from ICON. Both machines use FMF, but Deus II is intended to let the detectorist become much more involved in determining how that technology behaves.
For experienced users, that level of adjustment can be a major strength. Difficult iron, unusual ground conditions or personal preferences can all encourage changes to Reactivity, discrimination, frequencies and audio. The downside is that every additional adjustment is another variable to understand.
Is the Deus II Difficult to Learn?
There is an important difference between being able to use a Deus II and fully understanding one.
The factory programmes mean a new owner doesn't have to build a custom programme before going detecting. You can select an appropriate programme, make sensible basic adjustments and start searching. The learning curve appears when you begin trying to understand why the machine responds differently after changing Reactivity, frequency behaviour, discrimination, ground settings or one of the audio options.
Audio is particularly important within the Deus II evidence. Experienced owners repeatedly value the amount of target information available through sound and the freedom to customise how that information is presented. That can make the detector extremely expressive in experienced hands, but extracting useful information from a sophisticated audio system takes time.
So describing the Deus II as difficult can be misleading. It isn't difficult simply to switch on and use. What takes longer is learning enough about the detector to make good decisions about its many settings rather than changing them without understanding the consequences.
That distinction becomes important when we look at what XP has done with the ICON.
Where Does the XP ICON Fit?
The ICON takes XP's modern platform in a noticeably different direction. It retains FMF, the lightweight telescopic design and the wireless relationship between coil, remote and headphones. It can also work with parts of the existing XP ecosystem, including compatible Deus II FMF coils, XP wireless headphones and the MI-6 pinpointer.
What XP has deliberately reduced is the amount of adjustment presented to the operator.
The standard ICON provides fewer factory programmes, fewer user programmes, fewer mono-frequency choices and fewer Reactivity levels than the Deus II. Its software and remote provide less fine adjustment overall, which means the detectorist has fewer decisions to make when setting the machine up.
That is better viewed as a design choice than a missing feature list. Deus II is intended to provide extensive control to somebody who wants to tailor the detector around a site. ICON takes the same broad FMF and wireless philosophy and packages it in a more accessible form.
More adjustment gives an experienced user more opportunity to optimise a detector, but it also creates more opportunity to configure it badly. ICON reduces both sides of that equation.
ICON Uses Deus II Coils, So How Different Can It Be?
This is probably the most important point in the entire comparison.
Our research confirms that ICON can use compatible Deus II FMF coils. Compatible XP headphones, the MI-6 pinpointer and other parts of the wider XP ecosystem can also be shared. That makes the machines physically and commercially closely related, particularly for somebody who already owns XP equipment.
The mistake is assuming that the coil determines the entire capability of the detector.
The remote and software determine which programmes, controls and adjustments are available to the operator. Independent evidence specifically warns against assuming that fitting a Deus II coil makes an ICON functionally equivalent to a Deus II.
One owner tested an ICON using a Deus II 9-inch FMF coil against an existing test bed. The ICON detected all of the buried targets, but the owner still considered its overall performance below his Deus II. That wasn't a sufficiently controlled test to establish a universal performance difference, and we shouldn't use it to claim that one detector reaches a particular amount deeper than the other.
What it does illustrate rather well is that sharing a search coil doesn't make two detectors behave identically. The coil is an important part of the system, but it isn't the whole system.
What Does the ICON Field Evidence Actually Tell Us?
This is one area where we need to be more cautious because independent evidence for the standard ICON is still much thinner than for either Deus generation.
One experienced Deus II owner tested a borrowed ICON for around two hours in heavily magnetite-mineralised ground in the United States. Using the same 11-inch coil, the ICON detected targets that he had previously identified with his Deus II. The more interesting difference concerned interpretation around iron.
The tester reported digging deep iron with the ICON that he believed his normal Deus II configuration would have helped him identify before excavation. He attributed part of that difference to the ICON's more restricted controls and target information.
That's useful evidence, but the limitations matter. It involved one experienced operator, a short test period and unusually mineralised ground that shouldn't be assumed to represent normal UK pasture or cultivated soils. It certainly isn't enough to establish a universal ICON-versus-Deus-II performance ranking.
It does, however, reinforce the wider point. Two detectors can use the same coil and both detect the same target while still giving the operator a different amount of information with which to interpret it.
ICON vs Deus II: Is One Deeper?
There isn't enough controlled evidence to answer that properly.
The available ICON research doesn't contain a substantial UK comparison using matched coils, settings, targets and soil conditions. Informal tests are useful for understanding how owners experience the machines, but they aren't a sound basis for saying one detector is universally deeper than another.
What the evidence does show is that ICON is capable of detecting difficult and deeper targets, while experienced Deus II users value the additional information and adjustment available from the more configurable machine. That distinction is much better supported than any attempt to put a number on a supposed depth advantage.
It also tells us something useful about what you're actually paying for when moving from ICON to Deus II. The difference isn't simply whether a target can be detected. It's also how much control you have over the detector and how much information is available when deciding what that response means.
ICON vs Deus 1: Newer Technology or More Control?
This is arguably the more unusual comparison.
ICON has the newer frequency technology. Its FMF system provides simultaneous multi-frequency operation, whereas Deus 1 works with selectable frequencies determined by the coil fitted. If simultaneous multi-frequency is a priority, ICON has the obvious technological advantage.
But Deus 1 was designed as a highly adjustable detector, while ICON has deliberately been simplified. The newer machine therefore doesn't automatically provide greater control over every aspect of detector behaviour.
That makes this less like replacing an old entry-level detector with a new premium model and more like choosing between two different priorities. Deus 1 offers a mature, highly configurable selectable-frequency XP platform with a substantial body of owner experience behind it. ICON provides a simpler route into XP's newer FMF technology.
For an existing Deus 1 owner, that distinction is particularly important. FMF may provide a genuine reason to move to a newer platform, but somebody who values the amount of adjustment available on Deus 1 shouldn't assume that ICON reproduces everything they are accustomed to controlling.
Which XP Detector Is Lightest?
All three belong to an exceptionally lightweight family, but XP weights need more explanation than a single figure in a specifications table.
ICON is approximately 843–845 g with the remote mounted. Figures around 735 g refer to configurations where the remote isn't mounted on the stem, so they shouldn't be presented as though they describe an equivalent complete setup.
A typical Deus 1 configuration is around 900 g with the remote and approximately 800 g without it, depending on coil and setup. Deus II can start at roughly 750 g in lighter configurations, again depending on which coil, remote and headphone arrangement is being used.
The difference of a few grams between particular configurations isn't really the important part. All three are remarkably light compared with many conventional detectors around the 1.2–1.3 kg mark, and that can become noticeable after several hours of detecting.
The reason the published figures vary so much is the modular design itself. The remote can be mounted on the stem or used differently, coils have different weights and headphone configurations vary. Comparing a stripped-down XP weight with another detector's complete ready-to-use weight therefore tells you very little.
For XP machines in particular, configuration matters as much as the headline number.
Reactivity: How Much Control Do You Actually Get?
XP calls its recovery-speed control Reactivity. In simple terms, increasing Reactivity can help the detector separate closely spaced targets on contaminated ground, while lower settings produce longer responses and can be useful in cleaner conditions.
All three machines need to be considered in the context of XP's reputation for fast response and target separation, but the amount of control differs. Deus II gives the operator substantially greater scope to configure Reactivity, while ICON retains Reactivity adjustment but deliberately limits the available range. Deus 1 also built much of its reputation around fast recovery and gives the user meaningful control over this behaviour.
So the distinction isn't that ICON lacks recovery adjustment. It's that the newer simplified platform deliberately narrows the choices compared with Deus II.
This neatly illustrates the wider difference between the two FMF machines. ICON still gives the detectorist useful controls; Deus II simply lets them go further.
XP Audio Is About More Than the Number of Tones
Audio is one of the defining features of the XP ecosystem, and it's another area where counting settings doesn't tell the whole story.
Deus 1 owners have long valued the amount of information they can extract from its audio. Deus II develops that philosophy considerably further, with multiple audio types and extensive configuration. The platform has also continued to evolve through firmware, including later developments to its audio functionality.
ICON still provides meaningful audio choices, including Pitch, multi-tone and Full Tones options in the documentation used for our research. What changes is the amount of fine control surrounding them.
For a detectorist who wants to develop a highly personalised audio setup and use subtle changes in sound to interpret difficult targets, Deus II provides considerably more scope. For somebody who wants useful XP audio without spending as much time building and refining configurations, ICON's simpler approach may be part of its appeal.
Again, fewer settings aren't necessarily a defect. They reflect what the detector is designed to ask of its user.
Waterproofing Shows How Much the XP Platform Has Changed
The original Deus 1 reflects an earlier approach to waterproofing. Its search coil is waterproof, but the standard remote isn't designed to be used as a fully submerged control unit without appropriate protection.
ICON moves considerably further, with the detector specified to 5 metres. Full underwater use still requires appropriate waterproof audio equipment, so the waterproof rating shouldn't be taken to mean every standard accessory can simply be submerged.
Deus II goes further again. Its remote is waterproof and the system can operate to 20 metres when configured with the appropriate underwater equipment. Because normal wireless radio communication doesn't travel through water in the way it does through air, submerged use requires XP's underwater antenna between the coil and remote. Standard wireless headphones also aren't automatically suitable for diving.
The Deus II therefore has by far the greatest underwater capability of these three, but that capability depends on having the correct equipment rather than simply taking the normal land configuration into deep water.
What About XP Coils?
Coils are another area where the generational differences matter.
Deus 1 uses the older X35 and HF coil families, while Deus II introduced the newer FMF coil system. ICON can use compatible Deus II FMF coils, giving it access to the newer XP ecosystem despite providing fewer controls than Deus II.
That compatibility is genuinely useful, especially for somebody already invested in newer XP equipment, but it needs to be understood correctly. The detector controlling the coil still determines which programmes, frequencies and adjustments are available.
Our research also records HF2 compatibility with ICON, although the precise effect of different compatible coils on ICON's selectable mono-frequency behaviour isn't completely established in the evidence. Anyone planning a purchase around an existing collection of XP coils should therefore check the exact compatibility rather than assuming that every coil and every function transfers between generations.
This is particularly important with XP because the coil is much more than a simple loop of wire. It is an active part of the detector platform.
Which XP Gives You the Most Control?
Deus II provides the deepest level of adjustment of these three machines. It gives the user the greatest scope to change programmes, frequencies, Reactivity, discrimination, ground behaviour and audio, which makes sense for a detector aimed at users who want to configure the machine closely around their sites and preferences.
The original Deus 1 is also a highly adjustable detector and remains a long way from being a simple switch-on-and-go machine. Its technology is older, but its philosophy was always to give the detectorist considerable control.
ICON deliberately moves in the opposite direction. It retains enough adjustment to adapt the detector without trying to reproduce the full Deus II control system. For an experienced Deus user working particularly difficult sites, that may feel restrictive. For somebody who wants XP's lightweight FMF architecture without spending every outing experimenting with settings, the same simplification may be exactly the attraction.
That is why describing ICON merely as the cheaper machine misses much of the point. It is aimed at a different level of involvement.
Does ICON Replace Deus 1?
Not neatly.
ICON is the newer platform and provides FMF simultaneous multi-frequency in a much simpler package. For somebody specifically wanting multi-frequency operation, that creates an obvious technological reason to consider ICON or Deus II instead of the original Deus.
But Deus 1 remains a mature and highly adjustable platform with a substantial body of owner experience behind it. Detectorists already comfortable with its audio, coils and selectable-frequency operation may place considerable value on controls that aren't reproduced in the same way on ICON.
The two therefore overlap rather than forming a straightforward old-versus-new progression. ICON has newer frequency technology; Deus 1 retains the depth of adjustment that made the original platform so distinctive.
Whether that represents an upgrade depends on which of those things matters more to the person using it.
Does ICON Replace Deus II?
This comparison is much clearer: ICON isn't simply a lower-priced Deus II.
The two share XP's modern wireless architecture, FMF technology and compatible hardware, but their software and control structures are deliberately different. ICON reduces the number of programmes and fine adjustments, while Deus II is designed around giving the operator substantially more control.
That difference also explains why fitting a Deus II coil to ICON doesn't create an equivalent detector. Hardware compatibility is useful, but the remote and software still determine what the complete system can do and how much influence the detectorist has over it.
ICON is therefore better understood as its own platform: a way of getting FMF, very low weight, wireless construction and access to much of the modern XP ecosystem without taking on the full Deus II configuration system.
For some users, that is exactly what makes it attractive.
XP ICON vs Deus 1 vs Deus II: What Are You Actually Choosing?
These three detectors make much more sense when viewed as different approaches rather than three steps on a simple ladder.
The Deus 1 represents XP's established selectable-frequency platform. It remains exceptionally light and highly configurable, with a long-standing reputation for fast recovery and detailed audio. Its technology predates FMF, but its level of operator control means it shouldn't be dismissed simply because newer XP machines now exist.
ICON brings simultaneous multi-frequency into a deliberately simpler detector. It retains the lightweight wireless construction that defines XP and can share compatible modern hardware, but reduces the number of programmes and fine adjustments the user has to manage. That makes it the most obvious choice within these three philosophies for somebody who wants modern XP technology without the full Deus II learning curve.
Deus II combines the two ideas. It keeps the FMF technology of the newer generation but restores — and considerably expands — the level of adjustment associated with a serious XP platform. More programmes, more frequency options, greater Reactivity and audio control, and much greater underwater capability give experienced users considerably more to work with.
The choice therefore isn't simply old, new and newest. Deus 1 gives you the older but highly adjustable XP platform; ICON gives you newer FMF technology with fewer decisions; Deus II gives you FMF with the greatest freedom to configure the detector yourself.
All three share the lightweight, wireless philosophy that makes XP unusual. What really separates them is how the frequency technology has evolved and how much of the detector's behaviour XP allows you to control.
Comparison Articles 1–12
The 12 Detectors - Reviewed
