Side by Side Comparison of: Studpop® vs Zircon

Great item. Found nailheads thru plaster in 1928 built home where lathe and plaster on screen attached to studs were used. None of my other expensive stud finders could even come close.The 1" diameter by 1/8" thick magnet in this design worked like a charm. You have to slowly move studpop to find a nailhead. Didn't find everyone, but enough for me to get a stud line of some sort.Not perfect but better than those $100 ones. Got two more for my kids.

This stud finder is truly the best! I bought a electronic stud finder but spent my time not finding the studs. I would just nail tiny nails in the wall to find the stud.I then have to fill the holes and paint. Hours and hours and hours wasted!! My home does not have standard stud layouts. I got this finder and it has shaved off so much time in my work. The people on my Christmas list will all be getting on of these.

Was skeptical but figured the reviews were great and for $10 I'd give it a try so I can make sure I'm able to find a stud under the drywall vs the unreliable method of knocking on the wall. I think this is basically a super high power magnet that when it finds the metal under the wall and on the drywall it magnetically sticks to the wall and you've found your stud.Its pretty genius, simple, slightly addicting using it on all the walls to see where supports are

Very easy to use, and small enough to put in your pocket. Just go back and forth over the wall in a zig-zag pattern until it goes over a stud nail, at which point it will make a popping sound and the little indicator will be standing perfectly horizontal. No batteries, no false readings, this is definitely much better than a regular electronic stud-finder.My wife had a lot of fun finding studs as soon as she saw me stick this to the wall. She's not a handy person at all, so if she can use this thing, anyone can!

I love this! We have purchased 2 other stud finders only to have the coat holder pull off the wall and leave a huge hole. We even had issues with our garage. We could never be sure where the stud was when we were putting up shelving for our garage. I used this weekend and have never had such an easy time in putting up shelving/storage items. My kids helped me and they were able to figure out where the studs were in the garage. This thing is awesome. I may order more to give as gifts to new homeowners :) It's made my life easy for hanging heavier items!

Amazingly simple concept, hard to believe nobody came up with this earlier. The Studpop uses a powerful magnet to detect framing nails in the wall, simple as that. You slide it along the wall and 'POP' the needle stands straight as an arrow indicating that it found a framing nail.I used it in the living room to hang shelves and it was flawless, finding a stud every 16" all the way down the wall. My wife was so impressed she often steals it from my tool box and uses it to hang pictures.

I bought this and a magnetic type that finds nails. This works fast and easy, no false positive issues.The magnetic one I bought is almost useless as some walls don't have nails. Buy this one and use magnetic type as a add on not the mail stud finder.

Works great, follow the instructions and use your brain and you won't have any issues. Follow standard building code for your area and measure out other surrounding studs or rafters to double check before making any holes in drywall. It's been 100% accurate for me this way on a few projects so far. I would recommend this product over the cheaper non-electronic types. Make sure you have a 9v battery on hand.

Worked absolutely great and found the studs with no issues at all! LED light will shine a red arrow to alert that you've found the edge of the stud.

Fun to play with and loved doing the whole stud finding joke on my husband.. it made him smile and scoff. Also it works really well and is easy to use.

Love the way this fits in the hand. Works great , very pleased !!

Great , I put up three shelves perfectly finding the stud

practical to locate nail's location on the wooden frame underneath the dry wall. better than some of the other stud locaters bought from Amazon.Easy to store; sticks to metalic cabinet.

No batteries? Are you kidding me? Any it works! As soon as it finds a nail or screw, that thing in the middle stands attention. This is in a regular house, with regular drywall, built in 1990's. And thanks for sending it the day I needed it.

It's as expected. Not great, but it does find the nails in the studs....and every other magnetic thing in the walls.

This product is just a simple little plastic stud finder. Pretty hard to mess that up! It had a magnet on one end, and the ball in the center of the other end pops erect when you are over a stud. We have semi thin walls.Ours has been on a stud for about a month now (yes, we did just leave it on our wall.) and hasn't fallen unless we bumped it. However, there was a one stud that the finder would not stay on the wall when it was over. I have no idea why! But, I figure it has to do with our house, not the finder.I don't know what to look for in this stuff, but my husband is pleased.

Dislike :Magnetic force in not strong as expectedLike:it's fun with the knob

I'm glad I picked one of these up when it was available. So far, it's been pretty handy.I'm dinging it a star because it's advertised as working on plaster / lath walls. In my home, this is not the case. The studs behind my lath walls have proven elusive to this little guy.However, elsewhere, it's flawless.The magnet is very powerful, so when it does detect a nail in a stud, the Studpop "locks" into place so you can mark your spot. The other nice thing about this is that it's not ugly and doesn't look like a typical "tool." I keep it on the side of my fridge so I always know where it is and no one is the wiser.

i am happy with it. wish it would have come with a battery though

I have to rub it along the wall and turn it off and on to get it calibrated, but it only takes a few seconds. Definitely an accurate enough stud finder for the money!

Works fine, instruction said it would make a sound like a buzz, never heard a thing. I also found that if I went from left to right it gave different readings than from right to left. Not sure why, but it did zero in on the studs.

Serves its purpose, if you learn how to use it. Red projected arrow (its appearance and disappearance) DO NOT identify the stud location, at least in my case.Here is how it worked for me (confirmed through repetitive hole drilling so I know exactly when were my stud edges):As you move the device steadily over the wall, as soon as the sound and projected red arrow appear, this means that the stud leading edge lies approximately underneath the area between the "C" letter of the ZIRCON name, and black triangle above it. Maybe around this triangle vertex. See attached photo.The device seems unable to identify the trailing edge (where does the stud end). You should rotate it and scan backwards to identify the second edge, which will be the leading edge this time.

This isn't quite as fancy as some of the ones I was looking at that show you the entire width of the stud at once, but then again, those were $30 or $40 more. My last stud finder first declared the whole wall to be a stud, then said there were no studs (same spot), so I was really needing a replacement. I've just used it to hang some speaker mounts and it did a great job locating the studs. I appreciate that it also has the deep sensor option and that it alerts to electrical works.

Once you get the hang of it, it works real good. Seems you have to make a couple of passes and make sure you start in a place that doesn't have a stud, then when you find one you can tell you got it. If by chance you start right on a stud, the thing seems to get confused. Either way a couple passes to make sure you got the right read makes sense and gives better results. Never tried a different device so can't compare, but this one did the job nicely and I will have a good amount of holes in the wall to fill when I move out.

This is an absolute dream on drywall. Unfortunately the plaster I needed it for was too thick for it to work. This is super textured plaster so I'm afraid nothing works. But I'm glad I have this for drywall. Highly recommend it.

Not easy to find the nails/screws but for steel studs it's quite nice.

This device doesn't replace an electronic stud finder in my opinion. While the magnet works as advertised it's just ok for me. I ended up using my old school stud finder any way.

I have an old house built in the 1950's. I think the type of material used at that time doesn't allow the studpop to work as well. Also, I first saw the studpop used on HouseSmarts and Lou Manfredini showed it working even through tile. It didn't work through my tile. Perhaps it was, again, the type of material used in the old walls. I bought one for all three of my boys, because they're working on their homes--older homes. I hope they have luck using their studpops.

I ordered this “stud finder” (AKA magnet wrapped in plastic with a clever wiggly tail) to repair some drywall on my ceilings. I needed to add some screws to the existing drywall. Because the “pop” indicator (AKA wiggly tail) is vertical when held overhead, it’s not a lot of help, but I could still defiantly tell when it encountered a hidden nail.Once a nail is located the magnet is strong enough to hold the “Studpop” to the ceiling (or wall) after you let go of it. However, it’s by no means a super powerful magnet like some reviews have claimed. For example I accidently dropped a nail in the grass and tried to use this to find it by making several passes about 2 inches off the ground, about a 3’x3’ area. No luck.Additionally part of me just doesn’t feel this is a good value, because all in all, you’re paying $10.00 for a magnet. That said, I find myself using it all the time. I guess I would find this totally worth it under two conditions. 1) It actually was a super magnet. And 2) If there were two included, because many times the part of the stud you will need to nail into, will not be located by an existing nail. So you find yourself marking your wall, finding a second nail on the same stud and nailing somewhere in-between.

It worked resonably well on wallboard. But if on a sound wall not so good . Tile wall was also abit tuff for magnet to pick up nails but was able to do it.

Like most cheap stud finders it works 80% of the time. Does really well with finding power lines.

Read the directions three times over and had trouble getting it to work right... And I'm not a stranger to tools.

This works for normal drywall over studs. I have 1/2" foil faced rigid foam over most of studs and even without going through drywall it does not penetrate the foam and says there is always a stud. Unfortunate, but I had a suspicion it wouldn't work.

Works as any other stud finder. I didn't see this tool as any better or worse than other low cost stud finders I've used in the past. You need to ensure that the finder starts out in an area where there are no studs and slowly move until a stud is detected. Worked efficiently in that respect. Unit seams built of decent plastic, but wouldn't throw it around in your tool box. Worked well for me but as with most stud finders need to be a little patient. Relative to the cost, I thought it was a good purchase.

I finally settled on the e50 after searching around online. It seemed like people had good and bad things to say about most of the stud finders out there, regardless of the brand. Because the party walls in my townhouse are double drywall (1/2" + 5/8" sheets) I needed a stud finder with deep scan feature. On the interior, non party, walls this performed flawlessly. However, I got mixed results, at best, on the thicker party walls. It was finding studs left right and center some of the time and then other times it wasn't finding anything, even where there should have been(like beside an electrical box). Since this is rated to scan up to 1.5" deep it should have been no problem to find studs behind my 1 1/8" thick walls, but that wasn't the case. I wound up just guessing on the placement of most of the anchors I was installing.I'm not saying it won't work for you, but the deepscan mode was a disappointment for me. At least I have a functioning stud finder for regular walls I guess.

This is a traditional stud finder. It works fine, but tt can give false readings. I used it in conjunction with the CH Hanson 03040 Magnetic Stud Finder to double check each other and it worked fine, just not as well as the Hanson one. I really have no problems with this one except for the possibility of false readings, which you don't get with the Hanson Magnetic one. Overalll, it was a worthwhile purchase and I don't regret buying it, but I do prefer the Hanson one for reliability and guessing games of whether it is a stud or not.

Works on some walls, not on others

Has lots of trouble finding metal studs behind the drywall. Not nearly as good as advertised.

Doesn't do too great on plaster walls.

Does not work well. I thought it would be great to have a little tool in my pocket instead of the larger stud finder, but either there are few screws in the studs or there is something else going on. It did not work well on my walls. A real stud finder does a better and faster job. This is too expensive for a fancy magnet.

Doesn't work

Didn't work on my walls. Guess they must be plaster? I don't know. I'm playing the girl card here. As handy as I am, I have no idea what to do next to hang my 30+ lb mirror. Maybe I'll try an electric one or go to my local hardware store and see what the people there suggest.

I did not find this either particularly accurate or intuitive to use. I regret buying this one and wish I'd spent a little more on a quality stud finder.

This is a terrible stud finder. I gave it a 2nd star because it actually found a stud once, but over all it was incredibly inconsistent and inaccurate. The the center point is about 3/8th inch off in both directions of center, which is completely unreliable.

Really nice when it works but very unreliable. Very irregular responsiveness and not consistent. I have normal drywall throughout my house and this thing had a lot of trouble finding studs. Occassionally it would read the entire wall as a stud or read like the wall has nothing behind it.

This thing is not as good as the old ones were. It is not consistent and could be much better. I would pay $50 for a stud finder that always works and is reliable. I got frustrated one day and this item ended up smashed on the car port. Now I use my old method, knock around for a stud and then measure 16" in the direction you want to go.

Does not differentiate metal vs wood. I had to buy another stud finder because this did not recognize that there was metal and not a wood stud behind my wall. I didn't realize it until I was halfway through drilling a hole into my wall.

The wire detector goes off inconsistently for me. When I run it over the same spot on the wall, it will sometimes tell me there is a wire there and other times will not give me any alert.Additionally, the stud finder is a bit inconsistent as well. It tells you the information you need but I found that when I ran over the same stud multiple times, it would give slightly different (.125 - .25 inch) answers to where the edge of the stud is.I have used other stud finders with similar features and found those to be less inconsistent.

Found the metal in the wall, but not the stud. Sorry, but this does not work. I had to go to my local Home Depot and buy a stud finder.

This does not work. Tried on several walls following instructions and it only works at corners. This is a new house.

Horrendous product, couldn't locate a single stud across the entire wall. Would have had better luck knocking on the wall.

I thought this would work in my 1930 home. It doesn't. I know enough to use this extremely simple product. My walls are plaster of an appropriate thickness over lathe. I went over several square feet of wall in different areas of my home. I did it as instructed and I did it repeatedly. This thing ONLY moved when I could SEE a nail under the paint in one spot, and I wish I'd ripped it out and sent it to the manufacturer with a request for a refund. This piece of plastic is a dumb scam. The company is lucky to still be in business.

I received five to give as gifts. No one I give it to could get them to work at all. Really not what it showed on T.V.

Bought this because it claims to work on lath and plaster. It doesn't work as advertised on our plaster ceiling. It manages to find only a small percentage of the studs in our plaster walls. Your mileage may vary.

I exchanged the I 520 for this item which is no better inaccurate readings on either setting I don't recommend this product

I changed the batteries. It is still not working. Bought it on 5/10/2017. Till Yesterday I dodn't have a chance to use it. First Inserted the battery and was holding the Power button didn't do anything. Then bought another 9V battery and replaced still the same. Can't ecven calibrate. Now I don't see the option of Returning and Replace

this thing does the opposite of what it's supposed to - let's you know where studs aren't. don't buy.

Does not accurately find studs! I had to drill multiple holes for "sensed" stud. Will be returning item!

Biggest piece of crap ever. No consistency at all. One time it will say there's a stud, 2 seconds later, it will say there isn't one. Most of the time it beeps repeatedly and doesn't even work. Don't buy! Waste of money. I had better luck with a free app on my phone.

Didn't find it very helpful... for whatever reason, it almost always report electrical activity behind the walls. So as a test, I had it scan just a bedroom door and it also reported electrical wiring behind it. As much as I would have liked an electric door that opened and closed automatically, it was just a plain old wood door, no wiring...