Side by Side Comparison of: Zircon vs CH Hanson

I actually do love this little thing. It hung on my living room wall for almost 2 weeks before my husband saw it. It is much easier to use than some of the others. I don't have to look at flashing lights, it takes up less room so that enables me to find studs in the closet or other small areas. No it does not find electrical units and such but once I find the studs, I mark it, then get out the one that is "supposed" to find the wires and mark the areas.

For the price, I don't think this can be beat.It is purely a strong magnet with a level. You run the stud finder across the wall until you feel it stick, knock to know the width, and draw lines to guide you with your install.I was able to install a TV wall mount and wall shelving around an apartment with ease.If you're average with tools and handy work like myself (I'm a software engineer by trade) this is a great addition any small tool kit.

This thing is amazing for the price! I will never buy another digital stud finder for $20+ that doesn't work well when something this basic does an even better job. I have probably bought 3-4 of the "nicer" ones over the years and they always broke or worked poorly. Once you know the trick to hang this from fishing line or similar and just let it gently swing from side to side it finds the metal screws or nails in the studs and sticks to the wall like magic. Best Stud Finder you will find for the dollar!!

Tiny device with simple concept but works GREAT! Why should you spend more on an electronic device? This does exactly what you need for far less. Buying it on Amazon saved tons of money since I couldn't find the same available in a store anywhere. They all want to sell you something far more expensive or charge an arm and a leg for buying this from their online storefront. Was directed to this by thesweethome.com review. Love it. Love that it also has a level built in.

This is effective, though it must be stressed that you have to be very sensitive when using this in certain situations.I was very disappointed the first 10 minutes I tried in vain to use this by sweeping it by hand across various walls. I couldn't detect anything that I was comfortable assuming was a stud nail, let alone drilling a hole in my wall based on that assumption.HOWEVER: I found it far easier to hang the device with a simple piece of thread and then just swinging it along the wall. Do not touch the finder with your hands at all.With a string added, it jumped right to the stud nails when I came anywhere close to them. The difference between the two methods is like night and day.It's a simple way to increase the sensitivity and efficiency of this product.To anyone disappointed, give it a shot!

I was surprised that a stud finder could have such high reviews especially since it seems to just be a strong magnet. But now that I've used it, it really is pretty awesome. First of all, it's tiny! I didn't think to check the size before ordering it so I was astonished to open the box and see such a little instrument. It fits nicely in the palm of my hand and doesn't take up much space in our already overflowing tool box. It's also strong as heck. It will yank itself to the nearest screw or nail. I was so fascinated by this that I spent the next several minutes running around my apartment looking for all the studs. Unlike the sensor kind of stud finders, there can't be any false readings with this guy.

Great product would recommend to this anyone.

I am renting an old house with thick plaster walls and I was having trouble finding the studs on just a couple of my walls with my electric stud finder.It did not work well just moving it with my hand. Another customer pointed out to tie a string to it and dangle it by the wall. That method worked just fine.4 stars because this doesn't come with a string and I had to use my shoelace.

This stud finder works exactly as it is supposed to. It is so strong the it can suck magnets often be referred greater from almost 2" away. It works perfectly through extra thick plaster and paint over the dry wall. However because of its small size that means it has a very small footprint also. You almost have to swipe it across the wall as if you were frosting a cake or mowing a lawn. When you do find a nail it is unmistakable that you found it. I have used to message to find nails. The 1st is to hang it from a string in just pass the string along the wall to let the stud finder drag on the surface of the wall and it will stick hard when it finds a nail. The 2nd is to cup it loosely in your hand and pass your hand back-and-forth across the wall until it suddenly grabs hold.The packaging is anything but frustration free and is the old school piece of double-layered plastic molding sandwich between sheets of chipboard/cardboard. Notice in my photo the it is not much taller than a standard size toothpick. See that the entire package is much smaller than the A1 size box, Amazon's smallest box.Over all, does it work? Yes, exactly as advertised and as a perfect backup if you don't want to require batteries. Would I get it for a job site? Absolutely not. Its small size and therefore small footprint makes it too cumbersome to try to use for more then figuring out where to mount something at home. For the home user that May only occasionly have to figure out where the studs are, it is perfect because it can also double as a refrigerator magnet due to its smaller size. Additional note regarding the refrigerator usage: When this thing gets within about 2" of the refrigerator it will jump out of your hand in clean hard. It requires a decent amount of skoal to get it back-off. We have a calendar held to the refrigerator with 3 clip magnets. This stud finder was powerful enough to not only grab the 1st magnet from an inch away, but also pull the other 2 from the refrigerator and hold the calendar in the air while carrying it to another room and passing it through the door.Usage tip: Once you find the 1st stud, have a tape measure extended several feet and let the magnets of the stud finder hold the extended end of the tape as you hold the base end. Now mark every 16 or 24" to figure out approximately where to check for other studs' exact locations. This will make finding studs a little easier.Hint (for those without access to ask a good carpenter / inspector): An easy way to figure out your stud placement is to find the stud nearest the corner of a Room. (Avoid corners with windows or doors nearby, or corners of the house, as this may cause design layout to vary.) Measure either 16 or 24" (most common), and that will be your base measurement to expect in the rest of your house. Also note that exterior walls may have different / closer stud placement and distance than interior walls.Remember: Building code changes with time or materials used or location of wall. Keep that in mind when checking different parts of your home.{Professionals, please don't read this next part.} The quality of work or extra decisions of carpenters impacts placement. (I've seen "the studs are an average of 24 inches", and "as long as they're somewhere closer than 16 inches we're fine", plus what looks like "We're putting the door / window / outlet right here and that's final! Throw in some extra boards if it doesn't line up with the studs properly. It will be extra solid then, so it's no big deal if it doesn't make sense!") Also, metal doesn't always mean stud. ("Oops! Didn't measure that cut right / cut isn't smooth / didn't place the drywall correctly. But we can just patch it with sheet metal.")+ Measure twice, cut once. This way you don't make mistakes.- Cut once and measure twice. That way you'll know how badly off you were and then finally get a rough idea of how you need to guess better next time.

I was dubious that this small stud finder would work well. But man, it finds everything. Nails, drywall screws, plumbing, electrical lines. I would give it five stars but it finds so much metal in the walls that you can be fooled into thinking islet has located a stud when it hasn't. Magnets are super strong and the finder will hold itself in place on stud nails - if only they were all straight! Great tool for the price: Very compact.

It works but takes time to figure out and can be a slow process. I needed to install 13 closets in a brand new house, purchased this stud finder for the job. If I solely used this stud finder, it would have taken me a year to complete my project. For a small project this stud finder is great, but for speed, it unfortunately just takes too long to keep searching for the screws.

It's great as a stud finder. Does the job without the bells and whistles. I just can't for the life of me figure out how anyone thought the level in the middle of it would help anyone. The sides of this thing aren't flat... But I purchased it as a stud finder, and it serves that purpose nicely. It does take a bit of extra searching, since you're looking for the nails in the studs, rather than just the giant stud. But that also means that you know exactly where not to drill, if you don't want to hit a nail.

I'm glad I got this stud finder for more reasons than one.First, it'll find a nail in a stud and hang on like a steel trap. It also has a cool feature where if you rotate the level tube, it will show you plumb as well.My construction buddy has one of those high dollar ones with a microchip in it, but for the average homeowner who wants to know whether to use a screw or a molly to hang a picture, or do a little household project, this baby is the one to get.It came on time, with easy to understand instructions, and the price was right.The only downside I can find, and I hate to seem like I'm being picky, but you're supposed to slide it around the wall in an "S" motion.If you're not careful, you'll leave what looks like a pencil mark on white sheetrock.It didn't want to locate nails that were under 1x12 cedar planks that I had already installed.

Still getting the hang of it, just fiddled with it a bit. But will update when used a bit more time.

Purchased from Home Depot for locating studs behind tiled walls of shower. I wanted to install a grab bar. The HD800 was inaccurate/could not get a clear reading on vertical studs. I specifically bought this since it advertised it could find studs behind tile. Seems to work fine on regular drywall surfaces.

Got this as a xmas gift. Was excited to try it as my 10 year old stud finder just wasn't cutting it anymore. Bought a new 9 v Duracell battery. Used it on a 3/4" thick drywall to find a stud to hang some shelving units. Held the unit against the wall, pushed the button, waited for 3 sec and moved the unit slowly to the right with only one hand holding the device. Indicated a stud was found but must have been a narrow one (less than 1 inch wide). Continued to move to the right another 3-4 inches. Then moved the unit to the left retracing the path it had already taken. Didn't find the same stud. Tried this numerous times. Still didn't reliably find the stud. But where it did indicate a stud was located I hammered a nail into the region (NO STUD). Tried it in several locations where it indicated a stud was found. NO STUD.I read the instructions, and used a thin piece of cardboard thinking this would help. It didn't. Considering how much this thing cost it ought to work a lot better than NOT AT ALL!!! Sorry Zircon, but this thing is as useful as a glass hammer.Updated Feb 20, 2016: Zircon left feedback to my original post to call them which I did. They gave me some suggestions which seemed to help to reliably find a stud. Note, the wall I am scanning is not smooth drywall, but has a textured or orange-peel effect. That may be part of the problem. Nevertheless, it is too bad that these additional instructions aren't included with the product packaging. One other note. After you place the tools next to the wall and turn on the power it is supposed to 'beep' according to the instructions on the back of the tool. Mine doesn't. And if you turn it on and the 'arrow' symbol appears, you have placed the tool on top of a stud. This occurs not matter where the tool is placed. So I am changing my star rating to a '3' and will once again call Zircon for further help.

I would use this in addition to a zircon electric stud sensor e50. Many walls in newer houses dont have nails the use glue. This is a magnet that only sticks yo a nail if there is one. Its not going to find a stud fast like the e50 but once you find it you can locate the nails ( if any) so you dont pound a new nail on top of a existing one. Nice idea for the money but does not replace a real stud finder.

This device only seems to work where studs have something metal (nails) in them. The magnet is very strong, but it did not work too well for me. Perhaps it is the framing style of my house behind the drywall..

Takes awhile to get used to how it works but once you get the hang of it, no problem. Have to go real slow. It you're one of those hurry up people, you will lose your mind. It accuracy is what you want, this will find that nail in the stud and hang on it.

This little device is smaller than I thought it would be. Small and easy to use. However, it did not quite work for my needs. I live in a mobile home and was hoping this item would help me find the studs in my walls. However, it was not able to detect the studs. It did detect the screws in the molding, but couldn't find anything past that. It operates solely through magnets, so it does work but did not work for my needs.

I bought this because my father had a magnetic stud finder and they are cheap and simple to use. Problem is, my 1953 house has 1 inch thick dry wall with a 1/8" plaster coating. The magnet on this stud finder is not powerful enough to find most of the studs. I found two in one room, easily, while I think I found a few others by feeling a little pull. In the bathroom is just remodeled, I could find studs. I also tested it on an open wall in the basement and outside a 1/2" or so away, the magnet power weakens.

Good, but not great. Lacks a density finder, only finds magnetic. So we use it with the old one and balance the two off together. Too bad they haven't combined these two.This is The Husband's opinion, given he's the one who has used it to put up a variety of items on new walls in the new downsized home.

This is pointless in a house with lathe and plaster. It doesn't get any indication that you are going over a stud, just sticks when it is attracted enough to a screw, which is approximately never in a house with old fashioned lathe and plaster walls. There is a $30 electric stud finder on amazon that works quite well though. I think it is made by Franklin.

It's not a terrible product but it's not really what I had hoped for. The leveler is almost useless and while it found "studs" - you can't really be certain if it's a nail, a pipe, or some other random metal piece in the wall. Great little magnet though but will probably invest in something else next time.

Simply does not work on my walls! I like in a 2 bed room apartment with one living room. This stud finder could not locate one stud in all 3 rooms. I am assuming it isn't powerful enough for my walls or I was sent a dud. Attempting to send back now, although i bought with prime, it says the seller doesn't accept returns....what

This device works as designed. I just don't like the design. I tried to use this a few times and failed to find the stud accurately. Maybe it's user error but I need more information to work with than where a nail is in the drywall.

This thing is so tiny really only good for a tool bag, doesnt work on stucco....best use would be for first timer in an apt hanging pictures it doesnt find wood it finds the metal nail...should be for $5 nothing more way over priced

The low grade neodymium magnet in this stud finder is a simple and much more reliable way of finding studs...UNLESS, your walls are thicker than a sheet of paper. If they are, then you will have to painstakingly comb your walls as slowly as humanly possible, hopefully finding that very slight ping of magnetic attraction. If you don't have the patience (like myself) or don't have the years of stud finding skills (like myself), you will be highly disappointed. Great concept, but the weak magnet is extremely annoying and nearly useless, unfortunately. You might love it; my experience has been disappointing.

Super unreliable. You 'locate' a stud then try to double check and its in a different place. Confidence killed. Going in the bin.

It is not working well. (Maybe that one I bought was a defect product.) It is totally not able to find a stud.

Don't bother with this. It doesn't work. No matter how many times you can run it across known stud locations, it changes readings.This just doesn't work at all. It can only be described as abhorrent garbage.

This is a kids toy. It can't be real. It works sure. But randomly.Insane how expensive this kids toy is. According to this I have 79 studs in wall, zero in another. Most expensive kids toy I ever bought my kid.

I bought this because of all of the glowing reviews...it may be effective to find a stud in some cases...I found it fairly difficult to detect a stud...I did tie a string to it to try it that way...however, I find it useless as a level...it might be 3 inches long and 1 inch wide...would not buy again.

Well this stud finder did not work for me. I'm not sure if it was because I have a mobile home and it can't find a nail for it to work. Would have returned it but lost original packaging. Will see if my son can use it in his home

I guess my house has ONLY 2 studs throughout or this thing is just lying through it's teeth.

I used it to find studs behind a 1/2 inch plaster board. It could not find the studs. For comparison, I used a regular stud finder with lights and it detected the studs correctly. I was not able to use this product as a stud finder. :(Since I could not return it, I am using it as a refrigerator magnet instead. It holds paper very well!!

Magnet is very strong. I have not had good luck with this product, my laser stud finder works much better (and it doesn't work that well).....

This did not work at all for my walls. The Studpop finder i ordered that is also magnet based DID work. I don't believe this magnet is powerful enough.