Top 5 Editorial Picks
Five current fishfinders chosen for distinct buyer needs—from compact value to a premium expandable system. These are editorial selections, not Amazon or reader ratings.
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Best Compact Value
A straightforward sonar and GPS unit for kayaks, jon boats, and small boats.
Best All-Around 7-Inch Fishfinder
A capable sonar-first choice for anglers who want a useful 7-inch display without moving into a full chartplotter system.
Best GPS & Chartplotter Upgrade
The mapping step-up for buyers who need confident navigation as well as high-quality scanning sonar.
Best Side-Imaging Upgrade
A current 9-inch imaging platform for anglers ready to build around serious side imaging and boat integration.
Best Premium Expandable System
A larger-boat platform for buyers who want premium sonar, mapping, networking, and a serious expansion path.
The Garmin 5212 multi-function display offers a very clean look with only a single power button on the bezel. Everything else in this chartplotter is controlled via touch screen fields that act as buttons, keys, or prompts. This Garmin touch screen chartplotter display will interface with radar, black box fish
The Garmin 5208 front panel offers a sleek look with only a single power button on the bezel. Everything else in this marine chartplotter is controlled via touch screen fields serving as pushbuttons, alphanumeric keys, or prompts. Like its siblings, the 5208 will display radar information, fish finder data from
The Garmin 441 is an updated version of an earlier Garmin small screen marine chartplotter. This unit ships equipped with an internal GPS receiver and preloaded Garmin BlueChart g2 U.S. coastal cartography. Additional hardware and documentation includes a power/data cable, protective front cover, tilt and swivel mounting bracket, installation instructions,
Furuno NavNet 3D is the latest iteration of this well-known marine electronics company’s network operating system. I’ll be reviewing the system with a 12-inch multi-function display unit. The 12-inch MFD package ships with the display unit, metal mounting bracket, user’s handbook, installation guide book, flip-card operators guide, and a computer
My Lowrance LCX-104C has survived about six years on a 23-foot center console Dorado with only one repair. I have over the years found many good attributes to the LCX-104C. Although it did die on me once about two years ago, going totally blank and losing all of my stored
Editor’s Note – This post is provided by Capt Pancho of Nassau, Bahamas The Garmin 640 is a semi-portable GPS unit with a 5.2″ touch screen pre-loaded with both US street maps and US coastal charts. The unit comes with 2 mounting configurations, car and marine, and can be added
Step up to the A series line of chartplotters and sonar fishfinder combo units. The Raymarine A50D belongs to this prestigious pedigree that won Motorboating magazines Best of the Year award. The A-series combines high definition graphics and 2d and 3d charting of coastal and inland water bodies with simple and elegant design that allows for simple and intuitive operation and setup. All of the qualities an innovation that are most coveted in the industry are at your disposal with the A50D.