It has become increasingly difficult since the advent of the modern wireless-equipped fishfinder for manufacturers to strike a balance between largely unnecessary features and vital, meat and potatoes fishing tools. The most important single asset for a finder is easily visible and accurate imaging, which is sometimes lost in favor of bells and whistles.
| Highest Rated GPS Fishfinders | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Humminbird Helix 5 CHIRP G2 | 4.8/5 |
 | Lowrance HDS 7 Gen3 | 4.7/5 |
 | Garmin echoMAP CHIRP 73sv | 4.6/5 |
 | Raymarine Dragonfly 7 PRO | 4.4/5 |
 | Humminbird Helix 10 SI GPS | 4.6/5 |
GPS/Fishfinder Combos
Humminbird 859ci HD DI Review
| Rating | 4/5 |
When the goal is to catch as many fish as possible, the right equipment is crucial. Rods, reels, bait and boat can take a fisherman far, but to truly catapult to the next level it’s important to know where the fish are in relation to one’s location. To make sure they know where the fish are biting, more anglers are turning to the Humminbird 859ci HD DI.
Garmin GPSMAP 840xs Review
GPSMAP 840xs is a part of the new series of fishfinders from Garmin that support down imaging as well as side imaging (Garmin branded those technologies as DownVü and SideVü). Down imaging is built-in while side imaging requires a GCV 10 module that is sold separately.
Lowrance Mark 4 HDI Review
| Rating | 3.3/5 |
The Lowrance Mark 4 HDI comes with a 4.3 inch greyscale screen. HDI stands for Hybrid Dual Imaging and provides both the Broadband Sounder and DownScan. HDI was first introduced by the Elite7 model and it provides extremely accurate fish markings and is capable of tracking bait movement.
Humminbird 688ci HD DI Review
| Rating | 2.9/5 |
The Humminbird 688 ci HD DI offers anglers a combination of down imaging and GPS. The 688 has a 640 x 480, five inch display with 256 colors and a backlight. Note that this display has lower resolution than the one found in the older 5 inch models that had 640 x 640 resolution. As the result the output is not as crisp and clear.
Lowrance Elite-4 HDI Review
| Rating | 4/5 |
Lowrance Elite-4 HDI is a new generation of compact fishfinders ideal for kayaks and small boat where room for mounting electronics is at premium. Despite of its small footprint Elite 4 HDI has almost all the features found in the larger Elite HDI models, yet it’s moderately priced. It will be a very popular model among those looking for smaller, budget priced units.
Humminbird 899ci HD SI Review
| Rating | 3.6/5 |
Humminbird 899ci HD SI features the 480′ Side-Imaging technology, which Humminbird began and has mastered. It uses the XHS-9-HDSI-180-T transducer, the same one that was used by the older side-imaging models. The 1000W transducer supports 800/455/200/83 kHz frequencies, and it reaches the depth of 150’ in side imaging mode and 1500’ in broadband mode.
Garmin GPSMAP 527xs Review
| Rating | 4.7/5 |
The Garmin GPSMAP 527xs combined sounder and chart plotter permits clear and easy visibility during both the nighttime and the daytime. This will be the main attraction of the angler’s helm, regardless if it is swivel, flush, or flat mounted. The unit includes a worldwide base map as well as a user-friendly interface.
Raymarine a68 Review
The a68 fishfinder by Raymarine features CHIRP DownVision built right in with a full featured multifunction display. The CHIRP DownVision channel on the a68 model fishfinder delivers some amazing images of wrecks, fish, and underwater structure with photographic quality. There is also a CHIRP fish targeting channel on the a68 model fishfinder for easy identification of predators and baitfish.
Humminbird 698ci HD SI Review
| Rating | 4.1/5 |
The Humminbird 698ci HD SI features a brilliant 640V X 480H, backlit, five inch, 256 color display. It offers precision GPS chart plotting, as well as Down Imaging and Side Imaging sonar. This unit has a tilt and swivel mounting system with quick disconnects and built-in Humminbird UniMap cartography. You can also save your favorite views with three preset buttons that are programmable. The Humminbird 698ci HD SI fishfinder GPS system will enhance the fishing experience for any angler.
Standard Horizon CPF300i Review
The Standard Horizon CPF300i combines a moderately large high-resolution display screen with an integral 50-channel WAAS GPS receiver and a 600-watt sonar to make a highly capable piece of marine electronics gear. This Standard Horizon combo will interface with an optional external GPS sensor if your installation requires something other
Standard Horizon CPF180i Review
The Standard Horizon CPF180i integrates chartplotting capabilities with an internal 50-channel WAAS GPS receiver and a 600-watt fishfinder. This Standard Horizon GPS combo can use an optional external GPS sensor. On an installation where overhead structure might limit GPS signal reception adding an external antenna would be the appropriate choice.
Simrad CX33 Chartplotter Fishfinder Combo
The Simrad CX33 E holds up to the Simrad tradition for excellence and robustness with its aluminum frame and polycarbonate housing. We’ve always been impressed with a Simrad chartplotter and this one is no exception. Our test unit measures 10 inches wide, almost 6 inches high, with a depth of
Raymarine A-Series Main Page
Raymarine A-Series chartplotters and chartplotter fishfinder combos are available in a number of combinations covering two model generations. The A60 and A65 were the first pair of chartplotter fishfinders introduced in the A-Series lineup. Both were some of the first units packaged to sell with cartography onboard. These highly regarded
Raymarine A70D
The Raymarine A70D has the largest screen of the triad of new release A-series chartplotter fishfinder combo units. Like the other fishfinder versions of the new release Raymarine A-series units, the A70D ships with a 500-watt internal sounder and an internal GPS receiver. Our test unit also came with preloaded
Raymarine A60
The Raymarine A60 system pack ships with the display unit, DSM25 black box sounder, RS12 GPS sensor, and a Navionics Silver All-in-One map card. The display measures 9.6 inches wide, just under 7 inches high, and 3.4 inches deep. We mounted the display head on the supplied metal bracket. Connections
Raymarine A65
We received the Raymarine A65 in a System Pack. It included the A65 display unit, GPS unit, DSM25 black box sounder, a Navionics Silver US All-In-One Marine chart card, and a dual-frequency transducer. The display unit measures 9.5 inches wide, just under 7 inches high, and about 3.5 inches deep.
Raymarine A57D
The Raymarine A57D is the mid-size unit of three new A-series chartplotter fishfinder combo units recently released by UK-based marine electronics maker Raymarine. Our A57D test unit shipped with an internal sounder, internal GPS receiver, and preloaded cartography covering U.S. coastal waters, both mainland coasts, and the Great Lakes. This
Raymarine A50D
Our Raymarine A50D test unit shipped with an internal sounder and preloaded cartography. It also had preloaded U.S. coastal cartography covering both mainland coasts and the Great Lakes. You can also get a Raymarine A-series unit with no preloaded charts, U.S., or rest of the world coverage. All A-series plotters
Northstar Explorer 660 Review
The Northstar Explorer 660, a standalone chartplotter fishfinder, is packaged with the display unit, a GPS antenna, and a dual-frequency transom-mount transducer. Outside the US this unit was also marketed as the Navman Trackfish 6600 and that is the unit we actually tested. That is no longer the case though