I had high hopes for my Lowrance HDS chartplotter fishfinder. Unfortunately, Lowrance and Navionics seem intent on marketing products that are simply not ready for use. I live in Alaska and fish the south central area, Kenai Peninsula, Cook Inlet, North Gulf Coast, and Prince William Sound. I’ll start with
| 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 Chartplotter Combo Review
Editor’s Note – A west coast commercial operator doing water sampling work provides an in-depth review of a Humminbird chartplotter. We bought the Humminbird 788ci for one of our work vessels. I would not recommend this Humminbird combo unit. We have Lowrance gear installed on our other vessels and I
Airmar 260 Review
Intro The Airmar 260 series is a 1-kW transducer available in a variety of configurations, including thru-hull, in-hull, and transom mount. The 260 is a beast whose size and performance dwarfs many of its more common and less expensive brethren like the Airmar P66. The transducer is the heart of
Garmin echoMAP 70s Review
| Rating | 4/5 |
The Garmin echoMAP 70s is a combination high performance chartplotter and fishfinder. The ultrafast updates make this unit ideal for shallow and inland water on any center console or bass boat. The echoMAP 70s has a seven inch WVGA touchscreen display. The display is crystal clear, allows great visibility in the daytime as well as nighttime
Raymarine Dragonfly Review
| Rating | 4.5/5 |
The Raymarine Dragonfly 5.7 is a combination of GPS and fish finder, making it an ideal tool for those who want a bit more fishing success even in unfamiliar waters. At just over $700 at most retailers, it is still considered an affordable model, and is packed to the gills with features.
Garmin echoMap 50s Review
| Rating | 3.9/5 |
When it comes to choosing depth sounders and GPS, the top three choices are Garmin, Humminbird or Lowrance. Compact fish finders are the affordable alternative to 12-inch monsters that are very expensive. Garmin has been a market leader in marine GPS and handheld GPS technologies. The Garmin echoMAP 50s is an affordable combination of a well-calibrated depth sounder and GPS and is ideal for smaller craft.
Humminbird 398 SI Review
| Rating | 3.8/5 |
The Humminbird 398 SI comes with side imaging and down imaging capability in addition to a 3.5 inch screen with LED lighting. Also included is internal GPS chartplotting capability compete with built-in UniMap cartography. There’s also a card slot for when you want to add maps and save waypoints and a Tilt and Swivel mounting system.
Humminbird 598ci HD SI Review
| Rating | 4.2/5 |
The Humminbird 598si HD is a powerful GPS/fishfinder combo that makes a day of fishing easier than ever before. This device offers side-imaging to maximize your angling experience, giving clear information on where even the trickiest of fish are hiding. With its Dual Beam Plus Sonar and brilliant full color display, this unit is sure to bring a new level of excitement to the art of fishing.
Lowrance Elite-7 HDI Review
| Rating | 2.9/5 |
For navigators of waterways of the world, Tulsa, Oklahoma based Lowrance introduces its Elite-7 Hybrid Dual Imaging (HDI) series, otherwise known as the Lowrance Elite-7 HDI. This device incorporates GPS capabilities with course plotting to make navigation and on-water pilotage an intuitive and effortless process. Like all electronics of this sort there is a slight learning curve that once over makes using the device a simple process.
Lowrance HDS-12 Gen 2 Touch Insight Review
The Lowrance HDS-12 Gen 2 Touch Insight is the largest marine navigational system from Lowrance that has an easy-to-use multi-function touchscreen display with the look and feel of a computer tablet or smartphone. It comes with everything long-time Lowarance High Definition System users expect and much, much more.
Humminbird 386ci DI Review
| Rating | 3.3/5 |
The Humminbird 386ci DI is a must-have gadget for those people who enjoy launching their kayak or small boat into rivers, lakes and oceans. Versatile and attractive, this device will make the process of locating fish much easier. Prey can be seen instantly and clearly through the color TFT display, […]
Lowrance HDS-7 Gen2 Touch Insight Review
| Rating | 3/5 |
The HDS-7 Gen2 Touch Insight from Lowrance is a third generation all-in-one fishfinder, depth sounder and chartplotter. This high-definition system attains very high speeds and is powered by touchscreen control. With the high-definition, 16-color, Super VGA SolarMAX PLUS TFT display, wide-angled views of improved clarity are possible, especially under the glaring sun when the user does not have polarized sunglasses
Humminbird PiranhaMAX 196ci Portable Review
Humminbird is a well-known manufacturer for marine equipment and has produced a long series of fishfinders. The PiranhaMAX 196ci Portable applies professional grade Sonar technology to clearly display everything that goes on under the boat to the user. This model stands out for its precision internal GPS that makes navigation much easier. The trackplotter can be used to mark waypoints as the boat courses through the water.
Humminbird 386ci Review
| Rating | 2/5 |
The Humminbird 386ci is an affordable and high-quality fishfinder. It is a sturdy product with numerous user-friendly features to make this a great value for serious fishers. This unit features a high-quality 3.5 inch display and powerful sonar technologies, making it a great deal. The 386ci uses a compact but high-resolution 320V x 240H 256 Color TFT 3.5 inch FSTN LCD display. Don’t be fooled by the small screen, the 3.5 inch LCD display provides more than adequate screen space.
Humminbird ICE 597ci HD Review
Up the ante of your angling experience as you watch fish and their marine surroundings come into view using Humminbird ICE 597CI HD Combo. With its 5-inch display, you can easily enjoy the full benefit of Down Imaging Sonar technology as well as Humminbird’s very own Switchfire technology. Addionally, it features a 16-channel GPS receiver as well as built-in UniMap.
Lowrance HDS-9 Gen2 Touch Insight Review
The Lowrance HDS-9 Gen 2 Touch Insight is a touchscreen GPS marine navigational system with the ease of a tablet computer or smartphone. It comes with everything long-time Lowarance High Definition System users expect with a few new enhancements.
Humminbird 587ci HD DI Review
| Rating | 3/5 |
The Humminbird 587ci HD DI is a combination GPS and fishfinder that includes Humminbird’s trademark Switchfire and Dual Beam Plus sonar technologies as well as their Down-Imaging system all displayed on a high definition 256 color 4.5 inch 640×480 resolution screen that has brightness levels that can be adjusted to read clearly even under direct sunlight.
Humminbird 581i DI Review
| Rating | 2.8/5 |
The Humminbird 581i DI is a Fishfinder and GPS in one affordable unit that includes Dual Beam Real Time sonar, Humminbirds incredible Down Imaging technology and full 50 channel track and chart plotting GPS. The ultra bright and easy to read high resolution 16 level gray scale black and white 640×320 5 inch screen makes all images easily readable even in bright sunlight.
Humminbird 385ci DI Review
The 385ci DI makes is a powerful combination GPS/Fishfinding solution featuring Huminbird’s Dual Beam technology, Down Imaging system and a Precision GPS system that includes waypoints, trackplotting, chartplotting, GPS speed, incorporates the included Humminbird UniMap and allows for optional Navionics, Gold/HotMaps, and LakeMaster SD Card expansions.
Lowrance HDS-10 Gen2 Review
The Lowrance HDS10 Gen2 is the largest available HDS model on the market. It is a total of 10.4 inches measured diagonally and provides the best viewing experience possible with this family of products.