Humminbird 597ci HD DI Review

Technology meets convenience in the Humminbird 597ci HD DI. You can estimate the size of the fish you are targeting with Selective Fish ID. The X-Press menu system allows you to access the features you use most often to save time during your excursion. Even the interface is customizable with your choice of colors and view selections.

The 597ci HD DI offers a 50 channel internal GPS with Chartplotting that helps you to navigate the waters like a pro. The built-in Unimap gives you an accurate chart for the waters virtually anywhere in the U.S. Explore coastlines, rivers and lakes as close to or as far from home as you would like with ease. An added card slot allows you to use additional maps and save waypoints throughout the trip.

Let the 597ci HD DI take you straight to the bottom with Down Imaging Technology. Watch as the powerful sonar takes snapshots from underneath your boat, piecing them together to give you an up close look. See the structures in perfect detail and identify fish with ease at water depths of up to 250ft.

Get a complete profile of the bottom by taking advantage of the DualBeam Plus Sonar. Expand your coverage area and achieve highly accurate returns with the use of the 20 degree and 60 degree beams. The narrow and wide beams can be utilized separately to help track fish and locate structures on the bottom. Opt to combine the beams to maximize your coverage up to 600ft deep.

Watch the underwater world appear instantaneously on your 5” color screen. The 640 X 640 high resolution display will add brightness and quality to the images as they appear. Use the LED backlight to take advantage of the fishfinder at night and in low light.

After using this model for over 6 months now and having used many fishfinders in the past, I’m convinced that HB 597c HD DI is by far the best fishfinder/gps combo unit on the market right now. It’s great value if you consider all the features offered on this fishfinder. Down imaging is way better than on Lowrance models, mostly due to better software and higher screen resolution. Also, Humminbird gives you 2D imaging capabilities in the split screen mode which you wont’t get with Lowrance. The installation took me a little over an hour. The base map is adequate but you might have to consider getting a Navionics map. Overall I’m very happy with this fishfinder.

I’ve been fishing with Humminbird 597c HD DI for a little over a month, I can’t believe what an awesome fishfind it is. I can see everything underneath the boat, it’s like fishing with a sixth sense, unbelievable.

After researching fishfinders for over year I decided to purchase this unit and I’m glad I did. This fishfinder is every bit as good as the manufacturer claims it is. It’s very user friendly and most importantly it gives you great readings event at high speeds. I highly recommend this unit.

Down imaging is amazing, it’s almost like having an underwater camera. I also like the split screen feature with the traditional sonar readings. A+

My GPS died after only about 30 hours of use. I was 20 miles into the lake then the thing decided to give in, luckily I had a map that allowed me to get back. When I called Humminbird support, they offered to repair my unit, I think I should’ve been given a new one since the “old one” only lasted a couple days. The fishfinder has nice features but mine was a lemon.

This unit is a total waste of money. The depth reading jumps like crazy between 5 and 100 feet when the boat is not moving. The sonar isn’t showing any fish. GPS works fine for the most part but there is a 10 second delay when you zoom in. Horrible product.

This unit is crazy… first the GPS wasn’t working, sent it back to Hummingbird, they said nothing was wrong. Used it 3 times after I got it back, GPS is not working again… will be sending it back… again, I think the unit can’t take the bouncing on rough water… and something in the unit is loose..power and sonar works OK.

I have a 597hd di unit and the transducer has broken twice my flaut got to close to shore but it should have kicked up so had to replace it I think the brakets should have been made stronger.

I like what it should be able to do but it keeps shutting off. Sending it back. Third time out starting and having trouble.

No depth reading when sitting still or running lock on .07 feet. Everything else works fine: GPS, temp, time, water temp. etc. Once in a while the depth will come on for a couple of minutes then lock up on .07 feet. Unit worked fine for two years no problem, I put it on this year and this is what I get.

Works well with fish directly under boat. I just learned I need to switch to max mode and adjust sensitivity. Should be better next trip.

Really the only complaint I have is that the sales picture was obviously from a more expensive unit. The actual display is nowhere near as crisp. For the price though, this is a great unit. It does everything as advertised and has shown itself to be quite reliable.