Lowrance Elite-7 HDI Review

I’ve had my Elite 7 for about a month now. User interface is very intuitive, you can change from maps to down imaging to 2d scan with one click. With the 7-inch screen everything is readable even in the split screen mode. It comes preloaded with a good topographic map. I will buy another one for the front of the boat because of the great price.

It was backordered everywhere I checked, I had to wait 4 weeks before I got it. Seems that this is a very popular model and Lowrance is not keeping up with all the orders. Now I can see why – this fishfinder is awesome. Down imaging is excellent. The triple screen mode is a great feature. Very user friendly. By far the best fishfinder at this price.

I had Elite5 and I was quite happy with it. The only thing that was missing was larger screen and split-mode display. When Elite7 came out I knew I had to buy it. This unit is very easy to use especially if used Lowrance before. No need to get of the chair, you can see everything clearly on the huge 7 inch screen. I simply love this fishfinder.

I’ve been doing a lot of research before I decided to buy Elite7 and I make the right choice. It really is a great unit, it’s remarkable how the technology progressed in the last 10 years. The best part about this unit is the 480×800 display and the price. I wish I could get Elite-7X without GPS but there were non available when I was shopping.

My Elite 7 HDI is the biggest piece of junk I have ever owned in a fish finder. It has not worked right out of the box and has major software problems. The down scan never worked at all and the software would not go to what ever I selected it just went to where ever it felt like. Lowrance customer service is even worse. There idea of customer service is give me another $50.00 and I will send you a unit that may work. I asked to speak to a supervisor and the answer to that was someone would call with in 48 hours. My last comment to them was “your on a out of business plan and if you want to know what customer service is call Humminbird”.

I have had the Lowrance Elite 7 HDS for over four months now. Have not had a single problem with it. The installation of the transducer is obviously critical and I wonder if the people complaining about scanning quality have simply not followed the excellent instructions that come with the unit. My Lowrance rocks. I hope to grade up to a 10-12 inch touch screen unit next year. A rotating knob to zoom in or out would’ve been brilliant.

I bought a Lowrance Elite 7 HDI from Maple Leaf GPS in Canada last summer with the gold card for more detailed Canadian maps. The GPS worked fine and made our trips so much more interesting but right out of the box the unit would fail to display the depth or give us a picture of the bottem, no matter what depth. It worked for about ten minutes and then displayed nothing but noise. Tried different mounts for the sensor, nothing worked. So Maple Leaf asked for the unit back and we sent it to them. that was almost 8 months ago and since then we have had nothing but excuses as to why they won’t fix it under warranty or refund the purchase price. I have pretty well given up on this but would like to warn others about my experience. Live and learn, I guess. Stay away from Maple Leaf GPS.

I have a Lowrance Elite 7 HDI Gold. It has never worked right. Install was perfect but the sounder has never worked right out of the box. GPS was not the best even with the nav gold chip. Trying to get Lowrance to fix is like trying to pull teeth. This is a bad joke and not cheap. It’s back to Humminbird, they’re the best and no hassles.

HAVE HAD about 4..5 people try & help me set up this unit not done yet. Not a unit for a 1st time user, wishin I didn’t buy it..don’t always listen 2 salesmen, this has cost me a lot of fishing time. Still waiting for the rebate also.

Purchased the elite 7 for gps and depth finder. The boat is used in the ocean off the coast of maine. The depth finder is pretty much useless regardless of where the transducer is installed. In my area, depth is a concern where it can change quite quickly. Yes, i can use the maps but one of the reason i purchased was for a digital depthfinder. Would not buy anything from this company.

Good fish finder but sneaky company. Somewhere in the fine print it says that the transducer is not included. This is something companies usually list in bold, in the description. I called customer support and they wanted a 20% restocking fee to return it. So I just bought a transducer form a third party. Lesson learned. Always know exactly what you are getting in the box before you order.

After waiting a year to afford one ,I fitted while boat out of water turned it on when in the harbour seemed to work fine took it out to deeper water checked a few settings again worked fine.
Took the boat out for first trip again everything was ok, I got to my mark changed a page to get a more detail bottom reading lost the depth and sonar reading this didn’t come
on again until later after I turned the set on and off but then it never kept it reading,so not a good first time experience, I’m hoping it will be me that’s doing something wrong.
Brought from Hudson in hamble, I fish off the south of the IOW in the UK.

Bought the Elite 7 HDI back in 2013 and has worked well except it turns off on its own occasionally. GPS works good, Broadband is good as well as DI.
Loses bottom when running on plane but may make another transducer adjustment.
May look to get one without DI for my bow.

I have an Elite 7 DSI. All updates have been done. I use a Navionics Premium micro sd card for mapping. While running down the lake the gps mapping is slow and cannot stay up with the boat. Lowrance tech support really sucks and cannot tell me why it is slow. I have read other post where users say that the processor is too small to handle the Navionics card data. Another way for Lowrance to make a dollar. Cheap out on the processor. They say the unit will handle the Navionics software. I say BS. Lowrance needs to do the right thing and change the processor on all the units that have been sold. But we all know that will not happen with Lowrance. All they want to do is sell you another unit and not fix the problem. All they do is support the pro fisherman to sell their products.