Garmin vs. Hummingbird

[spokanefishin]

So I have been doing some deep and thick research on fish finders, I have narrowed it to 2 brands. Garmin and Hummingbird, the two from HB are from the helix series. 

The helix 5 chirp si gps g-2

the helix 7 chirp gps/sonar

 

the other would be from garmin 

It is the striker 7sv.

 

Have anyone used any from the 3 options? Just need some more experience answers and not just the typical I’m sponsored by them so I’ll try to sell you that. Thanks for the help.

 

 

[redbirdsfan44]

The striker will not be able to give you any mapping information. You have gps in the sense you can mark waypoints but that’s it. I’m a humminbird guy but unless you’re looking to go with a helix 9 or larger I’d recommend the new garmin echomap plus 73sv

Placement on the boat plays a big factor as well. If you’re wanting a unit at the bow mounted to the trolling motor the helix 7 chirp sonar will suffice, but if you want it at the steering column with the transducer at the transom you will definitely want something with side imaging. The 5 inch screen is extremely difficult to read SI on being that it’s about the size of a soda pop can turned sideways. 

[Sprocket]

Absolutely go 7" whichever way you go.  I've been running the Striker 5cv plus for awhile now and the picture is really clear.  Gotta believe the 7 would be the same.   Easy to navigate menus but as was said, has no mapping.  You can do trails and mark waypoints but no contour lines.  Except the contours you make with QuickDraw, which is on those units.

 

SE  Kansas grass grower

[Scarborough817]

personally i found the HB a little confusing to use, im sure it would be fine after a while but i find the garmin units easier to operate 

[BassNJake]

On 1/24/2018 at 7:18 AM, Sprocket said:

Absolutely go 7" whichever way you go.  I've been running the Striker 5cv plus for awhile now and the picture is really clear.  Gotta believe the 7 would be the same.   Easy to navigate menus but as was said, has no mapping.  You can do trails and mark waypoints but no contour lines.  Except the contours you make with QuickDraw, which is on those units.

 

SE  Kansas grass grower

There have been reported issues with the CV transducer as it is taking 2 images and slicing them together.(this was 9 months ago so the technology may have changed)

Lowrance has released a video showing these differences but you'll need to take that with a grain of salt as it is Lowrance talking about a competitor.

 

 

[Dwight Hottle]

I have had a Lowrance, Humminbird & two Garmin units. No reliability issues with Lowrance or Humminbird. I had two Garmins units fail after 18 months use. Based on that small sample I would suggest Humminbird. They did have great customer service when I needed to call them. 

[12poundbass]

No matter what brand you go with you're not going to get a bad unit. Every brand has it's faults and every brand has something their competitors don't have. The best thing to do is research, watch videos, and check them out in person. 

[je1946]

The other thing with Humminbird is if you need a transducer for your trolling motor, Humminbird will swap out the transome transducer, just send them the transome ducer and $60 and they will send you the one for the trolling motor with all the hardware included.

[Fishingmickey]

Same boat as Dupert, been running the Garmin 93SV for almost two years now. Good unit. Go big with the screen which ever ya get.

FM

[12poundbass]

2 hours ago, je1946 said:

The other thing with Humminbird is if you need a transducer for your trolling motor, Humminbird will swap out the transome transducer, just send them the transome ducer and $60 and they will send you the one for the trolling motor with all the hardware included.

I thought the TM transducer was an even swap minus shipping. I knew the swap for the HDSI was more money.

[Further North]

On 1/26/2018 at 12:54 PM, Scarborough817 said:

personally i found the HB a little confusing to use, im sure it would be fine after a while but i find the garmin units easier to operate 

On 1/27/2018 at 11:43 AM, 12poundbass said:

No matter what brand you go with you're not going to get a bad unit. Every brand has it's faults and every brand has something their competitors don't have. The best thing to do is research, watch videos, and check them out in person. 

IMO, you guys nailed it: This is why I always recommend people go to a store, work with the units, buy the one that has menus that make the most sense to them.

 

All the top brands are great, and do pretty much the same thing, plus or minus a gee-whiz or two.

 

Make your choice based on what you like, not on some one else's opinion of "the best".

 

I happen to like Humminbird menus, but that's what works for me.