Garmin vs Lowrance

[CPalmer72]

Got a new to me Ranger 482vs. Looking at putting either 2 Garmin SV93 UHD2 or Lowrance elite 9 fs. Live scope or active target is not priority right now and will add another unit for that in the future. I live in Alabama if it weighs the decision mapping wise. Just curious if anyone has used both and has any opinions

[12poundbass]

I have two 93SV UHD Garmins. I’ve been extremely happy with Garmin and from what I’ve seen and researched, you get more bang for your buck compared to either of the competitors. 

[slonezp]

Garmin is more user friendly than Lowrance

[WIGuide]

Both are good units for the same price. I'd go to a shop that has both Lowrance and Garmin units and play around with them to see which seems easier for you to operate. Personally, I prefer Lowrance, but there is a lot of love for Garmin units out there too. 

[txchaser]

Fished recently with a guide that ran:

hummingbird at the console for sidescan,

Garmin for FFS (with lvs-34)

and Lowrance for maps (up front). 

 

I specifically asked him about why he had the lowrance, and he said the mapping was a lot better on it than either of the others. That might be different outside of the east texas lakes. 

 

TBH the market is hyper-competitive and there's probably a lot of personal preference, and each of them has a strong point. I agree re playing around with the interface to see what you like and what comes natural. I helped a friend get livescope set up, and the garmin was making me nuts as things didn't seem to be where they "should" be. But @slonezp likes garmin interface better. 

 

[slonezp]

20 hours ago, txchaser said:

Fished recently with a guide that ran:

hummingbird at the console for sidescan,

Garmin for FFS (with lvs-34)

and Lowrance for maps (up front). 

 

I specifically asked him about why he had the lowrance, and he said the mapping was a lot better on it than either of the others. That might be different outside of the east texas lakes. 

 

TBH the market is hyper-competitive and there's probably a lot of personal preference, and each of them has a strong point. I agree re playing around with the interface to see what you like and what comes natural. I helped a friend get livescope set up, and the garmin was making me nuts as things didn't seem to be where they "should" be. But @slonezp likes garmin interface better. 

 

I actually prefer Humminbird but that wasn't one of the choices. Full disclosure, I ran 'Birds for many years and currently run a Garmin. I've only played around with Lowrance in the stores.

 

My reason for choosing HB was the integration with the Lakemaster cards and the iPilot trolling motors. I ran 'Birds for about 15 years.

The 2 reasons that turned me away from Lowrance were, I felt the interface more difficult to navigate and IMO, some of the advertising was deceptive. By deceptive, I mean graphs were offered at $XXXX.xx but the advertised graphs did not come with a transducer or a GPS puck or whatnot. A-la-cart offering so to speak. I know of a few folks that got burned by that. They assumed they were getting more. Yes, their fault for not doing their due diligence...

The Garmin I run currently, cost more than I paid for the boat it is installed on. The current boat is a filler, and a bigger boat is in the near future.

For the next boat, I'm currently leaning towards running straight Garmin or a combo of 'Birds and Garmin. Birds for the same reason(s) stated above. Garmin because of it's integration capabilities with Yamaha. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Welcome from central Alabama!

 

The Garmin LVS34 or even the 32 look significantly better to me than the Hummingbird or Lowrance.    Lowrance looked better to me than Hummingbird.  

 

Hummingbird sidescan looks significantly better to me than the Garmin or Lowrance.

 

Lot of guys who aren't being paid by any of them choose to run Garmin FFS, Hummingbird sidescan, and a mixture of all three for mapping plus some other apps that can be accessed on your smart phone.   Ben Milliken is the embodiment of this, dude has 5 screens on his boat, all three companies represented, and then still uses Apple Maps, Google Earth, and another mapping program or two.  

 

You can't wrong with any of them, they are all at each other's throats to stay competitive with one another.   

 

If you plan on going with FFS in the future though, that's the one area that I have a pretty strong opinion on......go with compatible Garmin units from the jump.   I should have.  

[Bird]

My opinion is biased because I've used nothing but Garmin from day 1 and got use to the function and menu's.

My fishing partner uses nothing but Hummingbird so perhaps it's what you get use to.

[DaubsNU1]

I have a Garmin on my boat, it does well and I really like the touch screen. 

 

Brother has two Humminbirds connected to his Ulterra.  It is a sweet set up for sure.  

 

Guide buddy of mine runs Lowrance. He does well. 

 

Head to your local store and mess with them, compare side by side. Good luck. 

[MN Fisher]

30 minutes ago, Bird said:

so perhaps it's what you get use to.

In my case I moved from Lowrance to Garmin. Had a Lowrance to start with in the canoe, when I had the money to upgrade I went to a store that had all three manufacturers and played around with them. Choose the Garmin as it seemed the most user-friendly. Next upgrade will also be a Garmin.

[gim]

1 hour ago, Bird said:

perhaps it's what you get use to

This is me. I’ve literally used nothing but Lowrance my entire adult fishing life. Even my first basic color sonar unit was a Lowrance on a family fishing boat. Thats almost 25 years using the same operating system, with hundreds of waypoints transferred from previous units into new ones every time I make an upgrade.

 

Do I think Lowrance is superior in every aspect? Certainly not. It’s just what I’m comfortable using. It would be difficult for me to make a switch now and would be a whole new learning curve. Even my handheld is a Lowrance H20C.

 

If I’m not mistaken, Jacob Wheeler uses all three in his boat too. Each one has a purpose and is better at performing one specific feature than the other.

[Captain Phil]

I have never used Garmin electronics on any of my boats, so I can't comment on their products.  I have used Hummingbird and it was a disaster.  Granted it was a number of years ago, but it turned me off so bad I never went back.  I built my first flasher from a Heathkit.  If you don't know what that is, it's a box of loose parts that you can assemble to make your own electronics.  Living in Florida, I fished a lot of salt water as well as bass.  Lowrance was what all the charter boats ran, so I went with them.  Lowrance has never let me down.  I've had Lowrance electronics on everything from 15' skiffs to 40' sport fishing boats.  When you are 50-100 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean, you don't want problems with your electronics.  I don't know if they are the best, but it would take something truly amazing to get me to change.

[Siebert Outdoors]

Tough choice there.  I'm a Lowrance guy but I honestly dont think you can go wrong either way. 

[LonnieP]

I’ve had both and both are good. Garmin is more user friendly and has better customer support 

[GaryH]

All 3 manufacturers are making good stuff. I’m a Humminbird guy but I believe it comes down to what you feel comfortable with. Go to a dealer and check out what unit you’re comfortable with and go from there. Good luck and congrats on your new boat.