Ew to the electronics. Going to upgrade and add something’s soon.

What’s the best option?

Garmin? Hummingbird? Lowrance?

Why? TIA

They all have good qualities. What do you want your unit to do?

I don’t know. I’m

New to all of it. I just want the best overall experience and equipment .

4 hours ago, Jig Man said:

They all have good qualities. What do you want your unit to do?

There isn’t a best - people have brand loyalty - each brand offers competitive cutting edge products that can help you catch fish.

Knowing what you plan to do with super expensive investments before making them is probably a good starting point for knowing which one to buy as @Jig Man pointed out.

Certain brands are slightly better for certain jobs but really only marginally - they all do the same stuff well at this point for the most part - pick your poison.

All you really need is some form of side scan and live sonar to do well in most tournament situations but all gadgets require time to master - they don’t catch the fish for you (back to the whole there’s no best thing). In capable hands - they’re all adequate.

You can easily get into the $1000s depending on wants and budget. If you live anywhere close to a retail store that carries them, my advice to you is go there and have someone show you the units and how they work. Plan to be overwhelmed.

9 hours ago, Pondhopper21 said:

I don’t know. I’m

New to all of it. I just want the best overall experience and equipment .

Like the guys above said, it comes down to what you're trying to get out of them- everyone's needs are different. My dad isn't an electronics guy. He has a pair of 9" lowrance on the boat that he turns on when he launches and looks at once or twice during the day to see temp. That's about it for him and he could get by with a 4" Piranha unit on the front of the boat (and did for a long time). A full tournament rig for a heavy electronics user might be a pair of 12-16" units on the console and 3 up front with transducers for 360, live, and everything else, all networked with the trolling motor and shallow water anchors. A 4" pirranha is about $100. That 5 screen tournament rig setup is about $35k. And if you want, you can go really crazy with something like an NBT 22" screen up front for FFS applications. The sky is the limit in that case.

So first things first- figure out what you want to do with it and set a budget. The big questions are FFS (y/n), 360 (y/n), integrated to your trolling motor (what brand), and what are you using it for (finding fish, cover, structure, etc), and what size boat are you in (to help think about overall space). Once you answer those, then you will get some great guidance here.

In my case, I just built a boat last March. I fish reasonably small lakes and it is a 16' aluminum console based boat. I wanted FFS. I was already a humminbird user from my previous boat and liked it. HBird side imaging is considered the best of all three and it is very good. I wanted a total network. All that added up to me going with a pair of Xplore units (9" console, 12" bow), mega live 2, and an ultrex trolling motor. I don't have a ton of room on the console for anything bigger and I'm sitting close enough to the screen that a 9" is just fine. The interface on the Xplore units is great for swapping views if you want to expand something. I have side over top of down and 2D as my main view. As I cruise around I have all three up and if I see something I want to inspect I just expand that view to full screen (1 touch screen tap). There are 3 presets where #1 is this, #2 is mega live, and 3 is spot lock the motor. Everything is customizable and 2 screen taps will get you to almost any view. Up front I am using mega live only as view #1, ML + maps for #2. I don't think I even have #3 programmed. For this sized boat, a 12" screen is the right balance. A bigger one would be better for FFS, but it would start to get crowded up there.

Your mileage will vary.

11 hours ago, Pondhopper21 said:

I don’t know.

Solve this and you will not need us.

Knowledge is confidence.

But not if you lack the knowledge to know what the heck you're buying

and more importantly WHY !

Having a unit and having the right unit are two completely different deals.

And only you can choose.

Every angler uses their electronics differently.

It's like medicine; you can't take mine, and I can't take yours.

That might explain the type of responses you are getting here.

We all went through it.

Good Luck.

A-Jay

Many good responses on this thread already. I will add this. The first question is, are you the type of person that will take the time to master your electronics? Many, probably most, anglers never use the advanced features of their electronics. They only use their fish finder to tell them the depth and water temperature. I have a friend whose new boat came with a pretty good Humminbird Helix unit. After ten years with side imaging on his boat, he could not tell you what side imaging is. The dude can catch some fish, but he does it old school. If you think this might describe you, then don't waste your money on features you will never use. It might make sense to start with a low-end unit and step up to a better unit if you find yourself wanting more.

Great responses.

I was you years ago. You need to research what 2d, side imaging, and down imaging do. You’ll learn that the terms I use aren’t generic either. There’s tons of articles on here and tons on YouTube including videos from here. After you do your research, go to a store that sells them and play with them.

Knowledge is power. The more knowledge you have the more comfortable you’ll be with your purchase. This purchase/purchases aren’t cheap so the more you know the better off you’ll be.

Definitely watch this before spending any $$

On 4/15/2026 at 9:33 AM, casts_by_fly said:

Like the guys above said, it comes down to what you're trying to get out of them- everyone's needs are different. My dad isn't an electronics guy. He has a pair of 9" lowrance on the boat that he turns on when he launches and looks at once or twice during the day to see temp. That's about it for him and he could get by with a 4" Piranha unit on the front of the boat (and did for a long time). A full tournament rig for a heavy electronics user might be a pair of 12-16" units on the console and 3 up front with transducers for 360, live, and everything else, all networked with the trolling motor and shallow water anchors. A 4" pirranha is about $100. That 5 screen tournament rig setup is about $35k. And if you want, you can go really crazy with something like an NBT 22" screen up front for FFS applications. The sky is the limit in that case.

So first things first- figure out what you want to do with it and set a budget. The big questions are FFS (y/n), 360 (y/n), integrated to your trolling motor (what brand), and what are you using it for (finding fish, cover, structure, etc), and what size boat are you in (to help think about overall space). Once you answer those, then you will get some great guidance here.

In my case, I just built a boat last March. I fish reasonably small lakes and it is a 16' aluminum console based boat. I wanted FFS. I was already a humminbird user from my previous boat and liked it. HBird side imaging is considered the best of all three and it is very good. I wanted a total network. All that added up to me going with a pair of Xplore units (9" console, 12" bow), mega live 2, and an ultrex trolling motor. I don't have a ton of room on the console for anything bigger and I'm sitting close enough to the screen that a 9" is just fine. The interface on the Xplore units is great for swapping views if you want to expand something. I have side over top of down and 2D as my main view. As I cruise around I have all three up and if I see something I want to inspect I just expand that view to full screen (1 touch screen tap). There are 3 presets where #1 is this, #2 is mega live, and 3 is spot lock the motor. Everything is customizable and 2 screen taps will get you to almost any view. Up front I am using mega live only as view #1, ML + maps for #2. I don't think I even have #3 programmed. For this sized boat, a 12" screen is the right balance. A bigger one would be better for FFS, but it would start to get crowded up there.

Your mileage will vary.

So let’s say I settle on Garmin. Do I need to go with the Garmin trolling motor? Or will a minkotta sink up?

I appreciate all yalls input.

Go to a retail store with a wide variety of displays. Look around at them, press buttons, and see what each version operates like. That will give you at least a minimal feel to each one.

Also, quite often, when new versions come out each year, the previous ones go on clearance.

@Pondhopper21 - No. You can’t network a garmin with a minn kota (or other brand). There are some combinations that will mix and allow you to get universal sonar (US2) to work on mixed brands, but honestly it isn’t worth messing with since you’re starting new. Minn kota/HBird, Garmin/garmin, Lowrance/Lowrance(or powerpole).

First figure out what you need from the fish finder. Then decide if you want to network things.

I'm jumping in here. My advice: Ask your self, how do I fish? How do I want to fish? What kind of fisherman am I? Will I spend lots of hours (months) learning to use $10 - $20K worth of electronics?

I'm relatively affluent and can have whatever I want. I've made the move back to "relatively" simple. I don't need everything in the boat connected together. Got rid of the Ethernet. Got rid of One Boat Network. I don't need the stuff connected to my phone. I don't need boat gages on my depthfinder. I tried this. Turned out I was spending too much time playing with toys instead of fishing.

Current setup (Old time HB user):

Xplore 12 CMSI at bow. ML2. Stand alone. Connected to nothing. Strictly my FFS unit. CMSI on TM. but seldom use. Never touch the Gee Whiz stuff on the Xplore. Waypoint management - Ha!

Helix 10 MSI at bow. M360. Networked directly to an Helix 12 MSI at console primarily for waypoint sharing. 99% M360. GPS occasionally.

Helix 12 MSI at console. Use for SI, DI, 2D, navigation, etc. Updated to current mapping chip. All ,and a lot more, than I need.

My point: Don't get caught up watching some sponsor shill on the Tube or on TV that gets his stuff for free, or nearly free, and thinking that you need it.

Appreciate the feedback