GPS tech has revolutionized how we fish. Not only does pre-season scouting pay off like never before, but the ability to mark waypoints and critical features like docks or hazards also makes GPS a must-have game changer.
For 2022, virtually all the high-end fish finders incorporate GPS, allowing you to network with your motor to maintain position or navigate via waypoints. For pros and charter captains, that’s something that can really pay off.
But even anglers on a budget can take advantage of GPS, and there are reasonably-priced units that bring the power of way pointing and marking within reach of pretty much everyone.
If you’re in the market for a fish finder with GPS capability, we’ve got you covered. Below, you’ll find reviews of some of the best fish finder gps combos on the market, as well as a complete buying guide:
Table of Contents (clickable)
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Best Fish Finder GPS Combo Reviewed
Lowrance HDS LIVE 12 Fish Finder/Chartplotter – Best High-End Fisher Finder GPS Combo
Display Size: 12”
Resolution: 1280 X 800
Frequencies: CHIRP (83/200kHz) as well as traditional 455/800kHz
Side Scanning: Yes, 150’
Maximum Depth: CHIRP 1,000’; DownScan 300’
Transducer Angle: ?
Target Separation: ?
GPS: Yes
Maps: Yes
A trusted name in marine electronics, Lowrance’s high-end fish finders rival, and in some cases surpass, the performance of the outstanding Humminbird Helix and Solix series.
The Lowrance HDS Live 12 is clearly designed for anglers who make a living on the water, whether that’s tournament fishermen or chapter captains. A head-to-head competitor with the Solix 12, this Lowrance features remarkable bleeding-edge tech.
In short, feature for feature, it meets or exceeds the performance of the Solix 12, with the exception of overall image quality. There, Humminbird reigns supreme.
The HDS Live 12 sports a 12-inch diagonal screen with awesome resolution. Crisp and clear even in bright sun, it’s touch-capable and augmented by the usual keypad, enabling accessibility no matter the conditions.
Powered by the amazing Simrad Active Imaging 3-in-1 Transom Mount Transducer, expect CHIRP, traditional sonar, and side-imaging. Offering a bit more range in side-scanning than the Solix, it probably surrenders the ultra-high frequencies to Humminbird, perhaps explaining why its image quality can’t quite compete.
That’s not saying the HDS Live doesn’t provide good images – they’re amazing!
Some specifications are not available from either Lowrance or Simrad Yachting (the same company since 2006), such as transducer beam angle or target separation. Normally, that would give us pause: if you’re proud of a product’s performance, you’re going to offer that info! But real-world performance has demonstrated the HDS Live 12’s abilities beyond doubt, and we wouldn’t hesitate to use this fish finder.
In CHIRP mode, water penetration is awesome, punching down to 1,000 feet. DownScan is a very-high-frequency mode, roughly analogous to Humminbird’s MEGA system, providing incredible crisp, clear images at the cost of depth.
But where Lowrance kills its competition is the integration of GPS and mapping tech. Here, their experience in marine navigation is more than evident. The excellent C-Map US Inland mapping and US/Canada Navionics+ card make GPS plotting and charting a breeze. And like Humminbird, Lowrance offers a real-time mapping feature, Genesis Live. Capable of creating ½-foot contour maps, it’s tournament-winning and customer-pleasing tech at its best.
And of course, the HDS Live series offers outstanding connectivity options, including SmartSteer control for the Xi5 trolling motor and Outboard Pilot, an aftermarket course-plotting system for single and dual outboards.
Does the Lowrance edge out the Humminbird, recapturing the top spot in our reviews?
We think it does, and if you can afford it, it’s simply the best fishfinder on the market this year.
Pros:
- Awesome screen and image quality
- Good depth and range
- CHIRP and standard sonar options
- Powerful GPS and maps
- Lake mapping feature
- Pairs with your mobile
- Powerful connectivity options
Cons:
- Expensive!
Lowrance Elite FS 9 – Best Mid-Range GPS-Equipped Fishfinder
Display Size: 9”
Resolution: 800 x 480
Frequencies: CHIRP (50/83/200kHz) as well as traditional 455/800kHz
Side Scanning: Yes, 150’
Maximum Depth: CHIRP 1,000’; DownScan 300’
Transducer Angle: ?
Target Separation: ?
GPS: Yes
Maps: Yes
Lowrance’s Elite FS series is a direct competitor for Humminbird’s Helix series, and in our opinion, it’s a very worthy rival. Essentially similar to the HDS Live, minus some of the more advanced connectivity features, it’s an excellent buy for serious anglers who demand superb sonar and screen detail, great UI, and options like Active Target.
I think the 9-inch screen is the better buy of the two options. Of course, it’s more affordable, and while not as readable as the HDS Live 12 – nor blessed with extreme-angle legibility – the Elite FS 9 is remarkable in its own right.
Screen and image quality are excellent, falling a tad short of the Humminbird Helix, and legibility suffers a tad in direct, bright sunlight while using features like Active Target. But Active Target is itself an awesome feature that Hummibird doesn’t offer, providing live, full-motion video produced by sonar.
Nothing short of amazing, it’s only available on the HDS Live and, now, the Elite FS series.
Active Target is maybe the most incredible addition to fish finders that I’ve seen.
This fish finder is powered by the same awesome transducer as the HDS Live, and image quality, target separation, depth, and range are just as good. In the real world, that makes it an awesome choice on lakes and rivers, inshore and offshore.
Moreover, Lowrance includes the same excellent mapping, course charting, and GPS software, making this a very full-featured option for every serious fisherman to consider. And with access to the C-Map Genesis website – where you’ll be able to download tens of thousands of accurate topo maps of water near you – well, that’s a game-changer!
So is the Elite FS 9 really outgunned by the HDS-12 Live?
For anglers who make a living on the water, yes. Many pros run more than one unit and need networking, including trolling motor and outboard control. Especially for charter captains running inshore and offshore trips in big boats, this tech really pays off.
But for 99% of anglers, the Elite FS 9 is an impressive, capable fish finder with the features that matter. And now that it sports Active Target, too, it’d be the fish finder I’d reach for myself.
Pros:
- Excellent screen and image quality
- Good depth and range
- CHIRP and standard sonar options
- Powerful GPS and maps
- Now with Active Target!
- Lake mapping feature
- Pairs with your mobile
Cons:
Humminbird SOLIX 12 CHIRP MEGA SI+ G3 Fish Finder/GPS Chartplotter
Display Size: 12.1”
Resolution: 1280 X 800
Frequencies: Dual Spectrum CHIRP, MEGA Down Imaging+, MEGA Side Imaging+; Full Mode (28-75 kHz), Narrow Mode (75-155 kHz), Optional Deepwater (28-250 kHz), Wide Mode (130-250 kHz
Side Scanning: Yes (up to 200’)
Maximum Depth: 200’MEGA Down Imaging+; 1,200’ CHIRP (3,500’ with an optional 50 kHz transducer)
Transducer Angles: 20°, 42°, 60°, (2) 86° & (2) 55° @ -10dB
Target Separation: no greater than 2.5”
GPS: Yes
Maps: Yes
The new Solix series may be the most powerful fish finders Humminbird has ever offered.
Loaded with ultra-high-end electronics, the Solix 12 CHIRP MEGA SI+ G3 Fish Finder/GPS Chartplotter is a mouthful, but it really helps Humminbird position itself as a constant innovator.
Head-to-head, the Solix’s only real competition is Lowrance’s excellent HDS Live series, which, in our view, maintains a narrow lead with its GPS and mapping edging out Humminbird.
Humminbird is well known for its screen and image quality, and this Solix sports a 12.1-inch diagonal that’s simply outstanding, even when the sun does its best to make the screen illegible. Crisp and clear, it makes the most of the Solix’s sophisticated electronics, providing sharp graphics and unparalleled images. And even the awesome Lowrance HDS Live gives up some ground to Humminbird on this front.
There is a larger screen offered in the Solix series, and for pros who make a living on the water, that might be a sound investment. For serious anglers with day jobs, the 12 is about right, offering plenty of screen and saving considerable cash over the larger model.
As I mentioned above, image quality is one of the Solix’s selling points, and with the MEGA upgrades, you get ultra fine-grained detail created by very high-frequency sonar. Now, this will reduce the Solix’s range a touch, but that’s a trade I’ll take any time, given that you’re still looking out to about 200 feet with any MEGA-equipped feature.
This particular Solix is just as capable of unbeatable image quality in side imaging, as indicated by the SI+ abbreviation.
Just take a look:
“One ping only, please.”
The Red October’s sonar used “pings,” bursts or pulses of noise that it sent into the water, striking objects and returning to its transducer for analysis. When the sonar was active, it wasn’t constantly transmitting sound.
Most fish finders aren’t much different. They use dual frequencies in pulses: short “pings” like the one you heard in the video. These short pulses are transmitted together, providing enough data to give the fish finder’s electronics a picture of the bottom and anything suspended in the water column.
But military tech has advanced a long way from the Cold War, and modern sonar systems use something called CHIRP, or Compressed High-Intensity Radiated Pulse.
CHIRP sonar uses much longer pulses than standard systems, starting at the low frequency and moving quickly to the high frequency. These longer bursts, and the range of frequencies between the lowest and highest, provide much more information than standard sonar systems.
As you can see, there are many more peaks and valleys in the CHIRP signal, and each and every one carries information. The military uses CHIRP sonar because it’s simply far more effective than dual frequency sonar, and the good news is that so can you!
Some fish finders now offer CHIRP sonar. It provides better imaging, greater accuracy, and more information.
This isn’t a marketing ploy–it’s real, it’s a fact, and in our opinion, it’s worth paying for.