See high-resolution images of fish swimming around structure and responding to your lure, as it happens, with new ActiveTarget™ Live Sonar. Featuring Forward, Down or Scout views, you can scan fish locations around your boat and easily track their movements.

Here are our final picks.

• Best Overall: Garmin ECHOMAP with LiveScope Plus.
• Best Side Imaging: Humminbird SOLIX 10 CHIRP MEGA SI G3.
• Best Budget: Humminbird Helix 7 CHIRP MEGA SI.
• Best for Kayaks: Lowrance Elite FS 7.
• Best Portable: Humminbird Ice Helix 7 CHIRP GPS G4 All Season.

The big difference is ethernet, the yellow connectors on the HDS Live. Ethernet can be found in two forms, cable and WIFI. On HDS Live, the cabled ethernet allows sharing of sonar, StructureScan, radar and mapping as well as synchronizing waypoints.

Here are our final picks.

• Best Overall: Garmin ECHOMAP with LiveScope Plus.
• Best Side Imaging: Humminbird SOLIX 10 CHIRP MEGA SI G3.
• Best Budget: Humminbird Helix 7 CHIRP MEGA SI.
• Best for Kayaks: Lowrance Elite FS 7.
• Best Portable: Humminbird Ice Helix 7 CHIRP GPS G4 All Season.

200 kHz has a narrower cone than does 83 kHz. With a 60 degree cone, the 83 kHz is used for downrigger applications. It can be used to mark the cannonballs that would be outside of the narrower, 200 kHz cone. Sptitz, the most common application is to run both frequencies at the same time.

The Lowrance brand is wholly owned by Navico, Inc. A privately held, international corporation, Navico is currently the world's largest marine electronics company, and is the parent company to leading marine electronics brands: Lowrance, Simrad Yachting and B&G.

The advantage of the HDS series is that it can start off simply and be added to as the need, experience or budget allows, or you can fit it up as a "hamburger with the lot" from the beginning. The disadvantage of the Elite series is "what you see is what you get". No other abilities are possible.

Here are our top picks:

• Deeper Sonar Pro+
• Humminbird PiranhaMAX 4.
• Garmin STRIKER Vivid 7sv.
• Lowrance Elite FS 7 Fish Finder.
• Humminbird HELIX 12 CHIRP GPS G4N Fish Finder.

The Best Fish Finders of 2023

• Best Overall. Garmin Echomap UHD.
• Best Value. Lowrance Hook2 GPS Bullet Fishfinder.
• Best Side Imaging. Humminbird Solix 10 CHIRP Mega SI+ G3.
• Best for Kayaks. Lowrance Hook Reveal 5 SplitShot.
• Best Castable. Deeper Start Smart Sonar.

Frequencies commonly used by a conventional fish finder for recreational boat are 50 kHz (low frequency) and 200 kHz (high frequency). A lower frequency has a wider search angle and area. Generally, the searchable angle of 50 kHz beams is approximately 50 degrees and that of 200 kHz beams is approximately 15 degrees.

The 200 khz has a narrow cone angle, the 83 khz is a little wider and the 50 khz is wider yet. The wider the cone angle the better penetration in dense, deep water. If you are fishing salt water and 100 feet or deeper then choose the 50 khz.

Garmin main competitors are Intuit, Sonos, and Analog Devices. Competitor Summary. See how Garmin compares to its main competitors: Analog Devices has the most employees (15,300).