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Garmin and Lowrance are two giants in the fish finder industry and Garmin in the GPS industry as well. Anglers who use either on a consistent and regular basis will probably be hard-pressed to switch to another brand because there’s so much to like about either one.
Like any industry that has multiple brands, each one will have its own cult following and very little will dissuade them from the one in which they are invested. The biggest advantage that Lowrance has over Garmin is that Garmin hasn’t been in the game quite as long, offering a smaller amount of fish finder devices
Overview and History
Garmin
Garmin got its start as a primarily GPS-only innovator in the electronics consumer market in 1989. Of course, they started by doing business with the U.S. Army before migrating over to the civilian side so “consumer” electronics didn’t come along until then.
Everybody remembers their early innovations in the GPS industry and it was considered pretty cool if you happen to have a Garmin GPS in your vehicle while everyone else was still using MapQuest and good old-fashioned paper maps to find their way around the country.
Garmin found its way into fish finders when it became obvious that their GPS innovations would be wildly successful in maritime exploration—in terms of fishing—at the consumer level.
Due to their late arrival in the industry, Garmin doesn’t have nearly as many devices in their arsenal as the Lowrance and Hummingbird brands do, but what they do have are several market innovations that the others lack.
Lowrance
Lowrance has been at it for far longer than Garmin, starting in 1957. Another major difference is that Lowrance started in the sonar and fishing industry, unlike Garmin who started later on, as a company, and then turned to the fish finding industry.
When it comes to Lowrance, fish finders are the defining scope of everything that the company is and ever has been. Lowrance has always been an industry leader in fish finder technology and innovations.
They were the first to truly bring to life the innovative features of StructureScan and DownScan, along with the first HD, multifunctional screens. Due to Lowrance’s longevity, they do offer a great deal more in terms of devices than Garmin does.
Lowrance has also had more time to develop their screen technology insofar as to how it operates in relation to finding fish. As a result, Lowrance has a broader range of screens and screen sizes.
Lowrance and Garmin Features
Since both Lowrance and Garmin are heavily invested in the fish finder market, many of the features on both devices are the same, albeit with their own name variations for what essentially boils down to the same thing.
Both brands utilize CHIRP technology in their sonar and they also share dedicated GPS, SideScan, and DownScan technologies, along with multi-panel displays and touchscreen in select devices.
Garmin
Garmin device sizes are smaller than the Lowrance offerings, with the largest Garmin fishfinder being a 9” display and the smallest is a 4” display. Garmin matches size with features, with the larger size displays including more features than smaller size devices.
Garmin uses the “Vu” terminology for its scanning tech, such as ClearVu, which is offered in all of its smaller devices. The larger devices include the addition of SideVu.
Being a leader in GPS technology, Garmin has a very open-ended ecosphere in terms of designing your own maps and overlaying existing maps within the software. Garmin utilizes “Waypoints” which is their own software design for choosing points within your maps and saving them as you go.
Garmin also has its own software implementations known as Panoptix and LiveScope. These are “Garmin-only” innovations and incredibly useful tools in their own right. Panoptix is a three-dimensional view of everything under the boat in real-time.
LiveScope is the ability to see your sonar results in real-time, as it is happening. Since Garmin combined LiveScope with Panoptix, you can now view everything in 360° and in three dimensions as it is happening.
It’s probably one of the most innovative features of any device under any brand name in the fish finder business. Most sonar readings are considered “historical,” as you’re seeing what’s down there only after a certain amount of time has passed.
Even in terms of a few seconds’ worth of delay, the advantage of being able to see where the fish are as they are in real-time is a considerable advantage for any angler.
Click here to jump to our review of the Garmin Echomap Plus 44CV Fish Finder…
Lowrance
Lowrance matches Garmin’s smallest display size with a 4” display of their own, however, Lowrance also offers a 16” display which is nearly double the size of Garmin’s largest display.
Every Lowrance product with larger than a 7” display comes with every feature that Lowrance has to offer. Smaller than 7” devices have fewer of the technology features that Lowrance incorporates throughout their entire spectrum of products.
All of the premium Lowrance displays, which are large displays, include a touchscreen, which is typically integrated with a keypad so that you get the best of both worlds. Lowrance screen displays use WVGA technology to make them easier to see in the sunlight.
Lowrance has its own version of LiveScope that it calls ActiveTarget, which is a sonar capability that shows you exactly what the fish are doing in real-time, along with what your lure is doing as well.
Their LiveCast tech is an innovative feature that feeds all of your sonar information to your smartphone so that you can stay on your rod instead of staring down in the viewer.
There are plenty of phone holders on the market that will allow you to connect your phone to your fishing rod, so your gaze is never off of the fish. Contour + mapping allows you to map the seafloor and when it’s combined with the imaging that Lowrance devices provide, you can get stunning representations of everything on the seafloor.
Price Differences
As is usual with anything, the bigger it is and the more features that are packed in, the more expensive it all gets. It’s no different with Garmin and Lowrance fishfinders.
Garmin
Garmin’s more affordable-end models fall under the umbrella of their Striker series range of fishfinders. For instance, you can score a brand new Garmin Striker Cast. This is Garmin’s castable fishfinder that acts as a bobber on your line.
The Garmin Striker Vivid series comes in 4”, 5”, 7”, and 9” variations.
Click here to check out our review of the Garmin Striker Vivid 4CV…
The Garmin EchoMap series is exceedingly vast, with around 18 different choices to go with. The lower-end model, which is the ECHOMAP 43cv while the highest-end device, the ECHOMAP 93sv is pricier.
The ECHOMAP series has far more offerings than the Striker series, however, for the onshore and inland waters fishing enthusiast, the Striker series is probably best while the ECHOMAP series is perfect for when you’re really going offshore.
Check out our review of the Garmin Echomap UHD 93SV Fish Finder here…
Lowrance
Lowrance offers a far greater variety of devices than Garmin. They’ve simply been in the game for longer and Garmin is far more spread out in terms of the devices that the company focuses on.
The primary lineups that Lowrance offers are the Hook Reveal Series, the Elite FS Series, and the very premium HDS Live Series.
The HDS Live products are going to cover every, single feature that Lowrance has to offer, all displayed in some extremely high-tech viewers with touchscreen features and high-definition.
All of the HDS Live variations include all of the most innovative and creative features that Lowrance has to offer.
The Elite FS Series comes in two variations of 7” and 9” with the smaller version Elite FS 7” and the 9” Elite FS in to the $1000s. As you can see, size matters with Lowrance as not much changes in terms of features from one size to another; just the drastic change in price.
Check out our review of the Lowrance Elite FS 7 Fish Finder here…
The Lowrance Hook Reveal Series has three variations at 5, 7, and 9 inches. The five-inch version will cost you less than 500 bucks, with the middle version at that level, and the largest Hook Reveal being slightly more expensive.
Check out our review of the Lowrance Hook Reveal 7 Fish Finder here…
Lowrance averages a much higher price range than that of Garmin simply because Lowrance has so many different options and more premium devices than anything that Garmin has to offer.
Final Thoughts
Both brands have a lot to offer for those embarking on their very first fishing trip to the veteran angler. While Lowrance stands apart in terms of pure aesthetic shine and number of devices, Garmin excels with GPS and 360°, real-time, three-dimensional viewing.
There’s going to be something here for everyone and both brands will do a great job of getting you on the fish and keeping you on the fish, wherever and whenever that may be.
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