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Sometimes it can feel like fishermen and anglers spend more time picking up new pieces of fishing equipment than tossing a line in the water in hopes of hooking a fish!
When you start to dig into just how many different pieces of equipment are available today, though – and how many manufacturers are out there promising the moon and the stars when it comes to their fishing gear – it’s easy to see how this could happen.
Especially when you’re looking to pony up the kind of money necessary to buy a high quality fish finder.
Luckily, there are a couple of manufacturers that stand head and shoulders above the rest of the competition in the fish finding world today.
Humminbird and Lowrance are two of the top options. It’s really tough to regret buying any of the equipment that they put out.
At the same time, though, the odds are pretty good that one of these companies will offer a fish finder better suited to your needs and your budget.
That’s why we’ve put together this detailed guide!
A Little About Humminbird Fish Finders
Humminbird started out as a really humble operation, first opening their doors for business all the way back in 1971.
The company operated out of a garage in Alabama for a decent stretch of time, even though their products were a huge hit with fishermen and anglers all over the country – and later the world – almost straight out of the gate.
A big part of the success behind Humminbird has been their constant drive to innovate and improve on fish finding technology.
This was, after all, the very first manufacturer in the industry to unveil a 100% waterproof depth sounder. This was also the very first company to bring 360° sonar search technology into the fish finding world.
Today this 50+ year-old company is still going strong, still making some of the best fish finding solutions money can buy. They have amazing down and side imaging solutions, hardware with gorgeous high definition displays, and a whole host of innovations that make finding bigger fish easier for everybody.
Our Humminbird Reviews
Check out our top Humminbird reviews below and make up your own mind!
Click here to read our Review of the Humminbird 410950-1 Helix 7 Fish Finder…
Click here to read our review of the Humminbird 410200-1 Helix 5 DI G2 Fish Finder…
Click here to read our review of the Humminbird 410150 1 Piranahmax 4 Fish Finder…
Click here to read our comparison of Humminbird vs Garmin Livescope…
Click here to check out our Humminbird Vs Garmin take…
Click here to read our comparison of Humminbird and Simrad Fish Finders…
A Little About Lowrance Fish Finders
Lowrance is a little bit younger than Humminbird, having been started in 1957 – but they also hit the ground running in the world of fishing and marine electronics.
This fish finding company built its reputation by offering more fish finding options than pretty much anybody else. They have pared down their product catalog a little bit over the years, but that’s helped them to focus and strengthen their options in a big way, too.
It’s important to remember that Lowrance was hugely responsible for introducing CHIRP sonar fish finding technology into this space.
They also helped to pioneer split screen high definition multi function displays, revolutionized the way that down and side imaging technology worked, and always pushed their competition as hard as possible – while keeping prices competitive, too.
Our Lowrance Reviews
Check out our top Lowrance fish finder reviews below and make up your own mind!
Click here to check out our review of the Lowrance Hook Reveal 7 Fish Finder…
Click here to check out our review of the Lowrance Elite FS 7 Fish Finder…
Click here to check out our review of the Lowrance Elite 9 T12 Fish Finder…
Click here to check out our head to head of Garmin and Lowrance GPS…
Click here to check out our head to head of Garmin vs Lowrance Down Imaging…
Click here to check out our head to head of Garmin vs Lowrance Fish Finders…
Humminbird vs Lowrance Fish Finders – Diving Deeper
Feature Comparison
As far as shoehorning as many fish finding features as humanly possible “under the hood” of each unit is concerned, nobody does a better job at that than the folks at Humminbird.
Seriously.
Sometimes these fish finders from Humminbird feel almost like clown cars when you consider just how much technology they have stuffed into these (relatively) compact units.
You get CHIRP sonar technology, down and side scan imaging solutions, dual display combo units, GPS navigation, and a whole lot more. The higher end options from Humminbird make sure to offer even more premium features as well.
This is where you’re going to find Bluetooth connectivity options that integrate with proprietary and third-party mobile apps to improve the functionality of your fish finding tech even more.
Lowrance also offers a time of features in each of their units, though the technology sometimes isn’t quite as flashy or as “cutting edge” as what you’d get in a comparable Humminbird unit.
Still, this manufacturer offers fantastic CHIRP sonar solutions (they pioneered that tech, after all) and fantastic down/side scanning imagery as well. Lowrance even has their own proprietary imaging solution called “Structure Scan” that you can use to better understand exactly what’s going on beneath the surface when you are fishing.
Product Catalog Breakdown
As far as sheer number of products in the product catalog goes, Lowrance used to be the undisputed king of the ring in this department but now Humminbird offers a few more.
One of the claims to fame for Lowrance used to be offering an almost unlimited amount of products to match every need, every budget, and offer just as many configurations for their fish finders as you could imagine.
Today, though Lowrance has kind of shrunken down there product categories into just three major lines – the Hook, the Elite, and the HDS Live.
Each of these product lineups have a couple of different configurations within them, opening up a little bit of opportunity for anglers and fishermen to spend their money on technology perfectly suited for their specific needs.
Still, though, Humminbird offers more products right now for fish finding buyers – and that means there’s better potential to find the perfect fish finder for your needs with this company.
One cool thing about Humminbird, though, is that they don’t keep a lot of product lines around for “legacy reasons”.
This company isn’t shy about upgrading and improving past models, and as soon that happens that old-line gets retired and the new and improved version slides right in.
Humminbird eliminates a lot of bloat this way. Some people, though, fall in love with a specific model of fish finder and are upset to learn later that Humminbird has swapped it out for something newer.
Ease of Use
Lowrance practically corners the market when it comes to overall ease of use across the board.
Because this company has three distinct product lines, and because each of these three distinct product lines has the same “design language” across all of the unique configurations, it’s not hard to learn how to work a Lowrance fish finder no matter what model you’re working with.
On the flipside, Humminbird always seems to be coming up with something new and regularly upgrades the user interface, button placements, and other things that anglers can show some frustration with.
Lowrance also offers a lot of options with physical buttons instead of relying purely on a touchscreen interface.
If you’ve ever spent a lot of time out of the water (especially when it’s cold) you know just how unpleasant it can be to slam your fingers into a touchscreen just to find more fish.
With physical buttons you also get used to manipulating and working your fish finder, to the point where you can effortlessly operate the system without your eyeballs on the screen all the time – even in the dark.
Don’t get us wrong. Humminbird offers some really easy to use options as well as some super complex ones (though those usually have more features, too).
Lowrance gets the nod in this department, though.
Mapping and Nav Tech
Humminbird GPS mapping and navigation technology is significantly better than the options available from Lowrance.
No, Humminbird doesn’t do quite as good of a job in this department as Garmin would (but that’s a dedicated GPS company that sometimes makes fish finders). But they have definitely “borrowed” some ideas from Garmin and woven them into their top-of-the-line fish finding units.
You’ll need to pony up a few hundred dollars to land a quality fish finder from Humminbird with GPS mapping and navigation technology built-in. That’s about the same price point aware Lowrance fish finders offer mapping technology as well.
The trouble with Lowrance units (at least from a mapping and navigation standpoint) is that you are pretty much dealing with a blank slate.
You have to kind of draw and design (literally map out) the waters that you are fishing. You can do this on your phone with the mobile app enabled units, but either way – on the fish finder itself or on your phone – it’s a clumsy and cumbersome process.
Humminbird is the way to go if mapping and navigation technology are important.
Imagining Tech
On the imaging side of things we have to say that Humminbird does a slightly better job as well.
The side imaging solutions available from Humminbird models that have that kind of feature are light years above and beyond the same kind of units from Lowrance. Not only do you get a faster refresh rate and a dedicated DI with Humminbird units, but you also get variable bandwidth, ethernet sharing capabilities, and you use a lot less power as well.
Structure Scan from Lowrance is pretty slick and easy to use. But it’s not enough to get a leg up over Humminbird in this department.
If you want the best imaging tech possible to help you find more fish underwater, Humminbird is where you’ll want to spend your money.
Overall Value
Both of these companies offer a range of products to fit pretty much every budget, so there’s no real differentiation purely based on price point.
The big differentiating factor between Humminbird and Lowrance fish finders from a value perspective, though, shakes out in overall bang for your buck and the reliability of the product itself.
We have to say that Humminbird fish finders are usually a little more feature-rich. They usually have a little more tech tucked inside. And all of them are 100% made in the United States with a legendary warranty and some of the best customer service in the business.
Lowrance fish finders are solid, high performance, and very well-made. But the warranty isn’t quite as nice, the customer service isn’t quite as steady or reliable, and the product itself isn’t made completely in the US, either.
Humminbird wins this comparison category, too.
Closing Thoughts
All in all, it’s really important that we reinforce that you can’t go wrong with fish finders from either of these two top-tier companies.
At the same time, it should be pretty clear to anyone reading this breakdown that we feel Humminbird fish finders are a little bit better than the ones you’d get from Lowrance.
Sometimes you have to pony up a little more money to get your hands on a Humminbird. We can’t dispute that.
But the value is better, the technology is often a little more advanced, and there are more product options to pick and choose from to guarantee you get exactly what you are looking for.
If you have the ability to land a Humminbird that’s the way you should go.
Lowrance fish finders aren’t slouches by any stretch of the imagination. It’s just that Humminbird is a little better.
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