ORLANDO, Fla. – Weekend anglers can now affordably fish like pros with the new Humminbird Helix 7 Series.
“For the average Jane and Joe Lunchbox like myself, this is the unit,” Jeff Kolodzinski of Johnson Outdoors said. “Up until now you were probably at about 1,200 dollars at retail. This is going to retail at $699 in a side imaging.”
The Helix 7 Series features a 7-inch diagonal screen that allows anglers to run two technologies side by side. Kolodzinski popped up a 2D sonar view and a side imaging view to demonstrate.
“I can look out to the left and the right 240 feet in either direction and still look down on the bottom and see if fish are underneath the boat,” he said. “It also has down imaging that has 2D sonar that has zoom.”
Bassmaster Elite angler Aaron Martens saw the screen for the first time and was impressed that it looked like a smaller version of what most pros use.
“They’re good, just like the Onyx series shrunk down,” he said. “They’re bulletproof”
The units offer increased brightness, with a 1500 NIT light output, where most had been around 1000 NIT.
“It is really bright,” Kolodzinski said. “On clear bright days, you can still see the screen. Sonar doesn’t do you any good if you can’t see what’s going on down below.”
What also makes the Helix special is the wide screen in a 16:9 format, and it’s practically ready out of the box.
“Everything you need to rig it is in the box, and it’s a straight forward process,” Kolodzinksi said. “You run power to the unit and hang the transducer off the back, you power it up and start to fish. It’s that simple.”
The only downfall is that it’s a non-networking unit. Anglers can’t connect the console and bow units.
“That was one of the concessions we did to make it be the price that it is,” he said. “If you are an angler who is really wanting the best technology, it’s an incredible fish and structure technology. Up until now, you had to be north of $1,000 and now we’re well underneath that. For fitting your budget standpoint, this is the one unit.”
