HELIX 7 GEN 2

Now that everyone has had some time to use them what are your thoughts?

How is battery life?
Would you recommend it? I have ice 55 and though real hard about getting the helix this fall

I can only speak on the 5 gen 2 It is a awesome unit. I changed from the lowrance elite 5 and the bird is crisper faster separation looks insane with the sharpness. Duel graph mode with zoom is pretty awesome iv ran the 5g2 for 12 hours on half brightness and had 70% life left

I sold my Ice35 and used the money for a transducer and Dakota lithium battery to rig up my Helix 7 G2. I would recommend it over the Ice35-55 units hands down. I’d recommend it over any other unit tbh. Dakota lithium battery lasts all day and then some.

I have one and have no complaints. Flasher and regular sonar side by side are great, awesome zoom. Having the GPS onboard is fantastic. Ran all day and never had battery go under 25%. My only real frustration with Hummingbird/Lakemaster is that I have 9 different map SD chips for my Humminbird fish finders on my boat. None of these will fit in the Helix series. You have to have the micro SD. I talked to them about transferring the date to a micro SD card, nope, ain’t going to happen. It sucks because I already own the data, I just want it on a different media. I think they could have done a better job with that. And at $125 a card I’m in no big hurry to go out and replace them.

traumatized wrote:

I have one and have no complaints. Flasher and regular sonar side by side are great, awesome zoom. Having the GPS onboard is fantastic. Ran all day and never had battery go under 25%. My only real frustration with Hummingbird/Lakemaster is that I have 9 different map SD chips for my Humminbird fish finders on my boat. None of these will fit in the Helix series. You have to have the micro SD. I talked to them about transferring the date to a micro SD card, nope, ain’t going to happen. It sucks because I already own the data, I just want it on a different media. I think they could have done a better job with that. And at $125 a card I’m in no big hurry to go out and replace them.

I have found both navionics and lakemaster maps for around $90 to $100 if you do some searching. I’d sell your full SD cards and buy new micros.

I have a helix 5 gen2 and i honestly think its is going to dominate the market until Vex or Marcum figure out how to offer mapping on their units. The sonar is as good or better than any unit available, more user friendly than the digital marcums, plus it has gps mapping that you can take from your boat to the ice and fish the same spots. Battery life has been fine for me with a 9ah lead acid battery. i could run all day on full screen brightness and have no problem.

you can use a micro in a standard sd with an adapter…selling the standard sd’s and going with the new micros is a good idea

100% agree with others. I bought a helix 7 G2N sonar/GPS for the bow of my boat but rigged it up on a genz box and did the transducer exchange program to get the CHIRP XI 1521 ice ducer. My plan was to have it as a second unit for my daughter so she wouldn’t hoard my FL-20 lol. Well, suffice it to say the FL-20 is now her unit going forward. Coming off prior experiences with Gen 1 units, the G2 units are incredibly good on the ice. I love the lakemaster mapping capability and have it in my truck when I head out on a lake and use it to get where I need to be. Just all around awesome and I would highly recommend.

I’ve owned a LX3, LX5, and currently have had a LX7 since its release. At the begining of this season I bought the Helix 7 Chirp as something to try out. Over the winter when picking which flasher I’m going to take out for the day I keep going back to the LX-7.
I prefer the target seperation way better on the Marcum over the bird. I also like the simplicity in setting up. The bird takes alot of monkeying around to get it dailed in vs the Marcum with it save feature. The biggest reason I like the Marcum over the bird is the verticle zoom when fishing deeper water. The bird has zoom but from what I found it only zooms on the graph. The last thing which tips the scales for Marcum is the target seperation and the transducer offset. I love being able to hide the bottom readout and using all that space for fish and my lure.
The bird is my backup or unit when friends join me.

Happy hooking!!!

I had the first gen of helix 5 the year they came out and returned it as there were so many bugs for Hbird to fix to get it right.

with that being said I bought the helix 7 g2 this fall and have been highly impressed using it on the ice. I have used it next to my buddies Marcum 7 and its not even close with the chirp Hbird. it takes a few hours to get it all dialed in but im pumped to rig it up to my boat this spring with the autochart live feature so I can use it on my Canada lakes.

Helix>everything else

Hey Skol,

What do you mean by the “save” feature on your LX-7?
How does that feature work?

Been looking at the 7s have not pulled the pin!

rickwalley wrote:

Hey Skol,

What do you mean by the “save” feature on your LX-7?
How does that feature work?

Once you get your unit all dailed in on the settings you like, you are able to “Save” your settings so that next time you turn your unit on there is no adjustment it goes straight to your configuration the last time you used it.
Ex: Screen brightness, screen configuration, zoom window, zoom depth, IR, ect. Esentially you are all set after a power down.

Hopefully that helps….Happy hooking!

I have the 7 g2 and love it. i did find an issue that unit will correct with the next software release and that is when u save a waypoint as a snapshot, the saved pic file has a time stamp that is standard utc and does not adjust the timestamp to the time zone chosen.
Also, the iconset in Humminbird PC does not maycb what’s in the unit. I guess they’re working on that too. That is more annoying than the timestamp.
Small beans really. I love the unit, it works great.

Nice to hear all of these good reviews. I just purchased the Humminbird Helix 7 Ice Gen 2 bundle. Have not gotten to use it yet though and still trying to figure out the settings. It is my first fishfinder and have been debating this one and the Marcum Lx7 Lithium. Sure hope I made the right choice.

Thought about buying the Marcum Lithium shuttle to mount it on.

Great choice you will not be disappointed! I personally would stay away from marcum anything! I have seen so many bad reviews the past few years!

No need for the entire shuttle, just get a good quality lithium battery around 12 volt and 10 ah.

Thanks – so, Dakota Lithium would be good then? Do I have to buy a new charger too or will the existing one work? Thanks!

Dusty Gesinger wrote:

No need for the entire shuttle, just get a good quality lithium battery around 12 volt and 10 ah.

Are people having issues with lag in cold temperatures? I’ve heard that’s a major issue for some.

I have the helix 7 G2N. I run the Dakota lithium battery and have used it 9+ hours and was at 12.2 to 12.4 volts. Mostly in shanty and probably couple hours out hole hopping. I have not experienced any lag from this unit.
Yes you will need a different charger for the Dakota lithium battery

mazak500 wrote:

I have the helix 7 G2N. I run the Dakota lithium battery and have used it 9+ hours and was at 12.2 to 12.4 volts. Mostly in shanty and probably couple hours out hole hopping. I have not experienced any lag from this unit.
Yes you will need a different charger for the Dakota lithium battery

Thanks for the reply

Bass Thumb wrote:

Are people having issues with lag in cold temperatures? I’ve heard that’s a major issue for some.

Not at all, i think lag comments have been from Gen 1 users.

can someone help me sort of what the difference is between helix units? from what I can see there is:

Humminbird Helix 5/7 Chirp Sonar/GPS G2 Combo
Humminbird Helix 5/7 Chirp Sonar/GPS G2N Combo
Humminbird Helix 5/7 Chirp Sonar/GPS DI G2 Combo
Humminbird Helix 5/7 Chirp Sonar/GPS SI G2 Combo
Humminbird Helix 5/7 Chirp with navionics Sonar/GPS DI G2 Combo

I know that DI & SI stands for Down Imaging and Side Imagining but what is the different between G2 & G2N? Do all of these units work on the ice or are there only some that do? I understand you need to buy a different ducer to work with it on the ice. If I got one I would want to use it on the boat so I would be interested in getting a unit with side imagining. Is that an option to use one of the side imaging units as an ice unit as well?

crappie55369 wrote:

can someone help me sort of what the difference is between helix units? from what I can see there is:

Humminbird Helix 5/7 Chirp Sonar/GPS G2 Combo
Humminbird Helix 5/7 Chirp Sonar/GPS G2N Combo
Humminbird Helix 5/7 Chirp Sonar/GPS DI G2 Combo
Humminbird Helix 5/7 Chirp Sonar/GPS SI G2 Combo
Humminbird Helix 5/7 Chirp with navionics Sonar/GPS DI G2 Combo

I know that DI & SI stands for Down Imaging and Side Imagining but what is the different between G2 & G2N?
The “N” stands for Network. Only G2N models can be networked with other Helix units or Minn Kota trolling motors.

Do all of these units work on the ice or are there only some that do? I understand you need to buy a different ducer to work with it on the ice.
All Helix 5 and 7 models work with the ice transducer.

If I got one I would want to use it on the boat so I would be interested in getting a unit with side imagining. Is that an option to use one of the side imaging units as an ice unit as well?
Yes, the ice transducer works with SI/DI units.

Thanks tswoboda!