Ice helix 7 or lx7

I am in the market to upgrade my sonar. I currently have an ICE-35 and a marcum vx-1i. I’m looking to get a high end flasher and have come down to an ice helix 7 or the marcum lx7. I have been trying to find good info and reviews on the helix but a lot of the reviews get people talking about the open water helix and it confuses me. I fish one lake consistently and then usually fish 4-6 new lakes each year where I research on the navionics app on my phone, set points I want to try then keep my phone out as I’m going across the lake to ensure I get to the right spot. I also mainly chase panfish around. I really like the idea of the built in gps and the lakemaster capabilities on the helix. If anyone has pros/cons on either or both units please let me know them. Thanks

Also I do very little open water fishing. This will be for ice fishing only.

The pro for the lx7 is way better target separation and more usable transducer cone angles. I think the helix has something like 2″ target separation and only 20° and 60° cone angles. The lx7 has 1/2″ target separation and 8° and 20° cone angles. The 60° would be nice at times though. The big advantage of the helix is the built in GPS. I’d vote for the lx7 and just keep using the Navionics app on my phone. If the helix had better target separation and a 10° option I’d probably check one out.

As much as I like Humminbird, Ponyexpress is correct. The LX7 is a much better unit overall. The only thing the Helix 7 has over to LX7 is GPS capability. Target separation, cone angles and IR are all better on the LX7. The Helix also has some slight lag in response. Not a bad deal for open water, but can be a killer for finicky panfish through the ice…I’m on my second season with my Helix 5 and it was turned into a backup unit after the first outing with it. Contemplating mounting it via RAM mount to my ATV for GPS and occasional sonar use.

my buddy has a helix 7. The gps is nice but that’s the only advantage over the lx7. He uses his lx5 over that now and the 7 is an expensive backup unit with gps.

I have an lx7 And I love it! It’s a great unit and it is also durable. I dropped mine while carrying it across the ice last night and it never skipped a beat.

Austin Root wrote:

I have an lx7 And I love it! It’s a great unit and it is also durable. I dropped mine while carrying it across the ice last night and it never skipped a beat.

Well I can’t say the same about mine being that durable. Last weekend I had mine in a basket on my ATV that was in my enclosed trailer. Somehow(it looks like anyhow) the transducer came out of its pocket, flew up and shattered the screen. No idea how it happened as nothing else in the trailer had moved and I don’t remember hitting any large bumps.

Other than that my LX-7 has been awesome. I’ll send it in over the summer for repairs if I can’t find the glass to do it myself.

That’s weird. Do you have the plastic screen protector on it?

I had it off, as I can’t read the screen when wearing sunglasses.

Polarized sunglasses do that for me sometimes with my phone too. get non-polarized or you just have to keep the protector off, And LX7 hands down!

get non-polarized

I’ll risk my Marcum before I risk my vision. Also I’m forced to have prescription glasses, so buying non polarized sunglasses is a bit more involved.

Ended up getting the LX-6S mainly due to the price difference. I will be taking it out Saturday and Sunday. Can’t wait to try it out.

I have both, The LX7 is hands down much better sonar for ice fishing. I use the helix for the GPS for finding my spots.

LX7 is probably a better dedicated unit, but the ICE 7 is a great dual purpose unit. Don’t rule out the Garmins either. I converted a Striker 4 for about $200 bucks for a small “Mini” LX6 and my Garmin 73SV may be next. For $479 and $80 for a ducer you get built in maps and a graph

I just bought a HELIX7 SI G2N with CHIRP, then converted it to an ice unit. Works great. I don’t have much experience with using a Marcum though to compare. It has GPS and CHIRP. Plus, I can network it to my other unit and motor in the boat and also have SI and DI during the open water season.

Ryan Scholl wrote:

I just bought a HELIX7 SI G2N with CHIRP, then converted it to an ice unit. Works great. I don’t have much experience with using a Marcum though to compare. It has GPS and CHIRP. Plus, I can network it to my other unit and motor in the boat and also have SI and DI during the open water season.

If I did any sort of open water fishing I would have went this route. I don’t own a boat or fish open water hardly at all. Went with the marcum for ice fishing only. Will stick with my phone and the navionics map for gps.

Took the lx6 out for the first time time today. Wow!! Not sure how I managed to fish before this. Great tool and love the features/displays. Will be out again shortly to try more things with it.