Opinions on Onix

Hey guys I’m looking for some input on my fish finder situation. I pretty much had my mind set on a helix 9, but with the recent prices on an Onix 8 I’m starting to wonder if that would be a better choice. What do you guys think?

They will likely be discontinued very soon, that’s why you’re seeing them heavily discounted. They take a ton of power and the OS is a bear (takes minutes to load and is still buggy, although leaps and bounds better than pre 2.0)

I would stick with an original Helix even though Helix Gen2 is coming out soon, unless you absolutely need the cheap version of chirp sonar and the ability to display the multi-layer mapping of the future, the price savings buying a Helix gen1 would offset any gains.. imo

My biggest complaint with the Onix series is that they do not offer a quick disconnect for the cables. They are plastic fine threaded connectors, pita to take on/off if you remove your electronics from your boat all the time…

The biggest bonuses for the Onix lineup is the window customization and the dedicated DI crystal in the ducer…

I own a Helix 10si unit, love it!

Thank you for your input! This is exactly why I asked this question here, getting answers from people that know way more about it than I do and more than the people selling them in most cases.

The start-up is slow, they drain a lot of power, and they aren’t real intuitive to operate. However, the Onix is an amazing unit when the system is powered up and running and you finally figure out how to operate the machine. I do appreciate my Onix and have no regrets about the purchase. Mine has never been buggy btw. The Helix units are pretty good too from all that I read.

BrianF wrote:

The start-up is slow, they drain a lot of power, and they aren’t real intuitive to operate.

I bit on the recent sale prices. Limited experience playing with it on land but there’s a lot of truth to Brian’s statement.

Being a geek and wanting to play with the new toy, I’ve invested some time to learning it. One feature I found is a “sleep” mode. At least I can save juice and have it come back rapidly while on the water. The start up is painfully slow but if only once a day, that may not be too bad.

When I asked similar questions Joe gave me the same good feedback. Some of the other feedback was related that the quality of the transducer was significantly better than the stock with the Helix 9. There is a transducer program to get Helix upgraded but at that point Onix is less money and some say it’s still not quite as good as the Onix. Something to do with a separate crystal for DI.

Probably no right or wrong choice here. I’m okay investing the time to learn it, no quick release is okay by me, liked not needing a dongle to network, and actually like the touch screen. If support gets discontinued that will suck.

All goes well, I’ll have mine on water this weekend for a first real trial.

Someone just listed a Helix 9 in the classifieds for $600

Thanks everyone for your input!! I think I’ve decided to pass on the Onix and see what the future brings. It has a lot more features than I really need. I think I’ll keep my eyes open for a helix 9 or 10 with the HD transducer. Thanks again everyone!

I hear a new Onix version will hit soon, along with the gen2 Helix models…

I run 2 Onixs and 1 Helix. I prefer the Onix by a wide margin. 2D, SI, and especially DI is much better then Helix. New stuff should be out soon–good luck on choosing one.

I have had very few issues running my Onix—even though it gets a bad rap online about having issues. 90% or more is because it is not wired correctly.

Spent more time rigging this weekend than actually getting on the water. Onix worked without bugs but was only out for about 2 hours.

My first impressions were really good. did the update on Friday to get the poor man’s Chirp. Definitely different and have a learning curve there and many other areas of the unit. Marks looked different but I was able to find a school of something in few minutes I had a line down.

Coming from a 597 this is a whale of an upgrade and is going to take time. I stand by my comments earlier that complex is a good word. I’m hanging it up for this season and looking forward to playing with it next year.