I've Decided on Apex vs. Solix vs. Helix... Now What Model Do I Choose?
This is an informational Sticky Post and is not open to additional posts. If you have any suggestions for improvement of this Sticky Post, please send a PM to me and I'll incorporate the changes as I do plan to update this post with any changes or new information.
There are 3 Humminbird lines... Helix, Solix, and Apex. These are listed from lowest to highest price. Since the Solix starts at 10" and the Apex starts at 13", you would need to focus on the Helix if you are looking for something smaller. There are individual Sticky Posts dealing with which of the models would fit your fishing requirements better so take a look at those for help in determining which model line to choose.
Fishfinders have 3 possible imaging modes these days (not counting accessories like Mega Live and Mega 360)... 2D (CHIRP... the traditional Mode which shows fish as arches), Down Imaging (DI... thin beam that shows what is directly under your boat in much higher quality), and Side Imaging (SI... thin beam that shows what is on each side of your boat in much higher quality). Which capability the various models have will be contained in the model name... the SI models have everything, the DI models have all but SI, the CHIRP models only have 2D, and the GPS models only have charting with no imaging. The SI+ models, which have been recent additions, have extended the range and quality and use a new SI+ transducer.
Many of the models also come in a "CHO" model which stands for Control Head Only. These models are identical to the "regular" models except they don't include the transducer. Since networked units can share the transducer imaging, there is no need to have a transducer on every control head in a networked environment.
In the most recent generations of Solix and now Apex, the model variety has been greatly cut down and there are only SI models. The Helix Line has much more variety in the models... Especially in the smaller units.
In the Helix line, there are multiple generations. The higher the number the newer the model. They can also have an "N" in the model name and this indicates that it is network capable. Networking allows you to connect multiple Helix units together to share information as well as connect to some accessories. All Apex and Solix models have networking ability but, in the Helix line, only the models with the "N" have networking ability.
With all that as background, the most recent models of Helix are the G4 and G4N. As to which specific model you need, I strongly suggest that you do some research on your own to determine which of the imaging capabilities you would like to have. The "GPS" units are the cheapest but only do charting and 2D while the SI+ units are the most capable and include Chartinng, SI, DI, and 2D but are also the most expensive.
My suggestion is to do some simple YouTube searches to see how to use the various imaging modes to determine what is important to you. Humminbird has a YouTube channel with many tutorials. That would be a good starting place. Here is the link:
https://youtube.com/c/HumminbirdTV
