If you’ve had any buyer’s remorse after purchasing a Helix 5 G2 instead of a Helix 7 G2, please share why. Unless I’m missing something, the features are identical other than screen size.
There are some pretty good deals on 5s right now. The price on the 7s stay firm, which tells us a lot about the level of demand. Thinking of pulling the trigger on one or the other.
Depends on how good yours eyes are. I love the Helix 5 G2, I prefer the smaller package for hole hopping on the ice and don’t have any issues with the screen size during open water applications. My dad on the other hand has to squint at the screen and lean in close to get the same detail I get at 3+ feet away. So no buyers remorse here but I’ve also never used a 7 so may not know what I’m missing out on.
No buyers remorse here. I have the 5, dad has the 7
I have the Helix 7, and would almost prefer the 5 for the smaller package, being able to fit in bucket and softcase easier, and less battery draw. But since I had the 7 already on the boat that I could use, I wasn’t going to go and buy the 5 for ice fishing.
If a guy has any future desire at all to put it on a boat, and network to any other units or depthfinder on the boat, then the Helix 7 G2N is the obvious choice, since you cannot network a Helix 5 unit.
If no desire to network, and your eyesight is fine, I would go with the smaller Helix 5 package.
I have a 5 g1 and will get a 7 g2 one of these days
I have the 5, fished for 6 hours on Saturday, black background and the screen light was on 6. I only used 18% of my battery. The 5 is lightweight is great on batteries. One feature i like best about the Helix is being able to dial in my depth range to the foot, I am not limited to 10′ ranges. Also I like I can zoom one segment of the water column on the flasher, while zooming in on a different segment of the water column on the 2d sonar.
I also fished next to a bunch of Vex 28’s. Those are very nice as well.
I love my gen 2 helix 5di that I converted to ice fishing. The only thing I wish I would have had was si version for open water. I love the size for me personally as a bigger screen doesn’t impact my buying decision. After my lasic years ago I actually prefer less light and have no problem viewing it.
I have a helix 5 G2, i wouldn’t trade it straight up for a helix 7 for the reasons everyone already listed.
I price tracked 5’s and 7’s for 6 months on various big box retailers.
7’s do not stay firm in price…
Helix-7-DI-GPS-G2.png
No remorse as I went for the 7. 549.00 on ebay last month. Immediately liked it more than my FL20. 5 days on the ice with it only increased my liking.
Excellent replies, guys.
I see that graph shows the price for just the unit, and not the Ice package.
After going back and forth, I decided on the 7 model. I actually initially had Scheels price-match the best online offer for the 5, but I got the thing home and it didn’t feel right. Never even opened the box.
The 7 only weighs a little more than the 5. It’s just a bigger unit. Everything else is the same. There’s numerous well-known tricks for extending battery life, such as turning the screen brightness to 4 and making the background black.
Worse comes to worse, I’ll put a lithium battery on the 7 and it’ll be lighter than a stock 5, and any battery issues will be a thing of the past.
The 5 is the best unit on the market in terms of value at the moment, IMO.
I can’t speak much on Panoptix. But, approaching $2k is a little unrealistic for us unsponsored weekend warriors (most, anyway).
But, I’d be willing to bet the folks sitting in the corner offices at Vexilar and Marcum are thinking an awful lot about Humminbird lately.
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