Humminbird Fish Finder: PiranhaMAX, HELIX, SOLIX, XPLORE and APEX

A Humminbird fish finder in 2026 is one of four series, and for a bass boat the one to buy is now an XPLORE (9, 10 or 12 in, from $1,299.99 list). It is the cheapest Humminbird display that runs MEGA Live 2 forward-facing sonar, and the HELIX it replaces never will: no HELIX, however new, runs MEGA Live 2 or networks with an XPLORE. Smaller boats still have the PiranhaMAX 4 and the HELIX 5 and 7; tournament consoles get the APEX. The numbers here are Humminbird’s specifications, October 2026 retailer prices and the reviewers’ verdicts; nothing was tested for this page.

Humminbird’s MEGA side imaging runs at 1.2 MHz and draws the bottom in fine detail out to 125 ft (38 m) a side. Past that the unit drops back to 455 kHz, and the picture goes with it.

Which Humminbird for your boat?

For the money, the HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G4 buys Humminbird’s sharpest picture at about $800 list, $649.98 on sale in fall 2026. The XPLORE 9 is the pick only if live sonar is in your future.

Installation is the same on every rung: a transom or in-hull transducer, a fused 12 V feed, and on a kayak a gear-track mount. On a kayak, budget the draw: the HELIX 5 G3 pulls 615 mA, about 5 Ah for an eight-hour day.

What is still made in 2026?

Humminbird is phasing out HELIX, the series most of its owners run. The ladder below is what you can still buy new; the fish finders hub sets it beside the Garmin and Lowrance ladders.

Woods & Waters’ 2026 electronics round-up put the change in one sentence: “Humminbird’s Helix line is being phased out but you can still purchase non-networking units like the Helix 5 Chirp GPS G3.” Among the networking units, only the HELIX 12 and 15 CHIRP MEGA SI+ GPS G4N are still available.

Other networking units, such as the HELIX 9 MEGA SI+ G4N, the bass-boat unit of the last five years, turn up only as leftover dealer stock. A leftover HELIX is a fine buy for an angler who will never run live sonar, and a dead end for one who will.

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How far does MEGA imaging see?

Humminbird’s side imaging sends two thin fans of sound out from the hull, each 86° wide. It stacks the returns into a picture of the bottom that looks like an aerial photo. On a standard HELIX the fans run at 455 kHz and reach 800 ft (244 m) side to side, 400 ft each way. Straight down, the 2D sonar of a HELIX 7 SI G4 adds cones of 20°, 42° and 60°.

MEGA imaging runs the same fans at 1.2 MHz, which Humminbird calls the highest frequency of any recreational fish finder. Higher frequency means a thinner beam and a sharper picture, but a shorter reach. MEGA sees 125 ft (38 m), whether looking down or to either side. Past that the unit switches itself back to 455 kHz, out to a maximum of 400 ft.

The plus sign in MEGA SI+ and MEGA DI+ marks the next transducer generation, on the HELIX G4N, SOLIX, XPLORE and APEX. Its spec sheet gives 400 ft (122 m) side to side at 1.1–1.2 MHz, about 200 ft (60 m) a side. At 455 kHz it reaches 800 ft. So on every pass a MEGA SI unit draws a 250 ft (76 m) wide strip in fine detail, and a MEGA SI+ unit a 400 ft strip.

The model names follow the same code. SI is side imaging and DI is down imaging only; MSI and MDI are the MEGA versions. CHO means control head only, with no transducer in the box. The how to read a fish finder page covers what the picture shows once you have it.

Which displays run MEGA Live 2?

MEGA Live 2 is Humminbird’s second-generation forward-facing sonar. It was announced with the XPLORE heads on December 9, 2024, and has shipped since January 2025. Tackle Warehouse sells it for $1,399.99, down from $1,499.99 at launch. It runs 1.05 MHz CHIRP in a 20° × 120° beam. It reaches 150 ft (46 m) forward or down, in three views: Forward, Landscape and Down. It draws 930 mA nominal, with 2.5 A at switch-on.

It plugs straight into the display, with no black box, and mounts on Minn Kota’s Ultrex, Ultrex QUEST, Fortrex, Maxxum and Edge trolling motors. Which displays take it is the whole buying decision.

The first-generation MEGA Live was announced in June 2021 at $1,499.99 and shipped that September. It ran on “HELIX 8-15 G3N / G4N models with MEGA Imaging” and on every SOLIX and APEX, and Humminbird’s list later added the 7 in G4N. So a HELIX 12 G4N can still run live sonar, just not the current one.

MEGA Live 2 is “not compatible with HELIX or older SOLIX models.” The two families do not network either. Hydrilla Gear’s FAQ puts it bluntly: “XPLORE models cannot be networked with any Helix models, regardless of generation or software version.” A boat cannot mix the two and share sonar or maps between them.

The rule that follows: if you expect to want live sonar within two years, skip HELIX altogether. Buy an XPLORE, or a used SOLIX G3, and add the transducer later. The transducer, at $1,399.99, costs about what Lowrance’s ActiveTarget 2 kit does, and $600 less than Garmin’s LiveScope 2.

Why is the XPLORE the new middle?

XPLORE replaced the SOLIX as Humminbird’s mid-premium series. With the HELIX G4N going, it is now the bass-boat display. It comes in 9, 10 and 12 in, with a quad-core processor and Humminbird’s Cross Touch interface: a touchscreen plus a full keypad for wet hands.

Every XPLORE ships with LakeMaster and CoastMaster maps with 1 ft (30 cm) contours, so there is no map card to buy. It runs MEGA Side and Down Imaging, MEGA 360 and MEGA Live 2. Over the One-Boat Network it controls Minn Kota trolling motors and shallow-water anchors. It also syncs up to 10,000 waypoints with custom icons to a phone.

At ICAST 2025 it took Best in Category for marine electronics, then the Anglers’ Choice award, which anglers vote on. Outdoor Life’s Pete Robbins named it best for mapping in his 2026 guide, at $1,300–1,700.

The bundle that matters is the XPLORE 9 MSI+ with MEGA Live 2. It sold for $2,399 at Bass Pro in September 2026 and $2,599 on October 1. Garmin’s LiveScope 2 transducer alone is $1,999.99. So Humminbird’s complete live-sonar setup costs about what Garmin’s transducer and a cheap display do. The best fish finder page tracks those bundle prices through the sales weeks.

The picks in detail

PiranhaMAX 4

TackleDirect and Russell Marine sell it for $139.99. Its dual-beam sonar runs at 200 and 455 kHz and reads 600 ft (183 m) deep. The screen is 4.3 in, and there is no GPS. It is the unit for a dock, a jon boat or a child’s first kayak, and nothing else. Anyone who wants a map or a picture of the bottom starts one rung up.

HELIX 5 CHIRP GPS G3

Outdoor Life’s best fish finder under $400, at $350–400 depending on the dealer. It has a 5 in, 800 × 480 screen, Dual Spectrum CHIRP and internal GPS with a basemap. Eight hours of AutoChart Live recording let you draw your own depth map. Its draw is 615 mA, which is why it runs all day on a kayak battery. Who should not buy it: anyone who wants to see structure off to the sides. It has no imaging.

HELIX 7 CHIRP MEGA SI GPS G4

The cheapest way to Humminbird’s best picture. It has MEGA side and down imaging to 125 ft a side, with CHIRP and GPS on a 7 in, 1024 × 600 screen. It lists at about $800, and was $649.98 on sale at Cabela’s in fall 2026. The 455 kHz version, the HELIX 7 CHIRP SI GPS G4 at $599.99, was Outdoor Life’s saltwater kayak pick. The G4N version, at $999.99, adds Ethernet networking for a second HELIX. Who should not buy it: the angler who will add live sonar.

XPLORE 9

The bass-boat pick now that the HELIX 9 and 10 G4N are going. It has a 9 in touchscreen with MEGA imaging, the 1 ft LakeMaster and CoastMaster contours built in, Minn Kota control and MEGA Live 2 support. It lists at $1,299.99 as a control head, and Russell Marine had it at $1,199.99 in October 2026. Who should not buy it: the angler who runs a 12 in HELIX today and wants a second screen to match; the two will not talk.

XPLORE 10 or 12 with MEGA Live 2

The live-sonar setup: a 10 or 12 in XPLORE, the $1,399.99 MEGA Live 2 and a bow mount on the Minn Kota. Budget for the draw, 930 mA from the transducer on top of the display. On the picture, Robbins found that LiveScope kept a slight edge over the first MEGA Live. The second generation, in his words, “improves target separation, clarity, and cuts noise.”

APEX 13

The flagship: a 13 in full-HD screen, every Humminbird sonar, full networking and MEGA Live 2. In November 2025 Humminbird cut the APEX prices by about $600 and put the LakeMaster and CoastMaster maps in the box. The 13 lists at $3,699.99 with its MSI+ transducer and $3,399.99 as a control head; dealers were asking less by late October 2026. The 16 and 19 sit above it at $3,899.99 and $4,199.99 at Tackle Warehouse. It is built for a console that runs three screens and a 360 imaging transducer. A single-screen boat is better served by an XPLORE 12 and the $1,000 saved.

Humminbird, Garmin or Lowrance?

Humminbird and Minn Kota are the same company: both are fishing brands of Johnson Outdoors. That is why the One-Boat Network works only inside that family. It links a Humminbird display, a Minn Kota trolling motor or anchor and a Cannon downrigger. It is also why MEGA Live 2 mounts are made for Minn Kota shafts. An angler with a Garmin Force or a Lowrance Ghost motor gains nothing from it.

On live sonar, the transducers alone compare like this at Tackle Warehouse:

The cheapest complete live-sonar unit from any maker is Lowrance’s Eagle Eye 9 Live, at $999 with screen and transducer in one box. It undercuts every Humminbird route. Lowrance’s Elite FS 7 runs ActiveTarget 2 from a $765–950 display, while Humminbird’s cheapest live-sonar display is the XPLORE 9, $1,299.99 list.

Is Humminbird good? Its XPLORE took ICAST 2025’s Best in Category and Anglers’ Choice awards, and Outdoor Life’s 2026 guide picks the HELIX 5 and the XPLORE. Its weak spot has been live sonar, where Robbins’s 2024 comparison gave Garmin’s LiveScope a slight edge over the first MEGA Live.

Humminbird’s case is the imaging frequency, the included maps and the Minn Kota link; Garmin’s is the LiveScope picture, Lowrance’s the price of entry. The bass hub covers what to do once the screen shows a fish.

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