Humminbird 409640-1 Helix 5 SI Fish Finder with Side-Imaging and GPS

At first I was not too sure I was going to like this unit. I was already using the Lowrance elite 4x on my kayak but it did not have side imaging or GPS. If you are not familiar with the side imaging I would advise you to look on youtube there are some great videos about it.I would also suggest reading the manual. Unlike my Lowrance that seemed to operate real good on auto sensitivity and auto contrast this one seemed to work better if you tweaked the factory settings. One thing I do not like is the fact that you can not zoom in when in full screen 2d. Only seems to work in split screen. The screen is pretty small also. It works good for my kayak but if you were going to put it on a bigger boat I would get the Helix 7 at the least. Otherwise the more I use this unit the more I like it. You can see from the images it does a pretty good job. The one image shows the boat ramp as I went over it.

The media could not be loaded.  This is my first side imaging sonar. Initially, I thought that the SI was not working but after help from Humminbird found out that it was due to technology limitations that I had not been aware of. For best imaging, boat speed should be around 3-4 mph, with calm water, and minimal side-to-side rocking. The boat should be moving approximately straight, and the chart speed should be matched to the boat speed. Such conditions are not present every day in the Gulf but when they are, the imaging works and is far more informative than traditional sonar. Included below are a video of my marina's channel, and an image from an 'artificial reef', an area with concrete rubble. The recordings include the GPS coordinates, and allow creating waypoints while reviewing the scans at home.BTW, per my discussion with Humminbird support, the processors used in the Helix 5 SI and 7 SI are the same, and other than the size of the display, there are no substantive differences between the two units.

For those of you who are contemplating whether or not to invest in a gps/SI/DI unit, you need to get one. Definitely a game changer in the sport of fishing. You can now eliminate unproductive water and find structure easier. This unit gives you all the technology of a $1k plus model just with a smaller display. If you are looking to invest in a SI/DI starter unit, go with this one. I love mine and I send Humminbird a big thanks for allowing this technology in a lower budget unit. It can be tricky to learn as there are several setting that you can change but my best advice is putting in time on the water and learning your unit. Great investment, very pleased

Only reason I'm giving this 4 stars is cause it is a good fish finder. I don't think the side imaging is as good as it should be but the down imaging is. Save yourself some money and just go with the DI version if you don't think you really need it. I had a bad transducer and humming bird is a joke to deal with. On hold for a long long time. But now everything works good.

Good product. No complaints. Does as its intended. I do recommend getting a ram mount though. The base it comes with doesnt rotate left or right. So if there's a glare due to the sun you can only flip it up or down.

I live in northeast Florida and fish in salt/brackish water. The side imaging down a pretty good job showing pylons and some oyster beds, but I haven't seen any "fish" on the side imaging like so many videos show. It is a very nice system though.

Replaced my old 587ci with this unit. Works well. One gripe is that they did away with the lighted buttons. My old 587ci had them.So, this unit is harder to use while night fishing than my old unit. A step backward.

Great product from Humminbird! The display is easy to read, portable, and accurate. This fit my wallet with having just as much as the 7" on up and saving some money. I mounted the transducer on the electric motor(55lb Minn Kota Terrova), so be careful how you string the transducer cord up the shaft. I gouge the cord when retrieving the motor back up into position. You will enjoy this...I promise!

I absolutely love this fish finder. The gps/ side imagining is the best part of this unit. I'm so happy using this fish finder, it gives me more control with my boat. I love that it has the crum trail to retrace my last routes