Garmin Striker Plus Series – What’s changed in the new series

Garmin Striker Plus vs Garmin Striker – What’s changed

We’re tackling the newest announcement from Garmin marine this week with their announcement on the new Plus series for the Striker series. This new Fishfinder is towards being a more of hardware/software update rather than a full-fledged new model. This statement will be a little clearer when we look at what’s actually changed.

What’s Changed

Not a huge upgrade here though I can see Wifi is an excellent addition to some setups, and obviously Quickdraw contours are very welcome.

  • Quickdraw Contours
  • WiFi (Only available 7-9 inch models)
  • Active Captain App

Apart from these new features, you will be keeping all the old features including the built-in sonar and side scanning sonar.

How do the Quickdraw Contours work?

The Striker Plus units can now create live HD fishing maps. Quickdraw has been available for a while on the large echoMAP and GPSMAP units but has now been brought over to all of the Striker series. The essential features for Quickdraws contours are as follows:

  • Create routes
  • View boat speed
  • Draw custom maps with 1-foot contours
  • Stores up to 2 million acres (dependent on memory space on unit)

To use Quickdraw mapping, you will need to be travelling under 32km/h (to keep the Sonar and GPS position accurate). Garmin suggests under 16km/h to get the most precise reporting but between 16-32km/h will give you ‘good’ depth and position information. While mapping you can add Labels to specific GPS coordinates that will stay on your map this is great for returning to a good fishing spot or avoiding tricky shallows.

In addition to this Garmin have set up the Quickdraw Community which is a free crowdsourced contour map community. The Quickdraw community is useful in of itself but can be taken a step further with the Garmin Active Captain app which I’ll go into more detail in the next section.

Active Captain (Only applicable to the 7” and 9” units)

Garmin has introduced the Active Captain App to the Striker Plus series; this app is aimed at keeping you connected and allowing you to dynamically update your routes and maps without the need to update your unit via the computer or when you get back from the trip. It will also allow you to receive smart notifications from your phone/compatible device to your Striker unit. The following are the primary functions of the Striker App:

  • Smart notifications
  • Sync new routes and waypoints from the waypoint community

Striker Series- Core features

Skip this section if you’re already well versed in the Striker fish finder. While these features are not new they’re still worth mentioning as they are core components to what make this fish finder such a great unit. All the Striker devices come with a high sensitivity receiver so fishers can not only see fish and structure below the boat, but can also quickly mark their favourite spots. When trolling the GPS will update position once per second giving you an extremely accurate positional report for waypoints, dialling in the exact trolling speed and optimise lure presentation. You can also share waypoint data across Striker Plus units as well as the new Echomap Plus series.

The new Striker plus series will be available in the displays sizes and models featured below:

The new Plus series still offers the CHIRP traditional sonar along with the CHIRP ClearVü and SideVü (on some models – see picture above). This sonar is perfect for display clear fish arches and clear target separation. The ClearVü mode shows a wide image of what passes below the boat.

The SideVü gives you a crisp, clear view of what lies off to each side of the boat, including structure, submerged objects and fish.

The Striker units are available in Australia and range between $249 - $899 RRP. I’ve included the specs comparison for a Striker Plus 7sv against the old Striker 7sv if you want to get it straight from the source.

Spec Comparison for Striker Plus Models

 

 

 

  STRIKER Plus 9sv STRIKER Plus 7sv STRIKER 5cv  STRIKER Plus 4cv

General

       

Physical dimensions

11.1” x 6.5” x 2.4” (28.2 x 16.5 x 6.0 cm) 9.3” x 5.5” x 2.3” (23.5 x 14.0 x 5.8 cm) 7.4’’ x 4.5’’ x 2.1’’ (18.8 x 11.6 x 5.4 cm) 3.9'' x 6.9'' x 1.8'' (9.8 x 17.4 x 4.5 cm)
Weight 2.4 lbs (1.1 kg) 1.7 lbs (0.8 kg) 1.0 lb (0.5 kg) 0.7 lbs (0.3 kg)
Water rating IPX7 IPX7 IPX7 IPX7
Display type WVGA color WVGA color WVGA color QSVGA
Display resolution 800 x 480 pixels 800 x 480 pixels 800 x 480 pixels 272 X 480 pixels

Sonar Features & Specifications

       

Dual-frequency (50/200 kHz) sonar capable

Yes Yes Yes Yes
Dual-beam (77/200 kHz) sonar capable Yes Yes Yes Yes
Frequencies supported Traditional: 50/77/200 kHz Traditional: 50/77/200 kHz Traditional: 50/77/200 kHz Traditional: 50/77/200 kHz
CHIRP (mid and high) CHIRP (mid and high) CHIRP (mid and high) CHIRP (mid and high)
ClearVü and SideVü 260/455/800 kHz ClearVü and SideVü 260/455/800 kHz ClearVü 260/455/800 kHz ClearVü 260/455/800 kHz
Transmit power 500 W (RMS) 500 W (RMS) 500 W (RMS) 300 W (RMS)
Bottom lock (shows return from the bottom up) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Water temperature log and graph Yes Yes Yes Yes

Fishfinder Features

       

Split-screen zoom

Yes Yes Yes Yes
Ultrascroll® (displays fish targets at higher boat speeds) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Fish Symbol ID (helps identify fish targets) Yes Yes Yes Yes
AutoGain Technology (minimizes clutter, maximizes targets) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Adjustable depth line (measures depth of underwater objects) Yes Yes Yes Yes
A-scope (real time display of fish passing through transducer beam) Yes Yes Yes Yes
Water temperature sensor included Yes Yes Yes Yes

Additional

       

Additional

Wireless Connectivity: Yes Wireless Connectivity: Yes Quickdraw Contours Quickdraw Contours
Quickdraw Contours Quickdraw Contours Integrated GPS Integrated GPS
Integrated GPS Integrated GPS Mark Waypoints Mark Waypoints
Mark Waypoints Mark Waypoints Course over Ground (COG) Course over Ground (COG)
Course over Ground (COG) Course over Ground (COG) Current draw @ 12V: 0.40A Current draw @ 12V: 0.40A
Current draw @ 12V: 0.75A Current draw @ 12V: 0.67A    


Striker PLUS 7sv VS Striker 7sv
  STRIKER Plus 7sv STRIKER 7sv

General

   

Physical dimensions

9.3” x 5.5” x 2.3” (23.5 x 14.0 x 5.8 cm) 9.3'' x 5.5'' x 2.3'' (23.5 x 14 x 5.8 cm)
Weight 1.7 lbs (0.8 kg) 24 oz (680 g)
Water rating IPX7 IPX7
Display type WVGA color WVGA color
Display resolution 800 x 480 pixels 800 x 480 pixels

Sonar Features & Specifications

   

Dual-frequency (50/200 kHz) sonar capable

Yes Yes
Dual-beam (77/200 kHz) sonar capable Yes Yes
Frequencies supported Traditional: 50/77/200 kHz Traditional: 50/77/200 kHz
CHIRP (mid and high) CHIRP (mid and high)
ClearVü and SideVü 260/455/800 kHz ClearVü: 260/455/800 kHz
  SideVü: 260/455/800 kHz
Transmit power 500 W (RMS) 500 W (RMS)
Maximum depth   2,300 ft freshwater*, 1,100 ft saltwater*
Bottom lock (shows return from the bottom up) Yes Yes
Water temperature log and graph Yes Yes

Fishfinder Features

   

Split-screen zoom

Yes Yes
Ultrascroll® (displays fish targets at higher boat speeds) Yes Yes
Fish Symbol ID (helps identify fish targets) Yes Yes
AutoGain Technology (minimizes clutter, maximizes targets) Yes Yes
Adjustable depth line (measures depth of underwater objects) Yes Yes
A-scope (real time display of fish passing through transducer beam) Yes Yes
Water temperature sensor included Yes Yes

Additional

   

Additional

Tilt/Swivel Mount Tilt/swivel mount
Integrated GPS Integrated GPS
Mark Waypoints Mark Waypoints
Course over Ground (COG) Course over ground (COG)
Current draw @ 12V: 0.67A Current draw @ 12V: 0.67A
Wireless Connectivity: Yes  
  Quickdraw Contours  

Striker Plus Series Naming conventions

I get this question a lot so thought I would just add this at the end.

Striker Plus 5sv = SideVü & ClearVü

Striker Plus 5cv = Only ClearVü

Any unit that has 'sv' designated after the number will have both SideVü and ClearVü technology, a unit that has 'cv' after the number will only feature ClearVü.

The numbers in each model designate the size of the model 5 = 5-inch display size (4.25'' x 2.55'' (10.8 x 6.5 cm); 5'' diag 12.7 cm)

 

Joel Clement:
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