Garmin Striker 7sv Review-Is It The Best In Class?

Venerable, established, with no frills, just a fish finder that gets the job done. If you’ve ever watched an old episode of Dragnet, you get the picture. The Garmin Striker 7sv fish finders may be without a lot of bells and whistles, but it does what it is designed for exceedingly well.

In this Garmin Striker 7sv review we’ll take a look at the components that make this fish finder such a popular item in a world of competition filled with all sorts of additional enhancements, and attractions.

Attractions and enhancements don’t catch fish, crisp images, taken at impressive depths and displayed clearly on a mounted screen on your boat do.

Garmin Striker 7sv Broken Down

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The Garmin Striker 7sv features down imaging to depths of 2,300 feet (701.04 m) in freshwater and 1,100 feet (335.28 m) in saltwater. The dual-frequency, two-dimensional CHIRP DownVu sonar capabilities generate clear images with the GT20-TM high-definition transducer.

The fish finder weighs only 24 ounces and has a footprint of 9.3 x 5.5 x 2.3 inches, making it a great choice for smaller watercraft.

Working in frequencies of 50/77 and 200 kHz CHIRP sonar in the traditional model, and with 260/455 and 800 kHz in mid-range and high range ClearVu mode, the device can generate clear images well past the range of visible light in the depths.

Working at 500 watts, it has a current draw with an external 12-volt power source of .55 amps. The internal GPS is capable of marking up to 5,000 routes, waypoints, or tracks.

This package comes in waterproof housing protecting a seven-inch diagonal screen measuring 3.6×6×9.1 inches (0.23 m). The VGA color produces images with a screen resolution of 800 × 480 pixels.

Display

The Garmin Striker 7sv is designed for outdoor use in the brightest afternoon sun, or in the darkness of moonless night fishing.

A durable water-resistant design protects the internal electrical components from splashes, rain, and up to 30 minutes when submerged in less than 39 inches (0.99 m) of water.

You can use three separate viewing panels with this device in split-screen mode. The seven-inch diagonal display has ample space to view both GPS and CHIRP sonar imaging simultaneously. An adjustable backlight feature allows you to set the viewing parameters to your individual preference through the entire gamut of darkness to bright sunlight.

The Business End of the  Garmin Striker 7sv

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Displays are the human interface with sonar capabilities, but it is the transducer that generates the signals that can be converted for the angler to view.

Garmin is a leader in CHIRP sonar technology, both in the standard two-dimensional view and with their proprietary DownVu technology.

Each pinging pulse of sonar covers a wide range of frequencies. Melding the resonating images from these sound waves as they bounce back over multiple frequencies rather than just one generates a wider range of inputs, for greater image accuracy.

The impressive 2,300-foot freshwater range and 1,100-foot saltwater depth arrive with clear definition and are devoid of the unnecessary clutter that lesser fish finders can produce.

A four-pin connector on the GT20-TM transducer locks the cable firmly in place, so you won’t have to worry about losing connectivity in choppy or windy conditions when the fish are biting.

A temperature gauge, transom mounting hardware, and six meters of cable all arrive with the standard Garmin Striker 7sv package.

The fish finder can be upgraded to higher sensitivity Garmin transducers with additional purchases.

The angle and scope of a sonar beam are as important as the frequency range it can send and receive. The Garmin Striker 7sv has tighter scope at higher frequencies, and wider scope at lower, meaning you can see a wider area on the lower frequency, but get better imaging with a tighter pattern at the 455 MHz frequency. An option that is perfect for experienced anglers trying to determine if that school of fish on the screen are a few dozen walleye or a school of suckers swimming in the same area.

Does the Garmin Striker 7sv Come With Maps?

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It’s an old joke, not being able to travel to an isolated location. In the case of the Garmin Striker 7sv, there is some truth to this statement in comparison with more expensive models that offer downloadable maps from Garmin or other vendors.

The Garmin Striker 7sv does not have an SD card, USB, or other external port for downloading maps, and it is not a network-compliant device, meaning it cannot communicate via Bluetooth, wireless, or any other digital signal.

Everything the Garmin Striker 7sv has to offer comes in the standard package.

That doesn’t mean you can’t mark important locations on these fish finders. You have the capacity to store up to 5,000 waypoints on these fish finders.

Those waypoints can store locations for great fishing habitat, dangerous rocks or sandbars, the location of docks, ramps, or the boundary of public and private areas on a lake or reservoir. All of these are important bits of information for an angler to know, and they can be kept on your device for future reference when you return to your favorite body of water.

The fully implemented GPS system allows you to mark these waypoints with detailed GPS data points, within a few inches of their location.

While the Garmin Striker 7sv won’t store or calculate the shortest path to a destination as more modern, and more expensive fish finders can, it does offer GPS readouts. This helps to aid you in finding your way back to the dock, your camping location, or your friends out on the water, even in complete pitch blackness.

A Solid History

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The Garmin Striker 7sv is an improvement on the previous Striker Model 5dv, with the principal difference being the additional two-inch wider diagonal screen on the 7sv model.

This reasonably priced fish finder arrives with a power cable, a tilt mount, transom, and motor mounts, the Striker 7sv fish finder, complete documentation, and a GT20-TM transducer.

There is some confusion for users who read the fine print. These fish finders are marketed with model numbers 010-01533-01 and 010-01533-00. The difference of 00 and 01 in the final two digits won’t affect the performance of these fish finders in any way. You’ll receive the exact same fish finder and accessories with each, the only difference is the 00 model number has English-only documentation and the 01 comes with multiple languages in the documentation. The multiple language documentation is for foreign distribution, but depending on where you purchase the Garmin Striker 7sv, you might find the documentation written in multiple languages.

Benefits and Drawbacks of the Garmin Striker 7sv

If you’re into the latest and greatest with technology, you might want to look elsewhere for a more expensive model of the fish finder. The Garmin Striker 7sv has no SD card slot, no USB port, and can’t communicate with other fish finders over the various wireless venues. It can’t record sonar images as it passes over underwater structures, and with no external interface of any kind, it can’t load preloaded maps.

While the “what it can’t” list is short, the things it can do are substantial.

Two-dimensional and DownVu CHIRP sonar, dual-frequency sonar capabilities, and a temperature reading transducer lead the list. A highly accurate GPS included tilt-mount hardware, and an 800×480 pixel WVGA display with adjustable backlighting are all standard features.

Is Garmin Striker Good?

Garmin striker 7sv review conclusion

You can spend a lot more, and find much more attractive models than the Garmin Striker 7sv. It is a venerable unit, used by tens of thousands of anglers since its introduction to the market in 2015, and it helps catch fish.

For a moderate price, less than a third of many comparable models, you can get clear images of fish, structure, and mark waypoints with an accurate GPS system. The cost versus performance comparison on this model is high.

You do get what you pay for in fishing technology, but deciding what you need exactly and paying for it is very different from spending too much money on features you’ll never use.

These basic fish finders get the job done.

Check out this fish finder from one of the retailers below:

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For more guidance on choosing your next fish finder, check out the pages below:

Eric Larson

Eric Larson

Hi, my name is Eric. I am a contributor for A Fellow Fisherman and a former charter captain who has been saltwater fishing since before I can remember. I grew up in New Jersey, fishing mostly the Delaware Bay and River, as well as many offshore charter trips. I have had an enormous passion for fishing my whole life, and am lucky to have done it as a profession. I am confident when it comes to telling people about the best techniques for catching fish, but am still open to a good debate.

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