Not everyone wants a fish finder with GPS and other navigation features especially considering that these considerably increase its price. So, especially if you fish on the same lake(s) that you already know pretty well, chances are that GPS, maps, radar support, or tide information won’t be of too much use. Therefore, here are some of the best fish finders without GPS or other navigation features available at the moment.
Top Fish Finders Without GPS
Fish Finder | Features | Check Price |
 | - DualBeam sonar - XNT 9 28 T transducer - Depth range: 600 ft. | |
 | - Dual beam sonar - Transducer built-in - Depth range: 150 ft. | |
 | - Dual beam sonar - Transducer included - Depth range: 240 ft. | |
 | - Single-beam sonar - Bullet transducer - Depth range: 500 ft. | |
 | - DualBeam Plus sonar - Down Imaging sonar - XNT 9 DI T transducer - Depth range: 600 ft. | |
 | - DualBeam Plus sonar - XNT 9 20 T transducer - Depth range: 1,500 ft. | |
 | - Dual-beam sonar - 83/200 kHz transducer - Depth range: 240 ft. | |
 | - Dual-beam sonar - 83/200 kHz transducer - Depth range: 984 ft. | |
 | - DualBeam sonar - Down Imaging Sonar - XNT XNT 9 DI T transducer - Depth range: 600 ft. | |
 | - Dual beam sonar - Supports 50/200 kHz - Transducer not included |
Humminbird PiranhaMAX 4
The PiranhaMax 4 is one of the most basic fish finders from Humminbird at the moment. It’s one of the older
models released in 2016, but still available. For reference, this is the Humminbird part number 410150-1.
The PiranhaMax 4 has DualBeam sonar. However, it can only show the data of one transducer beam at a time. As a general idea, only the Humminbird units with a DualBeam Plus sonar or with Dual Spectrum CHIRP can show two beams at a time. It also does not have a split-view mode.
The unit supports two frequencies; these are 200 kHz and 455 kHz. It comes with the XNT 9 28 T transducer. This is a plastic transducer with a transom mount. It has 20 ft. (6 m) of cable and integrates a temperature sensor. For both frequencies, it uses conical beams. Their coverage is 28° @ 200 kHz, and 16° @ 455 kHz. The maximum depth range is 600 ft. (183 m) when using the 200 kHz mode.
In terms of standard sonar features, we can mention Fish ID+, Bottom View, Fish Alarm, Depth Alarm, and more. However, it does not have a Circular Flasher mode, A-Scope, or Sonar Recording.
The unit display is 4.3″ in diagonal with a pixel matrix of 480V x 272H and LED backlight. It is IPX7 waterproof and comes with a tilt and swivel mount. Evidently, since it’s a basic unit, it does not have networking features.
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Garmin Striker Cast
The Striker Cast is one of the Garmin fish finders that use your smartphone as the main control unit. It’s a castable fish
finder similar to the Deeper Pro+. It connects to your phone via the Garmin Striker Cast App which is different and more basic than the ActiveCaptain app for the ECHOMAP units. It is available for both iOS and Android devices. Once you register and download the app on your phone, you should be able to sync your fish finder with it.
It’s important to mention that this fish finder connects to your phone via Bluetooth, not WiFi. This being said, you should still be able to use other apps on your phone, or the internet, while it is connected to the fish finder. This is normally not possible with a similar castable fish finder that creates a WiFi hotspot.
This Garmin fish finder features a rugged construction with a casing made of thermoplastic material. Its cover is white, while the bottom casing is black, as opposed to the Striker Cast GPS model which has a blue bottom.
The fish finder comes with a 16.4 ft. (5 m) tether which you can attach to it in order to cast it. However, you can also tie it to a 20+ lb test fishing line with a barrel swivel with a snap. The box also includes a carrying bag and a USB cable. The internal battery should last up to 10 hours if fully charged.
The built-in sonar is standard dual-beam. It does not have CHIRP technology so it does not modulate the sonar pulse. It operates at 260 kHz and 455 kHz. It also does not have, nor does it support, ClearVü or SideVü sonar. It casts two oval beams with a coverage of 22° x 63° @ 260 kHz, and 9° x 14° @ 455 kHz. The maximum depth capability can be achieved with the 260 kHz beam and it is approx. 150 ft. (46 m). The minimum depth capability for this fish finder is 2 ft. (0.6 m).
Among the most notable sonar features provided by the Garmin Striker Cast fish finder, we can count Fish Symbol ID, A-Scope, and Circular Flasher. The Fish ID function replaces the arches of the targets interpreted as fish with fish icons, showing their depth as well. The A-Scope is a vertical flasher that can be viewed on the right side of the sonar image. It indicates the information of the most recent echo. And finally, the Circular Flasher puts the sonar data into a ring depth scale indicating depth and water temperature.
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HawkEye FishTrax 1C
Similar to the PiranhaMax 4, the HawkEye FishTrax 1C is one of the most basic fish finders that you can get at the 
moment, also being one of the most affordable.
The unit offers a standard dual beam sonar without CHIRP technology. It supports two frequencies: 200 kHz and 83 kHz. It does not support 50 kHz. Naturally, the transducer included with the unit supports these frequencies as well. It casts two conical beams with a coverage of 26° @ 83 kHz, and 14° @ 200 kHz. Also, its maximum depth capability is 240 ft. (73 m). It offers functions such as FishID, Circular Flasher, Noise Rejection, and a Surface Clarity filter.
The included transducer can be cast from a boat and comes with a foam floater similar to ice transducers. It can be attached to a boat’s transom as well, but the transom mount is not included. It also integrates a temperature sensor and the unit can show the water temperature.
The unit features a 3.5″ diagonal VirtuView color display with LED backlight. It also offers polarized support so you can view the sonar data while wearing polarized sunglasses. It is keypad-operated. It has four main buttons plus the mode select button. Some of the four buttons cover multiple functions while the large select button on the right allows an easy navigation through the functions and menu. In all, the unit is very easy to use.
Needless to say, the FishTrax 1C fish finder does not offer networking features; it does not have NMEA or Ethernet ports. It does not have microSD card slots and also does not have wireless connectivity. It only has one connector for the included transducer. It requires four AAA batteries which are not included. A set of batteries should last for up to 8 hours.
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Lowrance HOOK2-4X Bullet
The HOOK2-4X Bullet is one of the very few Lowrance fish finders without GPS and navigation features that are still 
available. Most of the newer “X” models have at least a GPS plotter function. It’s also one of the most basic Lowrance fish finders at the moment and one of the most affordable. For reference, this is the Lowrance part number 000-14012-001.
The HOOK2-4X fish finder supports only one frequency (200 kHz). It offers several standard sonar features including Fish ID, Depth Alarm, Fish Alarm, and Shallow Water Alarm. It also has a Circular Flasher mode for ice fishing. However, it does not have a split-view function. Therefore, you won’t be able to view the flasher and the standard sonar view in split-screen.
As the title suggests, the transducer included with the unit is the Bullet Skimmer. This transducer features a transom mount and has 20 ft. (6 m) of cable. It is also equipped with a temperature sensor. The unit can read the temperature but does not have a temperature graph feature. The transducer casts a single beam with a conical shape; its coverage is 40° and its maximum depth range is 500 ft. (152 m).
The unit has a color LCD display, 4.3-inch in diagonal, with a pixel matrix of 480H x 272V. It is keypad-operated and has a very easy to use interface. It includes the standard tilt-swivel mount. It does not have any networking features such as NMEA or Ethernet. It also does not have wireless connectivity.
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Humminbird HELIX 5 DI G2
The HELIX 5 DI G2 is one of the Humminbird fish finders released in 2016, but it is still available at the moment. 
It’s also one of the most affordable fish finders with Down Imaging sonar that you can find at the moment. For reference, this is the Humminbird part number 410200-1.
The unit has two sonar technologies. These are DualBeam Plus sonar, and Down Imaging. It’s not a CHIRP fish finder like the newer models. It supports three main frequencies. These are 200/455/800 kHz. It does not support 83 kHz or 50 kHz.
The included transducer is the XNT 9 DI T which has an internal temperature sensor, features 20 ft. (6 m) of cable, and a transom mount. For DualBeam Plus, it casts two conical beams with a coverage of 28° @ 200 kHz, and 16° @ 455 kHz. The maximum depth range of the DualBeam Plus sonar with this transducer is 600 ft. (183 m).
The Down Imaging beams cast by the transducer are oval, very thin fore-to-aft (approx 1°-3°), but wider side-to-side. Their coverage is 75° @ 455 kHz, and 45° @ 800 kHz. The maximum depth range for the Down Imaging sonar with the included transducer is 350 ft. (106 m).
In terms of standard sonar features, the unit offers SwitchFire, Selective Fish ID, Bottom Lock, Real-Time Sonar, Mark Structure, Depth Alarm, Fish Alarm, and more. It does not have Sonar Recording or a Temperature Graph.
The unit has a 5-inch color display with a pixel resolution of 800H x 480V, and LED backlight. It is IPX7 waterproof which essentially means that it can withstand incidental water exposure. It comes with a standard Gimbal mount. Needless to say, the unit does not have networking features or wireless connectivity features.
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Humminbird HELIX 5 Sonar G2
Although the HELIX 5 Sonar G2 is one of the fish finders released by Humminbird in 2016, it is still available. As
opposed to the HELIX 5 DI G2, this one does not have Down Imaging, just the standard sonar. For reference, this is the Humminbird part number 410190-1.
The unit has built-in DualBeam Plus sonar, which means it can use two frequencies simultaneously. It does not have CHIRP technology, though, like the HELIX 5 CHIRP SI GPS G2, for example. It uses 200 kHz and 83 kHz and comes with the XNT 9 20 T transducer that supports both of these frequencies. This transducer has 20 ft. (6 m) of cable, has an internal temperature sensor, and comes with a transom mount. The package does not include a trolling mount.
The transducer casts two conical beams with a coverage of 20° @ 200 kHz, and 60° @ 83 kHz. The maximum depth range that can be achieved with it (when using the 83 kHz channel) is 1,500 ft. (457 m), which is not bad for a basic fish finder. It should be able to maintain an optimal bottom reading at a boat speeds up to 20-30 MPH. However, the recommended speed for a maximum of detected targets and the best view is between 1-6 MPH.
The unit offers several useful standard sonar features. The list includes Selective Fish ID, SwitchFire, Amplitude Scope, Circular Flasher, various alarms, Split Zoom, Bottom Lock, and more. It does not have Sonar Recording, though.
The unit features a 5-inch display with a pixel resolution of 800H x 480V, color, with LED backlight. Needless to say, it does not have networking features, WiFi or Bluetooth. It comes with the classic Gimbal mount, but there is also the option of an in-dash mount.
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Vexilar SP200
Another fairly decent fish finder without GPS is the Vexilar SP200. This is also one of the best fish finders under $300.
It’s similar up to a point to the Garmin Striker Cast as it uses your smartphone or tablet as a control unit. However, it is not castable with a fishing rod.
The Vexilar SP200 T-Box consists of a small sonar black box and a transducer. The sonar black box has an internal WiFi module that allows you to connect it wirelessly to your phone via the free SonarPhone App. This app is available for both Android and iOS systems. It has a broadcast range of approx. 300 ft. (91 m). It’s important to mention, though, that when your phone is connected the to fish finder’s WiFi, you won’t be able to use your mobile data.
The SonarPhone app offers a pretty wide array of fish finding features, including fish icons, bottom zoom, noise rejection, surface clarity, automatic range, fish alarm, and more. It can also run both beams of the transducer simultaneously. Unlike the Deeper Pro+ app, it does not have a map creation function. However, it is compatible with the Navionics app. Therefore, if you install the Navionics mapping app, the SonarPhone app can work with it so you can view the sonar and the maps in split-screen.
The included transducer comes with a transom mount and has 25 ft. (7.6 m) of cable. It’s a dual-beam transducer and operates at 200/83 kHz and the sonar box supports both these frequencies. It casts two conical beams with a coverage of 20° @ 200 kHz, and 40° @ 83 kHz. Its maximum depth range is 240 ft. (73 m).
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Phiradar FF688C
The Phiradar FF688C is a pretty standard fish finder without GPS and other navigation features. It includes a control
unit and a transom transducer. The unit is pretty small; it features a 3.5″ color display with a pixel resolution of 320V x 240H, with LED backlight.
The unit is keypad-operated. It is equipped with several buttons for quick sonar zoom, quick menu access, change the view, power ON/OFF, and a larger direction button at the center. Depth can be set either to feet or meters.
The unit’s sonar is dual-beam and uses the two standard frequencies 83 kHz and 200 kHz. It does not have CHIRP technology but does offer a fairly decent target separation. It’s also important to mention that the unit cannot use both frequencies simultaneously.
The included transducer supports both 83 kHz and 200 kHz frequencies. It casts conical beams with a coverage of 20° @ 200 kHz, and 60° @ 83 kHz. Its maximum depth capability is 984 ft. (300 m). Although this is not mentioned, this depth capability probably stands for freshwater and perfect conditions. In saltwater, its depth capability should be lower. In terms of sonar functions, the unit makes quite a few available. Among them, we can count Amplitude Scope (A-Scope), Fish Identification, Auto Zoom Bottom (or Bottom Lock), Fish Alarm, and Depth Alarm.
The transducer comes with a transom mount. It has 20 ft. (6 m) of cable. It integrates a temperature sensor and the unit can indicate water temperature.
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Humminbird PiranhaMax 4 DI
Our list of best fish finders without GPS continues with yet another Humminbird unit. This is the PiranhaMax
4 DI part number 410160-1. Next to the Helix 5 DI G2, this is also one of the most affordable fish finders with Down Imaging, and one of the oldest units released by Humminbird that are still available.
The unit itself has a vertical design featuring a color LCD display with a pixel resolution of 480V x 272H, and LED backlight. It is keypad-operated (no touchscreen). It is also IPX7 waterproof which essentially means that it can withstand incidental water exposure. It does not have NMEA or Ethernet ports, nor has wireless connectivity.
The unit has two sonar technologies, standard sonar, and Down Imaging. It supports two frequencies. These are 200 kHz and 455 kHz. Similar to the PiranhaMax 4 version, it does not have CHIRP technology. However, it does offer a fairly decent target separation of 2.5″.
The unit comes with the XNT 9 DI T transducer which integrates a temperature sensor, has a transom mount, and 20 ft. (6 m) of cable. For the standard sonar, the transducer casts two conical beams with a coverage of 28° @ 200 kHz, and 16° @ 455 kHz. For Down Imaging, it only uses the 455 kHz channel and casts a thin oval beam with a coverage of 75°. The maximum depth capabilities are 600 ft. (183 m) for the standard sonar and 320 ft. (97.5 m) for Down Imaging.
The unit offers several useful sonar features including Selective Fish ID+, Structure ID, WhiteLine, Bottom View, various alarms, and more. It does not have sonar recording or a circular flasher mode for ice fishing, though.
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Furuno FCV588
The Furuno fish finders are considerably more expensive than most other units with a similar range of features. 
However, most of them offer quite a powerful sonar, even though they don’t have down scanning or CHIRP technology. One of the most basic Furuno units is the FCV588.
The first and most important aspect to mention here is that the Furuno FCV588 does not come with a transducer. It supports 600w or 1kW transducer models from Furuno. The list of supported 600w transducers includes the following models: 520-5PSD, 520-5MSD, 520-PLD, 525-5PWD, 525T-PWD, 525T-BSD, 525STID-MSD, 525STID-PWD, 525T-LTD/12, 525T-LTD/20, SS60-SLTD/12, SS60-SLTD/20. Also, some of the 1 kW supported transducers by this unit are the 50/200-1T, 526TID-HDD. The 50/200-1T requires the MB-1100 matching box for connection to the unit.
The unit itself offers standard dual-frequency sonar. It supports 50 kHz and 200 kHz. Due to the fact that the unit is capable of operating at frequencies as low as 50 kHz, it’s great for fishing in deep water. Depending on the transducer, it can reach depths up to 1,200 m (3,937 ft).
Although the unit does not have CHIRP technology, it does have the RezBoost feature which is a revolutionary signal processing developed by Furuno that can achieve CHIRP-like performance. The imagery provided by Furuno’s RezBoost sonar technology is up to 8 times clearer than the standard sonar of most other fish finders. Among other useful sonar functions provided by the Furuno FCV588, we can count ACCU-FISH, Bottom Lock, Bottom Discrimination, A-Scope, White Line, and more.
The unit features an 8.4″ diagonal display with a pixel resolution of 480H x 640V, VGA, full color with LED backlight. It is keypad-operated. Although it does not have GPS or navigation features, it has a TLL output so you can interface it with a Furuno chartplotter for marking waypoints. It does not have Ethernet but does have NMEA 0183 connectivity. It comes with a classic bracket mount and a flush mount.
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A Few Other Aspects to Consider
Although these are some of the best fish finders without GPS that you can find at the moment, they are not the only ones. Therefore, if none of the units that we’ve covered here fits your needs or budget, and you’ll look elsewhere, here are a few aspects that you might find useful.
Types of Sonar
All fish finders have at least one sonar technology. The most basic ones like the HawkEye FishTrax 1C only offer standard sonar. However, CHIRP sonar technology and structure scanning sonar can be quite a plus. Down scanning sonar considerably helps especially if you’re looking for structure while CHIRP technology offers superior target separation. It is also a plus if a fish finder can support dual-frequency, as not all have this feature. This means that the unit can work with two sonar frequencies simultaneously and you can view the returns from two transducer beams in split-screen.
Transducer
Not all fish finders include a transducer. There actually are models out there that are not available with one and you’ll have to purchase it separately. Evidently, it’s a plus to have a full fish finding system out of the box and not have to look for a compatible transducer once you’ve got your unit. Also, you can be sure that the transducer included with your fish finder is compatible with it. All the fish finders on this page include a transducer.
Brands of Fish Finders Available
Some of the most popular fish finder brand names at the moment are Garmin, Humminbird, and Lowrance. They pretty much offer fish finders from the most basic models to the most inclusive and most advanced. The ones without GPS are also some of their most basic units, but still, they do offer some of the best sonar available for the price.
Networking Features
Most fish finders without GPS and navigation features are pretty basic focusing only on sonar features. They usually don’t have NMEA or Ethernet ports. However, some do have Bluetooth and/or WiFi. In general, these are the castable ones that need to use your smartphone or tablet as a control unit. Therefore, if you want to hook your unit to an already existing boat grid via an NMEA or Ethernet port, you will probably have to opt for a more expensive model.
Waterproofing
Especially if you’re going to be fishing from a kayak or dinghy, your fish finder’s water exposure is definitely higher than when you’re fishing from a bass boat or dinghy. And in some cases, complete immersions may not be avoidable. Therefore, opting for a unit that’s IPX7 waterproof (resistant to incidental water exposure and even immersions) is pretty important. Now, most fish finders at least some form of waterproofing. But as a general idea, the Garmin and the Humminbird units would seem to resist better than others.
Bottom Line
This page covers some of the best fish finders without GPS available in 2023. You’ll find here models for all budgets and needs. Most of them come with a transducer so you will have a fully functional fish finding system out of the box. Also, most of them offer at least dual-beam sonar. Finally, they offer excellent value for the price, and so far, they’ve gathered the best user feedback.
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