Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 2 vs Humminbird XPLORE 12: what ships
Buy the Humminbird XPLORE 12 CMSI+ if the boat has nothing on it yet, because the screen, a side imaging transducer and a LakeMaster and CoastMaster card all come in one box. Buy the Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 2 126sv if Garmin gear is already aboard, such as a transducer, a Force trolling motor or LiveScope, since this part number is the head unit alone and sonar is a separate purchase.
What decides it: What is already on your boat, not the screen.
We earn a commission on qualifying purchases through the links here, at no cost to you. It never decides what makes the list.
Humminbird XPLORE 12
Pick this if a first 12 inch unit on an empty console, a Minn Kota motor run from the screen through Humminbird's documented controls, and anyone who reads side imaging for structure, with no Helix that has to stay on the same network.
Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 2 126sv
Pick this if a boat already running a Garmin transducer, a Force trolling motor or LiveScope, where a second Ultra 2 or UHD2 screen can share sonar, waypoints and routes over Wi-Fi, LiveScope excepted.
| Humminbird XPLORE 12 | Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 2 126sv | |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | 12.1 in touch plus keypad, 1280 x 800 | 12 in WXGA touch, 1280 x 800 |
| Transducer in the box | XM 14 HW CMSI T, transom mount, in the box (412020-1) | None in the box (010-02882-00) |
| Sonar | Head unit 50/83/200/455/800 kHz; the XM 14 HW CMSI T in the box runs Dual Spectrum CHIRP, 455 kHz and MEGA Side and Down Imaging+, no 800 kHz | CHIRP 50/77/83/200 kHz, ClearVü and SideVü to 1200 kHz |
| Sonar depth | 1,200 ft (standard transducer), 3,500 ft (optional 50 kHz) | 701 m (2,300 ft) at 77 kHz, transducer dependent |
| Charts included | Humminbird Basemap, LakeMaster and CoastMaster card included | Navionics+ US and Coastal Canada, Quickdraw Contours |
| Networking | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, NMEA 2000 | Wi-Fi to another Ultra 2 or UHD2 (not LiveScope) |
Look at your transom before you look at either screen. The Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 2 vs Humminbird XPLORE 12 question gets settled less by the glass, which is close to identical, than by what each box leaves out. Garmin sells the 126sv as part 010-02882-00, the 12 inch head unit with no transducer in the box. Humminbird sells the XPLORE 12 CMSI+ as 412020-1, with the XM 14 HW CMSI T transom transducer and a chart card included.
So one of these works the day it is wired up, and the other needs a second purchase before it shows a single return. That cuts both ways. A boat that already carries a Garmin transducer, a Force trolling motor or a LiveScope rig is paying for nothing it will not use. An empty boat is paying for a screen with nothing to read. Both hold slots on our fish finder picks, the XPLORE as the overall pick and the Ultra 2 as the 12 inch one.
Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 2 vs Humminbird XPLORE 12: the screens match
Both run 1280 x 800 touchscreens with physical keys down the right edge. Garmin calls its 12 inch WXGA panel keyed assist; Humminbird's is 12.1 inches and calls the touch plus keypad Cross Touch. Neither outputs to an external display at this size: Humminbird's spec table says HDMI No, and FishFinderLab reports that only the 16 inch 166sv in the Ultra 2 range has HDMI. Both are IPX7.
On glare, FishFinderLab says owner feedback has the Ultra 2 readable in direct sun at 12 and 16 inches. Field & Stream, on the smaller XPLORE 9, saw "far less glare" than it was used to. Neither is an instrumented measurement, and they cover different sizes. Basis for this section: manufacturer documentation, plus the reviews named in the sentences.
On power the two are a wash on paper: Garmin rates typical current at 2.5 A at 12 Vdc and up to 36 W, and Humminbird lists a power draw of 2.4 amps without naming the voltage.
Side imaging and the transducer you start with
The XM 14 HW CMSI T in Humminbird's box runs Dual Spectrum CHIRP to 1,200 ft and MEGA Side Imaging+ out to 200 feet either side of the boat. It is the compact transducer, though, and it does not transmit the 800 kHz imaging the head unit lists. The full size XM 14 HW MSI T does, as a separate part.
Garmin's sonar figures are a ceiling with nothing yet under it. The head unit runs traditional CHIRP at 50, 77, 83 and 200 kHz and ClearVü and SideVü to 1200 kHz at 600 W RMS, reading to 701 m (2,300 ft) at 77 kHz, and Garmin footnotes every one of those as dependent upon the transducer.
Garmin does sell the 126sv bundled with a GT56UHD-TM, and this part number is not that bundle.
On picture quality, FishFinderLab reports that many experienced anglers still prefer Humminbird's MEGA Side Imaging for maximum structure detail at the same speed, and that the gap narrows on a 12 inch Garmin screen because there are more pixels to read it on. Since both screens here are 1280 x 800, that second point does not favor either one. If side imaging for structure is how you find fish, the reviewer's verdict leans Humminbird.
LiveScope vs MEGA Live 2
Both forward facing systems are sold separately. The XPLORE 12 supports MEGA Live 2, which Humminbird also sells in an XPLORE plus MEGA Live 2 bundle. The Ultra 2 supports the full LiveScope lineup, with one limit in Garmin's own footnote: LiveScope cannot be shared wirelessly between two ECHOMAP Ultra 2 or UHD2 chartplotters, so a bow and a console screen each need a wired feed.
FishFinderLab frames the Ultra 2 as a unit built around LiveScope, and says the price is harder to defend for a buyer who never adds it, so plan the forward facing system first and let the head unit follow from it.
Charts, mapping and GPS
Garmin preloads Navionics+ US and Coastal Canada with a one-year subscription for daily updates, and builds in Quickdraw Contours for 1-foot contours on any body of water. The relief shading in Garmin's marketing is the paid Vision+ upgrade. Humminbird puts the Humminbird Basemap on the unit and one LakeMaster and CoastMaster card in the box, and its AutoChart Live gave Field & Stream a map of a shallow flat in 1-foot intervals after about 10 minutes on the XPLORE 9.
GPS is where Garmin pulls ahead on the spec sheet: multi-band at 10 Hz, which Garmin pitches for accuracy under bridges and tree cover. Humminbird lists an internal receiver and requires an external GPS antenna if you mount the XPLORE in the dash. Garmin ships a quick-release bail mount, Humminbird a gimbal bracket.
The network already on your boat
This section decides more purchases than the sonar does.
Humminbird's help pages say XPLORE units on current software "will not share" with a Helix "and cannot be present on the same network", and MEGA Live 2 does not run on a Helix either. On the trolling motor side, Humminbird's spec table lists Minn Kota i-Pilot Link, Advanced GPS Navigation and Talon anchor compatibility, and its One-Boat Network page has a Minn Kota motor following a contour picked off a LakeMaster or AutoChart Live map.
Garmin's Ultra 2 pairs wirelessly with a Garmin Force trolling motor, which can follow routes and tracks set on the chartplotter, and shares sonar, waypoints and routes over Wi-Fi with another Ultra 2 or ECHOMAP UHD2.
So the honest rule is to match the motor and the screens you already own. A Force motor and a Garmin at the bow point to the 126sv. FishFinderLab reports Minn Kota integration on the Ultra 2 over Bluetooth, but Garmin's own announcement names only Force, while Humminbird documents Minn Kota control down to Follow the Contour, so a Minn Kota boat leans XPLORE. A Helix at the console means the XPLORE runs as a separate island.
What owners report on each
The counts sit on one side. Across YouTube and two fishing forums we found 15 people who say they own an XPLORE, five of them the 12, and our Humminbird XPLORE 12 review quotes them. Imaging gets the praise. Three describe a learning curve. Two XPLORE 10 owners report Minn Kota integration trouble, and one XPLORE 12 owner running MEGA Live 2 kept losing the forward facing picture; Humminbird returned the unit finding no fault, and an authorized repair center then reproduced it.
No owner corpus was counted on the Ultra 2, so its record here comes from FishFinderLab's list of known problems. Two of them have firmware fixes: false touch inputs on the 106sv and 126sv, corrected in v43.03, and reboots caused by certain third-party NMEA 2000 devices. Another has none, because it is wiring: FishFinderLab says a marginal power setup that holds on a smaller unit will not hold on the 126sv, and calls a direct battery connection, the right fuse and adequate cable gauge not optional. Update every networked unit to the same version before the first trip, too. Our ECHOMAP Ultra 2 126sv review covers the rest of the range and what the missing transducer means for the order.
When neither is right
Skip both if all you want is depth and a GPS track. FishFinderLab lists that buyer, and anyone fishing from a kayak or a small portable setup, among those who should pass on the Ultra 2, and the XPLORE 12 is the same size of screen.
On a small boat, a 9 inch unit with its transducer in the box is the saner start. The Lowrance Elite FS 9 ships with its Active Imaging 3-in-1 transducer and supports Lowrance's own live sonar, sold separately, though three of the 20 owners counted on our review report a blank, frozen or white 2D sonar on a new unit, which FishFinderLab traces to the transducer type needing to be selected by hand. And skip the XPLORE outright if a Helix on the boat has to keep talking to the new screen, because Humminbird says it will not.