Can anyone give a personal account of their experiences with Lowrance Hook2 units? Specifically I'm interested in thoughts on clarity/screen size/GPS, but any meaningful info is appreciated.

Just to jump ahead of the curve, I understand a lot of people advise getting more expensive units because they're better, last longer, etc. I'm aware that you get what you pay for, but I'm also not in a position to put $2k on my boat right now.

Thanks in advance.

I have a Hook7, and it works great. The GPS is spot on. Downscan and sonar also work great.

I have the origibal hook 9 it works good. No issues. Gps is reliabke but doesnt link with anything. The new one has side imaging which started a WEEK after I bought mine of course.

I've got a Hook2x 5 on my kayak. I've had it for about 7 months. I fish for about six to eight hours at a time, four or five times a month, so it's probably got about 250 hours on it. It's turned on every time I've pushed the button, and it's functioned fine with air temps from the low 40's or over 100 and water temps from the mid 40's to mid 80's. Nothing spectacular, but does what I need- gives accurate depth readings, water temp, speed and basic GPS functions. Gives me a good idea of structure below me, and spots clusters of baitfish. The 5" display is clear and easy to read at a little more than arm's length (from my Kayak seat to where I have it mounted on the rail). The original mount isn't great (at least for use on a kayak) so I replaced it with a Ram mount that lets me adjust it on any axis. I have no problem with it washing out in the sun, I am still tinkering to find the right setting so it isn't too bright in the dark. (If I'm fishing on the same side of the kayak that the display is on, the brightness of the display makes everything outside of the boat seem really dark, so hard to pick my target). I get about 30 hours of use out of a single charge on a 7 amp deer feeder battery.

For the price, to me it seems to be a reliable unit with all the features I really need (not necessarily all the features I really want). Doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it does what I need it to do and didn't cost more than my kayak.

Thanks for all the responses! This is exactly the type of feedback I was looking for.

I've been using Hook 7 for 2 years and really like it. Like you just can't afford anything higher dollar.

thought this was going to be about the old X-65

I've got a hook 9 on a flat bottom and it works great but I recently put a 9 TI2 on a bayboat. Think I paid around 1100 on Amazon that included a navionics chip. Best bang for your buck. Great imaging right outta the box.

If you can get the hook2, 9 or 12 with side scan do it. The 9 and 12 have great pixelation for the price. Use the 800 kHz for the side scan and it'll show you just about everything you need for fun fishing. Also you can rewind on the fishfinder and mark past spots good for 500 feet. I love that

Thanks everybody for the info!

Go online as they have rebates in play right now.

I have a hook5 up front. My only complaint is that anytime a rod bumps it, it turns the screen brightness down to 1 and the screen turns black. If its a sunny day, I can't see the screen at all and I can't turn the brightness back up. This is an extremely annoying design flaw. You shouldn't be able to change the screen brightness by bumping the power button.

I'd get the TI2 instead of the hook if it's in your budget. It's only about $200 more for the better unit