Garmin Echo 301dv Review


The Garmin Echo 301dv is Garmin’s upgraded version of the much-loved Garmin Echo 300. From a look at the outside, they both look very similar, both having a 3.5 inch color screen, but the 301dv has a completely new set of guts ready to help you take your fishing to the next level.

The Echo 301dv has 300W of power and a standard 77/200 kHz transducer to get you traditional SONAR readings from regular and deeper depths.

In freshwater, Garmin has rated the maximum depth of their 77 kHz transducer beam to 1750 feet – which is more than enough for even the deepest depths of a lake.

garmin echo 301dv

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Garmin has also introduced something called Smooth Scaling which helps maintain a proper picture even when you switch from one frequency to the other, so you don’t lose sight of that fish you were tracking!

The only caveat with 1750 feet of depth is that all of that will be scrunched up onto a tiny 3.5 inch screen. Usually, you won’t fish in more than 60-100 feet of water, so getting a fish finder solely because “it can see so deep” is falling for manufacturer gimmicks.

Instead, go for the Garmin 301dv because of it’s excellent SONAR quality – users of the Echo 300 would never go back to anything else, and the 301dv follows in its elder brother’s footsteps.

DV stands for DownVue

This little fish finder is one of Garmin’s first entries to the 3D SONAR market. Garmin calls their version of the technology Garmin DownVue, and it works in the same way – if not better – than Humminbird’s or Lowrance’s DownVision and Down Imaging. What’s more, Garmin went ahead and combined DownVue with traditional SONAR in their base model – a feature not available on Lowrance and Humminbird until just recently.

Garmin fans and supporters will be pleased to use this technology – as DownVue is essential to structure fishing. It will show you clear, crisp, and life-like readings of the underwater world. You can see the DownVue readings independently or in split-screen with traditional SONAR.

The usual Garmin goodies

The Garmin Echo 301dv comes packed with all the usual Garmin goodies like HD-ID technology which interprets which SONAR readings are most likely to be fish and shows them as little icons instead of lines. It also has standard fish finder features like depth alarms, image enhancing, and comes with a temperature and speed sensor, too.

Out of the box, the Echo 301dv comes with a transom mount transducer and a trolling motor attachment – which is really neat, since every other manufacturer will make you pay $20 extra for a trolling motor mount.

What’s in the box

  • echo 301dv
  • 4-pin DownVü transducer with transom mount and trolling motor mount
  • Tilt/swivel quick-release mount
  • Power Cable
  • Documentation

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