The Garmin Striker Plus 4 and the Garmin Striker Plus 4cv are two of the best Garmin fish finders on the market. They are designed for portability and versatility, you can take both these fish finders anywhere and use them for ice fishing, kayak fishing, and on a small boat.
But what’s the difference between the two of them? Join me as we run through and compare the Garmin Striker Plus 4 and the Garmin Striker Plus 4cv so you know which one will be best on your next fishing trip.
Garmin Striker Plus 4 & Garmin Striker Plus 4cv Overview
The Garmin Striker Plus 4 and Garmin Striker 4cv fish finders come with everything you need from a fish finder in a very neat and portable package. They have a lot of the exact same features, so before we get into the details about each fish finders’ differences, let’s first look at what is good about both of them.
What is good about the Garmin Striker Plus 4 and the Garmin Striker Plus 4cv?
The Display
Both of these units come with a LED backlight color screen that supports a split-screen zoom function, allowing you to see multiple bits of data at once.
The screen is pretty small at 4.3 inches on both of these units but that is what makes them portable, and if you want a bigger screen, you’ll need to upgrade to a different unit with a larger display that is a lot less portable.
The LED backlight screen has great resolution and good color contrast so you can see it in all lighting conditions, even in direct sunlight. The LED backlight is also adjustable on both units so you can adjust it to suit you.
Sonar Features
The sonar features on this unit include dual beam sonar and CHIRP sonar. These sonar features come together to show you excellent images of up to 1600 ft in freshwater and 750 ft saltwater. You’ll be able to see everything from fish to fish-holding structure, depth changes, submerged objects, and more.
On top of the dual-frequency sonar and traditional CHIRP sonar, you can turn on the fish symbol ID feature which turns fish arches into fish symbols for easy ID. These units also come with a bottom lock and adjustable depth line features plus autogain technology to zoom in and out on targets worth seeing while depths change.
Both of these fish finders also come with a flasher mode for ice fishing and vertical fishing plus a feature called A scope. A scope adds a flasher view so know exactly if something is directly under the transducer at any given time and it’s ideal for when you’re traveling at high speeds too.
GPS
Each of these fishfinders also comes with a high-sensitivity GPS with all the basic GPS features you might expect and need. You can see your GPS speed so you’ll know how fast your boat is going, mark waypoints of fishing hot spots or boat ramps, make a waypoint map of your favorite lake, know your current position, and more features too.
Mapping
These fish finders will also take all the data from the GPS and sonar features and create your own maps with it using the quickdraw contours mapping software. The quickdraw contours feature allows you to build 1 ft contour maps of the areas you fish and the detail is spot on.
You can also access the Quickdraw community online and download maps creates on other devices of places you intend to fish.
So, while you can not add charts such as Navionics to these smaller units, they will build you a custom map of your favorite lake for you with a tremendous amount of detail.
Durability
Both the Garmin Striker Plus 4 and the Garmin Striker Plus 4cv are impact-resistant and have a waterproof rating of IPX7. This means they will do more than withstand incidental water exposure, they can be submerged up to 1 meter for 30 minutes before they will start breaking.
Portability
When it comes to portability, these fish finders are awesome compared to other models in their range. You can get a portable kit designed specifically for them that includes a cover, mount, and a battery meaning you can take this fish finder anywhere, anytime.
What do these units come with?
Both of these units come with a swivel mount for easy reading, a power cable for charge, and a data cable for sharing data with your computer and doing software updates. Both of them come with an included transducer too.
Pros
- Crystal clear color display
- Portable and versatile
- Features a flasher for vertical fishing
- Good for kayak fishing
- Fish symbol ID features
- Dual-beam & CHIRP sonar technology
- Detailed sonar images with great image quality
- Self-mapping with Garmin Quickdraw Contours Mapping
- Built-in GPS capabilities
- Detailed sonar images with great image quality
Cons
- The display is pretty small
- No Micro sd card slot for easy data transfer
- No sonar recording
- No networking features such as NMEA ports or Wifi
Garmin Striker Plus 4 Specs
- Size Display: 4.3 inch
- Display: Color
- Touch Screen: No
- Waterproofing: IPX 7
- Power: 200 W RMS
- Frequency: 50/77/83/200 kHz
- Sonar: Dual-beam, CHIRP, Flasher
- GPS: Yes
- GPS Memory: NA
- Transducer: Transom mount dual beam transducer
- Depth: 1600 ft fresh, 750 ft saltwater
- CHIRP: Yes
- Water Temp: Yes
- Wi-Fi: No
- Bluetooth: No
- Water temperature: Yes
For an in-depth analysis, be sure to check out the video review here.
Garmin Striker Plus 4 CV Specs
- Size Display: 4.3 in.
- Display: Color
- Touch Screen: No
- Waterproofing: IPX7
- Power: 300 W (RMS)
- Frequency: Dual-frequency traditional CHIRP sonar 50/77/200 kHz, ClearVü: 260/455/800 kHz
- Sonar: CHIRP, ClearVu, flasher
- GPS: Yes
- GPS Memory:
- Transducer: Transom mount CHIRP traditional sonar transducer
- Depth: 1,750 ft freshwater, 830 ft saltwater
- CHIRP: Yes
- Wi-Fi: No
- Bluetooth: No
- Water temperature: Yes
For an in-depth analysis, be sure to check out the video review here.
What Are The Differences?
If you had a good look at the specs of each fish finder above, you will probably have noticed the main difference between each fish finder. Here are the features that are included on the Garmin Striker 4cv and not on the Garmin Striker Plus 4.
ClearVu
The Garmin Striker 4cv fish finder comes with ClearVu technology, hence the “4cv”. ClearVu is Garmin’s version of down imaging and it’s an awesome feature to have while you’re fishing.
ClearVu uses higher frequency waves than CHIRP or Dual Beam, and higher frequency waves pick up far more detail especially when focused into more intense conical beams. This means you can use ClearVu to see almost picture-like images of bottom structures you have found with CHIRP.
You’ll be able to see the size of fish, where they are holding, and being able to target them with pinpoint accuracy.
power rating goes up from 200 W RMS to 300 W RMS and the maximum depth increases from 1600 ft in freshwater and 750 ft in saltwater to 1750 ft in freshwater and 830 ft in saltwater. Being able to see images of an extra 100-150 ft might be helpful depending on where you fish.
Are The Prices Different?
Both are some of the best Garmin fish finders today. But you would probably expect the price to be a little higher on the 4cv and the Plus 4, and you would be right, but it’s still a very affordable unit. The Garmin Striker Plus 4 retails for $159.99 and the Garmin Striker Plus 4cv retails for $179.99, that’s only a $20 difference, which is a small price to pay for the extra features.
Which fishfinder should I choose?
I personally think that the choice between the Striker Plus 4 and the Striker Plus 4cv is an obvious one.
Everyone should go for the Striker Plus 4cv as for just $20 more you also get to have down imaging in the form of ClearVu and get readings up 100-150 ft deeper. Even if you don’t plan on using ClearVu, it’s still nice to have just in case, and it’s worth it for $20 in my eyes.
FAQs
What is the difference between the Garmin Striker 4 and the Garmin Striker 4 Plus?
These two are one of the best fish finders out in the market today. But there are two major differences between the Garmin Striker 4 and the Garmin Striker 4 Plus. The first is the screen size as the Garmin Striker 4 comes with a 3.5-inch screen while the Garmin Striker 4 Plus has a 4.3-inch screen.
The second difference is that the Garmin Striker 4 does not come with QuickDraw self-mapping software and the Garmin Striker 4 Plus does. With the Garmin Striker 4, you can still use GPS and build waypoint maps with it, but you will not be able to build contour maps of your fishing area or access the Garmin QuickDraw community.
Does the Garmin Striker Plus 4cv have WIFI?
No, the Garmin Striker Plus 4cv does not have WiFi and the only striker units with Wifi are the striker 7 and 9 models.
