Humminbird APEX 19 VX MSI+ Chartplotter, No Transducer

The no-transducer designation (without Transducer) is what most repeat Humminbird buyers want when they upgrade their helm. You already have the transducer, the trolling motor with built-in sonar, or the network sonar feeding the boat. You don't want to pay for another transducer in the box, you just want the bigger screen and the newer processor. The APEX 19 VX MSI+ without Transducer is exactly that. The 18.5-inch Full HD LCD touchscreen replaces an older HELIX or APEX display, plugs into the One-Boat Network, and immediately picks up whatever sonar sources are already on the network without an additional install. For new boats that don't have any Humminbird gear yet, this isn't the right SKU. The non-no-transducer version with a bundled transducer makes more sense as a clean-slate purchase.

The display itself is what justifies the upgrade. The 18.5-inch panel at 1920 by 1080 Full HD resolution gives you usable real estate to actually run MEGA Side Imaging at full detail next to a chart and a sonar window without any of them being too small to read. The Cross Touch interface accepts both touchscreen swipes and physical keypad inputs, which is the right answer for a chartplotter that lives at the bow with wet hands and gloves. Touch handles waypoint placement and pan-and-zoom, while the keys handle the operations that need to work reliably regardless of conditions. The dual-core processor keeps everything responsive when you stack multiple sonar feeds and chart overlays on the same screen.

The sonar story is the main reason a serious angler buys this control head. MEGA Imaging+ is the headline: Side Imaging+ pushes the picture out to 200 feet per side at high detail, Down Imaging+ shows the same 200-foot depth range directly below the boat, and the 20% improvement in image detail over the original MEGA is genuinely visible on screen rather than just a spec-sheet number. Dual Spectrum CHIRP runs the conventional fish-arch sonar with target separation that distinguishes individual fish in a tight school from rocks, weeds, or bottom structure. The dedicated 2kW transducer port is the spec for serious offshore work, paired with a high-power 2D transducer for bottom-finding past 1,000 feet. MEGA Live is the forward-looking real-time sonar that shows fish reacting to your lure in motion, and MEGA 360 Imaging gives you a full-circle structure view up to 125 feet while you idle over brush or wreckage looking for the right cast. None of those transducers ship with the CHO package, and you add them based on how you fish.

One-Boat Network is the integration ecosystem that turns this control head from a standalone chartplotter into the brain of a connected helm. Dual Ethernet ports let you network multiple APEX heads at different stations and share sonar history, waypoints, and routes between them without any external network hub. Bluetooth links to compatible Talon and Raptor shallow-water anchors for wireless control, and to compatible network downriggers for trolling operations. NMEA 2000 carries engine data, weather sensors, and CZone digital switching panels to the chartplotter. HDMI in lets you display video from cameras (livewell, engine room, dock cam) on the chartplotter. HDMI out lets you mirror the picture to a second display at another station. Built-in Wi-Fi handles software updates over the air and pushes notifications through the One-Boat Network app on your phone.

For chart and mapping, the unit ships with Humminbird's enhanced basemap covering more than 10,000 US lakes plus coastal contours, navigation aids, and hazards. The premium chart options (Humminbird LakeMaster for high-detail lake bathymetry, Humminbird CoastMaster for saltwater coastal detail, Navionics for cross-platform coverage) are purchased separately on SD cards or unlocked through subscriptions. AutoChart Live records a custom bathymetric map of the area you're fishing in real time, with depth, bottom hardness, and vegetation data layered on the chart as you cover the water. Eight hours of recording is standard. Plug in an SD card and the recording is effectively unlimited, which is the answer most tournament anglers settle on. The package includes the control head, the gimbal mounting bracket, and the power cable. The transducer, trolling motor integration cable, network cables to other displays, and any chart cards are all separate purchases sized to your boat.