HawkEye Fishtrax 1X Portable Fish Finder Review (2023)

Usually, there’s a trade-off involved with low-costing, portable fish finders, but not with the one we have found for you today.

The name is Hawkeye Fish Trax 1X Portable Fish Finder.

My personal experience and hundreds of sterling reviews found on multiple sources led me to only one conclusion: Hawkeye Fish Trax 1X is hands down the best portable fish finder under $100.

This fish finder has a flexible transducer and several customizations for sonar functions packed in a compact body, allowing it to adapt to the selected fishing type to ensure the fruitfulness of the trip.

In our review below, we will discuss in detail what distinguishes it from the rest.

If you’re planning to switch to a more powerful and versatile fish finder, bet your money on this model by Hawkeye.

What Makes HawkEye Fishtrax 1X Standout?

Hawkeye Fish Trax 1X stands apart from all other portable fish finders because of its flexible and versatile transducer coupled with multiple sonar customizations. Together they enable amateur anglers to acquire accurate information about fish and bottom terrain in any kind of fishing scenario, at any given time of the day or the night.

 

Our HawkEye Fishtrax 1X Portable Fish Finder Review

Hawkeye Fish Trax 1X is a little miracle in the flesh, more like in waetherproof, plastic construction. It resembles a small smartphone, thereby easily fits in your palm.

Besides, the unit runs on 4 AAA batteries instead of those bulky 12V batteries that can keep it juiced up for around 30-hours, not to mention keep the portability intact.

Wow! Even an intermediate user like myself can stash at least half a dozen fish in my boat in such a vast timespan.

Let’s not make the mistake of judging it by its compact size; the little fella is cram-full of features that work in harmony to deliver accurate results in various fishing scenes such as shore fishing, kayak fishing, and ice fishing.

The hawk-like sonar waves travel 240ft down the water surface to bring back information about fish sanctuaries, bottom contours and structure at record speed, or you can adjust the depth range to collect data only from the preset depth in the water.

Integration of dot-matrix display means you’ll receive sonar returns in the form of waves and beads in black & white format. However, you can tinker with the software to change the returns in desired format and icons for more clarity.

On top of that, the anti-glare screen paired with LED backlighting ensures the lack of lighting at night or excess of it under during the day doesn’t impact your screen readability.

If I were you, I wouldn’t worry even about the most evasive and hard-to-track preys such as “fingerlings” because the auto-zoom bottom tracking feature will help intensify the chase regardless of the fishing application.

So, if you are planning to acquire the best intermediate-level fish finder, especially for kayak fishing, under budget, my sincere advice is to go for Hawkeye Fish Trax 1X.

 

Versatile Transducer

Like Fish Trax 1 and 1C by Hawkeye, this 1X of the Fish Trax series also comes with a flexible and versatile transducer. The article is boat-mountable, floatable as well as trollable.

This implies you can try your luck from shore, row your vessel towards the unexplored parts of the water, or even drill a hole in a frozen sheet of water to catch fish.

Sonar Sensor & Adjustments

If you wonder how a beginner or an intermediate fisher can catch even the most cunning and evasive target with the ease of a seasoned fisherman, the answer lies in the intelligent sonar technology of this unit.

It carries dual-frequency sonar (200/83 kHz) to let you search both shallower and deeper water.

For a compact device, the sonar has a tremendous force to shoot waves to around 240ft below the water surface to accumulate accurate data about fish habitat, bottom composition and structure.

If that proves unhelpful, you can always customize sonar settings – tinker depth range to collect information of the selected depth, activate the fish alarm, or use the auto-zoom setting for bottom tracking to keep a close watch on evasive targets.

Dot-Matrix Display

Fish Trax 1X has a 2.75-inch dot-matrix viewing window that showcases sonar returns in the form of waves and blobs in black & white view.

I know the black and white display is a bummer, but you can tinker with the settings to decide what sonar returns and display icons you want on the screen.

Plus, the screen is anti-glare and has an LED backlight setting, both of which enhance the clarity of the view and screen readability exponentially.

In other words, you wouldn’t have to worry about nighttime darkness or blinding sunlight controlling your time on the water because they won’t impair your visibility and cost you a possible catch.

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• Portable and lightweight.
• Loaded with multiple sensitivity adjustments to work effectively in a variety of fishing expeditions.
• Sonar sensor works in various ways to precisely determine fish location, bottom landscape and structure.
• Anti-glare display supplemented with backlighting promotes clarity of view regardless of sunlight and nighttime low lighting.
• Powered by AAA batteries to enhance portability and runtime.
• Versatile transducer is floatable, mountable and trollable.
• Budgeted price.

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• A bit higher learning curve.
• Accuracy is compromised in saltwater.
• Doesn’t come with a coloured display.

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Why Should You Purchase HawkEye Fishtrax 1X Portable Fish Finder?

Hawkeye Fish Trax 1X is a compact and portable fish finder designed to work efficiently in kayak fishing.

The unit features multiple adjustments that enable intermediate anglers to customize sonar settings to garner precise information about the underwater landscape and fish location in any fishing application, including river fishing, shore fishing and ice fishing.

Plus, the incorporation of a versatile mount transducer adds more to its appeal.

Final Verdict

The above review shows that Hawkeye Fish Trax 1X really is one of the best portable fish finders under budget. The cut in size as well as price doesn’t bring down the quality and utility of the device; and we have personal experiences to prove that it works tremendously well in multiple fishing scenarios. In a nutshell, if you’re a hobbyist or an intermediate angler who prefer to go fishing on a kayak or a canoe, take Hawkeye Portable Fish Finder to ensure you always return with desired targets.