Just Ordered ONWA Plotter Sounder

[Mako]

I wanted to test first hand the quality and real world use of the ONWA brand of electronics, so I just ordered directly from their Hong Kong headquarters. It's a 7 inch plotter / sounder combination.

I didn't want to order from Canadian or UK distributors. Since the price directly from the factory is very attractive, overall it's not such a big risk. ONWA is a top Chinese brand and I always came across them on commercial vessels when I was overseas, but it's not well known in America.

Awaiting tracking information but should be here within a few weeks. Will give feedback if anyone is interested.

https://onwamarine.com/kcombo-7/

 

[Taras]

yes, please share your experience with this brand!

 

[boomerang]

Every Onwa I have seen looked like an exact Furuno copy. I've never used one but I wouldn't hesitate to give them a try if it was a lot cheaper. Keep us posted with your thoughts on it!

 

[boomerang]

I just checked out their website. They appear to have given their equipment a cosmetic facelift. Now they seem to favor si-tex/Koden somewhat. I swear, a few years back when I was looking at them, the radars and fishfinders looked exactly like a Furuno, except for the nametag on the front. Some of their fishfinders do still favor the Furuno units, I see.

 

[rgano]

I'll bet a dissection of the ONWA which look like other well know brands reveals zero differences.

 

[Mako]

Curious where most of the “popular” brands are made (Lowrance, Garmin, etc)

 

[BandB]

Wifey B: You know what ONWA is spelled backwards?

Just teasing as I know nothing about it and hoping you'll find it great.

 

[Mako]

DHL delivering in 7 days, Hong Kong to Canaveral. Excellent customer service over the last few months of communications. Will see how much I get hit by the new import duties.

 

[Mako]

Unit received a couple of days ago. Took me a bit to figure out how to load the K-Chart for America/Mexico. It's still in my living room and will install tomorrow (Friday). Here are my initial impressions and some photos.

• Customer support with sales, directly from the manufacturer in Hong Kong, has been excellent.
• I have not needed to communicate with technical support so cannot report back on their effectiveness.
• The packaging was excellent, double boxed with heavy wall cardboard, zero damage.
• The unit comes with an external GPS antenna and a transducer which feels solid.
• Connector (shown) is gold plated and not wobbly or loose.
• The unit weighs in at about 1lb, versus a "name brand" weighs in at about 1.7lbs. Not sure if this is any sort of indication except perhaps the difference in weight is likely the plastic screen the versus the glass ones in some popular brands.
• The Onwa products are used by commercial operators throughout Asia, but they lack the bells and whistles and fancy features of the popular name brands we are used to here in the West. No downscan/sidescan. But for a nice basic unit that does it job perhaps it will work out well, and that is all I'm looking for now.

When I have a chance to take it out fishing with some experienced friends and family then I'll report back any of their comments.

 

[boomerang]

It looks good from here! Are you happy with the screen resolution/pixel count?
How many pins is the 'ducer connector?

 

[Mako]

Resolution seems acceptable at 800x600, compared to a Garmin (800x400), Lowrance (800x480) and Simrad (800x480).

Here's the info on the interconnections:

 

[Kip Anderson]

Just curious how the onwa was working out. Are you satisfied with purchase? Have you had a chance to compare it to a furuno? Would you buy it again?

 

[Mako]

@Kit, here are some of my thoughts:

• The ONWA are good basic units and if you purchase directly from Hong Kong then you’ll receive an excellent price, if saving a few hundred dollars is important.
• They lack the sexy modern features of mainstream electronics, so you need to decide if that is what you're looking for.
• I bought mine as a test bed, with a 7” screen. I wouldn’t go any smaller, but with the money you save go for a big 10”-12” screen if it will fit your console.
• Sounder: As a basic fishfinder it's actually just fine. I can make out bottom composition (mud vs hard pan) quite well and it's okay (not exceptional) for fish discrimination. However, it won’t meet your needs if you're a serous fisherman or scuba diver and want to profile the bottom in detail - you don't have downscan or sidescan.
• Plotter: It is acceptable, and I don’t need or use advanced features. Mine doesn’t overlay AIS or radar so I can’t address those capabilities. The K-charts are fine but not necessarily with the latest updates. They are ocean only – no inland waters. You can load Navionics however, so no worries there. Personally I don’t like plotters and in my future trawler will be using a computer with OpenCPN, but that’s my preference and has nothing to do with ONWA.
• The screen is not bright enough for use on a covered flybridge! I don’t know if the specs show how many NITS it has. Would work okay in a pilothouse which would be darker of course.
• Since mine was a test bed, you may wish to do the same. Buy a small unit that doesn’t cost a lot and give it a try. If you’re okay then go ahead and pickup a big 12”.

So to answer your last question, yes I would buy ONWA again, as I believe the quality is good, but only if the tech specs and features meet my needs, as stated. Hope this helps.

 

[Kip Anderson]

Mako,
Thanks for the detailed response. I’m going to think it through a couple of times before ordering and will try compare specs to more common us brands. I’ll especially look into brightness . I was mainly interested in the 12” model

 

[BandB]

@Kit, here are some of my thoughts:

• The ONWA are good basic units and if you purchase directly from Hong Kong then you’ll receive an excellent price, if saving a few hundred dollars is important.
• They lack the sexy modern features of mainstream electronics, so you need to decide if that is what you're looking for.
• I bought mine as a test bed, with a 7” screen. I wouldn’t go any smaller, but with the money you save go for a big 10”-12” screen if it will fit your console.
• Sounder: As a basic fishfinder it's actually just fine. I can make out bottom composition (mud vs hard pan) quite well and it's okay (not exceptional) for fish discrimination. However, it won’t meet your needs if you're a serous fisherman or scuba diver and want to profile the bottom in detail - you don't have downscan or sidescan.
• Plotter: It is acceptable, and I don’t need or use advanced features. Mine doesn’t overlay AIS or radar so I can’t address those capabilities. The K-charts are fine but not necessarily with the latest updates. They are ocean only – no inland waters. You can load Navionics however, so no worries there. Personally I don’t like plotters and in my future trawler will be using a computer with OpenCPN, but that’s my preference and has nothing to do with ONWA.
• The screen is not bright enough for use on a covered flybridge! I don’t know if the specs show how many NITS it has. Would work okay in a pilothouse which would be darker of course.
• Since mine was a test bed, you may wish to do the same. Buy a small unit that doesn’t cost a lot and give it a try. If you’re okay then go ahead and pickup a big 12”.

So to answer your last question, yes I would buy ONWA again, as I believe the quality is good, but only if the tech specs and features meet my needs, as stated. Hope this helps.

I very much appreciate your detailed reply but then see no reason to purchase other than price.

Then comment of "lack the sexy modern features of mainstream electronics" probably negative to some, positive to others.

You give the sounder and plotter mediocre ratings and the screen a negative.

Am I missing something, but I don't see the reason for buying over the others?

 

[Mako]

@B&B, you’re statements are accurate. If someone only needs basic functions in a sounder, plotter, radar and AIS, then buying a suite of ONWA makes sense. Money can be saved.

There is also the possibility to buy used “last year’s model” of Garmin, Simrad, Lowrance, etc. off of eBay and probably spend about the same.

To repeat though, I don’t find the units negative in general, as long as you assess them for the technical specs they have. Apples to apples.

The brightness does really bother me though.

 

[Mako]

I reached out to Kevin Wong last night and his reply is the screen brightness is 400 NITS.

 

[Codger2]

Am I missing something, but I don't see the reason for buying over the others?

Neither do I!

 

[cfr]

running a 12 in kp 1299 plotter with ais since 10 years in my covered deckhouse, no problem with screen and sun. after 3 years my ais stopped working and they send me a complete new plotter fantastic, try that with Navico. Using c map and sailing arround europe. very happy, will buy again. i like simple function, made it easier when it got stressfull and its better to buy two simple units as redundancy instead one fancy....

 

[Mako]

@cfr, thanks for the input as this thread had gone quiet. I agree overall the unit is good. Screen brightness on my flybridge made it pretty much useless during the day. In a darker pilothouse would be fine. Glad yours is working out well

 

[cfr]

after quite bad experience with a non existent navico simrad service in europe i will buy my next equipment like extra autopilot and radar from onwa. Navico closed repairshop and spare part business in europe since long so it is not a reliable supplier to me anymore.