Raymarine AXIOM vs ELEMENT

How is the Raymarine AXIOM different from the Raymarine ELEMENT HV? 

In short… AXIOM units are full multifunction network chartplotters with RealVison 3D sonar and the ELEMENT series is an excellent fish-finder/GPS designed more as a standalone unit for fishing.

The touchscreen-controlled Axiom RV is an excellent navigational and boat management system with a good built-in sonar running on the more advanced LightHouse 3 operating system.

It is easily able to connect to a range of other onboard systems like radar, instrumentation, autopilot, video cameras, thermal cameras, marine radio, and additional NMEA2000 and SeaTalking compatible devices. The Axiom can even fly a DJI Mavic Drone.

It comes with a 4-channel sonar that supports RealVision 3D, CHIRP DownVision, CHIRP SideVision and a High-frequency CHIRP Sonar.

The keypad-controlled Element HV on the other hand was designed to get advanced sonar technology into a reasonably priced stand-alone system.

It runs on the LightHouse Sport operating system and has an excellent built-in fishfinder which includes 1.2MHz HyperVision that takes inland and coastal sonar to a new level of precision.

It also comes with a Single channel built-in High CHIRP Sonar, DownVision sonar(Standard/Hyper), SideVision sonar (Standard and Hyper) and RealVision 3D (Standard and Hyper).

Here are 18 ways they are different:

So which is better, the AXIOM RV or the ELEMENT HV?

AXIOM – If you need a fully functional network chart-plotter that will be part of a bigger system or the heart of a complete boat management system, then the AXIOM is the right choice.

ELEMENT – If you want a great standalone unit with an advanced sonar, versatile mapping capabilities, and a very intuitive user experience and you don’t need all the features of the more expensive networked units, then the ELEMENT is an excellent fit.

Specs | Reviews • Current Prices

Model	Specs|Review
AXIOM 7
AXIOM 9
AXIOM 12
ELEMENT 7HV
ELEMENT 9HV
ELEMENT 12HV

Sonar / Fishfinder – Comparison

How is the AXIOM SideVision different from the ELEMENT HyperVision?

The image below shows the AXIOM SideVision running at 350kHz (top) and the ELEMENT HyperVision running at 1.2Hz (bottom).

You can clearly see how much more detail the ELEMENT sonar shows. For details, see the individual model reviews.

AXIOM SideVision 350kHz vs Element HyperVision 1.2Hz

^ ELEMENT Rear Connections View ^

AXIOM 12 vs ELEMENT 12HV

How is the AXIOM 12  different from the ELEMENT 12HV?

Check out the these detailed reviews »
Full – ELEMENT 12 HV Review 
Full – AXIOM 12 Review

Here are the main differences side by side:

AXIOM 9 vs ELEMENT 9 HV

How is the AXIOM 9  different from the ELEMENT 9 HV?

Full – ELEMENT 9 HV review
Full – AXIOM 9 Review

Here are some of the main differences:

AXIOM 7 vs ELEMENT 7HV

How is the the AXIOM 7 different from the ELEMENT 7 HV.

Full – ELEMENT 7 HV review
Full – AXIOM 7 Review

Here are some of the main differences: