I think
price is a perfectly good decision criteria because all the major chartplotters are very good now. They all have too much functionality making them more complicated than necessary. I have no need for 3D, stereo controls, and autorouting but seem stuck with having it in my chartplotter.
Garmin recently added a bunch of sailing features - B&G still has more but these are mostly aimed at racers (like picking the best end of the starting line). I just want a good apparent
wind and VMG display for cruising - which they all have now.
Some dislike the Garmin proprietary charts but I've always found them particularly easy to read as the text sizes correctly at all zooms even when using
Head Up display. Some charts screw up the text if used in other than "North Up". And now that Garmin owns
Navionics and has integrated them into the charts, it's hard to complain. The chart updating process over the
internet and charts are inexpensive (no need for the expensive "Vision" charts which are mostly for fishermen).
I've used Garmin on my last three boats because it was the one my wife found easiest to use (I had her try a bunch at a
boat show). The interface does seem slightly more intuitive and easier to remember than the others. I don't think I've ever opened the manual. Since she's at the helm a lot, it's important for
safety that she be comfortable with the
navigation gear.
I've also found Garmin's
reliability to be excellent and the few times I've called support has been quick and well handled. Networking is also well implemented (a place that Raymarine continues to lag). Never had any problem with
water on a Garmin touch screen.
Finally, I think Garmin will ultimately "win" the battle. They are a Fortune 500 company and own non-commercial aviation which requires much higher quality than
marine to pass FAA muster. Raymarine was bankrupt in 2008 when it was bought by FLIR. Before Covid FLIR put Raymarine up
for sale but then stopped with evidently no good offers. Now FLIR has been acquired by defense powerhouse Teledyne who likely has no interest in the recreational
marine market. B&G was part of a private equity "roll up" where it was mashed together with
Simrad and Lowrance. It's not a very well capitalized company and presumably the private equity guys will sell it to someone one of these days to take their profit.