DBMIBS 2026: Furuno TZtouchE and TZMap MFDs

The electronics area of the 2026 Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show is noticeably smaller this year. In years past, the show featured a separate electronics room. This year, that room is a food court and the electronics area is on the main floor of the convention center. Although the area itself might be smaller, there were still quite a few exciting announcements and new equipment on display. First up are two different lines of Furuno MFDs designed for smaller boats.

Furuno introduced both the small boat focused TZMap line of stand-alone MFDs and the all touch, but fully network capable TZtouchE MFDs. Both series are available in 9 and 13 models. The standalone TZMap 9 and 13 MFDs carry suggested retail prices of $1,595 and $2,395 respectively. The networkable, all touch TZtouchE 9 and 13 list for $2,195 and $3,095 respectively.

Externally, the two models look nearly identical. All four models include 1,000 watt sonar sounders with support for CW and single channel CHIRP and CHIRP side-scan. All models also come bundled with Furuno’s TZMaps cartography and support TZMaps’ AI routing. Additionally, both TZMap and TZtouchE units support integration with TZ’s iBoat navigation app, although TZtouchE appears to support additional features.

My understanding is that all current Furuno MFDs, from a TZMap 9 to a TZtouchXL 24, run the same basic operating system. This means that the look and feel of a Furuno MFD will be the same, regardless of which model you have. It also eases the context switches potentially required in switching from a large boat with a complex TZ install to a small boat with a single TZMap.

TZMap specifics

Furuno has published an excellent TZMap FAQ in the manuals section of the TZMap product page. That FAQ makes clear just the exact limits of the TZMap line’s integrations. Effectively, from a sensor perspective, the unit supports a radome connected by Ethernet, a transducer connected to the sounder, and a NMEA 2000 connection. TZMap units will not connect to other TZMap units (or any other Time Zero hardware) and they won’t share their sensors over any network. There is a built-in GNSS receiver and the displays can control Furuno NavPilot 300 autopilots.

TZMap MFDs support control of several stabilization products as well as Airmar’s Seeker system and Ocean LED lighting via HTML5 integrations. Plus, the FAQ specifically addresses the ability to share routes and waypoints between TZ iBoat and the display. Elsewhere, the FAQ also mentions that TZMap MFDs can share data to the iBoat cloud but are not compatible with TIMEZERO PC based software.

TZtouchE specifics

Furuno also published an FAQ for the TZtouchE displays to address potential questions about these new displays. A quick scan through this FAQ makes clear that the TZtouchE series is very similar to the TZtouchXL displays, in smaller screen sizes and without any hard buttons or controls.

The rules for mixing TZtE displays is the same as those for TZtouchXL. Essentially, TZtouch3, TZtouchXL, and TZT2BB displays can all be mixed but further back cannot. TZtouchE displays support a broad number of radars as well as full support of TIMEZERO PC software.

TZtouchE displays can also display the output of Furuno’s CSH10 360° Omni Scanning Sonar. My understanding is that a TZtE won’t fully control but will fully display the Omni’s output. I’m not sure how often that will come into play, though I can see these units being great back deck and mezzanine displays.

A few commonalities

It is a relatively small issue, but I am not a fan of the trend to move MicroSD slots to the back of MFDs and chartplotters. I understand that those card slot doors wreck both aesthetics and water resistance, but crawling under, around, or behind a display to get the card in and out is one of my least favorite tasks. It appears Furuno is cleverly hiding both the MicroSD slot and USB-C connection on the left edge of the display.

FAQs for both displays contain the same information on IP cameras, including night vision. Neither series is capable of displaying IP cameras and I think that’s unfortunate. I am hopeful that capability might be added in the future, though it would probably be a mistake to make a purchase based on that hope.

Final thoughts

As you will see from later DBMIBS entries, Furuno isn’t the only company rolling out new MFDs to complete their product lines. I’ll probably repeat myself when I talk about Navico’s Simrad NSO 4 and B&G Zeus SRX displays, but it is nice to see Furuno offer a complete product line with one software family. From a low cost 9-inch TZMap to a fully kitted out system of TZTouchXLs, the user experience and functionality will be the same across all their equipment. I look forward to getting some time on the water with Furuno’s latest and reporting back here.