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Intercomm selection

2K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  rkruz 
#1 ·
Trying to compare Bluetooth intercoms is dizzying and made worse by the prices. Then when I read reviews, numerous issues are described regarding pairing, voice recognition and human interface which make me double nervous about spending large dollars.
What do you use? I would generally ride with a partner and I thought bike to bike most distance most would be the most important specification. Seems Bluetooth will go 0.5 to 1 mile in ideal conditions, e.g., line of sight. The Cardo Scala G9X states something about a phone if paired will take over if bike to bike bluetooth is lost. Any experience with the Scalas?
 
#5 ·
If you're budget minded you might try the "Generic BT Intercom Headset" that you'll find on Amazon and Ebay. I can't post pictures yet or I'd show you the box but it runs around $50 to $65. A buddy of mine and I both bought them and did a 5 day trip to Colorado and they worked great.

As an intercom the range was very good and I could hear him at highway speed with earplugs in. The only exception was when we were driving 70 into a 30mph headwind. We could have slowed down a little to compensate but was just too much wind noise to overcome at that speed.

I originally bought it to play music when I ride. Most in-helmet speaker systems won't overcome earplugs but this one does but without much volume to spare. Don't expect a lot of bass but I guess I never expected it to sound like a theater inside of a helmet when riding. It does sound good to me however and there's nothing like cruising through the mountains listening to tunes.

As you are listening to music you can press the intercom button and establish a talk session. When either one of you are done, just press the button again and the music starts playing. You can skip to the next song, previous and change the volume with the large knob on the side.

While I'm sure the Sena system is better, the price is significantly higher. It was either the one I got or nothing at all. The box doesn't show a brand name but shows up in BT settings as T-Com. You can't miss it if you search Amazon and you'll see many good reviews there.

I just saw that Sena came out with one that has built in action camera similar to Go-Pro. That's what I'm going to keep an eye on for a future purchase.
 
#6 ·
I just saw the action cam one too. Looks like it won't be available until November, but I am going to keep watch. If it does the job of a gopro and the Sena at the same time, I am interested. Cost may be an issue, but if I am looking to replace my headsets, then probably not...
 
#7 · (Edited)
Thank you for the inputs. Of the 3 compared, Sena 20S, Cardo G9X and Uclear HBC200 Ive chosen Sena.
Sena and UClear have the advantage of universal pairing, or ability to pair with other mfrs. Cardo only pairs with Cardo.

The Sena has several advanges over Uclear which are important to me and worth the addtional $100 street price.
Sena has 3x line of sight range over UClear (1.2miles vs 0.4 miles);
Send has 13hrs talks time vs 10hrs for Uclear.
Sena has extensive voice recognition for hands free (UClear is hand control intensive);
Sena offers a audio jack input so one can input MP3 music or in my case GPS turn by turn directions without expensive motorcycle GPS;
Sena provides a 12V cord to charge/power while riding.
 
#8 ·
Have you seen the new Cardo Scala Rider Packtalk? It was literally just released a week or two ago. A few things to note: it CAN link to Non-Cardo units via Cardo Gateway™ (enables non-Card headers to connect via intercom), it is waterPROOF (not resistant like Sena models), and it by far has the best iPhone App that I've seen as far as user interface.

Yea, it's $300+ for just one unit but it might be "the one". Mine should be here in a few days.
 
#9 ·
Yeh I read up on the PackTalk and had a Cyclegear salesman, who just got briefed from mfr rep. give me an overview. It fixes the interoperability issue for sure, but the improved group features I just wont use. Range and talk time are the same and I think it has the analog audio input. So it just didnt make sense to spend the extra $ on it.
 
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