I installed the unit today and then took a ride on the expressway. I easily installed the unit in my new helmet and then paired it to my phone. I've tried several helmet speaker methods such as having regular phone earbuds in my ear. That works OK but the problem is keeping earbuds in my ear when I put the helmet on and the mic positioned near my mouth. At highway speeds the wind noise makes it difficult or impossible for the other party to hear. I tried a dedicated wired motorcycle helmet headset but the volume was too low to hear clearly at highway speeds and it was a hassle connecting the dangling wire from the helmet each time I got on and off the bike. Thus my purchase of the Sena bluetooth unit. I read many reviews of other units. Most had volume complaints or were double the price.
The volume on this unit is simply amazing!!! At 70 MPH on a phone call I can hear the other party very clear and loud. Believe it or not it actually hurt my ears and I had to turn the unit down. The same is true of music. How is the music quality? Good enough. It's not five star orchestra quality and there's not much bass but it sounds good and most importantly LOUD rolling along on a bike. The amp in the bluetooth unit actually drives the speakers to the edge of distortion but that's a good thing.
I believe one key is to make absolutely sure that you use the included pads to position the speakers where they press right up against your ear when you put the helmet on. Proximity probably makes a huge difference in sound volume. 1/4 to 1/2 inch away would probably reduce the volume in half which would make the system much less effective.
I have a Motorola Razr Maxx phone and the volume button on the unit does not affect the phone volume. Most bluetooth units work in conjunction with the phone volume. If you lower or raise the volume on the bluetooth unit, it correspondingly raises or lowers it on the phone. With this unit, volume controls seem to operate independently of each other therefore you need to turn the phone volume to max and adjust volume from the bluetooth unit. The unit is firmware upgradeable so perhaps that will be corrected in a future release but I am so thrilled with the performance of the unit that such a minor detail is insignificant.
There is a plus to this arrangement in that music playback and phone conversation volumes are independently maintained. In other words, if you set the volume on a phone conversation and then switch to music and set a different volume the unit will remember the phone and music volume independently. So I guess it's designed to work independently of your phone volume and as I thought about it, that's probably a better arrangement. Your helmet system would always be set to motorcycle preferences regardless of what level you set your phone.
I haven't tested the intercom features and performance. My wife is terrified of my motorcycle therefore I usually ride alone so I don't need the intercom feature but it's there if I ever do need it.
Pros:
1. Volume is FANTASTIC and you can hear phone conversations or music clearly at 80% volume at 70mph.
2. The person on the other end hears virtually no mic wind noise at 70mph. They couldn't believe that I was on a motorcycle at 70mph. They heard NO wind noise which was hard for me to believe but I was talking to my mother so I knew she was telling me the truth. Of course I had on a full face helmet with the visor down.
3. Unit can operate while charging. The battery life talk time is rated at 12 hours with a standby time of 10 days. I haven't tested that yet but if it truly lasts 12 hours and you do happen to talk longer than 12 hours at a stretch you can plug up the unit and talk while charging. I've never ridden more than a few hours in a day so a 12 hour talk time before recharging is NOT going to be problem for me. I'm going to poop out long before the bluetooth battery. Talking while charging is something that most bluetooth units can't do.
4. Volume control button is big. On a motorcycle with gloves the button is easy to find, turn or push.
5. It looks cool on your helmet with the blue blinking light.
6. Good price. I bought the H10 instead of the H5 since the price difference was not that much and it appears the H10 comes with better speakers. I'm not sure about that as I couldn't fully tell from the descriptions but it read like the H10 had better speakers than the H5. The upgrade speakers cost the difference between the two units but the H10 does more. It's about a $25 street price difference between the H10 and the H5.
7. Uses a standard micro USB port for charging.
8. Has a standard 1/8" port to plug a wired music player.
9. Ports covered by rubber plugs for weatherproofing.
10. Easy to remove from the helmet if necessary.
Cons: NONE that I've found so far.
I installed it in this helmet:Bluetooth Ready Modular Flip-up Motorcycle Helmet Matte Flat Black DOT #936 (XL)
I am just as impressed by the helmet as I am the bluetooth unit. I can't believe the quality of this helmet for the price. I've got five helmets. This is the cheapest one and it seems to rank right up there with the quality of the very expensive helmets if not better. It has perforations in the helmet liner for the speakers so it works perfectly with the Sena bluetooth unit.
The installation of the headset will definitely get you familiar with the inner workings of your helmet, but once done, it is indispensable. The jog wheel and phone button are easy to manipulate at speed with gloves on, and the controls make sense. The speakers are decent, obviously not as high-quality sound as ear buds, but the trade off of ease-of-use is worth it. I used all three functions, music, phone, and intercom the first time out. The intercom range is as advertised, unless there is a mountain between you and the other unit.
The only issue I have had is the amount of force required to snap the unit in and out of the base. This may vary depending on your helmet. A friend had the same unit and had trouble getting the unit to stay clipped in at all. I saw it go bouncing down the road at highway speed. We stopped and picked up the pieces and put it back together and it still worked, despite some road rash, but Sena sent him a whole new setup anyway.
Buy Sena SMH10-10 Motorcycle Bluetooth Headset/Intercom Now
I have used my Sena unit for almost 1 year now. It is a really good product. It was recently upgraded to firmware V4.1. The talk time is an honest 12 hours. I was recently on my bike for over 12 hours and we talked the entire ride. Its great to know what might be up ahead like a sharp curve, debris in road, ect. The bluetooth works great and it is very easy to make or receive a phone call. The sound quality of the speakers is average. Music sounds better with ear plugs in. With the version 4.1 firmware it is possible to talk among 4 riders at the same time. We also found a way to add a fifth rider, so 5 riders could talk at the same time. With the older firmware 3.0 you could only talk to one rider at a time. The units are resistant to rain and work in the rain. Overall I am very happy with the unit.
Read Best Reviews of Sena SMH10-10 Motorcycle Bluetooth Headset/Intercom Here
Great product! installed on two helmets in less than 20 min and was up and running. Iphone 4s works great at 70mph was crystal clear on both ends. music sound is good not a lot of bass but they are flat speakers, had no problem with sound levels at 65-70+ mph. intercom is awesome great sound and clarity, tested at 70mph and slower very little wind noise. would recommend to any one wanting a multi function blue tooth head set.
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I originally bought this back in September. It didn't work properly (it would receive sound just fine but not send anything no one could hear me at all). After trying to work things out through Sena's support area we determined that it was a bad unit. No harm, no foul Amazon accepted the return and sent me a new one.
I received the new one in October and tried it out it worked perfectly. I only used it twice before putting the bike away for the winter. I took the bike out again last week and went to use it today only to find that it no longer works. During the winter, I charged it occasionally and it has never been dropped, etc. The light still comes on when you charge it (it changes from red to blue when it's charged) but it won't turn on. They (Sena) has a software program that you can install that keeps the unit up to date that won't connect either.
I have sent Sena an email describing the problem and am hoping for a resolution (they were actually quite responsive when I had the original issue) but honestly I can't in good conscience recommend a device that has failed on me twice (two separate ones neither worked properly).
This is quite upsetting as well because I also just purchased a CanAm Spyder and Sena is now making their official headsets and they are the SMH10. I really WANT to like them and purchase another one for my wife so we can talk when we're riding but unless support can do something to REALLY make me happy that won't be happening.
So, bottom line, the two times that it worked, it worked well and sounded great but I should be getting far more than two usages out of two different devices.
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