OT: Motorcycle Intercom comparison...

[R111S]

On a recent weekend trip I had the less that desireable duty of having two brands of Motorcycle Intercom installed into my Arai Vector-2 Full-Face Helmet.

There were 3 Riders and two Brands of incompatible Intercoms present. As it was, one riding Buddy had a SENA SMH10 unit like myself (updated to Ver. 4.1 Software) and the other had an Interphone F5 (Full-face kit).

Since there is no compatibility between these two Blue-Tooth based Intercoms it was the best solution available to the three of us that one should have one of each unit in his Helmet...that'd be me.

I first moved the right Speaker of my SENA SMH10 to a position between some padding folds near the Chinbar. I then installed the Interphone F5 unit to the right side and attached the Microphone to the Chinbar (stickyback) next to the SENA SMH10 Boom Microphone. I unplugged the second Speaker of the Interphone F5 thus no need to find a place to stuff it.

So here's my comparison of these two brands.

SENA SMH10:
Plus - Better Sound quality and louder maximum Volume.
Plus - Jog Dial for adjusting Volume is easier.
Plus - Slimer Speaker profile for least ear/speaker interference issues.

Interphone F5:
Plus - When the other rider drops out (for whatever reason) the re-pairing is announced and automatic (no button press needed).
Plus - When the other Rider drops out (for whatever reason) the un-pairing is announced.
Plus - Thin wire for the Microphone that attaches to the Chinbar using stickyback pad versus a bulky Boom Microphone.
Plus - FM Radio.
Plus - Ability to pair 6 Riders versus 4.

Of the two I prefer the SENA SMH10 mainly for it speaker sound quality and volume capabilities. This being the primary function of Rider-to-Rider communication I feel it performs better than the Interphone F5, especially since ambient noise increases along with increasing speeds.

Secondly the SENA SMH10 female voice used to announce the various functions is...shall we say...more pleasing. The female voice of the Interphone F5 reminds me of the Computer Voice on the old Star-Trek Series...dry, distant, robotic. As for the female voice of the SENA SMH10...hmmm, if I was single I'd like to meet her.

Lastly, the Interphone F5 is more expensive than the SENA SMH10 - at least last time I checked. I got my SENA SMH10 as a Pair Unit and split the costs with a Riding Buddy since my Wife very rarely rides with me. I paid just under $300 for the pair ($150 each).

As for the GPS and Phone Pairing capabilites of these two units it has been my expereince the brand/model/bluetooth version of what ever you're pairing has much to do with your success or the lack thereof. I have a 2007 vintage Hewlet Packard GPS and a Motorola Tracfone - I've paired both to my SENA SMH10 but that only for riding solo and not very often. My main usage is Rider-to-Rider communication and I must say it's way, way better than hand signals!!!

[R12SLuver]

Hello,

I read your post as I just got two of the Sena units and did a short weekend ride and we both loved them for intercom. Haven't really paired them with my GPS or phone yet. We just each listened to our own music by hardwire.
Now you mentioned the Sena had boom mic.....I have the small mic that sticks in the front of our full face helmets.....so you can get either mic.
Also as far as the speakers we have the custom molded ones and they are great. You can wear them all day and sound quality is great and noise reduction.

[martincito]

+1 on the Sena. I love mine the only thing I would like is the volume to be higher when I'm wearing earplugs.

[rodmcm]

I have the Sena SMH10 with the optional earbud base.

Into this base, I plug a set of Hearlink personally moulded earbuds, to listen to music. These are from an Australian company and are, unfortunately, not cheap but are excellent.

The overall result is great. I connect to both my Garmin and iPhone at the same time and get told where to go, get music to mask my tinnitus and can take phone calls if I want to.

I started with a different Bluetooth unit that the supplier had modified to take earbuds but it just didn't work for a number of different reasons.

I haven't used it for rider to rider communications but for my purposes, it's a great combination; cancelling out just enough external noise to protect my remaining hearing but still letting me hear my surroundings and providing music and GPS instructions.