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I am a Cardo fan. I have the Freecom 4 Plus. I would check with any riding friends if you want to intercom with them and stay with the same brand, you can still link to other brands I believe but gets trickier. I got my wife the Freecom 2(button layout isn't as convenient but a fine unit if you only want to sync to one person) as she didn't need to be linked up with other riders besides me. We can talk and still listen to music.. I like the Sena's as well as I have this as well in back up helmet but isn't always as seamless, it is older unit which could be partially the issue. Speakers aren't as good as JBL in Cardo unit. Overall in my prior research I would stay with these 2 brands. The top end units have Mesh network but if you don't ride in large groups I couldn't justify the additional price point. If you have any friends looking for units sometimes the 2 packs give a nice discount as well.
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1,939 Posts
I only have good experience with SENA 20S, great unit never fails, clear sound (when I answer my phone people think I am in my office, and actually I am on my bike ridding hwy speed), would definitely buy other set.
I never tested it in pouring rain so don't know about waterproofing.
There is a newer model SENA 50s or 50r available that has more features and better headphones (but honestly 20S does everything well)
www.sena.com
a video review from 2014.
I never tested it in pouring rain so don't know about waterproofing.
There is a newer model SENA 50s or 50r available that has more features and better headphones (but honestly 20S does everything well)
Sena #category_name# Blogs | Sena
Check out our Sena's latest #category_name# blogs here.
www.sena.com
a video review from 2014.
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457 Posts
I bought the Sena because it fits my Neotec2 helmet. Sena is way over priced, flakey, and doesn't want to pair with non-sena bluetooth. It takes 5 minutes of flipping through stupid menus and praying it will connect. All the sena phone app does is steal your personal contacts and track your phone location 24x7 even when not using your sena. The app DOES NOT help with any functionality with the device or pairing. Not even a year old and the unit won't power up.
I regret buying the POS sena.
I regret buying the POS sena.
The Sena has a 1 year warranty - did you contact them?
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1,939 Posts
Of course there has been issues with all comm systems for various reasons, but it seems Sena gained a market share and it became a choice for many including Schuberth helmets who ditched Cardo in 2016 and partnered with Sena for their integrated comm systems.
www.cycleworld.com
Schuberth and Sena Partner to Improve Helmet and Communication Technology
Schuberth and Sena join forces to improve the communication technology of the future and make it even easier to communicate through your motorcycle helmet.
www.cycleworld.com
I had an old Cardo in a RF1200 that lasted many years but started having problems with the speakers. Ordered a new set but it appeared they were on back order so I bought a new freecom to put in my extra helmet to hold me over. It seems that the speakers are larger and wouldn't sit in the cups so they were held against my ears (sounded good though).
Since there was a fitting issue, I tried a Sena 50 which was on sale. The speakers fit in the ear cups, the sound was reasonable. To me the drawbacks were that the helmet module is large and the controls are overly complicated compared to the Cardo. I guess once you set it up correctly, maybe you won't have to fiddle with the controls that much.
Since there was a fitting issue, I tried a Sena 50 which was on sale. The speakers fit in the ear cups, the sound was reasonable. To me the drawbacks were that the helmet module is large and the controls are overly complicated compared to the Cardo. I guess once you set it up correctly, maybe you won't have to fiddle with the controls that much.
Cardo PackTalk bold is my next purchase. Yeah, their tech support is terrible, but once you get it setup, they work really well.
I currently have the Cardo Scala G4 Powerset. My bride and I used to ride and we could be separated almost up to a mile, line-of-sight, and still have comms.
I currently have the Cardo Scala G4 Powerset. My bride and I used to ride and we could be separated almost up to a mile, line-of-sight, and still have comms.
I’ve got a PackTalk Slim Duo and an additional PackTalk Bold, all are with JBL speakers. Only problem I’ve had is that the Slim units wouldn’t automatically reconnect to each other after being out of range (which is pretty far, even in the mountains). I love the form factor of the slim, and the hands-free operation is awesome. The advantage of the Bold is that it is easily removed from the helmet for charging.
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213 Posts
I have a Cardo Packtalk Bold, which replaced a Harley-branded Sena 20S. The Cardo is much better in every way than the Sena. The Sena never had enough volume to really overcome the wind noise at speed and the battery went dead after about two years.
My helmet is a Shoei GT Air II so is designed to work with the Sena, which I was going to buy, but my son, who I plan to do some touring with got talked out of a Sena at a Cycle Gear shop and got the Cardo Pactalk Bold. I went ahead and bought the same unit. The install was easy and when we did our first meetup we connected without even referring to the manual. The voice commands works great and it hooked up to my iPhone on the first ray and plays the music on phone perfectly. Just make sure the volume on the phone is turned up. The Cardo unit then handles volume with voice commands. I haven’t tried the talk on the phone feature since I only talk on the phone for ant reason about once a month.
I'd say right now the Packtalk Bold is the leader, but there's still that issue of connecting up with other brands if you want group intercom... can't use mesh in that case. What I'm waiting/hoping for is the adoption of the universal mesh standard that alledgedly is in the works somewhere...... however, both Cardo and Sena want you hooked on their proprietary mesh (for the moment). Most of my riding buddies have Senas, so until we all decide to switch up (translate, spend too much money again), I'm just gonna hang in there.
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