Bluetooth Communications

[Grumpee]

Just want to know what everyone thinks is the best Bluetooth communications equipment for GPS/Phone etc.

 

[yamafitter]

If it's just the phone then something like a Scala will work for you. If you want to add bike to bike then you are probably looking at something like a Starcom but then you are hardwired at that point. The Garmin Zumo will bluetooth with the phone and will also give you call display so you can ignore the boss trying to bother you with work junk while you are riding. Unfortunately there are some reports that the bluetooth on the 660 Zumo sometimes gets confused between the music, gps, phone, shopping list, etc. Garmin's take on this is unfortunately somewhat like Microsoft customer service. They will solve the problem by making your current unit obsolete and then add a whole new set of problems into their new unit.

But I digress.

I've looking into this for sometime and decided I don't need to answer the phone while I am riding but bike to bike is a nice-to-have. I am probably going to go with the Starcom unit with my iPhone hardwired for music, the Garmin 276c hardwired for direction (the unit is to old for bluetooth but solid as a rock) and a radio hardwired for bike to bike with everything powered from the bike.

 

[camdenlake]

I got the G4 a little while ago and like it alot. It is far better than others i have tried but there are better than it too. It just depends on budget. I was thinking starcom but couldn’t convince myself to spend that much. I got the pair of G4's setup. Battery life is decent can go about 3-4 days of work with out recharge. Not sure how many kms that is but usually around 1000 a week so say 600-800 kms of mp3/phone use. I just have it linked to my iphone as that is my primary reason for it. Their support so far has been pretty good. Its not perfect but does 95% of what I demand from it.

The best part for me is clients call I answer via voice (say "hello") and they have no idea I am whiping along on my bike. Windsheild down or not. Most comment when I ask them they thought I was at my desk.

Josh

 

[pcrdude]

I got the G4 a little while ago and like it alot. It is far better than others i have tried but there are better than it too. It just depends on budget. I was thinking starcom but couldn’t convince myself to spend that much. I got the pair of G4's setup. Battery life is decent can go about 3-4 days of work with out recharge. Not sure how many kms that is but usually around 1000 a week so say 600-800 kms of mp3/phone use. I just have it linked to my iphone as that is my primary reason for it. Their support so far has been pretty good. Its not perfect but does 95% of what I demand from it.

The best part for me is clients call I answer via voice (say "hello") and they have no idea I am whiping along on my bike. Windsheild down or not. Most comment when I ask them they thought I was at my desk.

Josh

I second the recommendation for the G4. No intercom experience yet, but for streaming music it simply works extremely well. The battery will outlast the music source.

 

[ionbeam]

I've been very happy with my Scala Q2s. Recently several people have tried the Sena SMH-10 and they have been very happy. The Sena does have more user friendly ergos. No personal experience, just passing this on.

 

[SilverHound]

I'll add a thumbs up for the SENA SMH-10. It will do bike to bike or sync to your phone or GPS. It has A2DP Bluetooth so it supports stereo music output. Also you can get a base that allows you to use earbuds rather than in-helmet speakers.

I have it paired to my Garmin Zumo 660 which is also paired to my iPhone and have had no issues. I can hear GPS prompts, MP3 music from my Zumo and phone calls.

I paid $149 for my single unit. Very happy so far.

 

[ScottyUSN]

I have a J&M Audio BT built into my helmet wireless A2DP stereo is as good as wireless can provide.

It works with my Iphone and my Garmin Nuvi 765, or both simultaneously.

 

[maddad]

Cousin and I have had the G4s since the week they came out. Initially had some issues with iphone, but iphone update solved most of those. Just did 3800 miles to the Dragon and was glad to have the G4. Constantly listen to tunes. Have had phone calls up to 100 mph. Short ones, longer ones at reasonable speed. Use the intercom on a regular basis. Have no sync with GPS.

Cons:

- FM Radio is okay in an area with a strong signal only.

- Have the intercom come on by mistake when I lift my shield since it auto-sense noise.

- Requires patience. Biggest PIA is that when you go off intercom or phone, you start pressing buttons trying to get music going again. Had to learn to do nothing and it comes back automatically after 5-10 seconds.

- Have dialed a number of calls while off the bike and wondered why I couldn't here anyone talking, only to reliaze they have been talking to an empty helmet.

Battery is surprisngly good. In 6 months, drained only once after forgetting to charge for a few days.

 

[spike747]

I've had my Scala G4 for about 4 months. Me and a friend got them for a trip we did in June. Version at the time was 2.2. Its nice to have firmware upgrades, but as a designer I know companies tend to release products earlier then they should when they are firmware upgradeable. That is the case with the G4. I use a Zumo paired to the G4 and the Zumo 660 is also paired to my iPhone. This three way connection is pretty buggy. When the G4 was upgraded to 2.3 and the Zumo went to 3.9, things got better, but only marginally.

Where it really falls short is my buddy and I intercomming while listening to A2DP music. All of these mixed together caused many problems throughout the day. We each had to power the units off and back on at least 10 times a day.

I think the thing that bothers me the most is how long the intercom takes to connect. If you are in the garage next to each other the intercom takes about 3 seconds to connect. On the road with some distance between each other its consistently 8 seconds. Another friend has bought a unit since our June trip and connections to him are similar.

That being said, once the intercom connections are made, the quality of voice over the intercom is pretty good. The system does a VERY good job of blocking out wind and motor noise. Cell phone callers rarely can tell I'm on my bike. They usually just think I've got them on speaker phone at home. VOX is completely useless. You have to yell very loud to get it to connect. Most reviews I've read said the same thing.

My experience with their tech support wasn't good either. First I tried e-mailing them a tech support question. I waited 17 days and finally they e-mail response was "call us about this issue". Thanks. 17 days to tell me to phone you. But what really peaved me was a problem that kept happening with my buddy. The button that connects intercom channel A to both riders is the same button as connecting to A2DP audio (his blackberry's MP3 player). For intercom you press for 1 second and for A2DP you press for 3 seconds. When we were done with conversations he'd try to go directly back to A2DP connection, but the unit wants you to disconnect intercom then go to A2DP. Everytime he did this he'd not only lock up his unit, but it would lock mine up too. I couldn't disconnect from intercom and thus couldn't connect back to my Zumo's mp3 player. So both of us would have to re-boot the G4. So when I called tech support about the issue, their answer was that we were not using the units exactly like the manual says so they are not responsible for how the units react. Nice answer. No offer to forward the issue to R&D to review.

Battery does seem to last very long. Great capacity. But not sure about longevity. No replacement available from Scala at all. I used mine in rain for 3 days. No problems.

If you read reviews on the internet, you'll see they are not very positive. I made the mistake of thinking they'd fix their problems in future upgrades. 2 revisions later and still have a few re-boots a day. It seems to me there are much better choices out there.

 

[user 17635]

I just got a pair of Sena SMH-10 units. I really like them so far. I am waiting for a new GPS that I ordered that will output A2DP MP3s as well as voice instructions over the Bluetooth, to get completely wireless. I put the 2nd unit on a helmet for my 7-year-old son who rides as a passenger with me. We have no problem hearing and understanding each other, even at speed. If we leave the intercom mode on, it is sensitive enough for me to hear him breathing into the mic when still, but there is very little extra noise at highway speeds. I can't comment on the battery endurance yet, but I can say that the initial overall quality of the device is excellent.