Clyde
Wizard
I have a Shoei Qwest helmet and an HTC Evo 4G
I picked up a Sena SMH-10 from RocketMoto.com before a recent trip. This was something of a "forced" purchase, since two of the four people I was riding with already had the same model. I was confident that they'd done the research, and went into the purchase willingly and without reservations.
Overall:
The Sena SMH-10 is a fairly good unit for improving rider-to-rider communications and offers some nice features such as music streaming and phone calls. It may suffer from some quality issues with regard to batteries and water resistance. For the price compared to other units, I would recommend.
The Purchase Experience:
I found a "group buy" discount on the advrider.com forums sponsored by RocketMoto.com that brought the price down slightly below the Amazon price. I'd always prefer to buy from a small shop, and the discounted price was further incentive. In order to take advantage of the discount, I had to call them. Almost immediately they told me that they were out of stock, but expected a shipment the next day. Here's where the incredible customer service kicked in: They bumped me near the top of the backorders list, based on the fact that I was leaving for a long trip in about a week. I protested, saying that it probably wasn't fair to others who were in line before me, but they stated that they always asked customers if there was a deadline, and considered that in their shipping order. They only asked that if I ordered anything in the future, I consider this and be patient in the event that I got "bumped" down the list in favor of someone else with shorter timelines. I'd never experienced anything like this, and it was so reasonable that I was flabbergasted. I placed the order.
A few days later, the dual-unit package showed up at my house. I put both units on the charger for a full cycle, which took a few hours.
Initial Set-Up:
Pairing the unit with my Android phone (Rooted HTC Evo 4G running Cyanogenmod 7.1) was easy and only took a few minutes after reading the instructions in the manual. Once paired, I was able to:
I was a little disappointed that the phone button initiated a very limited set of voice commands on my Android phone. Android has a "Voice Search" application that is pretty robust, but the default action of the phone button was a much more limited application that only allowed me to dial phone numbers and contacts reliably. I've since found a way to initiate the Google "Voice Search" application (starting maps, web search, navigation, etc.), but this wasn't until after my trip.
Installation:
My Shoei Qwest helmet has plastic speaker mounting points inside, so I used the included double-sided tape to mount the speakers. Once mounted, they are separated from my ears and don't alter the comfort of the helmet at all. The SMH-10 has two options for mounting. I used the included bracket to mount the boom mic unit to the helmet (recommended over the sticky-tape approach). The boom mic sits just in front of my mouth, and down a bit. I occasionally brush my mouth against the foam protecting the microphone, but it's not consistent and I don't find it tremendously annoying. Perhaps with a little adjustment I could move the location of the mic to a completely unnoticeable location. The "brains" of the SMH-10 snaps into this boom unit, and the connection is solid. It's close to (but doesn't obstruct) the visor lock on the left side of the helmet. The assembly is light enough that I don't notice any weight difference when wearing the helmet, and there doesn't appear to be any increased wind noise when riding. Routing the wires for the speakers wasn't difficult, and they tucked almost completely between the shell and the foam of my helmet. There was one spot in the rear of the helmet where the wire would not tuck in to be completely invisible, but it's secure and quite unobtrusive.
Call/Intercom/Music Quality:
I used the phone features to make a few calls in low-traffic situations and the audio was acceptable. The speakers are a little "tinny" but they are thin, and I'm told that's to be expected. I'm not an audiophile, so just being able to understand the person on the other end of the "line" is enough. I'm not looking for concert-hall sound reproduction. The person on the other end of the call was sometimes not able to tell that I was on a motorcycle. On a couple of occasions the person told me that my voice sounded "muffled" or "different" but that is probably attributed to the fact that my helmet squishes my cheeks and makes it somewhat difficult to talk.
The sound quality on the intercom was hit-or-miss. At several points we had four Sena units connected via intercom, and the audio was usually fine. One person complained that he could hear occasional "popping" sounds when communicating via intercom with me and one other rider.
For both intercom use and telephone calls, there are a number of variables that contribute to quality. Helmets vary widely in the amount of noise that they produce, and speed multiplies this. We found that a modular helmet produced a annoying amount of noise, second to the half-shell one rider was using.
Music streaming through bluetooth was acceptable to me, but I mostly just have it there for background noise on long, straight stretches. I did listen to an audiobook during a three-hour stretch of highway riding. Wind noise kept me from hearing every single word, but enough of the story got through that I was able to comprehend what the reader was communicating. Again, the lack of bass response is obvious (I haven't tried adjusting my phone to compensate). The jog-dial provides the ability to move forward or backward through the playlist by holding it down and rotating it at the same time. This control takes a little getting used to, but works fine if you like to occasionally skip or repeat songs.
Performance/Resiliency:
Part of the trip (two days) was spent riding in the rain. The SMH-10 worked through the entire stretch of rainy weather. This wasn't "light-mist" riding, either. At the end of the day, water had gotten into everything -- my boots were soaked. The day after the weather cleared up, the unit completely stopped functioning. It seemed to take a charge, but would not turn on. I've since exchanged the faulty unit. To be fair, there were four units in use for the exact same weather conditions, and only one failed. They seem to be designed to handle a bit of rain, but if you are riding through a monsoon, it might be best to put the unit away until the rain lightens up. My experience with battery life was great, with the charge lasting over two days of moderate-to-heavy music streaming mixed with a couple of telephone calls and moderate intercom use.
Return/Exchange:
Since my unit failed, I had the opportunity to "test" the return/exchange process. I called RocketMoto.com after I got back from my trip and they were fantastic about the return. The chided me for not calling during the trip as they would have shipped a replacement unit ahead to one of our planned stops so that I could have used it for the rest of the trip. I hadn't even considered this as an option. They cross-shipped the replacement to me immediately (without receiving the faulty unit first), and I had it within two business days. I can't say enough good things about dealing with this company. They were great over the phone, and backed up their words with actions when it came to fast shipping and return processing.
Other notes:
I picked up a Sena SMH-10 from RocketMoto.com before a recent trip. This was something of a "forced" purchase, since two of the four people I was riding with already had the same model. I was confident that they'd done the research, and went into the purchase willingly and without reservations.
Overall:
The Sena SMH-10 is a fairly good unit for improving rider-to-rider communications and offers some nice features such as music streaming and phone calls. It may suffer from some quality issues with regard to batteries and water resistance. For the price compared to other units, I would recommend.
The Purchase Experience:
I found a "group buy" discount on the advrider.com forums sponsored by RocketMoto.com that brought the price down slightly below the Amazon price. I'd always prefer to buy from a small shop, and the discounted price was further incentive. In order to take advantage of the discount, I had to call them. Almost immediately they told me that they were out of stock, but expected a shipment the next day. Here's where the incredible customer service kicked in: They bumped me near the top of the backorders list, based on the fact that I was leaving for a long trip in about a week. I protested, saying that it probably wasn't fair to others who were in line before me, but they stated that they always asked customers if there was a deadline, and considered that in their shipping order. They only asked that if I ordered anything in the future, I consider this and be patient in the event that I got "bumped" down the list in favor of someone else with shorter timelines. I'd never experienced anything like this, and it was so reasonable that I was flabbergasted. I placed the order.
A few days later, the dual-unit package showed up at my house. I put both units on the charger for a full cycle, which took a few hours.
Initial Set-Up:
Pairing the unit with my Android phone (Rooted HTC Evo 4G running Cyanogenmod 7.1) was easy and only took a few minutes after reading the instructions in the manual. Once paired, I was able to:
- Initiate a telephone call by pressing the "phone button" on the SMH-10 and then speaking a contact's name
- Initiate an intercom call by pressing the "jog dial" once
- Play music stored on my phone by pressing and holding the "jog dial" for about two seconds
I was a little disappointed that the phone button initiated a very limited set of voice commands on my Android phone. Android has a "Voice Search" application that is pretty robust, but the default action of the phone button was a much more limited application that only allowed me to dial phone numbers and contacts reliably. I've since found a way to initiate the Google "Voice Search" application (starting maps, web search, navigation, etc.), but this wasn't until after my trip.
Installation:
My Shoei Qwest helmet has plastic speaker mounting points inside, so I used the included double-sided tape to mount the speakers. Once mounted, they are separated from my ears and don't alter the comfort of the helmet at all. The SMH-10 has two options for mounting. I used the included bracket to mount the boom mic unit to the helmet (recommended over the sticky-tape approach). The boom mic sits just in front of my mouth, and down a bit. I occasionally brush my mouth against the foam protecting the microphone, but it's not consistent and I don't find it tremendously annoying. Perhaps with a little adjustment I could move the location of the mic to a completely unnoticeable location. The "brains" of the SMH-10 snaps into this boom unit, and the connection is solid. It's close to (but doesn't obstruct) the visor lock on the left side of the helmet. The assembly is light enough that I don't notice any weight difference when wearing the helmet, and there doesn't appear to be any increased wind noise when riding. Routing the wires for the speakers wasn't difficult, and they tucked almost completely between the shell and the foam of my helmet. There was one spot in the rear of the helmet where the wire would not tuck in to be completely invisible, but it's secure and quite unobtrusive.
Call/Intercom/Music Quality:
I used the phone features to make a few calls in low-traffic situations and the audio was acceptable. The speakers are a little "tinny" but they are thin, and I'm told that's to be expected. I'm not an audiophile, so just being able to understand the person on the other end of the "line" is enough. I'm not looking for concert-hall sound reproduction. The person on the other end of the call was sometimes not able to tell that I was on a motorcycle. On a couple of occasions the person told me that my voice sounded "muffled" or "different" but that is probably attributed to the fact that my helmet squishes my cheeks and makes it somewhat difficult to talk.
The sound quality on the intercom was hit-or-miss. At several points we had four Sena units connected via intercom, and the audio was usually fine. One person complained that he could hear occasional "popping" sounds when communicating via intercom with me and one other rider.
For both intercom use and telephone calls, there are a number of variables that contribute to quality. Helmets vary widely in the amount of noise that they produce, and speed multiplies this. We found that a modular helmet produced a annoying amount of noise, second to the half-shell one rider was using.
Music streaming through bluetooth was acceptable to me, but I mostly just have it there for background noise on long, straight stretches. I did listen to an audiobook during a three-hour stretch of highway riding. Wind noise kept me from hearing every single word, but enough of the story got through that I was able to comprehend what the reader was communicating. Again, the lack of bass response is obvious (I haven't tried adjusting my phone to compensate). The jog-dial provides the ability to move forward or backward through the playlist by holding it down and rotating it at the same time. This control takes a little getting used to, but works fine if you like to occasionally skip or repeat songs.
Performance/Resiliency:
Part of the trip (two days) was spent riding in the rain. The SMH-10 worked through the entire stretch of rainy weather. This wasn't "light-mist" riding, either. At the end of the day, water had gotten into everything -- my boots were soaked. The day after the weather cleared up, the unit completely stopped functioning. It seemed to take a charge, but would not turn on. I've since exchanged the faulty unit. To be fair, there were four units in use for the exact same weather conditions, and only one failed. They seem to be designed to handle a bit of rain, but if you are riding through a monsoon, it might be best to put the unit away until the rain lightens up. My experience with battery life was great, with the charge lasting over two days of moderate-to-heavy music streaming mixed with a couple of telephone calls and moderate intercom use.
Return/Exchange:
Since my unit failed, I had the opportunity to "test" the return/exchange process. I called RocketMoto.com after I got back from my trip and they were fantastic about the return. The chided me for not calling during the trip as they would have shipped a replacement unit ahead to one of our planned stops so that I could have used it for the rest of the trip. I hadn't even considered this as an option. They cross-shipped the replacement to me immediately (without receiving the faulty unit first), and I had it within two business days. I can't say enough good things about dealing with this company. They were great over the phone, and backed up their words with actions when it came to fast shipping and return processing.
Other notes:
- One unit (not mine) seemed to suffer from poor battery life. It would not last a day. The unit is being exchanged (through the Sena RMA process -- I'll post an update on their customer service at some later point)
- The package did not come with a wall-charger (it comes with a cigar-lighter USB charger). I carried a four-port USB hub that we used to charge phones and the Sena units at night in the hotel.
- My phone OS limited my use of a couple of features of the unit. I've changed operating systems and made a couple of other tweaks and can now enjoy much better voice command control.
- Streaming audio via bluetooth severely limited the battery life on my phone, making on-board charging a requirement for me.
