cooneyr
7th October 2008, 08:56
One of the key reasons why I changed the DR650 for the XTZ750 was to be able to carry wifey on the back. Have done so a few times and it was decided that to be able to talk to each other occasionally would be a good thing. I did a bit of investigating and it looked like the Blueant Interphones (http://myblueant.com/interphone-motorbike-helmet-kit.htm) were a good option. They had some good write ups on ADVrider (http://www.advrider.com) and on KB. Picked a couple up from Orb Communications (http://www.orb.co.nz/products-services/mobile/mobile-accessories/mobile-headsets/blueant-interphone.html) about two weeks ago now. I though I'd start a thread about how they work in an adv helmet and on a adv bike which I get the impression (never ridden a sprots bike) are generally nosier than road bikes and helmets.
First thing we tried was pairing the interphones with our cell phones (Sony Erricson's) which went of without a hitch. Then we paired the two interphones, again without any hitches. The instructions are clear and easy to follow though reading them first is a good idea. Next thing we did was turn on the voice answering mode, again easy to do. Lastly I set up the voice dialing on my phone (no settings required on the interphone) which was a little interesting and took some thought re choosing the voice command. Seems that the longer the voice command, the is better, and don't put too much inflection into the name cause you'll never get it right again.
Next big task is fitting it to the helmet. The Shoei Hornet has removable cheek pads and ear pockets in the soft foam, so the boom and speaker went in very easily behind the cheek pads. Take the time to figure out where to put the speaker though cause sitting it on the ear itself is damn uncomfortable and you don't get as good performance (cant hear it so well). Wifey has a Grex RD1 and it is a bit of a pain to fit as the ear pocket is stepped (two levels of the hard liner) and also the cheek pad doesnt come out separately from the chin bar lining. At this stage the boom (speaker and mic on either end) is simply Velcroed to the cheek pad but it moves around a lot so not sure how well this will work. Taking the hornet on and off requires no extra effort than without the interphone, It is nice and stable behind the cheek pad. Seems that the Grex RD1 is the same though it is not "field" tested yet.
So is it any good? Around town at 50-60kph with no ear plugs it is works perfectly. I connect the cell phone and interphone before I leave (simply turn on the interphone and turn the bluetooth on on the cell phone) and your off. If the cell phone rings simply say hello loudly (ish) and it answers (dont forget to say hello again straight afterward as the first hello is only a trigger). Hanging up consists of not bothering (other person hangs up for you) or pushing the big button (easy to find with gloves on) on the interphone. Making a call is a matter of stopping and dialing the cell phone or alternatively pushing the big button till you hear one beep, waiting for the phone to beep back at you, say the voice command, phone repeats back at you and then it rings. Voice dialing is much more simple than it reads.
How does it work on the open road then? Bloody awesome. Talking on the phone wifey has commented that it sounds like I'm on the normal cell phone outside on a breezy day. Wind noise is minimal and she can hear me very clearly. There is a high and low volume ranges, with a few volume steps in each setting. I was expecting to have to put the interphone into the high volume range when at 100kph with ear plugs in - wrong. The highest or second to highest setting in the low volume range seems to be ample when traveling at 100kph, with ear plugs on the XTZ. The XTZ has a reasonable screen, though I do get some buffeting, and the helmet type and fit will also influence things. Still the with plugs in, the Shoei Hornet and on the XTZ I would rate as about the same volume as the Grex RD1 on the DR650 for noise.
We haven't had the opportunity to try out the intercom feature of the interphone on the bike yet but I dont expect there will be any issues as it is so easy to hear and be heard when on the bike at 100kph. I'll post about this later when we have had ago.
So are there any issues? Well yes just one. I cant get the voice activated dialing to work when above about 60kph. It would seem the wind noise is too much. This is probably a combined issue of the cell phone being to fussy with its voice recognition software and the interphone not cutting all the wind noise (would be very hard to do). I suspect that using the voice commands with the cell phone outside on a windy day would have similar issues.
Battery life is reported to be 7 hours in intercom mode according to other reviews on KB (5 hours on the Blueant site). This should be stacks for a day or twos riding as it is unlikely that we will be in intercom mode all the time. In phone mode (the default mode) there is apparently 700 hours of standby time and the talk time is suppose to be around 10 hours. It seems the cell phone battery will be more of an issue than the interphone battery when in cell phone mode. I found a power save option on the cell phone which has helped increase battery life significantly with no detrimental effects on the system operation. Lastly the interphone chargers are the smallest chargers I've ever seen so packing a couple for multi day trips wont be an issue.
All in all the interphones work bloody well in an Adv Helmet even with their generally higher noise levels. Would I recommend them, definitely.
Pics of the interphone in the Shoei Hornet below.
Cheers R
First thing we tried was pairing the interphones with our cell phones (Sony Erricson's) which went of without a hitch. Then we paired the two interphones, again without any hitches. The instructions are clear and easy to follow though reading them first is a good idea. Next thing we did was turn on the voice answering mode, again easy to do. Lastly I set up the voice dialing on my phone (no settings required on the interphone) which was a little interesting and took some thought re choosing the voice command. Seems that the longer the voice command, the is better, and don't put too much inflection into the name cause you'll never get it right again.
Next big task is fitting it to the helmet. The Shoei Hornet has removable cheek pads and ear pockets in the soft foam, so the boom and speaker went in very easily behind the cheek pads. Take the time to figure out where to put the speaker though cause sitting it on the ear itself is damn uncomfortable and you don't get as good performance (cant hear it so well). Wifey has a Grex RD1 and it is a bit of a pain to fit as the ear pocket is stepped (two levels of the hard liner) and also the cheek pad doesnt come out separately from the chin bar lining. At this stage the boom (speaker and mic on either end) is simply Velcroed to the cheek pad but it moves around a lot so not sure how well this will work. Taking the hornet on and off requires no extra effort than without the interphone, It is nice and stable behind the cheek pad. Seems that the Grex RD1 is the same though it is not "field" tested yet.
So is it any good? Around town at 50-60kph with no ear plugs it is works perfectly. I connect the cell phone and interphone before I leave (simply turn on the interphone and turn the bluetooth on on the cell phone) and your off. If the cell phone rings simply say hello loudly (ish) and it answers (dont forget to say hello again straight afterward as the first hello is only a trigger). Hanging up consists of not bothering (other person hangs up for you) or pushing the big button (easy to find with gloves on) on the interphone. Making a call is a matter of stopping and dialing the cell phone or alternatively pushing the big button till you hear one beep, waiting for the phone to beep back at you, say the voice command, phone repeats back at you and then it rings. Voice dialing is much more simple than it reads.
How does it work on the open road then? Bloody awesome. Talking on the phone wifey has commented that it sounds like I'm on the normal cell phone outside on a breezy day. Wind noise is minimal and she can hear me very clearly. There is a high and low volume ranges, with a few volume steps in each setting. I was expecting to have to put the interphone into the high volume range when at 100kph with ear plugs in - wrong. The highest or second to highest setting in the low volume range seems to be ample when traveling at 100kph, with ear plugs on the XTZ. The XTZ has a reasonable screen, though I do get some buffeting, and the helmet type and fit will also influence things. Still the with plugs in, the Shoei Hornet and on the XTZ I would rate as about the same volume as the Grex RD1 on the DR650 for noise.
We haven't had the opportunity to try out the intercom feature of the interphone on the bike yet but I dont expect there will be any issues as it is so easy to hear and be heard when on the bike at 100kph. I'll post about this later when we have had ago.
So are there any issues? Well yes just one. I cant get the voice activated dialing to work when above about 60kph. It would seem the wind noise is too much. This is probably a combined issue of the cell phone being to fussy with its voice recognition software and the interphone not cutting all the wind noise (would be very hard to do). I suspect that using the voice commands with the cell phone outside on a windy day would have similar issues.
Battery life is reported to be 7 hours in intercom mode according to other reviews on KB (5 hours on the Blueant site). This should be stacks for a day or twos riding as it is unlikely that we will be in intercom mode all the time. In phone mode (the default mode) there is apparently 700 hours of standby time and the talk time is suppose to be around 10 hours. It seems the cell phone battery will be more of an issue than the interphone battery when in cell phone mode. I found a power save option on the cell phone which has helped increase battery life significantly with no detrimental effects on the system operation. Lastly the interphone chargers are the smallest chargers I've ever seen so packing a couple for multi day trips wont be an issue.
All in all the interphones work bloody well in an Adv Helmet even with their generally higher noise levels. Would I recommend them, definitely.
Pics of the interphone in the Shoei Hornet below.
Cheers R