As part of our North/East Sikkim and Bhutan trip, Our group of 4 riders had the privilege to review Sena-SMH10, helmet bluetooth headset.
Will not bother much about sharing the technical details of this headset, people who are keen on it can access the details by clicking here.
http://senabluetooth.com/product/intercoms/smh10/ Installation
Installation of the headset is a straight forward job. As we had different brand helmets, it gave us good hands on session exploring our helmets. The unit is screwed on to helmet side. We fastened it on the left side, so that the right hand can be free for all throttle inputs/general control of bike. A couple of allen bolts supplied in the package secures the mount to the helmet. The package comes with the Allen key for it.
As mentioned earlier, this was fitted on different brand of helmets each of us owned, HJC, Sparx and LS2 models.
Once the unit is fastened on to the helmet, 2 speakers would need to be placed strategically near the ear recess inside the helmet. Some helmets have placeholders where we can place the speakers, whilst Indian made ones generally do not have it. Was quite surprising to note that these speakers get into a snug fit inside the helmets irrespective of its make/brand/size/shape they come in.
The speakers can be additionally secured in its place with foam attachments that is bundled along with the package.
For one of the helmet the foam attachments were not required. The Speakers were protruding in the ear lobe causing discomfort over long periods of usage. They were done away with.
Once speakers have been setup, last step would be to just adjust/place the mike inside the helmet in front of the rider’s mouth according to one comfort.
The model came with the boom microphone which we felt can be utilized for the half face helmets as well. The mouth piece sits in the gap between lips and helmet wall. So it does not obstruct the rider's movement inside the helmet.
All in all it took us no longer than 10 minutes to install the whole headset in our helmet.
Would like to make a mention of the helmet mount’s build quality which took all jolts from extreme road conditions of North Sikkim, which was good. Certainly not cheap plastics involved in this kit.
Features
The coolest thing about Sena-SMH10 as per our experience would be its Jog Dial plus phone button. It is quite simple and very handy to use even with our gloves on. Remember how hard it gets sometimes even to unzip our pants but the Jog Dial was a pleasure to operate. All needed tasks/chores from answering incoming calls to connecting intercom/hearing music, Voice commands can be operated through this jog dial plus phone button.
To begin with let's write about the good things, which we personally felt about the headset.
First, pairing with your Bluetooth mobile headset is simple.
Once connected, you will begin to appreciate the sound quality of speakers which is very good for its size and are crystal clear. Micro-phone comes with noise cancellation feature which helps reducing external noise to a great extent. In fact, people calling us were hard-changed to believe that we were talking through a Bluetooth headset and at the same time riding our motorcycle in speeds of 90-100 Kays.
Secondly, Battery life can be rated as above our expectations when compared to regular Bluetooth headsets. Standby mode works for 10-12 hours. Continuous Intercom usage would last about 3-4 hours. If you are using it judiciously, it generally gave us a range of 6-8 hours. City usage with listening music and occasional calls the battery will last a good 6-8 days.
Last couple of weeks, headset was used for only calls and it went through for 16 days before she died out.
Thirdly its ease of use, once paired with other riders, getting connected was via a tap on its jog dial, which would get us on a conference.
So before we started the trip, we decided on who would be the lead and sweeper, based on it we paired the headsets.
Basically, we paired the lead and sweeper together followed by remaining 2 bikers. This enabled the lead to get on a call with sweeper at any point in time with minimum fuss. The other 2 bikers were able to communicate amongst each other as well.
This type of pairing helped us immensely during our ride lasting 18 days. There were multiple instances when we had to ride as a group of 2 riders. Since we had done this pairing before the start of journey, it was just a tap on the jog dial to get connected to each other.
In addition to this two way pairing, we did pair all 3 head-sets to the lead. So all the 3 riders plus lead could join over intercom for a quick update on any changed plans/comfort breaks/tea Stops etc Etc.
Here, I would like to highlight the importance of such headset with intercom facility. North Sikkim, we were riding through horrible roads at a height of about 17000 ft approx. Adding to this was the weather which was making its presence felt with rain and chilled cold wind. As the roads were very literally un-motorable, each rider was concentrating more on the roads than keeping an eye as to who is behind them. This often led to a half kilometer distance between each rider. One such interesting moment was when we had sweeper’s bike broke down. He was able to get onto the intercom to inform us. If the intercom facility was not there then, the next rider would not come to know about it until he reached the next destination. Plus, returning back in that road conditions means losing a lot of time for the whole team which would derail the whole schedule planned for that day.
Would like to highlight one more instance about the effective use of the headset.
After nathula pass, we reached the Nathang Valley, as we entered Nathang valley, heavy rain caught on us. Then as we exited Nathang and entered Zuluk, we encountered extreme fog. We were unable to see each other bikes tail light also. So it was a situation where we had extreme rain coupled with extreme fog. So each of us took turns to lead and started communicating on the intercom about the road conditions. This way, the other 3 riders were following the lead rider inputs. Also as we took turns in leading, this avoided all of us getting stressed together.
Speaking of negative points
One of the head-set got to see heavy rainfall of North Sikkim and due to it, there was slight disturbance in the sound reception. But after it got dry for a day, it was back to normal. But we strongly felt that it was more because of the heavy rain.
We made a makeshift cover on it for the remaining trip. But it could withstand light and medium rainfall without any issues.
Personally as a tourer would like the intercom battery life to be little more.
Build Quality
As mentioned already, the headset absorbed all the rattles of North sikkim without any issues. Full points on it. The black color of the outer surface area of headset turned to dull black after it was exposed to the different weather conditions. But this should not be considered as a negative point at all as it is serving the purpose it has to and it is just the cosmetic appearance.
Things which is not tested yet
With all the preparation for the ride and with eventful ride, we could not get a chance to test the Voice dial options in it. But will do it in coming days and update on this thread.
Credits Review writeup : This writeup was jointly put by tbhpians "KU69RD" and "RK_SANS".
Photos: Our biker friend "Milind"(Not a tbhpian) and "RK_SANS".
Headset: Sena Company and Let's Gear Up, Sena Distributors in India
Mods: I have created a separate thread on this as i thought it would require a separate thread where members can discuss and share about this Headset specifically. If you think otherwise, please merge it into the Motorcycle Bluetooth thread.
Pic from Sena website. The box includes all of these.
Highlighting the jugaad done to avoid the heavy rain
![Bluetooth Intercom / Headsets for Motorcyclists-dsc_0169.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/motorbikes/1163134d1691662330t-bluetooth-intercom-headsets-motorcyclists-dsc_0169.jpg)