Sena 50R comms system
Tested by: Dave Manning | £309.00 (single unit) £549 (dual units) | www.sena.com
I’ve never previously had any interest in having a motorcycle intercom, nor even in having the ability to listen to music whilst out riding a bike, and certainly haven’t been the sort of person who would want the intrusion of being able to answer a phone call while riding, or even listen to satnav instructions for that matter.
Of course, as several readers have voiced in this very issue, there’s the suggestion that distractions brought by modern driver and rider aids, including communications, navigation and entertainment systems, can reduce the level of attention that’s being paid to the important things – like actually controlling the vehicle that you are in charge of. This is, clearly, a greater issue with cars than it is with bikes, given that they tend to have more ‘toys’ to play with, but it is also one that could be applied to us motorcyclists, regardless of the fact that we all think that we pay more attention to road conditions than most car drivers.
The question is, are the distractions that are brought in by the satnav or communication with another rider more dangerous than being lost? Having to pull over at the side of the road to dig out a piece of paper with directions, or looking at a satnav display, or trying to communicate with another rider regarding directions, or a requirement to stop for fuel have their own safety issues. And ‘Ooh, that looks like a nice caff, fancy a brew?’ (or even ‘Watch out for that tractor, Mikko!’) is far more easily communicated using a headset than by waving and flashing one’s lights…
So, after a little persuasion from our editor, I succumbed to pressure and tried out the
new Sena 50R communication system to see if my attitude could be changed.
It confused me a little that the unit needed a firmware update before it could be used (I’m not the swiftest on the uptake in the technology stakes), but it was a very easy process, and any further firmware updates can be automatically taken care of while charging the unit by using the wi-fi-enabled charger. And charging takes just an hour for a full charge, which should last for eighthours of Mesh communication, or 13 hours of Bluetooth use (I’ll explain the difference later). Fitting the speakers and microphone were dead simple, routing the wiring behind padding wherever possible, and once connected to my mobile via Bluetooth (easy-peasy, and much like connecting to any other device), the speakers seemed to be of decent quality, playing the shouty
sort of music that I like with good clarity, although as speeds increased over 50mph it wasn’t as audible as I’d have liked. While slipping the speakers behind the (removable) pads in both of my Icon helmets was easy, and only needed a little tweaking to shuffle them around to a point at which I couldn’t feel them, this may be harder (or, indeed, easier) in other brands of helmet. The Sena unit itself sits on the outside shell of the helmet, fixed in place either by Velcro or a clip that slides around the shell, both of which are very stable. The three buttons (for volume up/down and a centre one that covers answering, ending and rejecting phone calls and playing or pausing music) are on the side, with the on/off button to the rear (that also activates the Mesh on/off) and a flip-out antenna on top that’s required for the Mesh, all of which can be operated in summer gloves, although the antenna is a
“It performed perfectly at slower speeds, and meant that we all managed to stay together when exploring in towns and down country lanes.”
little awkward and winter gloves would make it difficult, if not impossible. With the device on, a tap on the rear-mounted ‘Mesh’ button results in a voice telling you “Mesh intercom on”, and you’re ready to speak to others! The side buttons can also be used to connect to FM radio.
The Sena has two types of connectivity – Bluetooth that connects with your phone or satnav, or up to three people as an intercom, and the ‘Mesh’ system used to connect to other Sena units. The Bluetooth connection was easy, as mentioned, and gives the options of being able to control your device by voice commands (‘Hey Siri, am I going to get wet soon?’; ‘Hey Google, who wore the longest shorts at Wembley?’), and to receive/make phone calls. The Mesh system has nine different channels, so you can have different groups set up or avoid clashing with other Sena users, although we only bothered with group 1, simply as there was just myself, Mikko and Ross (unless the other two didn’t tell me that they were communicating on another channel and were talking about me...).
Sena claim that the Mesh system can work over a range in excess of five miles between a number of units, or 1.2 miles between two, but we found that it only tended to work in line of sight, and wind noise was a factor so, as speeds increased, speech became a bit muffled and distorted. When I was wearing my adventure-style Icon Variant the wind noise caused a lot of problems for the other two, although this could have been lessened by using a different microphone, or by placing it away from the chin piece, and it did seem to be much better when using my more conventional Icon Airflite. The 50R comes with two microphones, a ‘boom’ type that would be ideal for a flip-front or open face helmet, and a smaller, Velcro-backed ‘pad’ mike that tucks away a little neater.
The issue with wind noise at speed is something of an irrelevant one, to be honest, as most conversation regarding directions, how bikes were behaving, where Gary the photographer had gone, etc., were made at lower speeds, and in the real world this is when most conversation will take place. The convenient side effect is that nobody got to hear the waffling/ giggling/squeaks of joy/gasps of panic that go on inside my helmet at higher speeds…
So, is a communications system vital while riding a bike? Quite simply, no. But is it useful, and an aid to easy and safe riding at times. I have to put my personal views to one side and say yes, a system such as the Sena 50R (or S) is very much a boon for certain circumstances and, against all my luddite instincts, I actually found using the Sena to be quite good fun. Regardless of the wind noise/ speed issue, it performed perfectly at slower speeds, and meant that we all managed to stay together when exploring in towns and down country lanes.
Like many ‘gadgets’, the Sena 50 has an app to download, from which you can configure and control Mesh and Bluetooth settings, create private Mesh groups, etcetera – with far more options than I’ll ever get to use or that my technophobic brain can comprehend.