COROS OMNI SMART HELMET

£149.99 Want a smart helmet that’ll play tunes on the bike? Read on

If after reading the words ‘smart helmet’ the word ‘gimmick’ immediately springs to mind, then this review might not be for you. But for anyone who likes the idea of a non-intrusive soundtrack to your ride via bone-conducting technology, and a fitness app wrapped in one innovative package, the Coros Omni could be worthy of a little more of your attention.

The looks are decent enough and the build quality robust, complying with all international helmet safety standards, there’s even a rear light. When paired to the helmet, the Coros app does everything you’d expect, such as activity tracking and sleep monitoring, and it syncs activities directly to Strava and TrainingPeaks.

There’s a control unit that mounts to your handlebars for operating features mid-ride, running off a coin cell battery. After pairing your phone and helmet via Bluetooth, which is straightforward, you can control music via the five-button interface. To transmit music without intruding on ambient sound something’s got to give, and in this case we found both the sound quality and volume are pretty poor. On a busy road and/ or when it’s windy, your tunes are barely audible, but it comes into its own on calmer days and quiet routes, and we enjoyed the musical company on our bike path commute.

Overall we were impressed with the Coros Omni and its multitude of features. While it’ll divide opinion between being a great idea that’s reasonably well-executed or an unnecessary premise, we’re leaning towards the former. JS coros.com