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Hi all.   I thought I would throw this out to all of you.    My wife and I are looking at buying a new Bluetooth Comm system to replace our old GMRS radio style comms.   
 
Any suggestions?  
 
Looking for something reasonably priced and that is easy to use with gloved hands.    I have been looking at a KEEDOX(sp?) system online.   I liked it because it had a simple rotary dial for volume selection and nice big buttons for use with motorcycle gloves.   Has anyone used or heard of this system?    It retails for 125 USD.    Are there any other systems for around 150 USD or less that work well?      Thanks for the input and advice.  
 
 
 
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I've been perfectly happy with my Sena SMH-10. It pairs with the SMH-5 for intercom. They sell the SMH-5 in a two-pack. Sena is pretty popular, so you're more likely to find someone else compatible on a group ride.
 
Both the 5 and the 10 are very easy to use with gloved hands. Big dial/button, just like you're asking for. The 10 has better battery life, but the 5 is fine for a normal day of riding.
 
Whatever you get, if it seems too quiet or one ear is louder than the other, check the speaker placement. Having the speaker *perfectly* aligned with your ear makes all the difference in the world.
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+1 for Sena. They have been consistently adding features with their firmware updates too. I have the SMH-10 and the 20S. I used the SMH-10 for a year and gave it to my wife when I got the 20S. The 20S has significantly better speakers if you want to listen to music. Not to say the SMH-10 are bad. Just the 20S are noticeably better. The 20S was new last year and was a little buggy still. It claimed to be able to listen to music and do intercom at the same time but was always very staticy, as if the 2 audio sources were fighting each other. I'm hoping they work some of those things out soon. It'd be nice since I use my phone in my saddle bag for music/GPS. If you have an iPhone, you can easily use Siri by pressing the phone button on the helmet. I was never able to be confident I could keep the intercom open and still hear the directions. The 10 has been rock solid. Great range and great noise cancelation. I've had several people call me while I was on the interstate and not realize I was on a motorcycle after several minutes of talking. That's even with no windshield on the bike. Mic placement is important though to reduce wind noise. The 20S is quite a bit more than the price you listed, but it was worth it to me once I got it even with the minor issues. I think the SMH-10 is close to your listed price range though. Another nice thing about Sena is they will pair to other brands.
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The wife and I ride different bikes, how is the range on the systems?
I've got SMH10, 20S and GMRS.  For practical purposes, range for any of them is fine.  If you can see the bike you want to communicate with you'll have radio.  But, beyond line of sight things start getting iffy.
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  • 1 month later...
Jumping in late... I just bought a new AGV R3 helmet and the Sena 20s headset. Im admittedly new to using a headset but am having issues nevertheless. It pairs with my iphone perfectly and music sounds great. The issue I am having is I cannot hear the voice commands coming from the sena or from siri on the phone.
 
Is this a common problem? Does anyone have any suggestions? It does seem like a lot to ask for however I'd rather ask then know vs just assume.
 
Thanks All
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Jumping in late... I just bought a new AGV R3 helmet and the Sena 20s headset. Im admittedly new to using a headset but am having issues nevertheless. It pairs with my iphone perfectly and music sounds great. The issue I am having is I cannot hear the voice commands coming from the sena or from siri on the phone. 
Is this a common problem? Does anyone have any suggestions? It does seem like a lot to ask for however I'd rather ask then know vs just assume.
 
Thanks All
The Sena keeps a different volume for each "device" it plays sound from. It treats music on your phone separate from phone calls / Siri because it uses a different protocol called A2DP to get stereo sound for music. You need to set the volume for Siri while she is talking. Once you get it set, Sena will remember the volume for Siri which could be different than you use for music on the same phone. It is especially nice that Sena remembers the volumes for separate devices because some are devices just louder that others, especially when you have different mic locations in different helmet intercoms you connect to. Once you set the volume with Sena, it will remember it the next time you connect to it. It takes a little getting used to but it turns out it is very nice once you do. That way you aren't talking to someone on intercom that has their mic a little too far away making you turn it up to the max, then go deaf when you switch back to music. Instead Sena remembers your music volume separate.
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Guest bmidd
Just bought another set of Sena SMH10 from Amazon. Listed for 264 for the set and 40 off if you open an Amazon credit card. Amazon has zero interest options based on purchase price and you will never pay interest if you bundle items. 2 helmets worth for $224 couldn't be beat anywhere I looked.
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I use a Sena 20S and while I have not used it as an intercom it is very good for Satnav/Mobile phone communication. Siri works very well. There is one problem though, it seems it is not possible to completely de-activate voice commands, and at high speeds the wind noise in my Shark helmet is so bad that it activates voice command, and every few seconds I get "say your command". I wish I could turn it off, I don't use it (although I use Siri) and I can't figure out if it is possible to just turn it off, or set it so that it is only activated with a button.
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I use a Sena 20S and while I have not used it as an intercom it is very good for Satnav/Mobile phone communication. Siri works very well. There is one problem though, it seems it is not possible to completely de-activate voice commands, and at high speeds the wind noise in my Shark helmet is so bad that it activates voice command, and every few seconds I get "say your command". I wish I could turn it off, I don't use it (although I use Siri) and I can't figure out if it is possible to just turn it off, or set it so that it is only activated with a button.
I was able to disable them using the Sena app. Pretty easy to adjust the settings in the app.
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I use a Sena 20S and while I have not used it as an intercom it is very good for Satnav/Mobile phone communication. Siri works very well. There is one problem though, it seems it is not possible to completely de-activate voice commands, and at high speeds the wind noise in my Shark helmet is so bad that it activates voice command, and every few seconds I get "say your command". I wish I could turn it off, I don't use it (although I use Siri) and I can't figure out if it is possible to just turn it off, or set it so that it is only activated with a button.
I didn't realize there was a 20S out and took a look at the Revzilla product video.  They stated you should update the firmware to 1.1 right away as there are some issues with the audio commands if not updated.  Are you using stock firmware on the device?
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I use a Sena 20S and while I have not used it as an intercom it is very good for Satnav/Mobile phone communication. Siri works very well. There is one problem though, it seems it is not possible to completely de-activate voice commands, and at high speeds the wind noise in my Shark helmet is so bad that it activates voice command, and every few seconds I get "say your command". I wish I could turn it off, I don't use it (although I use Siri) and I can't figure out if it is possible to just turn it off, or set it so that it is only activated with a button.
I didn't realize there was a 20S out and took a look at the Revzilla product video.  They stated you should update the firmware to 1.1 right away as there are some issues with the audio commands if not updated.  Are you using stock firmware on the device?
Thanks, I've done the upgrade, now to 1.3 and will see if it helps.
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Guest dmizer
Jumping in late... I just bought a new AGV R3 helmet and the Sena 20s headset. Im admittedly new to using a headset but am having issues nevertheless. It pairs with my iphone perfectly and music sounds great. The issue I am having is I cannot hear the voice commands coming from the sena or from siri on the phone. 
Is this a common problem? Does anyone have any suggestions? It does seem like a lot to ask for however I'd rather ask then know vs just assume.
 
Thanks All
Siri uses HFP over bluetooth. You can hear music well because you're paired with A2DP. If Siri is more important than music, you should consider "phone selected pairing". This is a limitation of Siri, not the headset.
 
You cannot hear the voice commands for Sena because your voice command volume is too low. Sena allows you to control each device volume individually, so your NAV unit can have a different volume level than your music or your Sena device. To correct this, adjust the Sena volume when you first turn it on and you hear the 4 tones and "Hello".
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