Sena SMH10R Bluetooth headset

WAfatboy · Mar 15, 2013

Having just bought two of these things I thought I'd just post a note of caution for all you victims of advertising like me who make impulse purchases!

I've always hated previous BT headsets because they look so dorky and bulky on the outside of the helmet but when I saw the promos for the new SMH10r I thought I had found the perfect product - small, low profile and light.

What I failed to realise in my excitement was that unlike the previous bulky units this one has a battery pack that is 'designed' to stick to the back of the helmet!

WTF - they made it slim by taking the bloody battery out but then they they just stuck the batter on the back of the helmet! So now I have to have two things stuck to my helmet not one, and there's a ton of wires to hide.

Buyer beware.

thewoot · Mar 15, 2013

WAfatboy said:
Having just bought two of these things I thought I'd just post a note of caution for all you victims of advertising like me who make impulse purchases!

I've always hated previous BT headsets because they look so dorky and bulky on the outside of the helmet but when I saw the promos for the new SMH10r I thought I had found the perfect product - small, low profile and light.

What I failed to realise in my excitement was that unlike the previous bulky units this one has a battery pack that is 'designed' to stick to the back of the helmet!

WTF - they made it slim by taking the bloody battery out but then they they just stuck the batter on the back of the helmet! So now I have to have two things stuck to my helmet not one, and there's a ton of wires to hide.

Buyer beware.

Just tuck it in your helmet is you think it looks weird. I almost bought it but it loses an hour of talk/media or 3 hours standby so I just stuck with the regular one. Plus, jog dial is nice. Now if only they brought the volume back to normal I'd be happy.

Gunny Fitz · Mar 15, 2013

Yeah I saw that one at the DC Bike Show and though its slimer you do have to deal with ANOTHER unit to tape to helmet. Hence reason I will just keep the older version which works great with the large dial jog device as stated above.

WAfatboy · Mar 15, 2013

Yep, another impulse purchase! Mind you, that's how I ended up with such an amazing bike!

Trauma · Mar 15, 2013

Ha - as I am reading this, just arrived at my favorite pub wearing my helmet with my Sena! Yea, I saw the new slim one too, and was thinking about ordering it and selling mine - then someone commented on the battery pack being external, and I dropped the idea!

kensteele · Mar 15, 2013

thanks for the heads up, for me anything stuck on the outside of the helmet is a non-starter.

Trauma · Mar 15, 2013

It's really convenient for me. I can listen to tunes, take calls, monitor my radar, and talk to the wife/passenger (so she can tell me when to slow down)!

bradp51 · Mar 15, 2013

WAfatboy said:
Having just bought two of these things I thought I'd just post a note of caution for all you victims of advertising like me who make impulse purchases!

I've always hated previous BT headsets because they look so dorky and bulky on the outside of the helmet but when I saw the promos for the new SMH10r I thought I had found the perfect product - small, low profile and light.

What I failed to realise in my excitement was that unlike the previous bulky units this one has a battery pack that is 'designed' to stick to the back of the helmet!

WTF - they made it slim by taking the bloody battery out but then they they just stuck the batter on the back of the helmet! So now I have to have two things stuck to my helmet not one, and there's a ton of wires to hide.

Buyer beware.

Yes noticed that in the diagrams so decided to stay away. The other thing for me was that I want to plug in some moulded earpieces and the 10R does not seem to have that facility. I was also concerned about adjusting buttons with gloves on. Thanks for the info WA

Duc1199 · Mar 15, 2013

WAfatboy said:
Having just bought two of these things I thought I'd just post a note of caution for all you victims of advertising like me who make impulse purchases!

I've always hated previous BT headsets because they look so dorky and bulky on the outside of the helmet but when I saw the promos for the new SMH10r I thought I had found the perfect product - small, low profile and light.

What I failed to realise in my excitement was that unlike the previous bulky units this one has a battery pack that is 'designed' to stick to the back of the helmet!

WTF - they made it slim by taking the bloody battery out but then they they just stuck the batter on the back of the helmet! So now I have to have two things stuck to my helmet not one, and there's a ton of wires to hide.

Buyer beware.

Dont be discouraged, I have the same unit installed on my Bell RS1.
I did a informal review that can be found here:

http://ducati1199.com/gear/3033-rider-rider-comms-2.html

I didnt like the thought of the battery being on the outside in the back of the helmet so I intially thought to install under that neck roll, as shown in the picture on the link.. After some thought I decided to install the battery totally inside the neck roll and it's completly hidden! no issues with fit etc..

I performed the same install on My Arai Rx7, and Nolan N86 and was able to find a sweet spot in both that allowed me to completly enclosed the battery in the helmet, this might be a possible solution for you as well.

Capt CF · Mar 15, 2013

I have the older unit as well. Question - does Siri blast you at like 10x the volume of your music? I can have my music (I have the earbud adapter) just where I want it and then go to skip track and Siri comes in so loud it is almost painful.

WAfatboy · Mar 15, 2013

Duc1199 said:
Dont be discouraged, I have the same unit installed on my Bell RS1.
I did a informal review that can be found here:

http://ducati1199.com/gear/3033-rider-rider-comms-2.html

I didnt like the thought of the battery being on the outside in the back of the helmet so I intially thought to install under that neck roll, as shown in the picture on the link.. After some thought I decided to install the battery totally inside the neck roll and it's completly hidden! no issues with fit etc..

I performed the same install on My Arai Rx7, and Nolan N86 and was able to find a sweet spot in both that allowed me to completly enclosed the battery in the helmet, this might be a possible solution for you as well.

Thanks for the support I have now got over my initial rant and have installed the unit, with the battery hidden inside the neck roll (which I hadn't really considered earlier) and you are right, it is fine. So I'm a lot happier than I was earlier. The unit is paired and with the Bluetooth transmitter with the laser detector and the phone. Ready to ride.

WAfatboy · Mar 16, 2013

Went for a run, all works flawlessly.

Helmet (smh10r) now on charge (too much hassle to take off the unit so take the helmet to the charging unit). Will have to create a charging station for the helmet in the garage.

The sm10 transmitter on the bike has a 12v charger - wondering whether I can hard wire that in so one less battery to worry about.

thewoot · Mar 16, 2013

Capt CF said:
I have the older unit as well. Question - does Siri blast you at like 10x the volume of your music? I can have my music (I have the earbud adapter) just where I want it and then go to skip track and Siri comes in so loud it is almost painful.

Yes, all the damn time. They never fixed that problem. I installed the beta but haven't tried it out yet. It's supposed to being the volume back up for media.

bradp51 · Mar 16, 2013

WAfatboy said:
Went for a run, all works flawlessly.

Helmet (smh10r) now on charge (too much hassle to take off the unit so take the helmet to the charging unit). Will have to create a charging station for the helmet in the garage.

The sm10 transmitter on the bike has a 12v charger - wondering whether I can hard wire that in so one less battery to worry about.

Mate is there a hole in the slim 10R to be able to plug in a 3.5mm standard stereo plug for attaching custom fitted earbuds or any standard earpieces ?

Does not look like it on the website but nothing better than checking with someone that has one.

cheers

Pouakai · Mar 16, 2013

How is this unit at speed (125+mph) ? or the original ?
Does the unit catch the wind and create additional wind noise ?
How is the communication at those speeds ? (cos I always feel like having long winded discussions when going quick - NOT! It's usually just to scream "...." or "Bogie!")
P

Germcati · Mar 16, 2013

Hmmmm interesting. I currently own a Scala G9, wonder how this unit compares in terms of sound quality.

Trauma · Mar 16, 2013

WAfatboy said:
Went for a run, all works flawlessly.

Helmet (smh10r) now on charge (too much hassle to take off the unit so take the helmet to the charging unit). Will have to create a charging station for the helmet in the garage.

The sm10 transmitter on the bike has a 12v charger - wondering whether I can hard wire that in so one less battery to worry about.

An advantage of the older Sena- easy to pop off for charging ang periodic downloading of upgrades.

WAfatboy · Mar 16, 2013

bradp51 said:
Mate is there a hole in the slim 10R to be able to plug in a 3.5mm standard stereo plug for attaching custom fitted earbuds or any standard earpieces ?

Does not look like it on the website but nothing better than checking with someone that has one.

cheers

No, no 3.5mm jack.

WAfatboy · Mar 16, 2013

Pouakai said:
How is this unit at speed (125+mph) ? or the original ?
Does the unit catch the wind and create additional wind noise ?
How is the communication at those speeds ? (cos I always feel like having long winded discussions when going quick - NOT! It's usually just to scream "...." or "Bogie!")
P

I'm only using it for laser detector, I can hear the woman telling me there's a laser ahead clearly at 160kph when wearing earplugs. I can't imagine listening to music though.

Capt CF · Mar 16, 2013

thewoot said:
Yes, all the damn time. They never fixed that problem. I installed the beta but haven't tried it out yet. It's supposed to being the volume back up for media.

ok, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't me. I looked around, but it doesn't look like Siri has an independent volume control so I'll have to live with it unless Sena fixes it.

Sena SMH10R Bluetooth headset

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