Modern Vespa

I purchased the Sena SMH 10-11 about two weeks ago from Revzilla.com for $165.00 after previously getting the HJC Chatterbox. First off I will say that there is absolutely no comparison in sound and quality between the two. The Sena is just a better product and its cheaper. I got this unit mainly to listen to music on my rides and hear the GPS directions when I get temporarily miss oriented. Being able to talk on the phone for me is an added bonus but honestly, I'd rather be enjoying my ride to a nice soundtrack then talking on the phone, usually to my mom who's mad that I never call her.
Installation was a breeze on my Shoei Neotec. I used the boom mic instead of the wired mic since its a flip up helmet. Also that is the main difference between the smh 10 and 10-11 is this version you can Velcro the boom mic anywhere in the helmet which is needed on most modulars since you have to move the cradle for the Bluetooth unit back further then on a regular full face. The unit has an mp3 jack for those that would rather plug your ear buds in. Personally I can't stand the pressure of ear buds in my ear on a long ride.
The sound quality of the tiny speakers is pretty good. Now of course it's not a set of Dr. Drea's Beats but they are plenty loud. In fact, I find myself turning them down while on rides. Even though I don't like using the phone while riding I have made several calls and can say you won't have any trouble hearing the person on the other end nor will they hearing you even on the highway. Riding at 65mph on the highway my dear mom didn't believe me that I was on my scooter. It's that good. Now since I have an IPhone 5, I can use Siri to send texts as well which works surprisingly well. I can't report on the bike to bike conferencing since I don't have any other friends with a Sena, but it says you can connect with 4 other units at once.
The unit itself only has two buttons. The jog wheel which is very easy to use with gloves on, is used for volume control, changing and playing music tracks, and the intercom system. The rear button is used for answering phone calls or activating Siri. You can also set it up to just say "hello" to answer a phone call.
Another great feature is the unit can be charged while riding if need be. A cigarette charger is included that will reach to your helmet. The unit's firmware can also be upgraded via USB which is another nice feature. The battery life is listed at 12hrs talk 10hrs standby but I've only used it for about 5hrs straight and had no problems.
All in all I think this is a great unit with a really good price tag.

Nice revue. May have to try this one. How do you like the Neotec btw?

Thanks Sticky. I love the Neotec. I was using an HJC IS Max BT and I felt it was kind of heavy and noisy, especially on long rides. I got the neotec from a local dealer for $510, which is a lot, but less then they want for it online. I definately think it is a quieter helmet and a little bit lighter. The quality of the helmet is much better then HJC as well and it's ventalation is awesome, especially on really hot days.

just finished mounting mine in my Caberg modluar and paired it with my GPS inprep for the Spain Rally. Like what I see and hear so far.

I hope it works as well for you as it has for me. Have fun at the rally.

Nice review. But you never told us what a Sena whatever whatever is. I assume it is some sort of a sound system from the context. But if I don't know what it is supposed to do it's hard to tell how well it is doing it.

My apologies. I realized after I submitted the review that I should have put that in the subject field.
It is a bluetooth headset for your helmet for communication and for listening to anything that can be streamed over bluetooth.

I have gone back and edited the subject field.

Thank you for this review. I have been hearing nothing but good things about this particular model. I might just buy the bundle and get one for my girlfriend as well

We use the Sena SMH 10 dualset and love it. We use ours mostly for bike to bike talking but they are also paired to my iPhone and Garmin and his generic cell phone. Works perfectly! Helmets are an Arai Signet and my husband wears a Nolan Trilogy - my helmet is fairly quiet and I can hear very well. My husbands Nolan ud pretty noisy and he has a hard time hearing me at highway speeds. We switched out the boom mics with the wired that is super small and a thin as a dime. It just sticks to the chin bar and is never even noticed. The originsl boom mic was a little cumbersome and was annoying as it could sometimes touch your chin or mouth, causing the foam cover to tear and fall of (sound without the foam cover was harsh snd static dounding). Anyway the new dtick on wired mic is grest and cheap upgrade. Can't go wrong with the Sena!

Thanks for this review. I've been looking at several different possibilities for a Bluetooth unit. This was very helpful.

We have the sena SMH10 also and love it. We have 3 paired to each other, the sound between all three bikes is fabulous. The battery life is very long, the large jog dial is simple to use even with gloves on...no complaints whatsoever!

Pricey but it gets glowing reviews. I need to find a dealer who has them and try one. My current helmet is 5 years old so...

Well you definitely get what you pay for with the Neotec. As the dealer put it, like riding cross country in a Cadillac as opposed to a economy car in terms of comfort.

I have the Sena and it's amazing.

How's the volume if you're wearing ear plugs?

That's the best part. I was concerned about it. Still excellent audio even on the highway at 120 km/h.

The maximum setting is just right on the highway. 3/4 on surface streets.

Just used our new SMH-10s for the first time yesterday on leg one of the Picos de los Pirineos Rally. Excellent sound quality and volume for both comms and GPS audio. Very easy to operate. Made comms between DougL and me as lead and trail quite helpful. Three couples on the Rally also have them for keeping in comm and have nothing but praise for them.

My Caberg Kondo helmet has a couple of handy feature specifically for a comm installation, such as a mike boom guide on helmet side and chin guard recess for the mike.