Popped in to Helmet City in Kiddlington to pick up a couple of pin locks for Carole’s X-Lite and look at a Shoei GT Air 3. Whilst I was there, I had a look at the new Sena 60S and had quite an informative chat with one of the guys who uses one daily. In his opinion, the latest Karman 2.0 speakers are a big improvement as is the much extended battery life. I was curious about the Sena Mesh 3 because I read somewhere, despite being backwards compatible with Sena Mesh 2.0, you actually have to switch off the 3 and revert to 2.0. The point of this post is, Sena have released a firmware update for the 50S, 50R, Sena Mesh (Neotech/GT Air 2) and Sena SRL 3 that makes them Sena Mesh 3. Although I’ve not tried it, I read somewhere that Sena have also made it easier to connect to other bluetooth brands. Andy
Actually it’s Interphone who released an update for the Cardo that has made it easier (still not easy and has limitations) not Sena. Andy
Tried the, at the time, much touted Sena universal intercom with my 10U headset. As you say; there were imitations which frankly made it unusable. The later Mesh headsets, I now have an SRL3 in my Neotec3, worked really well on a recent tour. We all had Sena headsets, the other two had a new (bought for the trip) Sena Spider RT1 and an old Sena 10U. The later bought a Sena +Mesh, an adapter that connected to this 10U as a headset and thus gave him Mesh compatibility. All three of us were on Mesh 3.0. It worked better than the old 10U headsets, better range as a group and automatic reconnection worked flawlessly whereas with mine and my mates 10U this wasn't always reliable. For part of the trip I was only riding with the 10U/+Mesh rider, I would say for this that range was comparable with the Sena bike-to-bike comms. It's the daisy-chaining of multiple riders with Mesh that extends the range. Mesh did seem to increase battery consumption. I had to charge my helmet at lunch from a small power-bank to have all day comms. Switching off the mic, an easy long press of the Mesh button, helped with this. With regular, non Mesh, helmet to helmet comms this wasn't an issue. The +Mesh and the Spider RT1 didn't suffer from this issue, maybe they have higher capacity batteries? The introduction of the Sena Wave app seems, on the face of it, to be something of a Rosetta Stone moment. However, my two touring buddies, being technophobes, couldn't be arsed to try it out. This apparently enables long range (unlimited) comms via VoIP. According to the blurb this is cross brand. You obviously need a data plan and a modest allowance for this to work. Apparently will switch between Mesh and VoIP, favouring the former when in range. This last point I reckon requires Sena hardware. The +Mesh is interesting and worked well in conjunction with my friend's old Sena 10U. This regular version is knobbled to only work with Sena headsets. However, Sena do a more expensive version called the MeshPort Blue that will connect to any brand of headset. This enables you to join a Sena Mesh network.
Yet to find precise details on phone data consumption for the Wave app but it would appear to be a big step forward with the app working with other brands. I’m probably going to buy the 60S for Carole because despite it not fitting the GT Air 3, it is VAT free if bought together. Andy
Why not the SRL3 which fits neatly inside the helmet? The data usage for Wave, according to Sena, is about 2/3 of the way down this page.
I have an SRL 3 from the Neotech 3 that is being returned under the guarantee. The 60S is for an X-Lite 803. Thanks for the link. Andy
@Bumpkin, read through as much of the blurb in your link as I could before losing the will to live, I’m with your technophobe buddies on this one The app doesn’t add anything that I feel I must have and is definitely overkill for just the two of us, even when we are touring with friends. It’s bad enough putting up with their inane humour around the dinner table without having to put up with it during the day as well Andy
I am using the Sena 60S and can vouch for the Wave app. SWMBO turned her's on as she left work in the city, I meanwhile, did the same from home and boom, instant connection. I am on an unlimited data plan, so can't speak for data consumption, but as soon as you are in range of each other, it flips to open or closed mesh (depending on your settings) Speakers are definitely better and louder (which is a plus for me) as I often make/receive calls on the go, as well as listen to Spotify (don't hate me) and or twat nav instructions. Bit of a techno geek, so love the ability it affords me, all of which I can control through the DMS bluetooth module on the bike.
