Blueant Interphone communicator

I've had these Blueant Interphone communicators for a few weeks now and thought I would post my opinion, likes and dislikes with the system. For those who aren't familiar with the Interphone it's a communicator that uses wireless bluetooth technology, heres a link to their website:
BlueAnt Wireless North America - Bluetooth InterPhone motorbike helmet handsfree and intercom kit
The interphone system has many functions as do most communication systems. What I was looking for, in order of importance to me, was (1) rider to passenger communication, (2) bike to bike communication (3) to get music from my phone to the helmet via bluetooth and (4) finally a feature I didn't care anything about, cell phone capability.
I bought 2 headsets, which are sold seperately, and found they appear to be well made. After charging the units, I installed the units on my helmets. Installation is accomplished by either a clamp system or double sided tape. Installation was simple and took less than 15 minutes per helmet which included removing the liner to hide all wiring. "Pairing" the headset to my phone (LG) was simple and straight-forward. I was more than a little disapointed (MAD) to find the headset would not receive music from my phone. I don't know if its a phone issue or headset issue but the interphone system apparently can't be used to receive music via bluetooth.
Pairing the two headsets together for communication wasn't as simple, as the directions were a little vague. After a few tries,I was able to get the right combination and get the two paired.
It was time for a road test. The system worked well for rider/passenger communication up to about 55 mph. The one speaker didn't provide enough volume for me to hear at speeds greater than that. The company says audible at speeds up to 80 mph, maybe on a Goldwing with an ultra-quite helmet. The headsets communicate at a distance great enough for bike to bike talk but again, audible only at speeds less than 60 mph. The headsets will only communicate with one other bluetooth item at a time, it can be set to "phone" mode or "communicator" mode and only one other communicator can be linked. In other words, its not possible to talk with your passenger and another bike at the same time or two other riders at the same time.
Finally, the phone feature was a pleasant surprise. Now before you guys start flaming me for using the phone on the bike, please read all this. The headset beeps when you have a call. You can ignore the call by staying silent or simply say a word to answer the phone, never having to remove your hands from the bars or eyes from the road. If you decide to take the take the call, tell the caller to hold on while you find a safe place to pull over and then have your conversation, all without having to remove your helmet or take the phone out of your pocket/bag. I DON"T RECOMMEND RIDING WHILE TALKING ON THE PHONE! Now I understand some of you guys are glued to the job by your phone and you don't want it near when you ride, for me, I get very few calls other than my wife or kids and I like that they can have access to me if needed.
The interphone is relatively in expensive compared to others and works ok for my style riding, mostly back road and mountain twisties with the majority of my speed being under 60. If you do alot of miles on the super-slab with speeds greater than that, these are probably not for you.

 

i use the scala-rider teamset by cardo. same features as yours but also allows me to 3-way my passenger into a phone conversation if need be. pros - i'm never out of touch with my phone (sad, but necessary), never out of touch with my pillion, and does in fact stream music from my phone via bluetooth. pairs with my audible gps as well. stays charged for almost a week of constant use. cons - once i mounted the receiver, it turned my once silent helmet at high speeds into a wind bucket. if i do any long distances, ear plugs.

sets come pre paired. linking my phone was just as simple as linking any bluetooth ear unit.
the whole idea that they're useable up to 80mph is BS. the unit that's mounted to the side of your helmet via clip-on completely disrupts the smooth airflow and creates much noise rendering it useless at speeds over 60mph. so any highway conversations is not gonna happen. but since i'm usually cruising to work and back around town (35mph max, yeah right) it works just fine.
with a price tag at around $225US i still recommend. also, since my phone is voice command capable, i can pretty much tell it what to do. ie: play music, call voice mail, call work etc...

 

The Interphone will connect to gps and allow a passenger to 3 way in after a call was received also(according to the dealer). I haven't used those functions so I don't know how well they work. The Scala and Blueant look almost identical, I even thought they were the same with different marketing but I found they are in fact different. The main reason I chose Blueant was the bike to bike which scala offers on their more expensive Q2 system. I paid $125 each, I think the scala Q2 is near $200 each. Is my thinking correct that the Scala has two speakers instead of only one? I would think that would have to be an advantage.

 

correct, there are 2 speakers, a bonus. but since bluetooth is a mono signal, technically you're hearing that mono signal through 2 speakers, or faux-stereo.

 

BlueAnt

I have one of the Interphone units also and seems to work well - i agree that they are useless at speed. I have had trouble getting the voice answer to work - i will have to have another go...

 

Bluetooth is neither mono nor stereo. It a digital protocol that allows data to be wirelessly transferred between bluetooth units. The first bluetooth implementations I ever saw were actually to allow wireless printing between laptops/pda and printer. The software implementation controls whether mono or stereo sound is digitized and then passed between bluetooth units. Check out the IOGear GBMH201 Headphones if you want to see an example of stereo bluetooth headphones.

 

For the money i think the Interphone is great value. Works well and gives me cell phone for incoming calls (callers can't even tell i am riding the reception\clarity is that good). They are easy to clip off the helmet and pop in you pocket when off the bike.

I agree with 'Stellenbrav' in regards to music - i took it for granted it would work just like a hands free headset - but no luck

But all in all i give it a thumbs up. I get a new GPS soon so will try the bluetooth connectivity with that and post the results...

 

Has anyone had any experience with the new Blue tooth Chatter Box. I have not had a chance to use it yet as I am waiting for my new stereo blue tooth phone to come in. It also is suppose to do intercom, phone and music.

 

now i dont know whitch one to try out

 

BlueAnt Interphone

I am pleased with the operation of the BlueAnt Interphone after having used it a lot more since my last post. It is a great Intercom & a good hands free for the mobile.

It has "voice answer" when the mobile rings (just shout at it to answer) and you get instant privacy from the pillion when the call comes in, you can restore the intercom with pillion at the press of a button.

Intercom & phone reception is great - though i have not yet tried the intercom across two bikes. It claims to have 150 ft range & would love to test that.

Mounting to the helmet is simple and you have 2 options, "screw fix" or "clamp on".

It does get hard to hear when you are at speed or if it is unusually windy.

I gave up trying to get the voice activation to work with my mobile phone\PDA (i have a HTC Touch Diamond). It just does not work - i think the fault is too much ambient noise and may lie with the phone not the Interphone.

My only negative with the whole system is that it will not pipe music from the phone top the headpeice - this would have been fantstic!

All up i give it a thumbs up!

 

I agree with your assessment completely. I'm very satisfied with the units at slower speeds other than the no music feature.
I have had no trouble with the voice activation of the phone, it has worked perfectly with the LG phones I have.The headset has to be in "phone mode" to answer a call, it will not answer while in "intercom mode".
For the money, I don't think anything else on the market compares at this time.

 

I have used my chatterbox for about 2 months now and love it. Besides it cutting out when I come to a stop or when taking, off it works great. I like being able to listen to music (in stereo) and answer the phone which is set by the phone to answer automatically after two rings.