Which Sena kit with Shoei Neotec?

[JKW]

Some advice needed please...

Just ordered a new Neotec and will need a new bluetooth kit for sat nav, music and phone (all through one device) as my current one only fits in my current lid. I like the look of the Sena SMH5 or 10. As I don't need the extended range the 10 offers, the only material difference I can see is the boom mike - on the 5 it's a separate unit that you attach to the inside of the helmet, on the 10 it attaches to the main unit clip mount so the boom runs under (rather than behind) the chin piece. My assumption is that the SMH10 will, therefore, be slightly easier to fit with one less wire to hide and no need to attach the mike boom behind the cheek pad but that the 5 might be 'neater' once fitted.

So the question is... has anyone fit either or both units to a Neotec and are there any reasons to go for one rather than the other?

Thanks...

John

 

[Kevin1626]

The Ride magazine review used a Shoei Neotec. Get's soome good review from our folks here..........

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=338660

 

[spm0912]

I have a smh10 fitted to a neotech. The fixed boom is a pain as it fouls the chin piece and IMHO looks stupid. I've just fitted the remote boom kit, much neater and easy to fit. If you don't want the extra features of the 10 go for the 5 with remote boom. If you have an iPhone and a GPS just be aware that if you want to sync to the both of them separately you will need a 10

 

[Rushy]

Do you want to use the unit for Bike 2 Bike ?, if so get the SMH10 as the range is more suitable. The SMH5s separate mic would be better for a flip front but as stated above you can get a remote boom for the 10...

 

[JKW]

I have a smh10 fitted to a neotech. The fixed boom is a pain as it fouls the chin piece and IMHO looks stupid. I've just fitted the remote boom kit, much neater and easy to fit. If you don't want the extra features of the 10 go for the 5 with remote boom. If you have an iPhone and a GPS just be aware that if you want to sync to the both of them separately you will need a 10

Thanks for that - just what I needed to know.

However, according to the Sena website you can pair the SMH5 with just as many devices as the 10 - or am I misreading this?

 

[JKW]

Further online research revealed this rather good thread on ADVrider including a link to this rather good fitting guide/tutorial - yes, I know it's in French, the English version is at the bottom of the page.

 

[spm0912]

Thanks for that - just what I needed to know.

However, according to the Sena website you can pair the SMH5 with just as many devices as the 10 - or am I misreading this?

When they say pair, they mean with other sena headsets. Only the 10 with the latest firmware will enable you to simultaneously pair with a gps and a smart phone.

What that means is if you have an iPhone you can listen to music, utilise Siri, make and receive calls, as well as get voice prompts from a gps on a separate channel. If you don't need that or the extended range of bike to bike, safe your money and get the 5

 

[JKW]

When they say pair, they mean with other sena headsets. Only the 10 with the latest firmware will enable you to simultaneously pair with a gps and a smart phone.

What that means is if you have an iPhone you can listen to music, utilise Siri, make and receive calls, as well as get voice prompts from a gps on a separate channel. If you don't need that or the extended range of bike to bike, safe your money and get the 5

Sorry - I'm convinced you're wrong on this - the differences in spec between the SMH5 and 10 according to Sena and a review in Rider Magazine are:-

1. shorter battery life (SMH5 - 8 hrs talk, 7 days standby; SMH10 - 12 hrs talk, 10 days standby)
2. range for bike-to-bike (SMH5 - 400 mtrs; SMH10 - 900 mtrs)
3. the SMH5 can't do multi-unit conferencing for bike-to-bike as the 10 can
4. only the 10 has a 3.5mm socket
5. the 5 can only be charged via USB cable - there's no mains or cigarette lighter charging cables for it

Both units both have Bluetooth 3.0 (so can handle clever stuff like track forward, pause, etc.), multi-point functionality (more than one Bluetooth device connected with separate volume levels for each) and upgradeable firmware from the Sena site.

So it's SMH10 at £185 + SMH-A0302 kit at £45 (£230 total) which does a quite a lot of clever stuff that I don't need .... or ..... SMH5 at £102 - think the decision is made!

 

[tanneman]

I have the same set up as spm0912. The SMH10 is a very good unit. The boom mike is a bit silly on a flip front but it doesn't bother me that much. The difference is that you can pair with multiple other SMH units and prioritise them. Not that I would but it is an option. The SMH10 charges through a usb and you'll need a wall plug adapter for the usb. Simple and easy to use on the move.

 

[spm0912]

If you're going down the 5 route check out adventurebikeshop as I'm sure they're cheaper than £102.

Re functionality, if the dual channel thing is likely to be important to you I'd double check that the 5 will do it. It's not Bluetooth 3 but the latest 10 firmware that enables this feature. Again adventurebikeshop can advise on this.

The other advantage of the 5 is its much smaller and less obtrusive on your helmet.

 

[Popell]

...

The other advantage of the 5 is its much smaller and less obtrusive on your helmet.

Much in the same way the 800 is smaller, more agile, almost, if not, as quick as a 1200 - but would you buy it instead of the 12???

Seriously, I have the 10 and fitted it to Shark Evoline flip up.. I actually need the boom mic as the chin bar on the Shark rotates all the way to the back of the helmet - the boom keeps the mic where it's needed when riding in 'open-face' mode..
I understand that the Neotec is not dual approved so should always be closed when riding

Also, whilst good, the range in bike to bike is a potential best and is reduced if a bird farts in the path of the signal so the range on the 5 could be a little limiting.....

 

[JKW]

Much in the same way the 800 is smaller, more agile, almost, if not, as quick as a 1200 - but would you buy it instead of the 12???

Actually, I did! But later sold it and bought an RT instead.

I understand that the Neotec is not dual approved so should always be closed when riding

'Should' being the operative word in that statement.

 

[Popell]

Actually, I did! But later sold it and bought an RT instead.



'Should' being the operative word in that statement.

Understood and I doubt a bobby would either know or be bothered.. i am interested to know how much drag having the chinbar in the raised position, is caused.

 

[JKW]

Understood and I doubt a bobby would either know or be bothered.. i am interested to know how much drag having the chinbar in the raised position, is caused.

Funnily enough, I've seen 2 'bobbies' riding with the flip front up in the last week - both were wearing Neotecs!

On your other point, I only ever ride with the chin bar raised in town/sub-30 mph and behind the RT screen at that speed the only differences are better cooling (which is why I do it) and a different weight distribution. Never done this 'can ride with flip up at 60+' as I don't really see the point - if you're going to do that why not just buy an open-face jobbie?

 

[tony23]

Sorry - I'm convinced you're wrong on this - the differences in spec between the SMH5 and 10 according to Sena and a review in Rider Magazine are:-

1. shorter battery life (SMH5 - 8 hrs talk, 7 days standby; SMH10 - 12 hrs talk, 10 days standby)
2. range for bike-to-bike (SMH5 - 400 mtrs; SMH10 - 900 mtrs)
3. the SMH5 can't do multi-unit conferencing for bike-to-bike as the 10 can
4. only the 10 has a 3.5mm socket
5. the 5 can only be charged via USB cable - there's no mains or cigarette lighter charging cables for it

Both units both have Bluetooth 3.0 (so can handle clever stuff like track forward, pause, etc.), multi-point functionality (more than one Bluetooth device connected with separate volume levels for each) and upgradeable firmware from the Sena site.

So it's SMH10 at £185 + SMH-A0302 kit at £45 (£230 total) which does a quite a lot of clever stuff that I don't need .... or ..... SMH5 at £102 - think the decision is made!

Your right, I have smh5 and can pair with my iPhone for tunes and use my zumo 550 for navigation . Thing I find is so long as I switch on and pair with the zumo first and then the iPhone second it all works well, zumo will interrupt iPhone with directions and then revert back to music from phone.
If I pair phone first and then try zumo second it won't connect, just got to remember the order and there's no problem

 

[Swissdoc]

Further online research revealed this rather good thread on ADVrider including a link to this rather good fitting guide/tutorial - yes, I know it's in French, the English version is at the bottom of the page.

I have the SMH 10 on a Neotec with the SMHA0302 mike. If you put the main unit far enough back on the helmet you don't need to cut anything...

Works a treat...

 

[JKW]

Thanks for all the input folks - as suggested above, I bought the SMH5. Fitting it to the Neotec was a breeze following the tutorial referenced in my post above. (swissdoc - I did snip through the neck collar pad frame as suggested in the tutorial, it just seemed a neater solution than routing everything around the back of it).

The Sena website makes it very easy to update the firmware via a rather clunky but functional piece of PC software, which I did. Pairing with my Android phone was simple...then a slight difficulty...each time I switched on the music player or sat nav on the phone the connection became 'phone only' - i.e. no media support available - which means no tunes, no sat nav and lots of swearing

Having messed about a bit with cancelling pairing and resetting stuff I remembered seeing something about Advanced Bit Rate (whatever that is ) which is one of the set-up options when you connect the unit to your PC - the bumf recommends that you only switch this on in cases of 'bluetooth incompatibility' - switched it on and the unit works fine in all respects.

Am still experimenting with phone and unit volumes for music/sat nav playback and may yet take the option of removing the foam backing on the earpad area covers in the Shoei - but as this looks like a 'one time only' decision I thought I'd see how I go for a while without doing so first. Despite the weather I've not had much chance to get out for a proper run in the last couple of weeks - so testing on the go has been limited but first impressions are that I can hear OK past my earplugs without needing to modify the lid lining at all.

Would recommend the SMH5 as a phone/music/sat nav headset option - if I was in need of bike to bike comms I think I'd have gone for the SMH10, but am really struggling to see why its worth paying all that extra if, like me, you'd rather keep your conversations with other bikers to a minimum

Finally - I don't understand why anyone would want the SMH10 arrangement with the mic on a boom attached to the main unit/clamp...it limits the placement of the unit on your lid and doesn't really work with anything other than an open-face helmet - odd that!

 

[MrB-239]

I've seriously been considering buying the SMH10 - but when I look at the pictures, it's like a hug carbuncle on the side of the helmet. It does not look good. The new SMH10R is a lovely slim-line unit (with the same functionality of the 10) but only when you start to look into it in detail, there's an additional external battery you have to strap on the back of your helmet - which seems to defeat the purpose.

So I think I'll go for the SMH5 like you JKW. Any chance of a picture? It would be nice to see how the 5 looks on the Neotec.

Ta

 

[paul08]

I've seriously been considering buying the SMH10 - but when I look at the pictures, it's like a hug carbuncle on the side of the helmet. It does not look good. The new SMH10R is a lovely slim-line unit (with the same functionality of the 10) but only when you start to look into it in detail, there's an additional external battery you have to strap on the back of your helmet - which seems to defeat the purpose.

So I think I'll go for the SMH5 like you JKW. Any chance of a picture? It would be nice to see how the 5 looks on the Neotec.

Ta

I checked with Sena and you can aso mount the battery inside he helmet, between the shell and the foam inner

 

[MrB-239]

I've just taken my Neotec apart (as far as I could) and I really can't see how you could install a battery in there. Besides, would that not compromise the integral safety cushioning that the helmet provides?

What exactly did Sena say?

Has anyone installed their battery into their helmet?