Over the years Ive had both makes of units and have come to some conclusions.
I haven't had any of the mesh systems yet just bluetooth. I originally had a scala rider then a riderFM, neither of these were very good then I got a sena 5Sfm and it was head and shoulders above the scala. I stuck with that for a while then got a 20Sevo as a mate had a 20S, bike to bike this worked really well, battery life was ok but not as good as the 5S. I got the wife a 10S and they paired quite easily and was pretty clear comms to be honest. As some may know the Senas are not guaranteed waterproof like the Cardos are but I never had an issue in the wet. Then when I got the nav six the issues started, add to that my mate got a freecom4 that he really liked. I could pair to him universally but that meant I had no nav or music when paired together. I pair my nav to my phone then the nav to the comms, this avoids confusion between the channels, when I did that with the sena i could play the mp3s stored on the navs sdcard ok and I could play the music on my iPhone, but it was hit or miss whether I could skip tracks etc with either the wheel or touching the nav screen, mostly it didn't work, and for the most part I thought it was the nav or my iPhone, never thought it could be the sena.
So i took the plunge and got a pair of freecom4+ units and sold the senas.
First impressions are they are a lot lighter and smaller, the 20Sevo and freecom4+ are both brands top range bluetooth units. I prefer the mount on the Sena as it feels a little more secure but I love the size and narrowness of the cardo, it doesnt catch my kriega rucksack straps turning the volume up or down. First points to the cardo. The mount on the cardo is just a clip on while the sena is a bolt on, initially i thought the clip was a a bit cheap but it holds the unit really well and makes the whole setup lighter and simpler, again another point to the cardo. As for connecting, connecting the exact same way as the sena was, the cardo, nav and phone all worked perfectly, I can control my phone music with either the wiz wheel, nav screen or even the cardo and my phone is not connected directly to the cardo either, go figure!
Installation wise I found the sena slightly easier as the speakers are slightly smaller (i'll come to the speakers later) and the wires thinner and easier to route in the helmet, the cardo uses a phone jack plug so you could use buds or different speakers. Because of the jack plugs they are a lot bulkier than the sena so harder to hide in the helmet but the cables are a lot stronger.
Now for the speakers, the 4+ comes with JBL speakers as standard and boy do they sound good, if you just listen to music and directions this is the way to go, they blow the sena into the weeds, sound quality of music is way better.
So its looking cardo all the way then I hear you say, well it has its faults or niggles. Firstly you can only adjust settings using either their app or the cardo community website, to make things worse you cant do all the settings with the app and you cant do all the settings with the web page, you need to use both!! Thats just crap, senas phone app and web app is far better, and failing that you can enter the senas menu without either if you want, sena gains some ground back.
Rider to passenger comms I think I prefer the sena, at the moment the wife's mic is picking up exhaust noise every time she says something and its not as clear as the sena was, this maybe just a setting, but unless you carry a computer with you and have the unit connected to your phone and the app installed you cant adjust anything on the fly, and as I connect using the nav as a bridge its a bloody pain. Both units have FM radios and the sena wins this battle as well, using the same stations the sena is a lot clearer but neither are brilliant.
Both units can charge while riding but the cardo needs a usb port for its cable to plug in while the sena uses either a cig style socket or usb, the sena plugs in at the rear and the cardo at the bottom, the cardo's socket is a lot better fit and more secure.
I haven't tried bike to bike yet but i cant see why it wouldn't be as could as the sena was.
Conclusion, as I ride a lot on my own listening to music or podcasts the cardo wins hands down as its connection is more stable and the sound far better, but if you talk on comms to your pillion and not a music listener I think the sena wins as its clearer on comms, it also connects to more riders than the freecom can, but I don't know if I would want to talk to more than three people on a ride but that is a personal thing.
SO i'll give the cardo a good go, I'm off across europe next week so that will be a good test for its battery life as well.
I haven't had any of the mesh systems yet just bluetooth. I originally had a scala rider then a riderFM, neither of these were very good then I got a sena 5Sfm and it was head and shoulders above the scala. I stuck with that for a while then got a 20Sevo as a mate had a 20S, bike to bike this worked really well, battery life was ok but not as good as the 5S. I got the wife a 10S and they paired quite easily and was pretty clear comms to be honest. As some may know the Senas are not guaranteed waterproof like the Cardos are but I never had an issue in the wet. Then when I got the nav six the issues started, add to that my mate got a freecom4 that he really liked. I could pair to him universally but that meant I had no nav or music when paired together. I pair my nav to my phone then the nav to the comms, this avoids confusion between the channels, when I did that with the sena i could play the mp3s stored on the navs sdcard ok and I could play the music on my iPhone, but it was hit or miss whether I could skip tracks etc with either the wheel or touching the nav screen, mostly it didn't work, and for the most part I thought it was the nav or my iPhone, never thought it could be the sena.
So i took the plunge and got a pair of freecom4+ units and sold the senas.
First impressions are they are a lot lighter and smaller, the 20Sevo and freecom4+ are both brands top range bluetooth units. I prefer the mount on the Sena as it feels a little more secure but I love the size and narrowness of the cardo, it doesnt catch my kriega rucksack straps turning the volume up or down. First points to the cardo. The mount on the cardo is just a clip on while the sena is a bolt on, initially i thought the clip was a a bit cheap but it holds the unit really well and makes the whole setup lighter and simpler, again another point to the cardo. As for connecting, connecting the exact same way as the sena was, the cardo, nav and phone all worked perfectly, I can control my phone music with either the wiz wheel, nav screen or even the cardo and my phone is not connected directly to the cardo either, go figure!
Installation wise I found the sena slightly easier as the speakers are slightly smaller (i'll come to the speakers later) and the wires thinner and easier to route in the helmet, the cardo uses a phone jack plug so you could use buds or different speakers. Because of the jack plugs they are a lot bulkier than the sena so harder to hide in the helmet but the cables are a lot stronger.
Now for the speakers, the 4+ comes with JBL speakers as standard and boy do they sound good, if you just listen to music and directions this is the way to go, they blow the sena into the weeds, sound quality of music is way better.
So its looking cardo all the way then I hear you say, well it has its faults or niggles. Firstly you can only adjust settings using either their app or the cardo community website, to make things worse you cant do all the settings with the app and you cant do all the settings with the web page, you need to use both!! Thats just crap, senas phone app and web app is far better, and failing that you can enter the senas menu without either if you want, sena gains some ground back.
Rider to passenger comms I think I prefer the sena, at the moment the wife's mic is picking up exhaust noise every time she says something and its not as clear as the sena was, this maybe just a setting, but unless you carry a computer with you and have the unit connected to your phone and the app installed you cant adjust anything on the fly, and as I connect using the nav as a bridge its a bloody pain. Both units have FM radios and the sena wins this battle as well, using the same stations the sena is a lot clearer but neither are brilliant.
Both units can charge while riding but the cardo needs a usb port for its cable to plug in while the sena uses either a cig style socket or usb, the sena plugs in at the rear and the cardo at the bottom, the cardo's socket is a lot better fit and more secure.
I haven't tried bike to bike yet but i cant see why it wouldn't be as could as the sena was.
Conclusion, as I ride a lot on my own listening to music or podcasts the cardo wins hands down as its connection is more stable and the sound far better, but if you talk on comms to your pillion and not a music listener I think the sena wins as its clearer on comms, it also connects to more riders than the freecom can, but I don't know if I would want to talk to more than three people on a ride but that is a personal thing.
SO i'll give the cardo a good go, I'm off across europe next week so that will be a good test for its battery life as well.