I bought this helmet in April, and am a big fan. The helmet itself is nothing special, full face helmet with the sort of venting you’d expect, all in a matte black finish. It’s the integrated bluetooth that I find particularly useful. Allowing me to listen to music, hands-free answering (or ignoring) of both phone calls and text messages and the use of my phones GPS while riding.
Within two weeks of it’s arrival the speaker inside the helmet failed. I took it all apart and found that one of the soldered connections had broken off. Fortunately I am a little handy and with a bit of cursing and muttering I was able to re-solder it, and popped some marine silicon on there for good measure. It’s worked perfectly since.
The sound quality is so-so, but we’re not lounging on the couch, it provides adequate background music (in the left ear only) for a rider, without drowning out traffic noise. The external volume control (a dial – turn counter clockwise for lower, clockwise for higher) is PERFECT allowing the rider to adjust the volume in town or on the highway with little effort (and can be done with either hand – although the control is on the left side of the helmet).
Although the unit is advertised as having a one button does all (answer/ignore/connect etc) button in the middle of the volume dial, I MUCH prefer using Android apps to make the entire process (except volume control) hands free so I can concentrate on the ride.
Battery capacity depends on use. Non-stop music the battery in the helmet seems to last for about 4 hours. Used in standby mode with a phone I haven’t managed to kill the battery yet (8 hours +).
I know riders have mixed feelings on this, but I feel better knowing that if my daughters school calls while I’m riding I can take the call without having to pull over EVERY time my phone rings. The music is an added bonus, and I can’t recall the last time I rode without it.
The unit is also capable of pairing with like (Blinc) helmets for rider/pillion or rider/rider (with a stated range of approx 1000 meters), but I have not yet had a chance to test this.
Always a question when considering this type of thing … whether to go for an integrated set-up (like your Blinc) or to select the helmet on its own merits and add a separate Bluetooth unit.
Compatibility between units is less of an issue with Bluetooth than with some of the earlier offerings (like GMRS/FRS) , but a separate comm unit does offer the fallback position of replacing the device if it fails (for people less handy with a soldering iron than yourself … LOL!)
Sounds like you’re pleased with your rig – and that’s good
If I’d known you were looking for a new helmet w/Bluetooth, I’d have recommended the Nolan line as they’ve got Bluetooth built in (one of my Supervisor’s has one and swears by it) as well as having a flip-down (or up) protective visor that sits outside and on top of the main visor.
Outside of that, Matte-black is buckwild Mon.
BTW, how does the family like the new addition?
Madeye: Compatability has proven to be a non-issue as of yet, as no one I ride with has any sort of comms (built in or otherwise), so I just choogle along listening to my music. The Blinc unit seems common, and there are replacement units readily available online (newer versions with much more bling), but I was keen on keeping the cost of the unit down, and as this helmet was just under $200 all in it (with Bluetooth) it seemed like a slam dunk.
Certainly is a comfy helmet, so I’ve no complaints at this point.
Patrick: Nolan eh? I’ll keep an eye next time I’m shopping for a new lid, but this one seems fine for now. I’ll someday get to experiment with the communicator part, but the music/gps/phone is enough functionality for now.
I LIKE the matte black, very much.
-GRIN-
New addition? The bike? Lisa likes the look of the CBR over the Symba, Jilly liked the Symba better (or the “red bike” as she refers to it). Jilly is slowly coming around. Everyone mostly rolls their eyes whenever I announce I’ll be skipping out for another ride.
One ‘positive’ in regards to your new (Biker) ‘lifestyle,’ Since Jilly’s getting used to you on a bike, she won’t be so impressed with some dude in the future just because he has a bike!
It’ll be like:
Her Friend: Hey, check out the guy on the bike! Pretty hot huh?!
Jilly: Big f***ing deal…My dad’s bike is way cooler!
It’ll be the same with firearms as well!