Inexpensive Bluetooth Review BT-S2

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Daniel
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I have more than 300 miles using this now since last weekend, figured I'd give an update.

First, I had around 5.5 hours on one charge with it constantly standing by, and giving me instructions from my gps. I also listened to music for about 1.5 hours of the 5.5, in addition to having it synched to the gps. I wish I could have pushed it further to see how the long the charge would have lasted, but I was riding home today, and didn't want to chance losing it on the way.

As for what I originally said I wanted it for, as long as it doesn't die a premature death, it is worth more than I spent on it. My wife and I took a weekend trip, and it worked flawlessly with google maps, synched to my Samsung Galaxy S6. There are a couple minor annoyances, hardly worth mentioning. There is a slight crackle in the left earpiece when the gps is up to full volume. I have never noticed it while playing music. It is hardly worth mentioning, esp because I never use it at full volume. Which brings me to the second. When powered on, the unit boots up to the highest setting for volume. The (+) and (-) buttons on the top change track when listening to music, and adjust the volume using long presses. The gps isn't really audible long enough at any one time to allow volume adjustment. I suppose I could put music onto adjust the volume, then kill the music. But, I just gave the (-) a long press for about 2 - 3 seconds after turning it on, and that put the volume at a usable level for the gps.

I may occasionally use this for music, and may even receive a call or 2. This unit performs very well for the reason I purchased it, which is gps. I am still debating whether I am going to purchase a 2nd for my wife's helmet.
 
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ST Gui

240Robert
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As for what I originally said I wanted it for, as long as it doesn't die a premature death, it is worth more than I spent on it.
Then you got a really good deal!


Daniel said:
I am still debating whether I am going to purchase a 2nd for my wife's helmet.
That way your wife can talk to you!

Oh... I see what you mean. :rofl1:
 
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I just got a couple of these units and while I haven't mounted them on helmets just yet, the Bluetooth pairing operation went fine and they seem solidly built.

I'll report back when I have actually used them.

Pete
 

EASt

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FWIW: This thread inspired me to try a cheap unit out. I ended up with the LX-R6 from LexinMoto. It was on sale at Amazon for $43 last week and had largely good reviews. It's Sena compatible.

It's a well constructed unit, and the performance is predictable. The main reason I chose it is that the headphone jack into the unit is a standard plug. Nothing proprietary, so I could use what ever in-ear listening speakers I preferred.

Most importantly, the company has instantaneous, considerate, and creative customer support via email. I was very impressed. Hopefully, the unit performs equally.
 

ST Gui

240Robert
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I somehow missed your video in post #11. The audio quality is really impressive. Were you talking to another rider or pillion or on making a call? Even at the current princely sum of $36 it's a really good deal.
 
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Daniel
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I somehow missed your video in post #11. The audio quality is really impressive. Were you talking to another rider or pillion or on making a call? Even at the current princely sum of $36 it's a really good deal.
That is not my video. It is one of the videos I watched, along with reading a few dozen reviews before purchasing. The video is a couple of fellas riding in Europe, probably in the UK. They were communicating bike to bike. I believe the gentleman on the ST was using a Sena, the one off camera using the BT-S2. I agree the audio between them is impressive, but my main reason for posting that video link was to show it is compatible with Sena unit . Someone had posted they believed otherwise, and asked for direct proof it is Sena compatible. ( I also posted the instructions to synch the 2 units which is posted in the video's comments).
 

Andrew Shadow

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Someone had posted they believed otherwise, and asked for direct proof it is Sena compatible.
That was me who asked. It was not because I believed otherwise but because I was not sure. I was asking for confirmation only because if it didn't sync with a Sena it would not work for me. I have ordered one based on your review- I never doubted you for a minute! Nice find- thanks.
 

ibike2havefun

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Mine arrived last night, and I discovered it between my front door and the storm door this morning, half an hour before we left for a car - based vacation. So it will sit on my desk until we return.
 
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Daniel
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That was me who asked. It was not because I believed otherwise but because I was not sure. I was asking for confirmation only because if it didn't sync with a Sena it would not work for me. I have ordered one based on your review- I never doubted you for a minute! Nice find- thanks.
I hope the wording in my post did not offend you. I could be wrong, I often am, but it seems like you were offended by what I wrote. I was just stating from memory why I posted the link to the video, for I was too lazy to go back and re-read the thread. I apologize if my wording was offensive.
 

Andrew Shadow

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Absolutely no offense taken whatsoever. Sorry if I gave that impression- it wasn't intended. I am grateful for your purchase and the review thereof. I ride with someone who has a Sena 20S and for reasons to lengthy to get in to here I needed a way to communicate with him. However, I simply had a hard time swallowing the Sena pricing- they are proud of their product! This solves my dilemma at a much more reasonable price- thank you!
 

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I had just ordered a pair last week. The wife and I just used it for a 4 day 1K mile ride and I have to admit I was pretty impressed. Even at 80mph highway drone we could hear each other, although not 100% clearly on occasion.

Granted we only used the intercom feature but casual conversation got us about 7 hours per charge.
 
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I'll add my quick review, I purchased a BT-S2 unit from China via eBay, and installed the speaker/mike into my Arai Profile helmet. I've only used the unit as a bluetooth headset to listen to music, but it works perfectly well. I have a pair of moulded earplugs that I also use, and the combination made for very pleasant travelling over a 350km ride in the weekend. I had the volume at maximum and occasionally wished for a little more but my earplugs do a pretty good job of blocking out noise. The battery life was longer than my 4 hour ride, pairing to my iPhone 7 was instant.
 
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Ditto - I bought two of them and gave one to cousin/riding buddy. It worked fine in phone, music & intercom mode.

Incredible deal - and they went on sale for $29 each on Friday.
 

ST Gui

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Gotta love amazon. I thought about getting one of these for my street helmet when they were $35. And Friday they were $29? And now they're $45-50.
 
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My .02. Picked up one of these when this thread first started, then had to wait a couple weeks for it to come in. The a week or so more to get a chance to try it out. haven't ridden the ST with it yet, but on the Voyager, I'm not loving it. With the volume on the phone and the unit, I can barely hear it at highway speeds. I have a Scorpion Exo710 Helmet and wear foam earplugs. I've noticed that I have some real wind turbulence with the V, so that's not helping. Just got the ST back together yesterday, but I'm still driving my NTM Ram to make sure all is good there before my "warranty" runs out.
 
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I got mine from Gearbest - 31.99. Not sure if they still have them at that price.

Got to ride the ST with this headset today. Works a lot better, but still have to have everything at max volume. But in the clear air over the low stock windshield, I could hear it. Haven't tried a call with it yet.

Edit: Don't know why, but on the way home, the buffeting at head level was pretty bad, and again I had trouble hearing. Just an aside, my hearing isn't the best anyway, I have tinnitus and I'm sure that doesn't help. May just pull this thing from the helmet an go on the old school way.
 
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ST Gui

240Robert
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I just now ordered one from gearbest.com for $29.99. I also got the registered tracking but it was deleted during the payment process. It would have been around $31.04.
 

ibike2havefun

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Mine also came from GearBest, for about $30-$35 though I do not remember the exact number. One word of caution: expect to get a deluge of promotional messages from them afterward, until you un-subscribe from their list.

I've used it on the few rides I've managed since it arrived, and found the following.

  • The volume delivered to my ears is VERY sensitive to / dependent on the placement of the speakers- just a hair off and you can expect to hear very little. But, when they are lined up well, it is certainly hear-able, and quite clear. Even with my earplugs in, I have no trouble hearing and understanding the guidance info from my phone-based GPS. (Side note: I use an earplug design / model that has a tiny channel in it, which is supposed to diminish wind noise but still allow ambient background sounds through. They do their job nicely, and do not seem to interfere with the audio from the headset.)
  • Every time I don my helmet there's now the extra step of reaching in to get the earphones juuuuuuust so, or they are uncomfortable. You'll spend a fair amount of time early on searching for that sweet spot. Get them close then do the final adjustments with the helmet still on your head- you'll never get it right (and certainly not consistently so) if you don and doff and don and doff.
  • I've yet to use the microphone, either for a phone call or for an intercom chat (I generally ride alone), so I can't weigh in on that aspect.
  • It is as well that the mike boom is very flexible, though, because I can foresee a time when the foam anti-wind noise wrapper around the mike is going to annoy me. (And, does anyone have suggestions on how to clean it and where to obtain replacements? I can see it getting pretty ratty, pretty fast.)
  • The FM radio is prone to digital static and that incredibly irritating digital choppiness; not sure whether that is electromagnetic interference from the bike, or just inadequate antenna (it uses the headphone wires, I believe).

10/7/17: a further update. I did a 500 mile ride yesterday, about 9.5 hours on the bike. After just a short while the FM radio was unlistenable- too much static, and abrupt station changes if the one it was playing faded too badly. So, I switched to playing music from my phone. It was pleasant enough, but if you want a near-concert hall experience this isn't it. As the battery power diminishes so does the peak volume, so that by the end I was only able to tell which song was playing because I know my library well. I think I managed about 6.5 to 7 hours of continuous listening, then *poof*! the battery was finished and I rode in silence the last couple hours. Can't really complain about that, I guess.

This was my first prolonged experience riding with music, and I found it simultaneously pleasing and worrisome because of my tendency to let the music change my focus from the business at hand. I don't know whether I'll continue the practice or not.

Hope that helps in some way.
 
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