Test Report for the Interphone Bluetooth bike intercom system
Received in the mail 2 Interphone Bluetooth bike intercom systems the day before a 2500 mile trip with the boys (very therapeutic thing to do from time to time). Anyway, these things performed to spec or exceeded them. I was very impressed. The beauty of these things is that they are very small (mounts to your helmet but you don?t know they are there ? light and sculpted so no wind noise), wireless, battery powered and can be installed in 1 minute or less on any helmet and easy to use.
Have a look at the photos. In photo #1 is everything that you need:
- Interphone Bluetooth unit
- helmet speaker / mic
- charger
- helmet clamp
- instruction manual
General Quality
The units seem rugged enough and are waterproof/resistant (2 days of wet weather did not affect them). The sound quality is very good with lots of adjustable range on the volume ? however there is only 1 helmet speaker (ie. no stereo). Noise is suppressed by a Digital Signal Processor in the unit and foam on the mic and seemed to work very well. The controls on the unit are easy to operate with gloves and while riding there are only 2 buttons to use:
- on/off/intercom/other Bluetooth unit (all the same button)
- volume up/down
Setup
Easy. See photos. I just laid the unit on the inside of my helmet. The Velcro held it in place. This is because we were all swapping them around howver, it could easily be placed under the helmet?s lining.
Bike to Bike Intercom
This was tested and worked very well. Reported to work to 490ft and I had it working to ~700ft. As long as the other rider is in sight these distances seem good. This is a really good feature and allowed 2 riders to communicate (hazards, stop for gas, ok to pass now, etc). No other radios or equipment is needed. I did get a little wind noise from one of the other riders occasionally when his visor and windshield were both fully down. He did not report any noise from me. Only 2 people can communicate at once even if you have more than 2 units.
Bike to Rider
No problem. Easy to turn off if you want to start singing.
Bike to Bluetooth Cell Phone
This was a pleasure to use as it was totally handsfree. Once the Bluetooth cellphone is linked up, it works. To answer, just say something loudly and it answers. To hangup, the unit detects when the other person has disconnected and yours is automatically disconnected. Sound quality was reported very good with no background noise. For handsfree dialing, your cellphone must be equipped for voice prompts. If you are also riding with another bike and using the Intercom feature, you can switch back and forth between cellphone and intercom with 1 push of the main button.
Bike to GPS
I also had the chance to test this as one of the other riders had a Bluetooth GPS unit. Not only did the voice commands from the unit come through (wirelessly), but this GPS unit was also able to act as a MP3 player and he transmitted the music through to the helmet speaker of the Interphone unit.
What it is and What it isn?t
This is a great wireless bike to bike or bike to passenger intercom as well as a Bluetooth receiver. No wires, no battery leads, no install. However, it isn?t a music box. If you mainly want music, you may want to look at other options. However, I read that there are already Bluetooth MP3 and FM players that would work with this unit. Some GPS units have Bluetooth, MP3, FM, XM Satellite and more. The downside is that the Interphone unit is not stereo ? yet.
Cost
I got my 2 units off of EBay for about $90 each.
So far, I am happy. And the bike worked well on the trip too.
Received in the mail 2 Interphone Bluetooth bike intercom systems the day before a 2500 mile trip with the boys (very therapeutic thing to do from time to time). Anyway, these things performed to spec or exceeded them. I was very impressed. The beauty of these things is that they are very small (mounts to your helmet but you don?t know they are there ? light and sculpted so no wind noise), wireless, battery powered and can be installed in 1 minute or less on any helmet and easy to use.
Have a look at the photos. In photo #1 is everything that you need:
- Interphone Bluetooth unit
- helmet speaker / mic
- charger
- helmet clamp
- instruction manual
General Quality
The units seem rugged enough and are waterproof/resistant (2 days of wet weather did not affect them). The sound quality is very good with lots of adjustable range on the volume ? however there is only 1 helmet speaker (ie. no stereo). Noise is suppressed by a Digital Signal Processor in the unit and foam on the mic and seemed to work very well. The controls on the unit are easy to operate with gloves and while riding there are only 2 buttons to use:
- on/off/intercom/other Bluetooth unit (all the same button)
- volume up/down
Setup
Easy. See photos. I just laid the unit on the inside of my helmet. The Velcro held it in place. This is because we were all swapping them around howver, it could easily be placed under the helmet?s lining.
Bike to Bike Intercom
This was tested and worked very well. Reported to work to 490ft and I had it working to ~700ft. As long as the other rider is in sight these distances seem good. This is a really good feature and allowed 2 riders to communicate (hazards, stop for gas, ok to pass now, etc). No other radios or equipment is needed. I did get a little wind noise from one of the other riders occasionally when his visor and windshield were both fully down. He did not report any noise from me. Only 2 people can communicate at once even if you have more than 2 units.
Bike to Rider
No problem. Easy to turn off if you want to start singing.
Bike to Bluetooth Cell Phone
This was a pleasure to use as it was totally handsfree. Once the Bluetooth cellphone is linked up, it works. To answer, just say something loudly and it answers. To hangup, the unit detects when the other person has disconnected and yours is automatically disconnected. Sound quality was reported very good with no background noise. For handsfree dialing, your cellphone must be equipped for voice prompts. If you are also riding with another bike and using the Intercom feature, you can switch back and forth between cellphone and intercom with 1 push of the main button.
Bike to GPS
I also had the chance to test this as one of the other riders had a Bluetooth GPS unit. Not only did the voice commands from the unit come through (wirelessly), but this GPS unit was also able to act as a MP3 player and he transmitted the music through to the helmet speaker of the Interphone unit.
What it is and What it isn?t
This is a great wireless bike to bike or bike to passenger intercom as well as a Bluetooth receiver. No wires, no battery leads, no install. However, it isn?t a music box. If you mainly want music, you may want to look at other options. However, I read that there are already Bluetooth MP3 and FM players that would work with this unit. Some GPS units have Bluetooth, MP3, FM, XM Satellite and more. The downside is that the Interphone unit is not stereo ? yet.
Cost
I got my 2 units off of EBay for about $90 each.
So far, I am happy. And the bike worked well on the trip too.
.
