BlueAnt's InterPhone

[TWI]

I bought a pair of BlueAnt's InterPhone a couple of weeks back.  Last weekend Dot and went riding for a few days.

Hey, these things work great!

Each unit is Bluetooth based so it can connect to cell phone, etc.  They can also be paired with another InterPhone.  When paired, the connection is duplex.  The claimed range to cell phone is the usual 30 ft or so, with a range of about 500 ft to the paired Interphone.  I didn't test the range to a cell phone other than to check that it works (and it does, quite well).  The 500 ft is about right as we tested several times during the ride.  BTW, that is 500 ft with line of sight.

The claim is 10 hours talk time.  It doesn't state whether this is to cell phones or to another InterPhone (the intercom mode).  We got a little over 6 hours of talking while riding.  The units will go to standby after some time of being inactive, but I can't find how long that is supposed to be.

After the initial learning curve, the InterPhone was easy to use; heck, it is a simple device.  The sound is clear, easy to adjust volume, and switching from phone to intercom was also easy.

Compared to the Chatterbox units we had been using, the InterPhone is much more convenient.  We found the VOX on the Chatterbox troublesome and using PTT a bother (along with the one-way transmission).  The InterPhone suits us much better.


I got them for $150 each.  

[Rambler]

Link?  And can you communicate with other riders if they had it?

[TWI]

Link?  And can you communicate with other riders if they had it?

http://www.myblueant.com/interphone-motorbike-helmet-kit.htm

Yes, but you have to pair the devices first.  You couldn't just be riding along and join with them.  The unit will store pairing information for up to five Bluetooth devices and you cycle through them.  So it isn't useful if you want several riders to communicate at the same time (like a radio channel), but you can connect pairwise.  For our situation with communication between two riders, or easy use of the cell phone, it works.

[Reposer]

What model of helmets are you using them in?

[HipGnosis]

VERY interesting!

Do they work if you go out of range of each other (and then come back in range)?

I'd really like a stereo version and ability to use my earbuds of choice...

[designerfh]

Can you go more in depth on the volume? Fine until X mph? With or without earplugs in?

[TWI]

1) We both have Shoei RF1000 helmets.  I think the InterPhone (IP) speaker (single) and mic are unobtrusive.  Dot had to move the speaker around.

2) The unit stays paired with another unit (phone or another InterPhone) until you change it, or turn it off/on (the default when coming on is cell phone).  So one of us would ride out of range, the other would catch up, and we could keep talking.  We agreed that if we lost intercom contact (IP to IP) for over five minutes we would switch to cell phone and call, in case of breakdown, whatever.

3) The IP has two volume ranges, high bias and low bias.  The high bias is for installations with the speaker a distance from the ear.  The low bias is for installations with the speaker right over the ear (low bias is factory default).  You can change the bias and it will be saved.  Each time you turn on the IP it will go to the middle setting for the bias.  We left the units on the low bias; the middle setting was fine for me, but Dot had to bump it up a notch each time.  This is minor since the controls work fine with a glove on and it gives an audible feedback.

4) BlueAnt says the IP will adjust the volume to background noise; in particular, wind noise as you speed up.  It must work, because as long as Dot bumped up her volume a notch (mine didn't need that) we were fine from the bikes turned off getting gas up to highway speed (and a little).  

One note:  I checked the website again and it states a full charge gives 10 hours of talk time with a cell phone and 5 hours of talk time in intercom mode.  We got nearly six hours on intercom, so that spec looks good.

[chornbe]

Compared to the Chatterbox units we had been using, the InterPhone is much more convenient.  We found the VOX on the Chatterbox troublesome and using PTT a bother (along with the one-way transmission).  The InterPhone suits us much better.

My #1 complaint about my chatterboxes (my only *real* complaint, actually) is the lack of full-duplex rider-passenger intercom.

I actually *prefer* PTT (Vox is so subjective and oftentimes is complete ass) and I just wire in a PTT button on my bikes:







I do like this...

*PLEASE NOTE: Helmet is not included.

 

[todao]

I bought the BlueAnt Interphone too and have been disappointed.  In fact, I stopped using it traveling because the sound is not loud enough so I've gone totally to wired ER6 earbuds.  let me explain.

I ride a ZX14 and was excited about the Interphone since they said the high volume setting was loud enough to hear with ear plugs.  Since I wear them all the time, I really wanted a wireless solution.  The single speaker goes unobtrusively in the helmet and the Interphone pairs well with my Zumo and cell phone.  It's just that the sound at speed with earplugs is very disappointing, even at the loudest setting (it has a setting that you can set it on extra loud).

If I had a fully faired bike, maybe it would work but with the ZX, it doesn't.  

I'm going to be selling mine.

[designerfh]

Don't like the sound of that considering that i a) wear earplugs and b) have a zx-14. At what speeds does the volume wash out at?

Mr. Dot - is there a significant volume level difference between a cell phone and another interphone unit?

[bizarro]

Is there really a company called BlueAnt? I thought that was only in William Gibson books.

[TWI]

Don't like the sound of that considering that i a) wear earplugs and b) have a zx-14. At what speeds does the volume wash out at?

Mr. Dot - is there a significant volume level difference between a cell phone and another interphone unit?

The volume level is the same regardless of the source.  I wear earplugs and the volume was OK for me.  During our trip to Annapolis I was on my R1200R with no windscreen, so my helmet was in clear air.  I did a little triple digit sightseeing and I could hear.

bizarro:
The company really is BlueAnt.

http://www.blueantwireless.com/

Which William Gibson book?

[bizarro]

Pattern Recognition and Spook Country for sure, I can't remember if Hubertus Bigend and Blue Ant show up in any of his other books.

[todao]

Don't like the sound of that considering that i a) wear earplugs and b) have a zx-14. At what speeds does the volume wash out at?

Mr. Dot - is there a significant volume level difference between a cell phone and another interphone unit?

For me, anything over 40 or so made the Interphone difficult to understand.  If I was only doing directions in the helmet from the GPS to the Interphone, I MAYBE could have gotten away with it but I don't think so (I never would consider doing a phone conversation while riding). But I wanted to listen to music on the slab so it never was an option I thought would work.  I specifically read on webbikeworld review that it worked with ear plugs for him but I never found it satisfactory.  for what it's worth, I have a laminar lip on the ZX too.

Designerfh, where are you by the way?  And have you checked out zx14ninja.com?

[designerfh]

Already on there as 07ZXJay