Interphone F4 Bluetooth - Discontinued? No it's not, the F5 is coming...

[Rincewind]

Anyone with some info here?  I have had a F4 for around 3 or 4-years.  It worked great up until this new year, when I finally lost connection to the speakers.  It turns out my main connector to the BT unit cracked.  

I started to look around for replacement parts and it seems like most places have either discontinued F4 parts, have them marked down by a lot, or have very little left in stock.  Also the spare part that I need for my repair (F4 Boom Mic Kit) has been listed unavailable at the main Blueant site for awhile.  I have a second headset that I can rob parts from, but it looks like I'll have to scrounge around for a mic kit to make my other set complete.

Does anyone know - Is Blueant getting out of the MC headset market?  

[darkstarmoto]

Ohh Ohh....this will suck.

[owrstrich]

greetings rincewind..

i have a spare new unused flat mic kit... instead of a boom it has a wire and the mic sticky tapes to the inside of your helmet...

The flat mic is an optional alternative microphone style to replace the boom mic that was supplied with your F4 Interphone.

let me know if you want it...

j o

[Rincewind]

Thanks for the offer, owrstrich, but I will pass.  I was using the boom style mic with my modular helmet.  I have anyway already removed the F4 and decided to ride without Bluetooth for now.  

Just to note - I don't know for sure if this model is discontinued or if it's just low vendor stocks.

[darkstarmoto]

Hey Rince...I think I found why. The Interphone F5 is out (well in Europe so far).
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=758240&highlight=blueant
http://www.bluetoothmotorcycle.com/Bluetooth-Headsets/interphone-f5-plans-to-shock-the-undustry.html

[Rincewind]

+1 rep to you, DSM.  Very interesting and relevant links.  

The Interphone F5 is the next generation BlueAnt Interphone device, BlueAnt recently sold it's motorcycle Interphone division to Cellularline in Italy. From what I see the big benefits of the F5 (over the F4) is that it supports Bluetooth 3.0 has the ability accept a 3.5mm plug and has a built-in FM tuner.


The F5 will offer conference style long range Bluetooth 3.0 communication between up to 6 riders - That's the highest number of interconnected units I've seen in BT headsets.


Listed at Revzilla but not available quite yet - http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/interphone-f5-bluetooth-30-intercom-twin-pack

[darkstarmoto]

And now for a new wrinkle to BT headsets and group riding. O.K. so you have the older F3 or F4 (or any Bluetooth headset for that matter) and want the capabilities of the F5 without the STEEP price tag? Check this out...and it increases the range significantly and allows up to 8 riders to be connected (if I read the pamphlet correctly).

http://www.interphoneuk.co.uk/products/interphone-tribe
http://www.interphoneuk.co.uk/sites/interphoneuk.co.uk/files/tribeleaflet.pdf

Off to see how available these are in the States.

Oh and Rince, check this out: http://www.bluetechguy.com/products.php?cat=Interphone+Parts

[Rincewind]

Thanks!  I had seen the bluetechguy when looking before, but the "tribe" concept is all new to me.  

If it is true what they say, the "tribe" will be able to unite a lot of riders using different BT tech.  That's a pretty big step!  

[Rincewind]

I ordered the replacement boom mic kit this weekend only to find that my main unit's connector had broken inside, alongside the connector for the mic.  So I installed my wife's unit into my helmet for now.

The F5 combo kit as linked above is now showing a pre-order price of $500, and the singles are $300.  I am unclear whether the F5 will communicate by itself with the F4.  It doesn't seem to say that it will, which would be unfortunate for me.  

[darkstarmoto]

From what I've read...all the BlueAnt units are compatible. I know my original Interphone and my F4 work together, I doubt they made the F5 incompatible with older versions.

[Rincewind]

That's good news, DSM, and backs up what I had read since posting.  My wife is wanting her F4 back, so I will likely buy a single F5 before too long.  



http://youtu.be/_9sMRbmEbE4

[vwtom]

Just order, received and installed the F5 from radiorider.com, it looks pretty good.  We have not ridden with them yet - only used them in the garage.  

More to come on the f5.

[FiremanBob]

I received my F5 Friday but haven't had time to open the box. According to the mfr, it will be compatible with the F4, but not with other brands of communicator.

[Rincewind]

UPS has my F5 out for delivery today.  10% off thru Revzilla.  

[Rincewind]

Received my F5 and got it mounted yesterday.  Here's my comparison to the F4 that I ran for a few years.

Pros:
+There's a witch in there who runs the thing with voice prompts - this is sort of handy.
+Don't have to hold a button for a full 2-seconds to fast forward songs like with the F4, now it is one quick tap on the up or down buttons.
+FM tuner is pretty awesome.  It's fiddly to scan and set into memory the stations, but it's a nice option once set-up.  8 presets allowed.
+Unit can be updated online like the Sena's now.
+Unit has a new aux. audio input - though I doubt I'll ever use it.
+Separate volume controls for each device allows different levels to be kept.
+Paired with my iPhone 4S and my wife's F4 easily.  It will pair with the F3 as well.
+The witch tells you at each start up how the battery is doing.  This should take out the guess work of how much charge is remaining.
+New mic/speaker connector is more robust and has a sliding metal mount for stronger connection.
+Water resistant just like the F4.
+New boom mic has the word "Mic" written on it so you can tell if the mic is actually facing your mouth properly.
+Pairs with more than one other unit - I think it was six total, and you can dial up individual units or the whole group.
+Text to Speech - I haven't figured that one out yet but it sounds cool.
+Comes with boom mic and full-face helmet stick on mic, as well as two sets of matching speakers for either option.

Cons:
-Phone answering is not one-touch anymore, unless you turn off the voice activation.
-The witch with the voice prompts is always calling out the menu options when using the buttons - she can be cut short by remembering the sequence of buttons needed and pressing them before she starts talking.
-I had some trouble returning to the music after a phone call - it may be just learning curve.
-To activate the music with the F4, it was a double tap on the main button.  With the F5 I have to surf thru the menu items to find streaming music, press once to activate that menu item, then hold 2-second until a beep (which is not that audible at speed) to play/pause the stream.
-The device is reversed from the F4, with the main button toward the front instead of the rear of the device.  This is just a learning curve.
-There is no big chart with the device that tells you the secret art of using the buttons.  Instead it relies on the witch voice controls.  This is not a big negative, just a difference.




Because of my helmet's set-up (HJC Symax II), I had to mount the device pretty far back on the helmet to avoid the flip-up part.  On my F4 I installed it on the flip-up portion of the helmet, and I think that is what killed that device.  When the flip-up is flipped down quickly, it eventually caused the mic/speaker connector to fall apart.  Lesson learned!

Overall I give it a big thumbs up.  

[Rincewind]

Further comments on the F5 unit after using it for touring:

1. It is claimed to be good for 11hrs of talk time.  If you use it mostly for streaming music, it is not good for 11hrs unfortunately.  I was only able to get about 8hrs of music streaming before it would die - and for about 30-40 mins before death, it will interrupt about every 5mins with, "battery very low, please recharge."  I was expecting closer to 11hrs of use.

2. If you have bulky gloves or are using big overgloves for rain, it is very easy to confuse the button inputs.  While using it with my overgloves I frustratingly switched the unit to speak in Italian.  Other times with the bulky gloves and overgloves, I would try to place one input, the "up" button which forwards the song, and it would end up just shutting down on me.

3. It has been waterproof tested and proved to be waterproof just like the F4.

4. The phone answering is frustrating if it is set for voice answer.  It seems I have to yell into it to recognize that I am answering the phone.

[darkstarmoto]

Hey Rince,
  Just got wind that an update was released for the F5 that might address your issue #4.

Explanation:
http://interphone.cellularline.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/INTERPHONE-F5-release-note-software_EN.pdf

Link to site:
http://interphone.cellularline.com/it/motorcycle/communicazione/interphone-f5-conference-2/
Click on "download area" and then scroll to bottom to find zip.

[Rincewind]

Thanks for the heads up, DSM.  

[Dan K]

How's the volume on music? Loud enough to hear through ear plugs? Loud enough to hear on highway without?  My parrot is still working, but is on its way out the door...

- Dan


Just read the webbikeworld review...

So this comes with two mounts? One boom mic for a flip up and one for a full face?

Does that mean I can install the speakers in two helmets and I can just attach the main unit to whichever helmet I choose that day? Or is there two sets of mics and speakers, but only one 'mount.' ???????

- Dan

[Rincewind]

I got my F5 updated to the new firmware last night.   

Dan - The F5's volume with music is generally very good.  I don't wear earplugs.  I can normally hear the music at highway speeds, but it really depends on speed, wind noise, and the acoustical loudness of the music. 

The kit comes with two mounts - a clamp-on one, and an adhesive one.  You could have two helmets set-up and swap the BT unit between them.