Sena Replacement

Sena Replacement

Forums Classifieds Sena Replacement

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  • #20273
    Eric Wolf
    Keymaster
      @wolf

      My Sena is dead so I thought this would be a good opportunity to start a forum discussion about replacement options.

      Does anyone know anything about the Spider?  It is billed as a low-cost, mesh-capable option to the 50s or 50r.  What about the 30K?  Other than the upgraded speakers,–which I know are a great improvement–what is the difference with the 50’s?

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      • #20300
        Ron Zablocki
        Moderator
          @ron-z

          The Sena 50 series offers Siri commands and wonder wheel control of volume, along with better speakers and mic.

          If you don’t need the above, the 30K is a good mesh option.  Don’t know much about the Spider, but Google and YouTube searches should help you out.

        • #20303
          Steve Leo
          Participant
            @steve

            If you are interested in the Sena line and are a First Responder or Military (retired too) they give a nice discount. You have to buy directly from Sena and not a dealer. Their service is pretty good and you can get the item quickly as they are located in Irvine. You might even be able to pick it up. They are right by the Five Points Theater.  888-333-7362.

            Our nephew is a Sheriff so he ordered it for me.

          • #20304
            Eric Wolf
            Keymaster
              @wolf

              Thanks Steve and Ron,

              I did not know that you could control the sena with the wonder wheel.  That would have been handy.  I’ll check with sena to see how much the discount is.  Thanks again.

              Anyone else have experience with the spider?

            • #20305
              Eric Wolf
              Keymaster
                @wolf

                The discount when buying directly from Sena is 20%, pretty significant.  They use ID.me to authenticate your military service and you add that in at checkout when you make an online order.  I’ll call them tomorrow to get a better understanding of the difference between 50S ($359), 30K ($299), and Spider ($219).  Amounts are list price, before 20% discount.

              • #20306
                Ron Zablocki
                Moderator
                  @ron-z

                  If you’re in need of a helmet, I can highly recommend the Sena Impulse modular with built-in mesh – basically a 50S inside the helmet, and they retail for $699. It’s a quality helmet and less expensive than the Schuberth and Shoei.

                  Just putting it out there…

                • #20307
                  Eric Wolf
                  Keymaster
                    @wolf

                    Thanks Ron. I have a general rule that I don’t try to combine multiple technologies in one device: let the communicator do the thing it is good at and reserve hear protection for the helmet.

                    I’m curious what others think of this general concept?

                  • #20308
                    Eric Wolf
                    Keymaster
                      @wolf

                      But…, I could save a lot of energy, time, and space with this.

                      Attachments:
                    • #20319
                      Ric Magrath
                      Moderator
                        @ric-magrath

                        I would think the cell phone kicks that general concept out the door. (Phone, computer, camera, gps and whatever app you run can perform.) Perhaps, like that vintage appliance, the cell phone has doomed itself for extinction!)

                      • #20321
                        Ed Taylor
                        Moderator
                          @etaylorrisksolutions-inc-com

                          You can date any movie by the cell phone being used.   On our ride starting times we need to add  “Pairing time” to our KSU.

                        • #20322
                          Sergio Collazo
                          Moderator
                            @scollazo

                            Eric, I just installed the Sena SRL which is specific to the Shoei helmet I use.  I believe the Spider is mesh only which I translate into no ability to take phone calls.

                            I had the top of line speakers on my Cardo and the audio quality was much better but not compatible with any one else in the club.  After using both, I feel the technology on both is (now) antiquated and does not have an AI engine to manage noise and voice recognition.  But, its all we’ve got for now.

                          • #20323
                            Eric Wolf
                            Keymaster
                              @wolf

                              Thanks everyone for your thoughts/help.  I decided on the 30K since I already have the upgraded speakers.  This way I can still bluetooth pair with 20’s and with my phone.

                            • #20326
                              Dan Burtt
                              Participant
                                @dlburtt

                                Eric I have the Sena Spider used with  Shoei Neotec 2 Helmet. I have upgraded the helmet speakers with the SENA upgrade. About $50.

                                I have it blue toothed to the Garmin NAV VI GPS for GPS. I have loaded all my music to the Garmin and it plays through the Sena and the music and sounds really well.   The Garmin routing instructions also come through loud and clear.

                                I have not been able to get the Sena to connect to the bike TFT, iPhone and Garmin all concurrently.  I have tried several procedures but just have not been able get it to work.  There seems to be issues with the BMW TFT communication and the pairing all four items.

                                I have the iPhone paired with the Garmin.   the Garmin interfaces with the iPhone and calls can be made and received and are displayed on the GPS. However, the sound of the calls do not come through to the Sena. I have not figured out how to make this work and really have just lost patience trying all the You Tube and Forum procedures.

                                Working with the unit on the Helmet and using the wheel and pushing the small buttons is just tedious.  I rarely have a need to make a phone call while riding so it has not been a real deterrent for me.  I have never tried the MESH communications with other Sena users. Riders tell me it works great, but I have not tried it. Again the small buttons with gloves on  probably just takes more ‘training” than I have been will to do.

                                I understand the the pairing interface issues do not exist with Android phones.

                                 

                                 

                                • #20340
                                  Eric Wolf
                                  Keymaster
                                    @wolf

                                    Dan, thanks for a thorough telling of the issues and workarounds you’ve found.  This discussion has been good.  I’m definitely learning a lot from you guys.

                                • #20329
                                  Willis Ho
                                  Participant
                                    @willis_ho

                                    Thanks everyone for your thoughts/help. I decided on the 30K since I already have the upgraded speakers. This way I can still bluetooth pair with 20’s and with my phone.

                                    Sena 30K has the old Mesh 1.0 technology, the 50s utilize newer Mesh 2.0, which is more robust and have a much longer range. 
                                    • #20330
                                      Ron Zablocki
                                      Moderator
                                        @ron-z

                                        Eric – I believe the 30K can be updated to Mesh 2.0. Download the Sena updater and check for updates.

                                    • #20363
                                      Gary Felkel
                                      Participant
                                        @gfelk

                                        Eric

                                        i have the Sena 50s-10 which has the upgraded mic and speakers. I went from a 20 with upgraded speakers to the 50 and it was still quite an improvement. Mesh with more than a couple of people on it makes my audio skip in and out. So I usually just turn off mesh.
                                        I believe the 30 is Bluetooth. 4.2 . The 50 is Bluetooth  5.0 which gives a little better battery life and range.  Most of the time I use mine to listen to the radio. Yes I can change audio with the wonder wheel.

                                        Gary Felkel

                                        which ever you go for I think both will work fine.

                                        • #20364
                                          Eric Wolf
                                          Keymaster
                                            @wolf

                                            Gary, thanks for sharing your experience.  I’ll have to talk to you or Ron about how to pair with the wonder wheel.   I also noticed a difference between the 20s and 50s speakers.  That was nice.  I’ve ordered the 30K directly from Sena using the 20% military discount.

                                            Does the 30K work with the wheel, I wonder?  (Did you see what I did there 😉

                                        • #20366
                                          Ron Zablocki
                                          Moderator
                                            @ron-z

                                            Does the 30K work with the wheel, I wonder? (Did you see what I did there 😉

                                             Eric – I’m not sure if the 30K supports the wonder wheel, I know the 50S does. After you get it, update it with the latest firmware then pairing it to the bike. Wonder wheel volume control will only work if you listen to your music and such through the bike. So you would pair your phone and the headset to the bike.
                                          • #20373
                                            Eric Wolf
                                            Keymaster
                                              @wolf

                                              Thanks Ron,

                                              I’ve never paired my sena or phone to the bike.  Instead, I just paired them together.  But I’ll try it with this new sena and see how it works.

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