Earlier this year BlueAnt Wireless released the BlueAnt Interphone Bluetooth motorcycle helmet headset and sent me a couple of units to try out.  I have had these units now for a couple of months and decided to post pone this review until now, so that I can fully evaluate these devices and present a fair report of their operation.

FEATURES

The following features have been taken from the BlueAnt Website

• Wireless headset for your Bluetooth enabled mobile phone at a
  range of up to 10 meters
• Bike-to-bike Intercom* for rider & passenger or two separate
  bikes up to 150 meters
• World class Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for noise and
  echo reduction
• Excellent performance at speeds of up to 130 Km/h
• Microphone incorporates anti-noise and anti-wind feature
• All weather, water resistant including heavy rain
• Large multi-function button for easy use with gloves on
• Full duplex
• Automatic volume adjustment depending on speed induced
  environmental noise
• Configurable with Bluetooth Headset compatible GPS devices
• Easily mounts to all full faced and open faced helmets
• 2 clip mounts included - Clamp mount and Adhesive
• Voice answer, voice dialing & redial
• Up to 10 hours talk time when connected to your mobile phone
• Up to 5 hours talk time when using the Intercom* feature
• Up to 700 hours standby
• 2 year replacement warranty

Please note that two Interphones are required for Rider to Pillion or for Bike to Bike communications.

IN THE BOX

The BlueAnt Interphone comes with the following accessories:

• BlueAnt Interphone Unit
• Boom microphone with integrated slim speaker
• AC Mains Charger
• Headset clip with screws
• Headset clip spacer and longer screws for thick shell helmets
• Headset clip with double sided tape for a more permanent installation
• Velcro pad
• Small screwdriver
• User Manual

The Interphone should be fully charged before first use and this is reported to take around 4 hours.  The Speaker / Microphone socket on the Interphone unit doubles as a charge socket.  The two units I have been supplied with took somewhere between 2 and 3 hours to fully charge.

BlueAnt Wireless have also released an optional 12 Volt cigarette lighter charger for the Interphones which would be a great accessory for those riders with cigarette lighter sockets fitted to their bikes.

INSTALLATION & PAIRING

The Interphones are easily installed into a variety of helmets.  For the first tests I installed one unit into my full face helmet and one into my wife's open face helmet.  It took around 10 minutes for my helmet but around 25 minutes for my wife's helmet.  The padding in my wife's helmet couldn't be removed making it a tad more difficult and I ended up using a cable tie to secure everything in place.  It's also important to remember that the Interphone has to be installed onto the left side of the helmet.  The right hand normally has a firm grip on the throttle so the left hand is the one used to control the Interphone! 

The photo's left and right show the installation of the Interphone into my helmet.  The top left shows the boom microphone and integrated speaker in place before the cheek pad is clipped back in.  The extra bulk visible is my AutoCom installation so please ignore this.

The next photo (top right) shows the mounting bracket after being clamped tight to the shell of my helmet.  The next photo (lower left) shows the installation after completion while the last photo (lower right) shows the helmet ready to ride.

Once installation was complete I then followed the detailed procedure to pair both units to each other for bike to bike communications.  I found this procedure a little more difficult than pairing a Bluetooth headset to my phone, but after following the instructions step by step both units were paired within a few minutes.  Pairing the units with our phones was straight forward and simple.  Please refer to the instruction manual for these steps.

It's also important to note that the Interphone supports headset and hands free profiles only.  It does not support A2DP so this can't be used to stream music from your phone.

Knowing how noisy it is on the road I decided to set both units up for High Volume Mode and also activated the Voice Answer and Reject Mode to make receiving phone calls hands free.  High Volume Mode is activated by simultaneously holding the volume up and multifunction buttons for around 5 seconds from off until the High Tone can be heard.  The Voice Answer and Reject Mode is activated by simultaneously pressing the volume up, down and multifunction buttons for around 5 seconds from off until the High Tone can be heard.  Without activating this an incoming call can be answered by pressing the multifunction button for around a second.  I don't like the idea of taking my hand off the handlebar at speed to answer a call, so this should only be done while stationary.

TEST DRIVE

I will outline a number of tests here with my impressions of how the device performed.

Test #1:

My wife and I saddled up and rode around to a mate's place testing out the bike to bike communications.  While we were traveling we had perfect and clear full duplex communications.  This was certainly amazing for us to be able to chat as if we were standing face to face!  We could chat about what gravel was on the road and bumps to avoid, as well as how nice someone's yard smelled with the lovely smell of fresh baking bread wafting across the street etc...  Once at our mate's place, I swapped her Interphone out of her helmet and into his full face helmet.  This only took around 10 minutes.  My mate and I saddled up and stopped in at the servo to fill up before a ride along the back road between Dubbo and Wellington.   We pulled up on different sides of the servo and after switching off the bikes he started to shout at me (not used to having communications in his helmet) which naturally blasted my ear drums as I had previously set both units to maximum volume!  I just quietly reminded him that we can still chat using the Interphones.

The ride was an enjoyable trip worth doing again.

Test #2:

A couple of weeks after my initial tests I decided to try out the Interphones again on a ride to meet my wife's parents in Gilgandra.  Another mate of mine (Gonzo) loaned my wife a full face helmet for the trip so I installed the Interphone into this helmet without any effort.  The day of the ride came around and it was blowing a gale!  Wind gusts were reaching 60 - 80 Km/h in parts and it was not comfortable riding in those conditions.  Both our helmets were very noisy but to my surprise the Interphones were holding up incredibly well.  We were able to chat with each other under these shocking conditions as we battled our way down the highway.  We maintained speeds between 100 and 120 Km/h and had little difficulty understanding what was being said.  I did struggle from time to time having to concentrate on listening to one speaker in my helmet with so much wind noise, but I was able to understand everything that was said.

The Interphone is stated to have a range of around 150 meters which I can testify to as being true.  Through-out our ride we were between 50 and 150 meters apart and the Interphone didn't once go out of range or drop the connection.

After this ride I was so impressed with how these units worked.  Audio was incredibly clear and almost loud enough under atrocious weather conditions.  We had the units on for around 3 hours continuously connected for bike to bike communications and they held up well.  From this test the batteries can last at least 3 hours continuously.  I have seen other people post their results on the internet saying that their batteries lasted between 5 and 6.5 hours of continuous use. 

Test #3:

This morning I saddled up and took my bike for a spin downtown to grab some more milk and the like, and gave the Interphone a chance with phone conversations.  Before I left I ensured the Voice Answer and Reject Mode worked as it should and that my Xda Atom Life was correctly paired (it has 5 Bluetooth partnerships at the moment).  Once on the road I tried out using Voice Command which worked as well as it does without a headset.  There were a few times I had to repeat my commands but this is normal for my Xda Atom Life.  I called my wife a few times on the way into town and all was working well.

After the quick shopping excursion I decided to take the highway out of town and test the Interphone at speed.  I recalled from the specs that it is rated to 130 Km/h and as it turned out I needed to overtake another vehicle.  I was reading out the bike's speed to my wife as I overtook and got the bike up to 140 Km/h.  My wife reported not hearing any background noise whatsoever during this exercise and said it just sounded like I was talking on my phone normally, although she could tell I was speaking loudly without being too loud on her end.  Along the highway I had a gusty side wind that blew up inside my helmet and over the microphone but this didn't affect the quality of the conversation at all.  I could hear her quite well although the volume is still on the quiet side for my liking.  A second speaker would have made the Interphone sound so much better.

Test #4:

Stay tuned for updated details on the intercom / bike to bike communications.  I will be testing this at length on the Molong Motorcycle Awareness Ride scheduled for the 28th of October.  If anyone reading this review is from Dubbo and will be participating in the ride keep a look out for me!

CONCLUSION

The BlueAnt Wireless Interphone units are a great entry level system for those of us who love to ride and stay connected to our passenger or riding partner.  They provide clear and reliable bike to bike communications up to 150 meters range for around 5 hours of continuous usage.  If a long ride has been planned, the Interphones can be quickly recharged during a lunch break via the optional 12V Charger Adapter.  They also provide clear audio for phone conversations and work well up to 140 Km/h, with exceptional noise and echo cancellation.  It would have been better if they came with two speakers instead of just the one and also supported Bluetooth stereo music streaming, but this is only designed as a headset.  Higher volume levels would also have received more points.

If you want a simple system for your bike where you can answer the phone and chat with your partner or mate on a ride, then you really can't go past the Interphones.  If you want to communicate with others via CB radio, listen to MP3's etc then you are better waiting for another stereo Bluetooth solution or look at the AutoCom range of products.  The Interphone can only communicate with one other Interphone, so if you are planning a ride and wish to chat with the whole group, the Interphone won't allow you to do this.

Originally for my review score, I started with 10/10 and took 1 point off for only having a single speaker, 1 point off for not supporting Bluetooth Stereo Streaming and 1/2 a point off for the volume level being lower than I would have been comfortable with.  This would have given a score of 7.5 / 10.  However, this does not fairly rate the Interphones for what they are capable of.  They are a mono headset hands free device by design so I have adjusted my score accordingly.  This just leaves 1/2 a point off for the volume being a little low, as everything else works nicely.

The Interphones are available from the global BlueAnt Wireless website or any authorized reseller.  The recommended retail price for these units are $249.00 AUD, which is less than half the cost of a wired AutoCom system (including Bluetooth adapter, CB Radio and suitable leads).  Please visit BlueAnt Wireless for further details.

UPDATE:

BlueAnt have sent down a new flat microphone / speaker assembly for full face helmets which I will upload pictures of soon, as well as a 12V cigarette lighter charger...

Agree or Disagree???   Discuss my review HERE

 Images in this review are owned by the Author with the exception of the main title image which is courtesy of BlueAnt Wireless.