So, the old man got me a Midland BT2 intercom as an early birthday present. He had chosen the midland systems back when he outfitted his and my mom's helmets a while back, and we put the system from my mom's helmet in mine for a quick ride around Christmas time. Anyways, about the unit: overall, I'd say it's a good piece of equipment.
(http://www.midlandradio.com/Resource_/Product/1346/Detail/LargeImage2/BT2_helmet_Lg.jpg)
Fit and Finish:
The kit comes with a boom mike and a wired mike (dual kit comes with two of each) so open/flip up helmets aren't a problem, but you don't have to fight with the boom in a full-face helmet. Speakers went into my Shoei RF-1100 easily due to the built in speaker cups. His helmet doesn't have them, but it's not a problem there either. The speakers are thin enough to not cause problems. The speaker/mike harness has a proprietary connector angled at about 45* so you don't have anything hanging down and in the way. It uses a standard mini-USB plug for charging, and there is a standard audio jack for devices without bluetooh capability (MP3 players, CB's, etc).
The mount is sturdy and secure. It comes with a clamp-mount and an adhesive mount (if you get the dual package it comes with two of each).
The devices buttons are large... but a little hard to pick out which one you are hitting with insulated gloves. A little more time using it will solve that problem.
Performance:
Bike-to-bike chatter worked great over a decent distance, and the noise canceling mikes work great. Two people riding together shouldn't have any problem keeping the com link up unless you really got separated. I can only see it being a problem if something happened to the #2 rider causing him to stop. My dad had chosen to set their units to push-to-talk instead of VOX because they were having trouble with it going off from wind noise. I think the vox setting will work fine since I use the chin-curtain on my helmet, and he doesn't.
Pairing to my Droid X went without a problem. The unit controls phone functions like voice-dialing and whatnot. It also handles music player controls wonderfully. Pandora, Winamp, and the stock Droid music player all worked fine. However, you have to switch form music controls to phone controls. Whatever, don't need to be making phone calls while riding anyways. GPS instructions work fine from the Droid X, but thats not really because of the intercom. My dad has his paired with a Garmin Zumo 665. He can't get along without satellite radio these days.... Finally, you can pair up to three devices: another midland unit, GPS/Cell phone, MP3 player or adapter.
Sound quality from the included speakers is lack-luster. Would be fine for chatter, but severely cuts both the high and low end. This is problem is made worse by the auto-volume on the unit. The more ambient noise, the louder the speakers are. Midland makes a Hi-Fi speaker set, and I currently have it on the way. Hopefully this will turn the auto-volume from a burden to a blessing... it damn well better for an extra $30.
Battery life is listed as 8 hours, and it comes with a wall charger (dual kit comes with a dual charger) and a dual-charging cigarette plug.
Overall:
Pretty good unit. Granted, I haven't tried any other intercom systems to compare. The only problem is the crappy speakers, and I'll be sure to update with the performance of the better speakers when they come in. My main desire is to listen to tunes from my phone and GPS prompts without dealing with wires, and with better speakers it will perform this job wonderfully.
Hi-Fi speakers came in.
Performance: SOOOOOOOO much better. Just have to remember to keep the volume on my phone at about 3/4. Phone convos are great, no one knows I'm on the bike.
Fit: The speakers are bigger, and don't fit in the pockets in my helmet as well. I now have to wiggle the helmet a bit after I put it on to get my ears sorted out. Totally worth it.
great thanks for the review!
And installed pictures, with the good speakers:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61029639@N06/sets/72157626219802819/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/61029639@N06/sets/72157626219802819/)
was the whole package like $220?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16872008107&cm_re=bt2-_-72-008-107-_-Product (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16872008107&cm_re=bt2-_-72-008-107-_-Product)
and
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16872008113 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16872008113)
so around 150 before shipping.
plus the hifi speakers? so another $30?
oops, sorry just saw the links...
how are the speakers with earplugs in? i wear earbuds that cancel ambient noise so when my music is off they act like earplugs. the quality sound is what i don't want to trade off, from getting the bluetooth but i want to be able to communicate with other riders i'm with.
Quote from: donzo on March 26, 2011, 04:40:04 PM
how are the speakers with earplugs in? i wear earbuds that cancel ambient noise so when my music is off they act like earplugs. the quality sound is what i don't want to trade off, from getting the bluetooth but i want to be able to communicate with other riders i'm with.
No clue... I don't ride with ear-plugs.
EDIT: Bad news. The left speaker must have blown out. I'm sending it back for a replacement... if the second set goes to hell, it'll be time to grab some headphones and steal the drivers out of them.