Chatterbox GMRS X1 bluetooth review

[erkishhorde]

So, it's about time that I write up a review for this thing even though I haven't run through all the features yet.



This is replacing my Scala. For the most part it does the trick too. My largest complaint about the Scala was that it didn't have A2DP bluetooth profile so it wouldn't pair with my Samsung S5. The Chatterbox does, although it's got it's own quirks. Audio volume is good but the speakers are big and difficult to fit in my EXO-700. I bought this unit new/unopened from a guy so I got it for $250 which is $100 off the normal retail price. So, on to the detailed review!

Fit and Finish
For a $300 unit a lot of the bits on this thing look and feel surprisingly cheap.  Haha. See those 2 little clips in the middle of the picture? Those are to hold the wires out of the way. Yeah, I broke one in the first 5 minutes of touching it. Oh well, I don't really need it anyway. The units itself feels sturdy but also heavy. The buttons all have a good feel to them and even have a slightly click feeling when pushed all the way. Even with gloves on I can tell whether or not I've pushed a button. Buttons are easily accessed and pushed while riding.

As many have stated before, the mounting clip is kinda pathetic. If I hadn't heard so many stories about them breaking I probably wouldn't worry about it too much. There isn't any significant flex when mounting the unit but seeing as the unit is just so dang heavy I can understand why this little plastic clip would break. The mount was easy enough to get onto my helmet but tightening the screws took a bit of work since the short ones didn't reach too well and the cheek pad was getting my way. Kind of annoying how the screws screw in from the INSIDE. Makes it a PITA to get at them. But, once they're on, hopefully you don't have to move it. The mount sticks out a good 2cm (3/4") from the bottom of the helmet so it gets caught on my jacket when I check left or look up sometimes. Oddly enough, it only gets caught on my Joe Rocket Phoenix jacket and not my A* leather jacket. I guess the JR has more shoulder padding. It's also a bit looser than the leather jacket.

The speakers with this unit are about 4.5cm in diameter and about 1 cm thick. That's pretty big but it's about average size. Still a PITA to fit in many helmets though. I had to do a bit of surgery to my my EXO 700 to make it fit.  Even then I haven't gotten it quite right yet but I'm too lazy to tinker with it anymore. If anyone is interested, Chatterbox sells a headphone adapter if you don't want to use the speakers. It's $40 though. I've met quite a few people that chop the speakers and splice in headphones themselves. The mic is a box on the end of a wire instead of the boom (boon?) type that I'm used to from the Scala. This means no moving it aside when you're not using it. It's always there and the cloth they used on it is awesome at catching your spit so that you smell what you ate 3 days ago before you sneezed with your helmet on. 

Performance
One of the main reasons to go with a Chatterbox of this size is because it's got a radio in it. This allows you to talk to a whole group of people. And, of course I haven't gotten a chance to experiment with this great feature.  I've heard that the VOX setting is crap. When I first used the headset without reading the directions I turned it up to the highest sensitivity on accident and the wind kept setting it off. Hehe, I've learned my lesson now. I hear that mic positioning has everything to do with it though.

Well, what can I comment about? I've been using it for tunes for about a month now. Pairing isn't that difficult and the audio quality is decent. Now, anyone that's owned an EXO knows that they're loud as hell. Well, speakers don't make it any quieter. If anything, they might make it a bit louder because the speakers touch your ears and channel the wind noise right into your head.  The Chatterbox is plenty loud enough to blast over the wind noise but when I did this, I got a headache from the music being too loud. Sadly, the Chatterbox doesn't have any kind of automatic volume adjustment. I miss that about my Scala. So when I'm cruising around town and when I'm on the freeway I have to fiddle with the sound if I want to keep hearing tunes. Not so much of a problem because the Chatterbox can control your device remotely (next/previous song). ALSO! bluetooth peripherals have a different volume setting from the group chat/intercom! To adjust them you have to go to the BT setting on the unit by holding the mode button for 5 seconds or something like that. Not a problem, since I'm riding alone most of the time I have it in BT mode pretty much as soon as I turn it on.

I have had one persistent problem though. My tunes will drop out periodically. I'm not sure if it is the CB unit or my Samsung that is causing this. Sometimes it will just cut out for a second or two at a time, other times the cut out will be accompanied by a loud popping which hurts like mad. I almost always get it every time I use my credit card for gas.  Other times are more random, sometimes with other cars around, sometimes while I'm totally alone. I'm thinking it might be one or the other detecting other BT signals but I'm not positive and haven't been able to figure anything out.

Thoughts
As with any helmet headset unit, the helmet has just as much impact as the unit. After that, speaker and mic placement make a world of difference. All the "internal" bits on this unit are pretty big and I can see most people having trouble finding space for them in their helmet. The unit is also extremely bulky and it takes a lot of thought to keep from whacking it on a doorway or counter. I still bump it once in a while and go  and immediately check the mount and antennae. Hopefully I'll get a chance to play with the group chat sometime this month and then I'll update.

[Privateer]

nice write up eric.

The biggest challenge for me was the speaker placement.  My helmet has little pockets for the speakers, but the pockets didn't line up with my ears very well.  I could never really hear people talking, had to crank the music up. 

Once I did a little troubleshooting I found that the speakers were up at the tops of my ears.  I messed with them quite a bit and got them further down to my ear canal and now I can hear speech just fine.

It's a good unit, but not cheap.  It's great for group rides, or with people of different riding paces.  My buddies don't worry about losing me now that we can talk.