Before I start my review, I want to preface with stating that I had wanted an intercom system for my future wife and I, and because sometimes she rides with me on my bike and sometimes she rides on her own bike, I wanted to find something that would work for both. When I was shopping around, I was finding it hard to choose something to go with, because they were all expensive, and everything I looked at seemed to get great reviews. I read a lot of reviews on the ScalaRider Q2, which is the model before the G4, and while it was lacking in a few features, it was a much loved intercom system.
So, after shopping around for quite a while, I picked the ScalaRider G4, because of the 1 mile distance between headsets, bluetooth music streaming, and features. So far, I have been able to use them for about 3 hours with my fiancee. We worked with a lot of the features to see how they work.
I used the wired connection for my Zune HD, and she used her iPod Touch for bluetooth mp3 streaming. Both worked well, but her iPod was a little tricky to get to work. I think that it is a bug with the system, and they may have fixed it in an update, I haven't gotten a chance to update them yet through the computer, but will definitely do that and see if it still continues.
The intercom is amazing. You must speak loudly in order for the other person to hear you, but not hard when you are going at motorcycle speeds with a helmet on and in my case, have a Two Brothers Exhaust. Surprisingly she didn't hear my exhaust in the background of the voice. She said that I was quite clear. I tested the distance by taking off from a turn, and seeing how far I could go until I couldn't hear her anymore. We were in a state forest where we live, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. We got about a 1/2 mile apart before I started getting static. It stayed that way up until I got maybe about 3/4 of a mile away and it was unbearable. They say on their website that the 1 mile distance is on flat roads with no mountains, buildings or other natural objects. I am pleased with the distance, because I don't plan on getting that far away from each other.
Switching between sources are easy with a push of a button. Everything is placed in a nice spot, and easy to do while riding. The speaker quality is also something that is impressive. For such small speakers, they are really clear, and when playing music, don't crackle or make any kind of noise. When the intercom is running, the "dead air" is clear, not really noisy. Voice comes through crystal clear on intercom as well as telephone calls. I didn't care for the "hands free" calling, the voice dialing didn't seem to understand my commands. That is kind of a pain, but incoming calls would be nice. I like being able to talk on the phone while riding, makes it nice that I don't have to miss those important phone calls anymore.
The radio has a lot to be desired. It basically sucks, because it has to use the little antenna that is on the unit and at 1.5" long, it doesn't do a whole lot. I basically haven't been able to get a station to come in....at all. Not even one with static. So, I haven't heard anything good about out of the radio feature.
I haven't gotten to test 3 or 4 way intercom, the radio as just mentioned, and incoming calls. Hopefully one day I will be able to try a few of those features. Overall, I am pleased with this unit, I got it from Revzilla.com here: Cardo G4 Powerset - RevZilla for $349.99. It now seems to have gone up, to $379.99 Best price that I could find anywhere.
Here are my thoughts:
Intercom: 5/5 Stars. The quality is great and has wonderful range, more than would ever be needed. Makes those long rides much more enjoyable, and communication can really come in handy sometimes. (ie Woman: I have to pee, Man: You just went, Woman: Well I do again so pull over. j/k ladies!)
Music: 4/5 Stars. Again, clear and quality sound, very enjoyable to not have ear buds jammed in your ears while wearing your helmet. Hopefully bluetooth streaming is just a bug that needs to get worked out, or perhaps it is Apple not functioning well with the unit, but once it is playing, it is great.
Radio: 1/5 Stars. Epic fail here, at least so far. I have been in areas that come in crystal clear in the car, and this thing will not pick them up. I am assuming you have to ride within a few miles of the actual station itself to actually get anything. Maybe it has just been the surrounding terrain, but I haven't had much luck yet.
Phone: 4/5 Stars. It is annoying that I can't get it to call who I want it to call, but it is very good sound quality when I can get it to call the right person or I just use my phone and call them. It is really nice that they don't hear that you are on your bike, they don't get a bunch of wind noise or exhaust notes or anything. Just like I was sitting at home on the couch.
Overall: 4/5 Stars. Clearly there are some things that I haven't gotten to test yet. Overall, very good unit, great price, and high quality. I have not updated them through the software on the computer yet, but I will be trying that to see if I can fix the issue with the bluetooth music streaming, or perhaps maybe see if it will fix other things that I wasn't crazy about. I would just as soon leave the radio off, it is really a waste of a feature, because I have yet to get it work, and doubt that it ever will, but I didn't buy it for that. Any questions, feel free to ask, and I will answer as best as I could. Now if there is anyone out there looking, they know what they will get with the ScalaRider G4 Powerset.
So, after shopping around for quite a while, I picked the ScalaRider G4, because of the 1 mile distance between headsets, bluetooth music streaming, and features. So far, I have been able to use them for about 3 hours with my fiancee. We worked with a lot of the features to see how they work.
I used the wired connection for my Zune HD, and she used her iPod Touch for bluetooth mp3 streaming. Both worked well, but her iPod was a little tricky to get to work. I think that it is a bug with the system, and they may have fixed it in an update, I haven't gotten a chance to update them yet through the computer, but will definitely do that and see if it still continues.
The intercom is amazing. You must speak loudly in order for the other person to hear you, but not hard when you are going at motorcycle speeds with a helmet on and in my case, have a Two Brothers Exhaust. Surprisingly she didn't hear my exhaust in the background of the voice. She said that I was quite clear. I tested the distance by taking off from a turn, and seeing how far I could go until I couldn't hear her anymore. We were in a state forest where we live, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. We got about a 1/2 mile apart before I started getting static. It stayed that way up until I got maybe about 3/4 of a mile away and it was unbearable. They say on their website that the 1 mile distance is on flat roads with no mountains, buildings or other natural objects. I am pleased with the distance, because I don't plan on getting that far away from each other.
Switching between sources are easy with a push of a button. Everything is placed in a nice spot, and easy to do while riding. The speaker quality is also something that is impressive. For such small speakers, they are really clear, and when playing music, don't crackle or make any kind of noise. When the intercom is running, the "dead air" is clear, not really noisy. Voice comes through crystal clear on intercom as well as telephone calls. I didn't care for the "hands free" calling, the voice dialing didn't seem to understand my commands. That is kind of a pain, but incoming calls would be nice. I like being able to talk on the phone while riding, makes it nice that I don't have to miss those important phone calls anymore.
The radio has a lot to be desired. It basically sucks, because it has to use the little antenna that is on the unit and at 1.5" long, it doesn't do a whole lot. I basically haven't been able to get a station to come in....at all. Not even one with static. So, I haven't heard anything good about out of the radio feature.
I haven't gotten to test 3 or 4 way intercom, the radio as just mentioned, and incoming calls. Hopefully one day I will be able to try a few of those features. Overall, I am pleased with this unit, I got it from Revzilla.com here: Cardo G4 Powerset - RevZilla for $349.99. It now seems to have gone up, to $379.99 Best price that I could find anywhere.
Here are my thoughts:
Intercom: 5/5 Stars. The quality is great and has wonderful range, more than would ever be needed. Makes those long rides much more enjoyable, and communication can really come in handy sometimes. (ie Woman: I have to pee, Man: You just went, Woman: Well I do again so pull over. j/k ladies!)
Music: 4/5 Stars. Again, clear and quality sound, very enjoyable to not have ear buds jammed in your ears while wearing your helmet. Hopefully bluetooth streaming is just a bug that needs to get worked out, or perhaps it is Apple not functioning well with the unit, but once it is playing, it is great.
Radio: 1/5 Stars. Epic fail here, at least so far. I have been in areas that come in crystal clear in the car, and this thing will not pick them up. I am assuming you have to ride within a few miles of the actual station itself to actually get anything. Maybe it has just been the surrounding terrain, but I haven't had much luck yet.
Phone: 4/5 Stars. It is annoying that I can't get it to call who I want it to call, but it is very good sound quality when I can get it to call the right person or I just use my phone and call them. It is really nice that they don't hear that you are on your bike, they don't get a bunch of wind noise or exhaust notes or anything. Just like I was sitting at home on the couch.
Overall: 4/5 Stars. Clearly there are some things that I haven't gotten to test yet. Overall, very good unit, great price, and high quality. I have not updated them through the software on the computer yet, but I will be trying that to see if I can fix the issue with the bluetooth music streaming, or perhaps maybe see if it will fix other things that I wasn't crazy about. I would just as soon leave the radio off, it is really a waste of a feature, because I have yet to get it work, and doubt that it ever will, but I didn't buy it for that. Any questions, feel free to ask, and I will answer as best as I could. Now if there is anyone out there looking, they know what they will get with the ScalaRider G4 Powerset.
