You know the problem. You have a Sena SMH-10 Bluetooth communicator but your riding buddy has an Interphone F5. You'd love to be able to communicate during your ride, but because different brands use different radio frequencies, you can't.
Until now.
First, the standard Sena firmware upgrade dance. I downloaded the latest version of Device Manager from Sena's website, followed the prompts, and a few minutes later both of my SMH10s had the latest firmware installed.
Next, it was time to actually test the Universal Intercom feature. The way this works is that the Sena device advertises itself as a phone to the other device. When the other device attempts to make a call using this "phone," it is automatically connected into the intercom. I consider this to be a very elegant solution to the problem of incompatible bluetooth intercom systems. The big question is, does it work? In short, yes, it works. In fact, it works rather better than I expected.
Explaining the various possible combinations can be a little confusing, so I’m going to use the following names and hope it all makes sense:
- SenaA = First SMH10
- SenaB = Second SMH10
- F5 = Interphone F5
- G9 = Cardo Scala Rider G9
SenaA and SenaB are already paired to each other, so let's start pairing up the others.
SenaA + G9
SenaA + SenaB + G9
Okay, SenaA and G9 are talking. Can I bring SenaB into the mix? Absolutely! Tapping the intercom button on SenaB to initiate intercom joined up with SenaA and all three were communicating! This is pretty impressive.
SenaB + F5
This was pretty much the exact same process as SenaA + G9, with the only difference being that F5 has a voice prompt menu system you have to go through in order to initiate phone pairing.
G9 + SenaA + SenaB + F5 ?!?!?!
Sena really seems to have nailed it with this new feature and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.