Have Motorcycle Communicators Gotten TOO EXPENSIVE?

Cardo has been the biggest name in motorcycle communicators for a while now. Their PackTalk Edge has everything a rider could want, with long battery life, long range, and hands-free voice commands. So to upgrade, they need to bring some seriously worthwhile new features to justify a $100 price hike over the Edge. Is the new Cardo really worth it? Let's find out.

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00:00 - Intro
02:04 - Sound Quality
05:28 - Road Test
08:02 - Auto On/Off
09:33 - Crash Detection
12:30 - Is It Worth It?

[sawyer]

Nearly $500 for a bluetooth comm unit is highway robbery. Let's be honest

[nulla]

8:56 When I was in the ambulance from a crash, we were all hearing music but no one knew where it was coming from. Turns out, my helmet was still playing music 😂

[eckes]

I just want to say, some people cant make that transition from guest host/secondary host to main host (exp: MatPat retiring) but you Spite are one of those people that can. its great watching you grow and carve your own lane... keep up it up and LeTS GO!!!!

[josht]

You can get a mid-grade cell phone that has more advanced hardware & capabilities for $250. I know part of it is the typical motorcycle tax, but these prices are insane to me.

[Ephem]

Here is the answer I found. I have the Spirit with upgraded JBL 40mm. 90% I ride alone, for the times I don't, I showed my friends how to set up Discord on their phone. If you have cell signal, you are in range.

[Snafu]

I ride alone and have no friends. So the old Cardo spirit works for me.

[Jagshemasher]

I bought a Packtalk Edge Duo Pack for around USD600 and they work very well. At the end of the day the main thing is you need to be able to talk to you riding buddies. Music and other stuff is a plus. I have found with the speakers that the position relative to your ear is absolutely critical. The speakers have to be perfect aligned with your ear canal and quite close also otherwise wind noise will get intrusive. The problem with all these systems is if you wear ear plugs for wind noise protection the sound gets significantly muted so the sound quality is not that great. Really what we need is helmets with liners that provided better sound insulation. I'm looking at experimenting with in-ear monitors. The Packtalk Edge battery life is pretty good - I've ridden all day (10-12 hours) and the battery is still okay.

[BUGBYTE_]

I think its worth the price. But i really think just upgrading the main unit without all the rest of the parts should be an option. Especially if you're happy with the speakers you already have. They already sell the speakers and mount by itself for second helmets. Why not just sell the nain unit without all the extra? Something else people need to take into account when it comes to road noise is the actual helmet you have. Better insulated helmets will give different results than a Amazon knock off helmet.

[killerdeviant]

I upgraded to the 45mm speakers and they were much thicker than the 40s. Make sure you have room for your ears!!

[WeaponsArtist]

Hey Spite. Man, Cardo even hooked you up with the Cardo neck pillow, nice 😂

They better include that in their $350+ systems!

[Aaron_Ada]

I picked it up for the crash detection, and because I wanted a second unit for my daughter. I went with the pro instead of another edge because of the crash detection. I do think they should sell just the head unit. I agree the speakers ARE better, but not mindbogglingly so.

The price of electronics is supposed to come down year after year. Think of flat screen TVs. They seem to have it backwards

[omgitsabloodyandroid]

The whole point of a bike is to NOT having to talk to anyone

[solidsnake]

Def appreciate swapping the speakers bro. I have owned an Edge for 2 years and always wanted to see the difference with the 45mm drivers. The clips comparing them all is awesome. I think I'm waiting for the PackTalk Pro 2 since the Edge does so well already. Also, Spite looking good! Nice man!

[Hoggdoc]

The secrete to good helmet audio is speaker placement. The speakers need to be on contact with the ear and centered around the ear opening. Otherwise you will loose volume and dynamics no matter what drivers you are using.

[dannypeck]

honestly i just want them to come out with some good quality kit that will allow 2 riders (or in my case, rider and pillion) to have their own music going and cut out for voice comms. i don't need to be able to talk with 100 other riders, just my backpack.

[MotoMapperMe]

I ride solo most of the time, and some times when I don't, we don't have the same headset. So point of a comm is mostly to listen to music when I ride, with earplugs, so a basic comm with decent speaker work quite well.

[wheeltrouble]

No comms unit is worth more than my entire helmet, let alone stables of helmets!

[movingnaturefilms]

Fuck Cardo and Sena for their pricing. These units probably cost $20 to produce, if that. It should be $99 at best.

[mikeviener]

A thought from someone that crashed with a Cardo 5 days ago. A car cut me off doing a classic SMIDSY left turn, I got launched over the car and slammed my head down. My Cardo vanished, no idea where it went. SOS is probably not going to work then right? I feel like a lot of crashes that won't help much. But I guess I'd rather have it than not, I was too disoriented to use my phone but had plenty of witnesses to help me thankfully.