Scala Rider Cardo G4 Motorcycle Headset

I have had the original Scala Rider since it first came out and was quickly impressed with the battery life and wind noise suppression. Now I am married and my wife rides her own motorcycle so I decided after looking around at current communication devices I was not surprised when I settled on the G4 Powerset.

First thing I did was upload the latest firmware update to the units from my Windows 7 x64 bit home computer without a hitch (I read a previous reviewer that had an issue with this so apparently it has been addressed). Now you can program your radio stations, set sensitivity levels, and various other features right from the desktop without having to play around with it in the field. I consider that a big plus. When it's time to ride I don't want to have to monkey around with my gear.

On our first trip out we took some back roads through a couple of canyons on a windy day and there was not time I could not hear my wife clearly. The only time I heard wind coming from her mic was when the wind was hitting us sideways and pretty hard. Even when she was out of line of sight we could still communicate clearly though I doubt we got more than a half mile of separation. The auto-volume feature worked just like the old unit which forced me to turn it down a few levels but the volume control was an easy reach on the left side of my helmet.

My only issue with the Powerset is the intercom. If you hit the Channel A button you can talk all day long with no problems but the booklet advertises that you should just be able to talk into the mic and it would automatically initiate the intercom with a paired G4. That feature never worked for us and I was dissapointed as I don't want to have to hit a channel button every time I want to talk to my wife. I ended up leaving the channel open the whole time which worked great but killed my ability to listen to my mp3 player during the intermissions and allowed wind noise to transmit during the gustier parts of our ride.

One feature I think they should add is the ability to change the priority of the incoming transmissions via the software. Right now you are fixed with Cardo's priority setup without regards to what you would prefer the priority to be. If your phone is paired with your G4 and you receive an incoming call you have to answer/kill the call before resuming comms with your other riders. But this is only a minor issue and in no way a deal breaker here.

If the battery life on this one is as good as the original (they advertise 10 hours talk time) then I will be more than happy with the investment I made so far. You can charge the units off any USB port or use the AC adapters included (one cable and adapter per unit). In fact, you get two of everything in the Powerset so it is definitely worth buying over the solo G4 when you consider the price difference (you could sell the 2nd unit and make a profit). Hearing in stereo is a huge upgrade from the original Scala rider (which only had one speaker) and the quality is surprisingly good. It lacks bass when it comes to music but for how slim the speakers are it works more than good enough for me.

The G4 Powerset is a worthy buy letting me focus on the ride and not the gear.

BUY NOW!!!