Cardo Pactalk BOLD vs Sena 30K

[matjam]

I haven't seen many comparisons of these two units out there so I thought I'd post something about it.

My riding group generally standardized a few years ago on Sena units. I had a 10C for a long time and a 10C PRO, and eventually bought a 30K when I smashed the lens on the 10C PRO with a rock. I've been running the 30K for about a year or so now.

Last weekend we were out hooning about and I was struggling with my 30K trying to get it to work in mesh mode. The phone app wouldn't recognize it, factory reset didn't work, I couldn't flash the software at home. It was just a giant pain in the neck. I was talking to the guys, and how one of my friends who I also ride with all of the people he knows have a Pactalk.

So, this week I picked up a duo pack of Pactalk BOLD JBLs and fitted one last night in my helmet.

Thoughts;

The Pactalk has WAY better audio quality. I can actually hear music and podcasts clearly.

The voice activation for siri works perfectly, hands free.

The mount for the system is not as good as the Sena; its a plastic clip so I have one concern that if I'm a little hamfisted with it I could lose it. But we'll see how it goes.

I've not had a chance to test the DMC group intercom in a large group, but I am expecting it works better than the Sena Mesh, which just never lived up to any of the promises Sena made for the 30K. Now they have announced the 50S ... honestly I bought the 30K because I thought the Mesh would actually work as advertised. It didn't.

Looking forward to trying out the DMC mode once everyone in my group gets a unit

 

[bikeama]

I had a 30K. Last year I made a trip to the Alps with two other couples, they used Cardo's I checked and found I could pair my 30K to their units BUT would need to pair each day. So I sold my 30K and bought a PackTalk Bold. One couple in the group also had a PackTalk Bold. We set up a group with four PackTalks and three older Cardos using the Bridge function. PackTalk to PackTalk was always perfect. If the rider with the older PackTalk got away from the unit they were bridged to they fell off the group quickly. The piggybacking in Mesh let us talk around corners.

Most of the time I ride by myself and really like the radio and voice commands on the Cardo. I never could get the Sena to work as well. I agree the Sena has a better mount. One in our group noticed his PackTalk getting lose in his mount. He called Cardo and they send him a new mount.

 

[matjam]

Rode to work today with Mrs Matjam and the quality was better than the two 30Ks. A LOT less popping/crackling in the audio. And I can listen to music and talk and it cuts the volume appropriately. Much better experience.

 

[doc4216]

Bought the pactalk last fall and definitely do not regret the choice. Music is clear and conversations are much improved over the previous set we had (Q2). I haven't used the Senas but love the Cardo!

 

[LachlanD]

Cardo seems to be the new go-to. It's hard to pair the two different brands and when 90% of your friends now have cardos its best just to get that. Plus the voice command is great.Sena is getting phased out for sure