Cardo PTB00101 - PACKTALK Bold Motorcycle Bluetooth Communication System Headset - Black, Dual 2 Pack

Bottom line: It works as advertised and I'm about to buy a 2nd. Anyone expecting dolby surround sound or 12 speaker car audio quality... doesn't understand acoustics and the environment this operates in. Do I wish it was more robust sounding audio, yes. But it is a good balance of on the road entertainment and still being able to track what's happening in your environment, YES! Longer Version: Ok, so I've had this and used it on my daily commute for about 4 months now. So far I've never run out of battery, but I've not been on a ride longer than 4 hours yet. However, I've gone 2 week or so without charging it with roughly 30-40 min round trip runs. Still, not the advertised lifespan tested, but again no issues. I've only paired up with someone once. Worked without any headache. I bought mainly for audio navigation and music. Both have worked pretty flawlessly. Noise cancelling is quite good. I've had trouble with people hearing me on a call when testing it in my apartment (I think it was too quiet in my apartment for the noise filtering to understand lol). But it seems to work great when on my bike. At 80 mph, they can still hear me as well as 25mph. At pretty much any speed, I'm told that the volume coming through on the call is low, but clear. I haven't discovered a setting that seems to impact that. It's not ideal, but it does allow me to flawlessly answer or make calls if necessary without stopping or any fumbling or fuss. Practice using the button to hang up on a call. I haven't discovered a voice command to hang up and it took me longer than I'd like to admit to figure that you had to press a button to end the call. Music - the big one. Look, if you want to blast your music in your ear while riding, I'd humbly suggest reconsider the safety of that. But that's also what headphones are for. Having said that, I'm a music guy and I want to have tunes rolling while I ride. This is my first helmet system. So I can't compare it to anything else, but I am an audiophile and if you heard how strong, full, balanced, and clear my system is in my car, you'd know I spend a lot of time and effort getting it right. This system just works. I actually think it sounds very good. For those that claim they can't hear it or it's unimpressive, I don't know what you were expecting from a small scale speaker competing with 85-100db from road, engine, and wind noise in even the better helmets. But 2 things have made a big difference for me. Make sure your volume level on your phone is turned up pretty much all the way. This seems to have a very real impact to the volume range of the system for me. Also, to protect my ears, I ride with some Alpine riding ear plugs in that claim they filter out the white noise and spare reduce the strain on your ears. I think they do that well and a great investment. I also find that I can actually hear my music much better when I wearing those plugs than without and at a greater range of volume levels. I'm about to purchase my second unit for my second helmet. I have a HJC RPHA 11 and a RPHA 90. One for short runs and imo improved safety. The other is for the longer hauls I've started running. So far this has been running in the 11 with the full face mic. I'll install on the 90 with the modula mic and update if I find a noticeable performance difference. It might help that I'm also on a semi quiet bike (2018 Versys 650) without burning cash on any aftermarket pipe. I also have an aftermarket windshield that is very effective. But even when I have that dropped down for some airflow I don't notice much, if any drop off in hearing my music. Weirdly, I feel like podcasts also tend to come through more clearly. But you have fewer audio waves fighting the environment to reach your ears. So to me I suppose that makes sense. I spent the first 30 years of my life paycheck to paycheck. So even with the resources now to buy premium products, I can't shake the habit of bang for buck buying. I think this is a great bang for buck if it fits your budget and if comms and audio while you ride are important to you. If there are better options, I'd say this is at very least not a wrong choice.

Works as advertised. I was reluctant because the other riders in our group have Sena’s and I saw all the comments that Sena would not pair up with the Cardo’s. After getting ours setup, I invited one of our friends to try pairing the units up. We had some success but when using on the bikes there was a lot of static that was annoying but we at least knew we could use them when needed but switch them over when not using. The comm and music was very clear when in mesh mode with other Cardo users. I loved the voice command capabilities and also found I could call “hey Siri, call…” our Sena friend and then I can push a button and tie the phone call in with the other Cardo users and the sound was very clear, no static and everyone could be in the conversation. I highly recommend the Cardo Packtalk for the waterproofing, voice command, mesh, sound quality, and ease of use.

So my husband and I finally had the time to ourselves and went for a run. We are not techie at all. We watch some you tube videos to install the talk pack bold duo into our helmets. The video was excellent too. Showed all kinds of helmet. I charged the packs overnight. Took us about 30 mins to install in the helmet. Am very glad we bought the jbl. The sound was crystal clear and the bass did come through fine. Yes was very pricey but So worth it. I figureD if you’re going on a couple to a few hour cruise and you’re sightseeing and going places you’ve never been before you’ll want to talk to your spouse or partner on some cool things you see like we do. We are about to hit 50 so going for a cruise and able to listen to our music without having to fumble with your cell phone is a plus. I had my purse inside our saddle bag and was able to listen to the music fine. So this is my take on it. With the duo you’re able to individually listen to your own music but still be connected to your partner thru the intercom. There is no wind noise whatsoever. Their white noise cancellation is excellent. You don’t hear any wind noise like you do on cell phones. Your partner will not hear your music or vice verse. The Bluetooth allows the connectivity to both the cardo talk pack and you stay connected to your smart phone at the same time. It was perfect. When you spoke the music soften a bit so you can hear each other and then the music would come back to original volume. I love the “hey cardo” function similar to Siri and bixby on smart phones. You can pick up phone calls with a touch. Increasing volume was cool. It’s a turning wheel on the talk pack. Now one con was the instructions showed I could share my music with my husband but was not able to do that yet. Still need to figure that out. I have a shoei helmet and my husband has a no name brand helmet that the front face lifts up. He used the half part mic. I used the full mic. You can’t even tell it’s inside the helmet. We both used the stick pad onto the outside of the helmet instead of the clip. The clip is a joke. All the helmets are thicker by design nowadays anyway. We both ended up using the adhesive to stick the talk pack clip onto the helmet. The video says to let the adhesive sit for 24 hours. We didn’t know that and we wanted to try it out. We still went out to try it. The adhesive as fine after 1 hour. This allows you to remove for charging. My shoei is very well insulated so the music And sound was great. I was totally impressed. I’ve had jbl before so wasn’t surprised but was still impressed. Never used an intercom before in a helmet. We went for a two hour ride and the battery didn’t die. I am very excited about The fact we can intercom with other riders and may be able to connect with them too to talk but that may be beyond our tech knowledge may have to trial and error it when opp comes. We may need to have same brand. Will have to read more into that. If you’re a hard core bike rider or a weekend road warrior it’s a must have if you’re with a partner. For individuals, the music alone to listen to on rides and be able to pick up calls and such is great. We also used a cell phone holder for motorcycles that held the phone in place by pinching the phone in the middle and has silicone bands that stretched around the corners of the phone for added security. We went along back roads over hills and some roads had some holes and unevenness and the phone didn’t budge. So overall it took us no longer than 30-40 mins to install, turn on, Bluetooth search for the talk pack, read on how to turn on music (minus the overnight charging) and we were out the door to go pick up some to go sushi for dinner. Charging Doesn’t take that long but I did it for the first time use. My husband didn’t have any music downloaded to his Samsung so at first we thought it didn’t work but we turned on his MixerBox list an app on his phone and he could hear his music fine. I love this product and it is so worth it. I hope this was helpful.

Noise cancellation is on point according to three people I talked with via phone call at speeds as high as 60mph. They describe it as crisp, and it sounded like I was in a padded room you would find in a recording booth. The installation, set up, and pairing of my Cardo was fairly easy, when I went on YouTube and watched a how to video for an HJC modular helmet. Total process took under 20 minutes. The voice commands could use improvement, and media play controls is a bit confusing. If you're using this to play strictly through your headset and helmet it works perfectly. However if you own a motorcycle that you also pair your phone and headset with an onboard Bluetooth you'll have to connect both devices through your phone at the same time... Playing music through your motorcycle is easy but when you want to take a phone call, it doesn't seem to automatically switch back to your headset, you have to go back to your phone and switch the Bluetooth device on your call screen because it uses your motorcycle as the default Bluetooth. I can't seem to change it. So that is a pain, but once it switches it works perfectly and it will switch back automatically to play music through your motorcycle speakers. I have yet to test this device in rain, but i imagine it will be okay, if not it does detach very easily so you'll be able to place the device elsewhere to protect it. The boom mic works amazing with my modular HJC IS-MAX II HELMET, and is not in the way when removing/putting on the helmet or while in use. I recommend using tape underneath the pads of the helmet to secure the wires and to cut a portion of the left cheek pad off after install it so you don't damage the wires from the clip on the side.

I've needed a hands free comms system for a good while now. I was pairing my iPhone to the Harley Davidson's Boom audio stereo system to be able to play songs and have Waze directions sound through the speakers, but I couldn't answer the phone or texts while riding. The Cardo Packtalk Bold does all of this and more. Has a FM radio built in which is cool. Phone calls and texts can be made on the fly by voice command. You can use "Hey Siri" or "Hey Google" to dial or text peoples' cell phones. Proprietary voice commands like "Answer," Hang Up," "Hey Cardo, Volume Up/Down" or "Hey Cardo, battery status" gives you a full set of tools to vocally command many aspects of communication and entertainment or GPS functions. Voice recognition can be hit or miss at rare times, but not enough to be annoying - you can still use the physical controls to stop music, skip tunes, seek FM stations, or answer/hang up phone calls. I have the Harley Davidson stereo and the Cardio paired to the iPhone, and that basically makes the iPhone a Wireless Interface Module (WIM). There are some quirks to it - like music still wants to play through the bike stereo, but if you select the Cardo device, music will play through the JBL headphones in your helmet (as well as GPS Waze, Apple Maps, Google Maps, etc). The JBL headphones have a really nice sound for music and phone calls. Phone calls are very clear. Haven't paired with another rider Cardo set yet but I'm sure it's just as good as all of the other things I've talked about. Installation is very easy and works for just about any type of helmet. One thing I wish cardo would do is make the headphone jack cord longer for the mic cord tail that connects to either the boom or wire mic. If you ride a lot and need a hands free device that works very well for what it was intended, GET THE CARDO PACKTALK BOLD! You won't be sorry.

I purchased these for my wife and I to go in our modular helmets that I purchased separately. Installation was fairly simple (slight difficulty in placing the speakers, but nothing too serious). The difficulty lay mostly with the helmet, not the Cardo units. With a modular helmet completely closed the sound of the JBL speakers was very clear. As long as your microphone and speakers are aligned properly inside your helmet these things are a dream. I still have not mastered all of the bells and whistles that they offer, but the ones I do know I am very impressed with. These being “waterproof” as in HIGHLY rain resistant, was one of the biggest selling points for me. The top Sena units are not rated for rain. Seems pretty silly for comm units meant for motorcycle riding.....anyway... The pairing up is effortless, both to other units and to our phones. Battery life is excellent so far. Listening to music is very good, but very limited bass, as you can imagine for 40 mm speakers. . At highway speed with aftermarket pipes I can still hear my wife speak to me clearly. Noise cancellation is probably the best I’ve ever heard. I opened my modular at about 40 mph, and my wife said she heard zero wind noise, but could still clearly hear me. The microphone was directly in the wind. Loud pipes cancel out in about 2 seconds, if your wondering. If you are looking for a premium comm unit, you have definitely found it.

The first thing I noticed about these intercoms was their build quality. What an improvement over my Sena 20S Evo's! The second thing I noticed was the ease of installation into my Shoei Neotec. The third thing I noticed was far better sound quality. Even when traveling well above the interstates speed limit! The fourth thing that amazed me was the pairing. Do it once and forget it! Intercom clarity is better than Sena's too. The range is about the same, but right up until you lose the other intercom its crystal clear. These intercoms are way better than the Sena products. Even the voice commands and the FM radio work at all speeds! FM radio range is the same as in my truck! Try that with a Sena product, if the radio works at all. Battery life is great also. 3 days of communicating, and interfaced with my Sena Freewire, for over 12 hours a day! Try that with a Sena product! I can also vouch that these units are 100% waterproof after riding 3 days in downpours. I can only hope their customer service is better, but how will I find out since these are really high quality and work in all conditions! I'm very happy with this purchase and I highly recommend these intercoms.

Can't say enough good about this product. I avoided the Bluetooth bandwagon for a while, content with my wired headset. A new bike without wired audio forced me to make the leap. I was prepared for difficulty, and incompatibility, dropped calls, and short battery life, and ... everything I'd heard about this technology. Couldn't have been more wrong. This just works. Well. Right away. Easy to integrate with phone and GPS. And works very smartly with phone. Don't need to fuss with getting the phone in a certain state before connecting, which I needed to do when connecting phone to GPS previously. Sound quality is at least as good as my $$ wired headset. And I haven't come close to depleting the battery on a long day ride. I did have one issue - the u-usb jack seemed to get loose and charging was unpredictable shortly after I received it. Expecting the worst I called, spoke with a CS rep quickly, who took information and gave instruction to return. No questions asked, and I didn't even have to wait for mine to arrive there before mine replacement was sent to me. Incredible service makes a rare failure a lasting success. The voice commands work very well at least 95% of the time. Only thing I haven't tried is comm with other riders. While the setup instructions look a little off-putting, I'm sure it too will exceed my expectations. Looking forward to connecting with my ride partners.