Sena Momentum Full Face Helmet Review

I was once again given the opportunity be the folks at Sena to test out and review one of their Bluetooth enabled helmets, the Sena Momentum Full Face Helmet. I wanted to share my thoughts on this new helmet and provide a real-world riders review of the product:

Fit and Finish:

The helmet sizing guide was not as spot on as the guide provided for the Sena Calvary half helmet, I sent them my helmet size based on the sizing guide but unfortunately, the sizing guide was a little off and I end up needing to have the helmet exchanged for a size larger then the sizing guide suggested. Sena was very accommodating with the exchange policy so this went extremely smooth. Once I got the correct size helmet I would consider the helmet build quality better then other full faced helmets I have owned in the past and over ones I currently own.

I got the “opportunity” to use the helmet during a rain shower and it performed extremely well, rain beaded up and repelled well which made visibility much better then I expected.

One significant thing I noticed about this full face helmet compared to others was there was little to no buffeting (the vibration caused by air and wind movement around the motorcycle, kind of makes your head feel like it’s in a paint shaker), compared to other helmets I’ve owned this is very minimal.

Like the previous Sena Bluetooth helmet I reviewed, the Bluetooth Communications Module is very low profile only sticking out about a ½ inch from the helmet and the controls are raised so that you can feel them through motorcycle gloves.

In the Box:

Pairing:

Bluetooth Pairing was very simple, using the quick start guide instructions I was able to pair the helmet to my phone in about a minute and a half. Sena also provides a full User Manual on their website. The User Manual has some additional settings and information that the quick guide does not have and I found that it came in handy.

Pairing to my touring motorcycle:

I was also able to pair the helmet with my Indian Chieftains built-in Bluetooth system with the help of this video.

I’m sure Harley-Davidson and Honda have something similar. This allowed me to see the number that was calling my pop up on my in-dash display.

Call Quality:

I during my recent trip to the Sturgis, SD for the Sturgis motorcycle rally I was able to make and receive calls to my chase vehicle. The call quality was excellent both on my end and one the other side of the call, in fact, the person I was having the call with could not tell I was on a motorcycle at all. I would highly suggest taking and making a few calls off your motorcycle to get used to the process before trying this on the road, it’s not difficult to receive calls but get familiar with the systems before you get on the road.

Intercom:

Unfortunately, I was unable to test the intercom since I only have the one helmet and couldn’t find anybody that had an intercom system that I could sync up and go ride with. Once I get the chance to ride with someone with a compatible system I’ll be sure to update this review.

Audio (music):

The last area where the helmet really shined was the audio playback functionality.  I was able to clearly hear the lyrics to the music I was listening to from my phone through the helmet, and I could very easily adjust the volume and change songs with one or two presses of a button without being distracted in any way while I was on the road.

Other stuff:

The companion app for the helmet Sena Utility Android or Apple has been greatly improved over the previous version. I was surprised to find the voice command feature linked to my phone and I was able to say things like “play music by” or “call my wife”.

Setting up speed-dial, radio stations and being notified of firmware upgrades are all in the app but things like battery monitoring and updating the helmet firmware from the app are not available. The battery level can be checked using voice commands and firmware must be upgraded using “Sena Device Manager”.

Charging time seemed to be very quick with the included USB cable (No wall plug-in, but most of us have an extra around somewhere). I was able to charge the helmet in a little under 3 hours to full and that give me about 30 hours of on time and around 18-20 hours of talk time.

Summary:

Overall this helmet is a winner in my book scoring about a 4.7 out of 5 stars and is one of the best helmets I’ve ever used with Bluetooth functionality. I would most certainly recommend this helmet as a buy for anyone that wants a full-face Bluetooth helmet.

*The helmet can be ordered by clicking on this link Sena Momentum Helmet it will take you to Sena’s Amazon product page.

Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments section of this review.

Ride or Die…