I use Sena. Why? Because there as a great deal on Amazon for a dual pack of SHM-5’s. If Cardo had a good deal at the time I was ready to buy, I’d be using Cardo.
The reason I went with the dual pack was that it allows me the ability to swap out units during my several thousand mile trips across Americas back roads so I can charge one unit while using the other. Or on shorter day rides the ability to communicate with my passenger or another rider. I now own three SHM-5’s and a Sena Outrush helmet with the Bluetooth communicator built in.
My SMH-5 can connect to three other headsets, but can only talk to one of them at a time. Before “Mesh”, my friend, who owns two Sena 20’s, and I created our own version of mesh communications allowing for me, my passenger, him and his passenger to all talk and hear each other at the same time. This was done by connecting each of my SMH-5’s to a different one of his 20’s and his 20’s to each other. I don’t know if we could add any more into our group or not. We never tried.
I do know that the Packtalk is limited to 15 members in a group, which sounds like a lot. However, let’s say that you regularly ride with a group consisting of 15 people but today, one or two of those members decided not to ride and you have two new members that do and you want them to be included into the group. It should be as simple as deleting the two that didn’t show up to ride and adding the two new riders that did. Seems simple enough, but you can’t. You can’t delete selected individuals from the group. You can only delete an entire group. To add these two riders would require creating an entirely new group and have all of the riders reconnect into this new group. They cannot simply be transferred from the old group into the new one either. This may or may not be a problem for you. Sena has several ways to connect more than two riders into a group. You can try something like we have done above or you can user their Ride Connect app. It allows you to communicate with fellow riders all over the world using your smartphone. It's like a telephone call but with more than two people. You are not limited by the range or number of intercom connections as with Bluetooth. As long as you have cell service you can create private groups. You can talk to any of your friends anywhere in the world as long as they are using a Sena headset too. They can not dial onto the group nor connect without using a sena bluetooth headset paired to their phone. You also have to let them know the group name and the access code. It is compatible with all Sena communication devices including my ancient SMH-5’s. Or you can use one of their Mesh or Open Mesh options.
Don’t believe any of the manufactures range claims. 1/4 to 1/2 mile is really all you can reasonably expect. The Pack talk can reach further as long as you have bikes close enough to each other to act as repeater or link between those in front of them to those behind them. Sena’s Ride Connect app has no range limitations but does require a cell connection. No cell service, no communicating.
If you only ride with a friend or two, it really doesn’t matter what manufacture you choose. They both have the ability to connect to each other.