Anyone have those POS Sena 50c comm system?

[boosten lebaron]

I was gifted two of these garbage things so I'm stuck trying to use them. They have been nothing but problems and I'm tired of reading reddits about how to get them to function so if anyone can help me out here that would be most excellent.

Intercom and mesh quality degrades after about an hour of use. Peoples voices become almost digital so I have reset the unit and enter the chat again. Both units do this but at different times. I'm upgraded and down graded the firm wear on both without a fix.
Sena voice command has never worked on either unit. I can get siri and Google to work from it but that doesn't help when I want to change songs or volume. Again, firmware has been changed with no fix.
Camera tilt slider keeps sliding. Both units. Ride for a couple hours and the camera will tilt off axis on its own. God knows why Sena but a stupid friction slider as its sole means of adjustment but they did. I was going to glue the slider but that seems extreme. Maybe someone has a better fix that's less permanent?
Sensitive controls. One of the units is super touchy. Can't even think about using gloves on it because all sorts of mayhem will ensue. I sent it Sena and they sent it back saying it's fine so I don't know what to do about it.
Shit battery life on one of them. I'm guessing there is a setting I'm not seeing but one only lasts about half a day and the other lasts like 2 days.

For the record my crappy $100 units from Amazon have been flawless. These things are like a grand in total and have been a total disappointment.

[Kurlon]

I've got a pair of HD branded Sena 50S units, the HD branding means I'm stuck on OLLLLLLD firmware 'cause Harley can't be bothered to test and approve newer versions...

That said, seen the same thing, mesh mode randomly either discos or goes digital. BT mode is more stable, though not 100%. Issue we're fighting now is the Buell doesn't have much of a windscreen and a WAY louder exhaust so the noise suppression often gives up and we get echoes, chirps, etc in our ears at times. I love the theory, and when they're working they make riding two up (or in a group with Pete) way more enjoyable, it just floors me that in 2025 a simple intercom can crash so much.

[boosten lebaron]

Good to know others share my pain. I've actually found the noise suppression to be pretty good but it took some trial and error with helmets and placement. We are on fairly quiet bikes too.

[MattR302]

I have a 50C on my commuting helmet for dashcam purposes. I don’t think I’ve used the mesh at all though. It’s usually just:
1. Power on
2. “Hey Sena, camera on”
3. “Hey Sena, recording”
4. “Hey Sena, FM radio on” (or “Hey Siri, play music”)

But the voice prompts work fine. BTW, it’s officially pronounced like “Senna” not “Seena” - not sure how much of a difference that makes for voice prompts.

Battery life sucks you’re using the camera. I think it’s maybe hour and a half when it was new. Like I said, I just use commuting so I charge it at work and when I get home.

I don’t use the clamp mount, I use the adhesive mount, so there’s no tilting.
I spaced it away from the helmet a bit with a layer or two of 1/8” 3M double sided adhesive foam underneath the mounts adhesive. This also helps adapt to the helmets contours. I can get a pic later this weekend.

[boosten lebaron]

The camera has a little slider on the side to tilt the camera 30 degrees. My mount is solid, it's that little slider that keeps dropping.
I'm told pronunciation makes a difference with voice commands. I've tried them all. Ive been told that the unit doesn't indicate that it heard you or confirm its actions, it just does what you say. So I'm not sure if it's hearing me, or trying to do something else or whatever.

[TheIglu]

My 10C Evo worked fine for years, then one day the camera stopped. Took it apart, no obvious issues. Just have no camera functions anymore.

Can't update the firmware either, errors out every time. Something on the board died.

I loved using the camera doing track instruction, so much better than a handlebar mounted GoPro.

But if it won't work, no point. I won't be buying a Sena to replace it.

[boosten lebaron]

If I had to get another I would get a cardo for a high end unit or just more of the fodsports ones I've been using already.

[boosten lebaron]

So 6 months update...
Sent both units back to sena for warranty. They claimed nothing was wrong but sent me back two new units. One unit actually responded to voice commands for about a month then just stopped. The other one never responded to voice, just like the previous two.
Anyway now it seems they are sensitive to the cold and the jog button is all screwed up now. I took a chance and bought a handle bar mounted rc4 remote for it from sena. Slick looking unit but like the other sena garbage it is crap. It does function enough to take the place of the jog button on the main unit but other than that it's just terrible. Always on even when sitting in my shed for weeks, not waterproof, and an over complicated button scheme again.
Just waiting for the ball to drop on my other $500 unit with about 10 hours of use on it