Sena is one of the largest innovators on the motorcycle Bluetooth communicator market, and the 10C Pro headset is the prime example of that. They have essentially made a Bluetooth headset and an action camera in one package. Sounds too good to be true? Read our Sena 10C Pro review to find out!
Table of Contents
Sena 10C Pro Review – Features
If in a rush, check out all the most important features of the Sena 10C Pro Bluetooth headset!
- Weighs 90 grams
- Bluetooth headset/action camera hybrid
- Bluetooth 4.0 technology
- Supports up to 4 riders in the intercom group
- Connection range of 1 mile (1,4 kilometers)
- Advanced noise cancellation
- Video recording at 1440p/30 fps and at 1080p/30 and 60 fps
- 3,7 MP photo quality
- Continuous and time-lapse recording modes
- Wide-angle lens only
- Boom and wired microphone
- 2 hours battery life when continuously shooting photos and video
- 17 hours of talking time
- 3,5 hours of charge time
Without further ado, let’s begin our Sena 10C Pro review!
Design & Installation
The weight of the Sena 10C Pro headset is surprisingly low at 90 grams, especially when you consider that it is a Bluetooth headset and an action camera in one package. From looks alone, it looks more like a Bluetooth headset than an action camera, helping with its low-key integration with your motorcycle helmet.
We have the jog wheel and the button in the middle of it that manipulate the Bluetooth headset functionalities, such as pairing, adjusting volume, seeking FM stations, and more. Above these buttons, we can see the record button used primarily for, you guessed it, shooting photos and video!
The camera lens is quite low-key and has a plastic cover on it. You can also see a red spot on the top of the lens cap that indicated the top of the image that the camera will record.
This headset comes with boom and wired microphones, and its clamping kit should suffice for most motorcycle helmets. Keep in mind that you will need to cut a bit of plastic at the cheek pad area at some helmets if you want the speaker wires to fit inside the helmet itself. Other than that, the installation is pretty straightforward.
Bluetooth Pairing
Sena 10C Pro motorcycle Bluetooth headset is powered by Bluetooth 4.1, offering a fairly stable connection to various Bluetooth-powered devices. Connecting it to your phone is effortless, even more so if you use the proprietary Sena app. When you connect it to your phone, you can access the phone playlist, use GPS instructions, talk to your contacts, and more.
Now, when it comes to pairing this Bluetooth headset with other headsets, it fares the best when pairing it with the rest of the Sena family. Whether you use the 20S or 30K headsets, the audio quality and signal will stay stable until you don’t go above the recommended connection range.
When it comes to universal intercom pairing, we ran into some problems when pairing with non-Sena devices. In most cases, it’s a hit or miss. Sometimes you may connect easily to different types of Bluetooth headsets, and the second time you may have some issues with that.
Still, we must say that we are impressed with Sena, as they put in an action camera in a Bluetooth headset and didn’t destroy the Bluetooth and intercom functionalities.
Connection Range
Sena claims that their 10C Pro headset has a maximum intercom range of 1 mile (1,4 kilometers). Their claims are true, but keep in mind that certain disturbances such as other vehicles, buildings, lush forests, and steep hills may disrupt this signal.
Not to forget, the 10C Pro Bluetooth headset works with four other riders. So, you can talk with four riders in one intercom group simultaneously, which is fairly useful. You can definitely use this Bluetooth headset/action camera hybrid for group rides too!
Video Quality & Performance
When it comes to video quality, Sena 10C Pro can shoot in the following resolutions:
- 1440p at 30 fps
- 1080p at 30 and 60 fps
The performance is on point; the video won’t be choppy as there is no visible compression at play here. Also, the video stabilization works quite well.
We want to point out that you won’t be able to take photos or record videos until you don’t install a MicroSD card inside the headset itself. There is no internal memory whatsoever, and Sena sadly doesn’t include a memory card in the package. Keep in mind that the maximum storage capacity is 64 GB.
By default, the camera of the Sena 10C Pro has a fish-eye field of view (135-degree field of view). This can be both good or bad, depending on how you shoot videos. Sadly, there is no way to change the field of view, a feature most modern action cameras have.
But, if you want to use the 10C Pro as a dashcam, the fish-eye field of view really comes in handy. You can use this to your advantage in Continuous Loop mode.
Also, you can record videos in a time-lapse mode, which will snap a photo every second or every 10 seconds, producing a fast-forward video effect. The wide-angle field of view is also quite beneficial for this setting.
Photo Quality
The Sena 10C Pro leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to taking photos, whether it’s the low quality of the 3.7 MP photos or the distorted look in all the images due to the wide-angle lens effect. Taking photos is certainly the weakest area of this Bluetooth headset/action camera hybrid.
When taking photos with the 10C Pro, most of the photos will have an unrealistic distance represented. For example, most subjects in the photos you take with the 10C Pro will look two times farther away than what they really are.
User Interface & Control
First of all, we recommend you download the Sena Camera App to control the camera features properly. You can download it for Android and iOS.
With this app, you can download low-quality variants of videos and photos you shot to your mobile device. But more importantly, you can see what you are recording via the screen of your smartphone.
Once you connect the application to your smartphone, the video/photo shooting screen looks very similar to your smartphone camera user interface. You have a large red button for recording, you can toggle between photo and video shooting, and you can change the resolution and framerate of the video to be recorded. Of course, you can access the gallery via the app too.
Keep in mind that there will be a small delay with what you see on the smartphone screen, but that is quite normal. No app of such type is perfect when it comes to flawless connectivity and input delay.
Sound Quality
Now, the sound quality of the 10C Pro speakers leaves something to be desired on the bass and overall clarity front. While the sound quality is okay when riding below 70 mph (113 km/h), the speaker sound will get completely drowned out by external noise above such speed.
But, this problem has more to do with the overall sound isolation of the helmet. If you have a motorcycle helmet that isolates wind noise quite well, you can hear clear sound via the speakers up to 90 mph of speed (145 km/h).
Still, it’s good to see that Sena has advanced noise cancellation at play with these speakers, a feature that lowers down background noise when listening to music or talking to someone.
When it comes to microphone sound quality, the 10C Pro’s external microphone fares pretty well. That’s mostly due to the integration of adjustable levels, with levels indicating how much ambient noise gets picked up and recorded on the video. The most important thing is that the recording audio isn’t choppy.
Voice Control
As with most other Sena headsets, the 10C Pro offers a voice control system that you can utilize to performs headset actions. With this particular headset, the main addition is that you can actually perform action camera operations with your voice, keeping you more focused on the road in front of you.
Additional Features
Here are some of the additional features of the Sena 10C Pro Bluetooth headset/action camera hybrid.
FM Radio
This is quite an unmissable additional feature for most Bluetooth headsets, whether you decide to use it or not—nothing too groundbreaking here. Maybe the only thing worth noting is the ability to save up to 10 radio stations.
Durability
Sena has paid extra care to make the 10C Pro headset more durable against the elements as it has an action camera onboard. It’s not waterproof but highly water-resistant. Some people managed to ride with it in torrential rainstorms end have no issues with the headset itself.
In a nutshell, you shouldn’t be afraid of rain when riding with the Sena 10C Pro Bluetooth headset.
Still, we have to mention one gripe we have with the overall durability, and it applies to the action camera part. The lens cover design of the Sena 10C Pro is quite shoddy. It’s a small plastic cover held onto the lens by nothing other than the pressure behind the lens. This can make the scenario of losing this plastic cover quite realistic in 99% of cases.
Battery Life
The Lithium-Polymer battery that the 10C Pro headset comes with has a surprisingly long single charge, considering it’s basically a Bluetooth headset and an action camera in one package.
Once you endure its 3,5-hour charge time, you can expect 2 hours of continuous shooting and 17 hours of talking time. The 10C Pro will go into sleep mode after 5 minutes of camera use to save battery life. You can turn this option in the settings, though.
We certainly have no complaints regarding battery life. The charge time is bearable as the battery has more capacity than your usual Bluetooth comm device.
Price
As we are closing in on the Sena 10C Pro review, we still need to see its pricing. It comes at a fairly reasonable price point of $349/€287/£280. It’s a great price point, considering that you get a decent quality action camera and a good Bluetooth headset in one package.
Summing Up
Now that we are at the end of our Sena 10C Pro review, what is our final verdict?
First of all, this is a great buy for all you hobbyist motovloggers out there who want to stay connected with your group of riders at the same time. You will save money and time if you decide to buy an action camera, but still, the camera features aren’t better than most other action cameras. But, if you want to change angles and record at 4K, you will need to buy a separate action camera.
As a Bluetooth headset, the 10C Pro works quite well with its large intercom range, easy pairing with Sena devices, and support for up to 4 riders in one intercom session. While it isn’t better than Sena 30K or Sena 50S when it comes to intercom or sound quality, the 10C Pro is still a decent pick, especially if you want the best of the worlds of video recording and Bluetooth communication.
Looking for more reviews? Check out our Bluetooth headset reviews section then!
