i don't know the answer to your specific questions, but with the sena mesh, you have the option of public or private mesh. i've never ridden in a group with mesh, so public mesh is all the wife and i have used (bike to bike, not rider/passenger) so i have no idea of how cumbersome it would be to switch between the 2.

 

One of the guys I rode with just told me a way to work that private chat feature with Sena. You both join the group mesh network but you also bluetooth your two headsets together. You mute you microphone for the mesh like you normally would, but that doesn't mute it via bluetooth. This gives you the same feature. I may have to try that one.

I think what you are talking about is open mesh versus closed group mesh. You can set up a group of X number of riders in either the open network (where people can join without being invited) or in the closed mesh (where participants have to be invited). I see where this would be beneficial if you are riding in an area where a lot of people/groups may be using Mesh in a small area at the same time. Say at a rally or a motorcycle destination area (Tail of the Dragon, Beartooth, Million Dollar, etc). It wouldn't work in the situation that I was talking about but is a useful feature.

 

Regarding paring, you need to pair the phone to the V2 and then pair the headset to the V2. You should not pair the headset to both the V2 and your phone. That will cause routing issues.

 

Will all the special functions of the Cardo work with this though? Like can you record mesh audio if the headset isn't paired to the phone? Do all the "Hey Cardo" features work? That's my main question there. I wouldn't think that they would in that aspect. I'm almost feeling like you need to forego pairing the headset to the V2 at all and pair the phone to both.

 

Things like “Hey Cardo battery status” still works. But anything that the Cardo depends on the phone for will not work. But TBH you are going to do all of that through CarPlay on the V2 anyway. Music, phone calls, texts, etc.. And instead of saying “Hey Siri/Google” to get the Cardo to initiate the specific service, you simply press the voice button on your controls.

So it might appear that you’re losing some functionality, you really are not. But you do need to connect the Cardo to your phone to adjust settings or update the firmware. Then remove the connection. Works the same way for Sena. Sena and phone connect to the V2 but not each other.

I’ve been running the V2 since June and have over 15k miles logged. Using both an Edge and Sena 50S. Let me know if you have any other questions. I know that the comms situation can be a bit complicated. I’ve dropped a couple of videos on my channel about my experience with the V2. And will be recording a video soon about using the Edge and 50S. I’m just waiting on this next update to see what issues they are going to address before I record the video.

 

I appreciate your input. I watched your 10K review on the V2 while I was debating ordering mine. It's great to talk with people that have put it these things to real world use. That being the case you are more familiar with the functionality of both these than I am so I may not be using the proper terminology or asking my questions correctly.

1. Paring: I was watching the Cardo videos and it shows a process for pairing the phone to the headset and another process to pair the headset to the bike. That was what I was intending on doing as it seemed to be the preferred method from Cardo. Are you saying that this won't work with the V2? What about if I pair the headset to the phone and not to the bike at all? I'm guessing that would retain the ability to play music through my speakers on the bike and use my hand controls/display for CarPlay. Would the audio for phone calls, navigation, and texts still come through my headset?
2. Record DMC Audio: I like to record some of my rides on my Insta360 X3 and would like to record the mesh conversations with my passenger/group during those rides (for personal use and not for publication). I tried the overpriced Sena Meshport Red but that did not work on the X3 and I have gotten no proof that it works on the X4 either. I figured Cardo is the best choice for this as it would allow me record the audio and overlay it later. To do that however, I'm assuming your Cardo would have to be paired to the phone in order to use the Cardo app. Is this correct?
3. Private Chat: Headsets would get the most use when riding with my wife and son. Son and I on my bike and the wife on hers. I would like to be able to have the DMC set up between the three of us but be able to use the private chat with just my son riding on my bike. This would also come into play when riding with my riding group. I would like to be able to have private conversations with my passenger but still be able to hear the DMC traffic and switch to it when I need to speak to the group. Is this a simple voice function "Hey Cardo turn on private chat" that would still work even without being paired to the phone? I guess if the voice command doesn't work I could always double tap the button on the unit to toggle private chat on and off.
   1. Follow up to this one...instead of using private chat, should I be using the intercom feature on the V2?
4. Bridge to Sena: Unfortunately most of my larger riding group using Sena. I have a feeling now that HD has ended their partnership with Sena that will change, but for right now that's what they use. Have you used it any in communicating with Sena networks? How tricky is it to get that bridge going and does it work well?

In the end, I know there will be a give and take with it. If I could get away with my headset being paired to only the phone and still retain my CarPlay functionality, I almost feel like that is the best bet.

Again, thank you for your input and the content you put in that V2 video. It was helpful to me in determining what would work best.