MotoReview- Sena 20sEVO

MotoReview- Sena 20S EVO

I know that the Sena 20S EVO is an “older” unit that has been out for a good long while, so you may be asking, why bother with reviewing this unit when Sena has released a few newer, updated comms since this one? 

Well, the answer is simple- most major motorcycle retailers are still selling the 20S EVO and, I would bet a Chic-Fil-A sammich against a Wendy’s Baconator that the 20S EVO is one of, if not the, best selling units that Sena has made, so far. Please don’t fact check this, because I’m just guessing and I don’t have either of those sammy’s to bet with. 

At a price of $269 for the single pack and $489 for the Duo Pack (as currently listed on the Sena website), it’s safe to say that Sena is still making money off of this model, so since it’s still on the market, I believe this MotoReview still has relevance for those who are looking at helmet comms. So, let’s take a look at a few of the pros and cons of this Bluetooth Communication system.

Quick disclosure and backstory

I was not, and am not, a representative, brand ambassador, paid sponsorship (or anything else cool like that) for Sena. The company didn’t send me anything to test (although they could- hint, hint) and they didn’t give me a discount to do this review- I bought and paid for them with my own dollar bills.

I picked up the 20S EVO Duo-Pack back in August 2022, in preparation for a long motorcycle trip that Mrs. MotoWriter and I were planning on taking. I wanted a simple, easy to use, reliable, and wireless, helmet communication system for our trip, since I ride Harley-Davidson’s best motorcycle, the Road King Special, which doesn’t have any on-board comms or other distractions, like some of their other Grand American Touring bikes. 

The trip was to be an epic one- a ride to the motorcycle motherland of Milwaukee, WI to attend the 120th Anniversary Celebration of the MoCo’s establishment. As these things often happen, though- we missed out on the anniversary festivities (which was for the best, since neither of us are fans of big crowds anyway), and we ended up traveling to the home of H-D by plane, on a work trip, instead. Of all the extra gear that I picked up in preparation for the motorcycle trip that never was, though, the one we used, and still use, the most is our Senas. 

Chatterbox

A long, long, long time ago, before Mrs. MotoWriter had my last name, she bought me a Chatterbox wired communication system for the bike I had back then (way back before I was cool, she was). She bought it for me so that we could talk to each other through our full face helmets when we were riding. It was cool, and it worked well, but we were tethered together, which I didn’t mind until we got off the bike and would get tangled in the wires. Needless to say, motorcycle communication systems have come a long way since then, so before I set out on dropping a few hundred of my hard-earned dollars, I did some research. 

I learned, pretty quickly, that I didn’t know anything about these “new” Bluetooth systems, so I reached out to my brother-from-another-mother (who you all know as the owner of the Bike of the Month for January 2021), Lee, who is a tech guru by trade. He had been using the 20S EVO for quite a while before I decided to buy one, so I asked him for his thoughts and he recommended it, wholeheartedly. 

Initial thoughts

I got the units on sale from my favorite online retailer, Revzilla (whom I don’t have any affiliation with, but if they wanted me to be a contributing writer, I absolutely would- hint, hint, Revzilla Execs). I don’t remember the exact price I paid, but it was close to $400 for the pair (on sale). They arrived soon after, and to my delight, they included several different mounting options. I chose the internal, wired boom microphone option for my HJC modular and for the Missus, I chose the direct boom since her helmet is a 5/8 with a removable chin bar. Installation was quick and easy for both and all we needed to do was download the Sena app to our phones to ease in the setup and Bluetooth connectivity. 

Pairing the units to our phones was quick and easy. Pairing them together was a little trickier, since we’re not really tech savvy people, but we got it done pretty quickly and, mostly, painlessly. From there, we decided to try them out, so we set out on a ride to nowhere in particular. The missus was able to sit back and relax against the backrest on the “King” instead of leaning forward to talk in my ear, and I was able to ride with my head on a swivel, instead of keeping my head turned slightly to the side so I could hear what she was saying. The volume knobs were easy to manipulate while wearing gloves and the voice sound was incredibly clear. The best part (compared to that old wired Chatterbox device) is, obviously, the lack of wires, but a close second to that is the full duplex communication- it’s just like talking on the phone. 

They worked well for all of the relatively short trips that Mrs. M and I usually take on the weekends, and the batteries seem to last a long time when not in use. I used mine on a solo trip to the Appalachians in September of the same year, mainly for listening to music, and I don’t remember needing to charge the battery until the last night of the 3 day trip, which I thought was pretty impressive. The real test, however, came in June of 2023, when Lee and I took a trip to the mountains so he could see what the Tail of the Dragon and the Cherohala Skyway were all about. We met in South Alabama, and rode to north Georgia, which turned out to be over 6 hours due to weather and traffic. Since we hadn’t ridden together in several years, we talked and caught up via our Senas for just about the entire trip. The batteries lasted the entire time- which was pretty much all continuous talk time. That’s pretty damn good, in my opinion. 

Pros 

The obvious standout pro on this unit is the talk time and battery life. I can tell you that, for me anyway, there are few things as frustrating as a dead or dying battery. Not to mention, on our bikes, we’re limited on what, and how, we can charge devices. Another pro is the ease of use. I especially love that the 20S EVO is easy to manipulate with gloves. The range between units is good, maybe not great, but definitely good as long as you and your riding buddies are within a reasonable distance of each other. If you get out of range, you can simply make a phone call to tell them to catch up. Finally, the sound quality of the voice comms is excellent. The voice comes through clear and loud, and there has been no noticeable wind noise in my experiences so far. The music audio is good, but I was really hoping for a little better performance here, which will be the segue to the cons.

Cons

As I said, the music audio is good, but it’s not really that good. I’ll admit that, in my advancing age, my hearing could be declining somewhat- blame it on too many power tools, too much heavy metal music and too many motorcycle rides in half helmets. On slower roads, the volume does a better than fair job of keeping your head bobbing, but when you enter the freeway, the sound quality declines in direct correlation with your speed. The faster you go, the more the sound quality suffers. Little nuances in songs start to get lost, and, if you don’t know the song… you might not be able to discern whats even playing. It should be noted, however, that I got the 20 S EVO with the standard speakers, instead of the HD speakers. Another big drawback with mine, is I’ve had an annoying weird powering issue that I can’t quite figure out. I get a high-pitched beep, every few minutes, and then, without any other warnings, the headset powers off. Now, I know what you might be thinking- the battery is dead or going dead. Nope. This issue happens randomly and almost always happens with a fresh off the charger unit. I’ve tried searching the interweb, but I haven’t found anything that has been helpful, so far. The frustrating part is that there is no rhyme or reason for when it does it…and it doesn’t do it all the time, so most of the time, I just turn it back on and keep going. Finally, the price could be a little better. Since the 20, Sena has released a few different models, the 30, the 50 and even a 60, just to name a few off the top of my noggin. So, with all these newer, more updated units being offered, why can’t Sena drop the price on the 20 by a few hundred bucks? Well the answer to that question is simple, my friends… because they don’t need to. 

Riders like us know what we like and we know what we want. Most of us are less interested in the “newest, latest” thing and more interested in high quality parts and accessories that work the way we expect them to, and that’s exactly what the 20 S EVO does. It’s a solid, functional and reliable piece of equipment that is still a money making product for Sena. Why would they drop the price on a device that is still very desirable in the current market? With that said, $269 for a solid, well built Bluetooth communication headset may be a bit pricey, but you do get what you pay for and, like I’ve said so many times in the past- quality items aren’t cheap, and cheap items aren’t quality. I’m not suggesting that other, less expensive, Buetooth headsets aren’t well made, I’m only saying that I don’t have any experience with them to form an opinion on the matter.

Final thoughts

I’ll wrap up this MotoReview by saying this- motorcycles can be as expensive, or inexpensive, as you want them to be. You don’t have to buy a Bluetooth headset comm system- you could sneak your earbuds up and into your helmet and they would work just fine- trust me, that’s what I used to do. You also don’t have to have a leather riding jacket, good, high quality riding boots, gloves or even a decent helmet… I’ve seen plenty of people that don’t. I think that one of the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen is a guy on a CVO Street Glide with every factory option that H-D sells, riding in cheap cargo shorts, an Amazon beanie helmet and, the worst part- Crocs. This guy was riding a motorcycle that he likely dropped over $45k on, and his entire riding attire cost less than a weeks worth of coffee at Starbucks.

So, if you know what you want, and you don’t mind spending a few extra dollars for a high quality, well made, easy to use Bluetooth headset with a battery that will outlast your iPhone, then you can’t go wrong with the Sena 20S EVO. If you ride with, literally, anyone else… whether they are sharing a seat on your bike or if they’re riding their own, a comm system is an invaluable tool to improve your overall riding experience. Having a way to listen to your music inside your helmet, with the full controls and the full functionality of your phone for making calls, and being able to tell your buddies when you need to make a pit stop, is a helluva nice creature comfort to have.

If you’re on the fence, watch the online retailers and sign up for their mailing lists. Revzilla, for example, is always having sales and with each purchase, you earn (what they call) Zilla  Bucks, which takes a little money off your next order. Even if you have to pay full price, I think you’ll find that the Sena 20 S EVO will last you a long time and the cost will be mitigated over time.

Until next time, ride safe and make good choices!