September 23, 2020
We bought a two Sena headsets to use for anchoring and docking. For a very short while, they were great, then they died. Being able to communicate easily in full-duplex mode with no push-to-talk buttons to deal with was a game changer. Here’s a post we did about this some time ago.
But these Sena headsets were ABSOLUTE CRAP! They are so poorly made and very expensive at almost $200 US, each. Ours only lasted a few months and then one died. I looked high and low for an alternative, refusing to waste any more cash on Sena garbage. I found an alternative and they are fantastic.
We got ours from AliExpress, but above are the units from Amazon. These are meant to go into a motorcycle helmet and we thought that might be a little silly for anchoring, so here’s what we did…
We bought two very inexpensive pairs of headphones, broke them apart, removed the speakers, and strapped on the Lexin units. It was easier than I expected and works so well.
After prying apart the headphones and cutting out the speakers, I just used the Lexin supplied Velcro to place their speakers in the headphones.
I again used the supplied Velcro to attach the boom microphone.
Then I simply attached the electronics box to the headset frame with a couple of cable ties as well as the supplied adhesive tape. I wrapped the excess wire around the electronics box and we were good to go.
Here’s me, all smiles, able to easily communicate my every wish to Cyndi on the bow (not that those wishes are often granted! 😉
One thing I have to say about the Lexin intercoms is that the range seems to be far less than advertised but far enough even for a superyacht. The battery life is amazing and the sound quality and noise canceling are superb. (It’s like having Cyndi right there, inside my head with me. Ah, wait. Is she? What if she can read my thoughts? Oh oh.)
Total cost for this experiment:
Headsets from AliExpress, about $100 NZ.
Two sets of headphones: $60 NZ.
Savings over buying more of Sena’s garbage: incalculable as I was very likely to have a heart attach from the sheer frustration of trying to use Sena’s crap!
Update, June 2021: After using these quite a bit, I’m still thrilled with them. They are flawless and make life so much easier when anchoring or docking. They are so comfortable, Cyndi has started to wear them to keep her ears warm on passages.
