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Interphone F5MC Bluetooth Intercom By Moshe K. Levy #108259
INTERCOM SYSTEMS HAVE COME a long way in recent years as the tech- nological pace of integration heats up, and single devices offer ever more functionality. Interphone’s new F5MC Intercom is one such high end system, boasting several worthwhile features (intercom, phone control, FM radio, streaming music, and aux wired input) with a comprehensive text-to- speech multilingual voice prompt guiding the rider through each indi- vidual menu on the fly. I set out for a few months on the road to verify if the FM5C’s performance lives up to Inter- phone’s advertising claims.
Key Features The FM5C is packed with features to enhance its functionality, including… • Full duplex intercom with up to 4 way pairing, using digital signal pro- cessing for enhanced sound clarity
• A2DP / AVRCP compatible wireless streaming stereo from MP3 player or mobile phone
• Built-in FM radio receiver with RDS functionality, 8 memory presets, and automatic muting for incoming calls
• Compatible with most motorcycle GPS systems such as BMW Naviga- tor V
• Bluetooth Version 3.0
Installation As shown in Figure 1, the FM5C is quite compact, measuring approxi- mately 3.5" long by 1.75" high by 0.8"deep and weighing a scant 1.94 ounces. The housing itself is rated to IP67 (fully immersible in water up to 1 meter) for weather protection. Every- thing required for installation in either a full face or open face helmet is included, right down to the screw- drivers for the sturdy mounting
26 BMW OWNERS NEWS February 2016
clamp’s Philips head screws. Likewise, the speakers are wafer-thin, and should fit nearly any helmet with no interference. Microphones for both full face and open face helmets are included.
On The Road - Hits I tested the FM5C over a wide range of rid- ing conditions during the 2015 riding sea- son and came away mostly impressed. Sound quality from the helmet speakers was excellent. The full duplex feature means no “push to talk” is necessary. Background noise is absolutely minimal, so you can keep your channel open and just speak when you feel like it. In fact, it’s very similar to speaking landline phone to landline phone, in that you can “talk over” over one another simultaneously. The functionality of the Interphone in this regard is as good as it currently gets. Pairing with Apple Iphone, Samsung
Galaxy phone, BMW Navigator V, and other bluetooth devices went smoothly. If paired direct with Iphone, we were able to achieve voice activation of Siri, enabling remote control of the phone’s various
related functions. The instructional videos on Interphone’s YouTube channel (www.
youtube.com/user/interphoneusa/videos) helped with this process. For rider-to-rider communication, the two FM5Cs I tested arrived already paired to each other, which was a time saving bonus. The unit’s “Any- com” feature allows pain-free pairing to other major intercom brands as well. The FM radio function features stellar
reception and RDS capability, so the comm searches for a station and not just the fre- quency.
The voice prompt handily
announces the frequency and station name information to the rider, so it’s very easy to search around for your favorite stations while moving. There are 8 FM memory presets available, and the radio function is auto-muted if a call comes in. The battery life is phenomenal. The
advertised claim of 12 hour talk time was verified, and incredibly, the batteries still had charge left over! Interphone claims 700 hours standby time, so no worries if you leave the FM5C on for a few days by acci- dent. Charge time from flat is three hours, and the comm’s onboard charge port also
Figure 1.
member tested
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