The Scala Rider G9 device has been launched for sale in our country. Comparing it with the G4 device (of which I own the Power Set) there seems to be small improvements in design and in software. I find the G4 particularly a pain to operate because you have to fiddle around on the side of your helmet with your gloves on, gambling if you have found the right button and trying to remember if you needed to push it once, twice or for more then 3 seconds to differ between all the functions. Now, the G9 has voice control! So if this works as one hopes, you would be able to do it all with your voice. However, critical as I am by now, I downloaded the manual of the G9 and it looks like it that you can only turn on/off ad2p music, radio and intercom. Is that true? Are there any people out there that actually already HAVE the Cardo Scala Rider G9 and can confirm what you can exactly do with the voice control option? For instance, turning up or down volume, can you do that by voice control (f.e. : "volume up" or "volume down") ? Any other functions? Or is it really only "Radio on" and "Radio off" (and the same for music and intercom) ? Or also things like: "Seek up" or "Seek down" for radio? I am wondering. I see that the buttons for channel A and B have become somewhat larger and this is positive. I only ask myself why only so slightly larger? Why not to the extent of the whole half side of the device? There is nothing else there, and it really would have helped to make it larger?? I also see that the pairing options have been increased, and that intercom now is possible with groups but that is not exactly what interest me to be honest.
I asked Cardo Support, but there is one thing sure: there is NO trade-in program for anyone owning the G4 and wanting to upgrade to the G9. So that sucks to begin with. I am not writing off 100% in 1 year of annoyance.....
That sucks big time! With so many other decent options out there you would think they would be doing their best to encourage brand loyalty.
I am ready for the release as well. How can they not give more of an approximate time. I called and they didn't even know for sure? I'm sure they are sitting in a warehouse somewhere.
Yeah, well I am open for a good offer on my G4 Powerset, one year old, as good as new with original box and everything that was included in the box. I bet you that any offer will not exceed 50 percent of the new price I paid. So you may be right that I would not lose 100 percent, but to lose 50 percent does not work with me very well either. Point is, these firms come with new versions of their products very soon after each other. Which means you will have to write off on these "investments" pretty quickly. In those cases, a trade in program to show confidence in your own products to existing customers (to help protect their investment) would show courage and sensitivity to customers. I believe SENA is doing a far better job with that.
Eew - isn't that a bit like buying a used cell phone (or worse yet - a used tooth brush!) That boom mic has been in someone's sneeze/spit/cough path for a long time! Although for the right deal - I may just buy some Clorox wipes and hope for the best.
I'd been planning on ordering a set; Cyclebot $429, waiting too long, now can't find for under $499. Sounds like this may be a great system. One big bummer; does not look like it can be charge while using. (Please correct me if I wrong!)
Yeah they defiantly bumped up the price. not happy about that! On the charging while in use. It would make it pointless to ride if there is a charger going to your head while riding.
Well, nobody made me an offer yet, so I guess that speaks volumes... I can find the Cardo G9 teamset for 399 here at Dealbird.nl in the Netherlands. So I guess it is just a matter of searching and trying to find the best deal. "Wanting it now" usually does not help in getting it as cheap as possible. Waiting on the right occasion might. At the moment I can only see minor enhancements towards the G4 design. Almost if they hurried to get the product out there. It looks like they were just keen to be able to mention the new features (like vox control) without being ready in terms of that it also has a neat package of commands on board. You can now only do so much with it. Things like start and stop functions are pretty basic. But volume up/down, station search, track up/down looks like it still can not be done by vox. Yeah, the buttons have become larger, but they are still buttons... and whilst they have become larger, why only this little bit larger? Why not make them really as big as the casing they are on? Personally, I think the real improvement for the future should come out of SIMPLIFICATION. Do MORE with LESS FUSS.
