Sena 50S (Royal Enfield version) review

First impressions? The 50S unit itself isn't exactly tiny, but it avoids looking like you've bolted a brick to the side of your precious lid. It's reasonably sleek, finished in a classy silver and black, and feels reassuringly solid. Attaching it to your helmet is a fairly standard affair – either a clamp that wedges between the shell and liner or a sticky pad if clamping gives you the heebie-jeebies. I know my Deputy Editor was unwilling to shimmy one between his Arai helmet (but we convinced him and he’s happy).

The star of the show, ergonomically speaking, is Sena's signature jog dial. Honestly, trying to jab tiny buttons with gloves thicker than a bear's duvet is a recipe for frustration (and potentially a tree). The 50S's big, twirly, pressable dial makes navigating menus, adjusting volume, and initiating connections a relative doddle, even with winter mitts on. There are a couple of other buttons – a phone button and a Mesh button – which are distinct enough to find by feel. Top marks for usability on the move. Oh, and it’s got beefed-up HD Speakers, often tuned by the audio wizards at Harman Kardon on recent models, promising posher sound than your average helmet comms, which we will come to in a bit.

Right, the important bit: how well does it actually work? Pairing via Bluetooth to your phone is straightforward, letting you take calls, listen to tunes, or get nav instructions beamed into your ears. Call quality is surprisingly great, with clever noise cancelling doing its best to mute the hurricane raging around your head. Your mum might still ask if you’re ‘in a tunnel’, but it’s leagues better than trying to wedge your phone in your helmet (don't do that, seriously).

Music streamed via Bluetooth sounds pretty punchy thanks to those upgraded speakers – certainly good enough to liven up a motorway drone, though don't expect audiophile nirvana amidst the wind noise. Even then, these are a shockingly good-sounding pair of speakers. There’s proper stereo imaging here with a slight emphasis on bass and highs, creating a V-shape EQ. At higher volumes, the speakers start to sound a bit sharp, so it’s better to leave them at 60% or below. If you punch above that, the speakers have plenty of power to drown out the road noise.

Battery life is stonking – Sena claims up to 14 hours of talk time, which should easily cover even the most ambitious Sunday ride-out. Plus, a quick 20-minute charge allegedly gives you hours more juice. Handy if you’re the forgetful type. We haven’t tested for long rides yet, but come back here when we update this review with those findings, or watch out for our socials and features where we’ll update that information.

Where the 50S truly flexes its muscles is with the intercom. Using a standard Bluetooth intercom, you can connect to a few other riders in a daisy-chain. It works, but it can be a bit fragile – if the middle rider drops out, the chain breaks. It’s also a little messy to connect to all riders with this method, but the Sena app removes all hurdles of physically pushing buttons to connect.

The real game-changer here is Mesh. Forget the faff of pairing orders and broken chains. Mesh creates a dynamic network.

With the 50S, you get two Mesh modes: Open Mesh and Group Mesh. Think of Open Mesh like a public party line. Press the Mesh button, and you can chat with basically any other Mesh-enabled Sena user within range (a frankly bonkers mile or so between riders, potentially extending up to five miles with a group). It even has multiple channels, so you can switch frequencies if one channel gets too crowded. Perfect for big group rides or organised events.

Group Mesh is your private chat room for up to 24 riders (yes, twenty-four!). Set up a private group, and only those invited can join the natter. The network is 'self-healing', so if riders drop out of range or rejoin, the network automatically sorts itself out without everyone else getting disconnected. It’s properly clever stuff and makes group comms incredibly simple and robust.

Other nifty tricks? Audio Multitasking lets you blend your music or GPS directions with intercom chat, so you don't have to choose between tunes and talking tactics. Voice commands ("Hey Sena...") let you control basic functions without taking your hands off the bars, though like most voice control, it can occasionally pretend it didn’t hear you, especially at speed. There's also a handy smartphone app for tweaking settings without fiddling with the unit itself.

In all honesty, there are a bunch of more features where you can control your GoPro and Insta360 cameras using voice commands and even tap into Siri and Google Gemini to get some voice-controlled music shuffle or simply calling home. We haven’t tried the full extent of all the features, but we’ll keep updating this review as in when we go out on longer rides.

And let's not forget the nod to the Indian icon: Royal Enfield. Sena partnered with RE, offering co-branded solutions for customers who want a one-stop shop for riding gear. So, if you're piloting one of Enfield's finest, say the Super Meteor 650, a Sena unit like the 50S might feel even more like part of the furniture. However, it doesn’t work with RE’s tripper. We wish the partnership had gone beyond just label branding. So you can pretty much pick up a non-RE branded Sena and find the same functions and features. The prices for both are identical as well. Warranty remains the same as well. Both RE and Sena offer a year's warranty with immediate replacement if any problem arises with the unit.

Look, the Sena 50S isn't pocket money. It's a premium bit of kit with a price tag to match. But for that investment, you get arguably the best motorcycle communication system out there, especially if you regularly ride in groups. The simplicity and robustness of Mesh are genuinely brilliant, making connections effortless. The sound quality is top-notch for a helmet system, the jog dial is a triumph of usability, and the battery life is superb.

Are there downsides? Voice commands can be temperamental, and the initial setup might involve a quick glance at the manual (shock horror!). I recommend using YouTube videos to walk you through the installation process because it can be daunting in the start but it’s extremely easy once you start to do it. 

If you only ever ride solo or just need basic Bluetooth connectivity for music and calls, it might be overkill. Rivals like Cardo's Packtalk Edge offer stiff competition, also boasting Mesh tech. But if you want the pinnacle of group riding communication, seamless phone integration, great audio, and a user-friendly interface (hello, jog dial!), the Sena 50S is bloody hard to beat. It turns the potential communication chaos of a group ride into a smooth, connected experience. A sound investment? We reckon so. Just don't blame us if you spend the whole ride listening to your mate's questionable singing.