Over the years I have kicked around getting me a set of communicators for snowmobiling and riding ATV's. I looked at a few different brands and even some homemade ideas on the internet but wasn't thrilled with what I found. I came across Cardo Systems and saw they now have a communication system for snowmobiles. I contacted them and asked a few questions and figured I would give them a try.

I opened the box and started review the instructions, they are very well written and clear. I write manuals for a living so I am usually very critical of how they are written and how clear they are for the average consumer. I looked through what came in the box, everything was very well package. I pulled out the parts and did some more reading, I prefer to look over the instructions so I have good knowledge of the parts before I start. The instructions said the charge the communicators before use so I pulled the two micro USB charges out and plugged them into a 110V outlet, the USB cable doubles as a PC link cable for updates. I locate the part that gets attached to the helmet, very well made, flat black color. They offer two options for installation, a clamp on style and an adhesive backed system. I went with the clamp. Very simple installation, they even supply the Allen wrench for tightening. Once clamped on, I followed the instructions and placed the two speakers and the microphone in their respective locations, pretty simple hook and loop installation. I did every to my sons helmet at the same time.

I waited for the units to charge and snapped the communicators into the helmet mounts. Very clean, low profile, and compact.

Once installed I decide to try the cell phone feature, I followed the instructions on setting up the Bluetooth feature and it paired quickly with my Android phone. I put the helmet on, pressed the phone button and within a second or so a voice stated to speak. I said Call my son and it connected, he was outside, he said it was very clear on his end, on my end it was very good.

Next up was to try out the built in FM radio. Very easy to use, good sound quality. I plugged on a MP3 player directly with the supplied cable. That too went off without a hitch.

Now the main reason, the person to person communication on the trails, I followed the instructions and set up everything on both helmets, everything went smooth. We tested them around the house, he jump on a quad and road about a half mile away, all flat, no obstructions, the system worked as advertised. Next up was real world trail riding.

We finally got a chance to test them on the trails. We rode in a fairly flat terrain and the sled to sled intercom worked very good, if you do normal speaking it is hard to hear but if you talk louder it works very good. Everything else work like it did at home, pretty fun to play with an nice to listen to music if you want while riding. We didn't get much farther than about 1/2 mile apart but where we were at a mile would have worked. Like any device lie this, terrain will determine how far the 2-way radio feature will work.

Overall I am very pleased with the G4 Powerset. Very good quality, great features, and pretty simple usage. I would recommend you take a look at these if you are in the market.