Sena 50S Motorcycle Jog Dial Communication Bluetooth Headset w/Sound by Harman Kardon Integrated Mesh Intercom System Premium Microphone & Speakers

Why it's worth it

The 50S puts music, phone calls, turn-by-turn directions and rider-to-rider chat inside a helmet, with Harman Kardon speakers that stay clear at highway speed. It's the upgrade most riders want and almost none of them buy for themselves.

Nothing else on this list changes a ride as much as a good intercom. Group rides stop being a guessing game of hand signals. Long solo days get music and navigation prompts without an earbud jammed under a helmet. Gas stops get shorter, because nobody has to flip up a visor to ask where everyone's headed. Riders who've lived with one rarely go back.

Sena's Mesh Intercom is the reason to pick this over a cheap headset. Everyone taps the big button once and the network builds itself. Riders drop out and rejoin on their own as they fall back or pull ahead, which is what actually happens on a real ride. Sena rates the open-terrain range in kilometers rather than city blocks, and the network handles a big group — far more riders than most people ever ride with.

From our review of 8 gifts for motorcyclists

What we like

• +Nothing else on this list changes a ride as much as a good intercom
• +Sena's Mesh Intercom is the reason to pick this over a cheap headset
• +The audio is the other reason
• +One thing to sort out before you buy

What to know

• –Installation is the weak spot
• –The controls take a while to click