Coros SafeSound Road Helmet

The Coros SafeSound packs Bluetooth connectivity and some useful security features into a pretty good looking lid. It's far from perfect, but if you like a bit of background music to your rides, or you need to be available for calls, it's certainly an option.

We've tested a Coros system before in the Linx Smart Helmet which, it's fair to say, has an idiosyncratic look. The SafeSound is much more a traditional road helmet shape, with lines not unlike some of Met or Giro's ranges.

You get an EPS body with the connected tech built in, speakers on the straps, a microphone on the inside (which keeps it out of the wind), accelerometers to sense crashes and an integrated light. The light also holds the Micro-USB charge port.

The overall package is heavier than a standard road lid at 354g, but it's not too unwieldy. The fit is pretty good; my only gripe is that the non-adjustable rear cradle isn't really low enough for me to feel fully secure.

The helmet complies with EN-1078 and the US-equivalent CPSC for crash protection; feel free to make hay in the comments as to whether you think that's useful or not. It's comfortable and well-ventilated, though.

Connecting to the Coros SafeSound is analogous to connecting your phone to your car. You get access to calls, and you can play music or other things through the built-in speakers. Pairing with an Android phone is pretty trivial; you can do it either with or without the Coros app.

The app allows access to one function – crash notifications – you won't otherwise get, though. You can set up contacts, and if the helmet detects a crash it contacts your list with your phone's GPS location. It also sets the rear LED to flashing SOS in Morse code, just in case you've fallen down a ravine in the dark and a Boy Scout is hiking past or something.

Anyway, the chuck-the-helmet-across-the-garden test suggests it's capable of detecting an unusual acceleration and responding accordingly; thankfully I haven't put it to proper use.

Leave a message

Answering calls is easy enough; the call sound is pretty good, the hidden microphone picks up your voice decently, and it's well protected from wind noise. With the optional bar remote you can hold down the answer button to refuse a call, and it's simple enough to fit the remote with just a couple of O-rings and be refusing calls to your heart's content.

The remote also lets you skip music tracks, turn the volume up and down, and turn the light on and off. The light isn't something to rely on as your only rear light (and, technically, it would be illegal to), but it's a bit of extra visibility high up.

Road noise

Let's talk a bit about the sound fidelity. At first glance you might think the Coros was using bone conduction technology like the Linx, but it's not. Instead a strap-mounted speaker pipes sound directly into your ear. Well, towards your ear, anyway.

Coros says it 'engineered a unique technology that optimizes a perfect blend of sound quality, with maintaining full environmental awareness' when it developed the Ear Opening Sound System (EOSS).

Not perfect

Certainly you still get to hear ambient sounds, as you do with bone conduction headphones, but there's a fundamental problem with any system that's not creating a sealed airspace to transfer the sound.

Pull even a good set of over-the-ear monitor headphones away from your head and the first thing to go is the bass response, and unsurprisingly, it's the issue here too.

There's hardly any bass at all. That doesn't mean you can't listen to music, and spoken word podcasts work pretty well, but don't expect amazing sound. In terms of fidelity the EOSS speakers can't match a set of good bone conduction headphones like the Aftershokz Aeropex, and those aren't exactly amazing.

The sound quality varies significantly depending on the exact position of the speakers, too, but they have limited adjustability so you might not be able to get it just so. The bottom line is that, if you're annoyed by tinny music, this isn't the solution for you.

That fairly major issue notwithstanding, I quite enjoyed using the Coros SafeSound for music on the road. It has two main advantages over a set of bone conduction headphones.

> How to choose the best bike helmet for you

First, you don't have to find two things, and that's a major benefit for me because I never know where anything is. Second, headphones and helmets don't always play nicely together, so just wearing one thing makes life easier, especially if you're also planning sunnies.

You're not getting an immersive music experience from SafeSound, then, but it's certainly good enough for a bit of background if you're riding on your own – and without blocking out traffic noise and such.

As you ride faster you get more wind noise and the music gets less audible, but at cruising and climbing speeds the EOSS system is up to the job. Again, feel free to comment on how great/awful/unsafe/useful listening to music when riding is. I'm all ears.

> 21 of the best lightweight high-performance cycling helmets

Battery life is good. I've ridden in the SafeSound for up to four hours without getting anywhere near flat. It's not going to last a 600km audax, but it's pretty quick to charge when you're on a cafe stop.

Overall

Okay, there's some work to be done with sound quality, and the adjustability of the speakers and rear cradle. But overall I quite enjoyed the Coros SafeSound, and I did pick it out of the helmet box when I was off on my own and wanted a bit of a backing track. The feature set is sensible – there are no pointless indicators or odd social media feeds as with the Livall Bling BH60SE – and it's a nicer, lighter helmet than its predecessor.

If you want music (and phone interruptions) it's worth a look, and it's one less thing to hunt down when you're leaving the house. At £104.99 it's reasonable too – almost exactly the same price as the Livall Bling, the only directly comparable helmet we've reviewed, but a little better.

Verdict

A good-looking, easy-to-use smart helmet with a sensible feature set, but sound quality remains an issue