Full Review: Premier Devil Sports Touring Motorcycle Helmet.
Premier helmets really seem to be pushing these days. You never used to hear about Premier but nowadays it seems like they’re releasing a new helmet every month.
Which is no bad thing. They’ve been around for decades and, historically, built a great reputation with famous riders like Phil Reed wearing a Premier racing helmet.
The Premier Devil is actually a racing-inspired helmet but designed for use on the road – so more of a sports touring helmet.
It comes in two variants – a slightly more expensive carbon version and a more reasonably priced carbon composite version (though they seem to share a very similar composite fibre construction – see below).
It’s got a decent spec too and the price point is pretty attractive.
So, if you’re looking to buy a new all rounder sports touring helmet, here’s what you can expect from the Premier Devil.
- Sports Touring Helmet
- Carbon composite shell
- Drop down sun visor
- Pinlock Included
- EQRS
- Micrometric fastener
- 5 year warranty
- Sizes XS-XXL
- Expect to pay £260-£350 / 300€-400€
Best places to buy a Premier Devil?
Please click below to visit the Premier Devil helmets pages at our recommended stores (click link to find out more about each shop). And if you buy from one, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).
Overall/Summary
The Premier Devil’s a good looking helmet, uses some of the latest shell tech and is on sale at a competitive price.
Despite being a carbon fibre based lid, it’s not the lightest helmet around (though it’s OK). Ventilation’s no better than adequate and the visor opening could be taller – so watch out if you’re a sportsbike rider.
On the plus side, it’s comfortable, well built and has a useful drop down sun visor and included Pinlock in the box, all features that help make it a decent real world riding helmet.
And because it’s ECE 22.06, backed with quality shell tech and Premier’s reputation for making helmets that offer good protection, it should do the business if the worst happens and you end up testing it out on the tarmac.
All in all, it’s well worth considering if you’re after a nice looking, all-rounder helmet with some genuinely useful features. Though you might also want to check out our suggested alternatives at the bottom of the page or our take a look at our Top 10 best rated helmets pages too.
Safety
(more about helmet safety)
The Premier Devil’s designed to have a sporting look but actually work as more of an all-rounder helmet, suitable for commuting or touring and everything in between.
Which is why it’s been designed with a practical side, including a quick and easy micrometric rather than double-d ring fastener (we like micrometrics in sports touring lids) as well as speaker pockets inside to accommodate bluetooth headsets.
Obviously, it’s a piece of protective equipment so you’re probably interested in whether it’ll look after your head in a spill.
Well, it’s got the latest ECE 22.06 certification which is always good to see and means it should be guaranteed to offer at least a good minimum level of protection.
We always scout the likes of SHARP data (and Crash/Snell as well) to see if it’ll give us proper insight into how well helmets protect – where there’s data available. Unfortunately, the Premier Devil hasn’t been tested by any of these independent teasting bodies yet, though a couple of Premiers have been. They both scored a very decent four stars (out of 5) when tested by SHARP (including the retro helmet the Premier Trophy) so it goes to show that Premier certainly know how to make a helmet that protects well.
Whether the Premier Devil will score the same (or better) is impossible to say. However, with a more advanced Carbon composite shell that comes in two shell sizes, it should be decent.
In fact, Premier offer the Devil in both ‘carbon’ and composite forms but it seems they’re actually pretty similar shell constructions, with the carbon Devil actually a composite of Carbon fibre and aramid (Kevlar), and the composite fibre helmet including carbon, aramid and dyneema (itself a high tech composite of polythene and polyester). In fact, if anything, on paper it seems like the cheaper composite helmet looks to be slightly higher tech.
Two shell sizes is OK – though we do like to see more as more shell sizes helps optimise looks, fitment, and safety. The best brands make each helmet in three or more shell sizes (Bell even released one helmet in 5 shell sizes).
What is good to see is an EQRS liner with quick release cheek pads to help get the helmet off if you’re in an accident.
All in all, with a long history of helmet making, a decent SHARP track record and some quality helmet tech – all backed by an ECE 22.06 certifiation – the Premier Devil should give you good crash protection.
Take a look at our Best Motorbike Helmet Top 10s to find your next helmet too...
Ventilation
(more about helmet ventilation)
The vents on the Devil have a reasonably standard layout.
There’s single large crown vent up top, and a single central chin bar vent. What’s good is that the sliders are all nice and large so easy to find in gloves and easy to operate on the move. They reportedly also work well with a nice, smooth action.
And while the word is that chin bar vent seems to let in plenty of air, the top vent is just about OK but less effective. It does let air into the helmet where it can circulate around the top of your head but it’s nothing special.
So if you’re planning lots of touring in hot countries, you might want to check out one of these excellent venting helmets instead.
Visor
(more about visors)
Premier say they’ve made the visor on the Devil 11% bigger – though that doesn’t really mean anything unless you know how big their old visors felt!
On paper, it seems a decent system though. It’s got a quick release visor with a large central lock/opening tab and it comes with a Pinlock in the box. An included Pinlock is always great to see though some owners have moaned that it’s their base level Pinlock so slightly less effective at keeping your visor fog-free.
A couple of useful links…
– All our Sports Touring helmet reviews –
– SHARP 4 & 5 Star reviews –
One other slight moan is that the visor aperture size – despite that 11% bigger claim – is actually quite small. It’s good for peripheral vision but it’s not very tall, so if you’re a sportsbike rider or ride in a more lean-forward position, the top of the visor opening might be a bit low for you (check out our Sportsbike Helmets section instead).
And if you’re set on buying a Premier Devil but worried about whether it’s suitable for your riding position, make sure you’re happy it’ll work before you remove tags and take it out on the road (at which point you can’t return it).
Sun Visor
(more about sun visors)
The Premier Devil’s got a useful integrated drop down sun visor. I always find it’s worth having a sun visor in a helmet. Even if you don’t use it all the time, it’s handy to have it there in reserve for when you’re caught out by a low sun or forget your shades.
The sun visor on the Devil, works from a slider on the bottom left of the helmet. That’s probably the handiest place to put the slider, though it might restrict where you can put your bluetooth controller if you intend to mount one as it’s exactly the same spot you’d be looking to mount it.
Word from Devil owners is that the sun visor works well. It comes down nice and low – which is often a gripe – and while one or two riders reckon it could be tinted darker, it’s worth noting that it’s difficult for helmet makers to make the tint any darker and stay legal, so it’s something we usually just have to live with.
Comfort and Sizing
(more about comfort and sizing)
According to owners, comfort’s generally good in the Devil.
It has a fully removable/washable interior with large ear pockets to fit speakers. It’s also got emergency quick release cheek pads which are handy for when you want to whip out the inside to wash the liner (as well as if paramedics ever need to gently remove your helmet after an accident).
While it’s a comfortable helmet, it’s not the lightest for a carbon fibre full face lid. Premier reckon the carbon version is around 1.4kg (that’s the cut-off weight for our lighest helmets section) while the composite carbon version is around 100g heavier (though size XL is reportedly around 100g heavier than that).
None of those weights are deal breakers and you’ll probably find it a decent weight while on the move – just that it’s not a particularly lightweight helmet.
Looks & Graphics
It’s always subjective of course, but I think you’ll agree that the Premier Devil is a good looking helmet – especially in the carbon weave.
If you’re still a sucker for that exposed carbon (like I am) then you can get a plain and clear-lacquered Carbon as well as the Carbon BM which is kind of a lighter coloured matt carbon look. There’s also a few other carbon helmets with a range of coloured highlights – the Carbon ST range.
If you’re more interested in the lower price carbon composite helmets, then there’s a range of modern-looking tasteful graphics available.
As usual, we’ve included a selection of these up and down the page but if you want to see the full range or the latest released graphics, as well as deals on older designs – then please click below to drop straight onto the Premier Devil helmets pages at some of our recommended retailers.
Best places to buy a Premier Devil Helmet?
Please click below to visit the Premier Devil helmets pages at our recommended stores (click link to find out more about each shop). And if you buy from one, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).
Premier Devil Video
There aren’t really any English language Premier Devil videos around, but we found this quick look around the Devil carbon on youtube (no talking just a bit of music).
Other stuff: fasteners, bluetooth, glasses, build quality, warranty
Fasteners
Premier Devils come with a metal micrometric fastener. If you find double-d ring fasteners fiddly, the micrometric is a great alternative. They’re safe and super quick to fasten up and unlock.
Bluetooth Headsets and Speakers
If you’re wanting to fit a bluetooth communicator to your next helmet you should be OK with a Premier Devil as there’s some decent size speaker pockets in there. The only slight hiccup might be that the sun visor slider’s just where you might want to mount the controller.
Premier says the Devil is Bluetooth Smart ready – which I assume is the name of their own bluetooth headset, though I couldn’t find any info about it on Premier’s website or any other website. Maybe there’ll be more info on the way.
Glasses Inside a Premier Devil
If you’re a glasses wearer, you’ll find glasses grooves inside so you should be OK. The only other thing to think about is the height of the visor aperture as it’s not the biggest on the Devil so if you wear particularly large glasses, it’s worth trying them on inside the helmet before you commit to keeping it.
Build Quality and Warranty
The word is that build quality on the Devil is good – with quality materials used and a nice finish. And it’s nice to see Premier having faith in their own quality control by backing the Devil with a 5 year warranty – that’s about as long as helmet warranties come.
Crash Helmet Buying Guides & Top 10s
For (hopefully!) other useful information to help you when buying your next helmet, check our various Motorcycle Helmet Buying Guides - or have a look at our Top 10 best helmet lists where we've got the top 10 best rated helmets overall along with Top 10 Best Budget/Top 10 Safest/Top 10 Best Full Face/Top 10 Best Modular/Flip-up/ Top 10 Best Sportsbike/Track helmets.
Good Alternatives to the Premier Devil?
Here’s some other helmets we reckon you might like that are a similar price point to the Premier Devil.
The HJC F70 is a well liked fibreglass full face helmet. It’s been SHARP 4 star rated for safety, comes with a Pinlock and sun visor and costs around the same as the Devil.
If you’d consider a modular, the Caberg Levo is a composite fibre flip-up helmet that costs about the same and is well rated. Again, it’s SHARP 4 star and has a sun visor and Pinlock.
If your budget can stretch a little, Shoei’s NXR2 is a well rated SHARP 5 star sports touring helmet that’s on the lighter side and comes with a Pinlock and EQRS liner. It’s a high quality helmet from one of the worlds premier helmet brands too.
You’ll find further great alternatives in our Top 10 Best Helmets Lists.
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Best places to buy a Premier Devil?
Please click below to visit the Premier Devil helmets pages at our recommended stores (click link to find out more about each shop). And if you buy from one, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).
