Scorpion Exo-930 Smart motorcycle helmet review.
Note: if you’re interested in the US Scorpion Exo-GT930, please visit the review on our US site as it’s a slightly different spec of helmet to the UK version.
The Scorpion Exo 930 is the replacement of the 920 – a well liked polycarbonate flip-front helmet with a sporty edge.
The 930 though takes things to a whole new level. Yep, it’s a cheaper priced modular helmet with a sun visor just like the old 920. But the 930 has been called a transformer helmet because now it has a fully removeable chin bar for a true open face riding experience.
And if you like your bluetooth units fully integrated, there’s also a Smart version that comes preloaded with Scorpion’s (Uclear-developed) Exo-Com bluetooth headset that’s more or less ready to rock.
So now not only does the 930 promise to give you most of the regular features you want from a modular, but if you really like to ride in a fully open face or you’re looking for a helmet that comes bluetooth ready out of the box, then it offers that too.
But promise is one thing, reality can be another. So we scoured the web to find out the truth behind the claims – to see if the Scorpion Exo 930 does what it says and whether it’s worth the money.
- Polycarbonate Modular Helmet
- Smart version includes fitted bluetooth
- Best for cruising, commuting or touring
- Dual homologated with removable chin bar
- Drop down sun visor
- Medium oval fitment
- Pinlock Visor
- ECE 22.05 certified
- Sun peak included
- Micrometric fastener
- Integrated bluetooth version available
- Sizes XS-XXXL
- Expect to pay
- £160-£200 regular
- £300 Smart (with integrated bluetooth)
Best places to buy a Scorpion Exo-930?
Please click below to visit the Scorpion Exo-930 helmets pages at our recommended stores. 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
There’s no doubt about it, not only is the Scorpion Exo GT-930 great value for money but it offers something very different.
OK there’s a few helmets now that come with integrated bluetooth comms – and that’s a big selling point for many. But one of the biggest selling points for the 930 is that you can pull off that chin bar entirely, slot on an (optional) peak and ride it as a proper open face helmet. That’s a great feature.
So, not only do you have the usual flexibility you find with a flip-front helmet, but now it’s even more flexible and convenient – a real two-in-one helmet.
In full face mode it’s a good helmet too. Excellent double visor system – both a clear and smoked visor withthe main visor coming with a Pinlock antifog insert. And with the chin bar down, according to owners it’s an all day comfortable helmet and reasonably quiet too (for a modular) – and it’s about average weight for a modular helmet.
But the icing on the cake is that it’s a lower priced modular making it excellent value for money too. Overall then, it’s really hard to fault the Scorpion Exo-930 and well worth a look if you’re in the market for a new budget modular helmet.
Safety
(more about helmet safety)
According to the Scorpion Exo website, the 930 is ECE 22.05 certified and it’s dual homologated too. That’s an ECE standard meaning the helmet’s been separately tested to offer protection with the chin bar in both raised and lowered positions and so it’s legal to ride with the chin bar up. Happy days.
And if you do ride with the chin bar up, there’s a small lock on there to push into place to make sure it stays raised while riding. The last thing you need is it slamming down while you’re in the middle of a bend!
Of course one of the cool features with the 930 is that you can fully remove the chin bar so I’m guessing it was tested and approved with the chin bar fully removed too. There are other modulars you can remove the chin bar with (such as the Nolan N40-5 mentioned in the recommended alternatives section below) and if you love riding in an open face helmet, that’s a great feature.
OK it’s always great to see all those safety certifications and they do mean the 930 should give you a decent level of protection. But beyond those there’s no independent SHARP rating too so we can’t see how well the 930 will perform in relation to other helmets – nor can we see how secure that chin bar is (SHARP releases figures on how often chin bars become unlocked during testing).
Looking at past SHARP data for Scorpion modular helmets shows their chin bars have stayed locked and closed in 90% of impact tests. And looking at their two most recent tested polycarbonate shelled helmets (like the 930) they scored either 3 or 4 stars overall out of a maximum 5. Whether that’s indicative of how the 930 would score if it was to be tested by SHARP remains to be seen but we’d expect it to be around that figure.
Take a look at our Best Motorbike Helmet Top 10s to find your next helmet too...
Still, beyond cold hard stats, the Scorpion 930 has plenty going for it on the safety stakes.
Its shell is made in 2 sizes which is kinda average for a cheaper helmet and offers some optimising of the look, fit and amount of EPS shock absorbing liner to the rider’s head. That EPS is dual density too to help it better manage energy from an impact.
Moving on… it has a wide visor for good peripheral vision, and the visor’s prepared to fit a Pinlock Max Vision antifog insert that comes in the box and is there to stop it steaming up.
And of course there’s a sun visor to stop you getting dazzled while riding.
Finally, the helmet’s secured using a micrometric fastener – they’re dead easy to use and safe as houses providing they’re regularly checked/adjusted for tightness.
Helmet Noise
(more about helmet noise)
The Scorpion Exo-930 comes with a reasonably plush interior with 3d cheek pads, a chin curtain and generous neck roll as standard. It’s also reasonably aerodynamically tuned – and all these things can help make a helmet that’s a bit quieter than average.
Having said that, it’s a modular helmet and modulars do tend to be noisier than full faces.
So, assuming you’re gonna be riding in your 930 with the chin bar down, how noisy or quiet is it?
Well, according to owners’ opinions we came across it’s not bad. Overall it’s probably not as quiet as most full face helmets but it seems it’s about par for a modular with a few owners reckoning it’s pretty loud above highway speeds but others saying they found it quieter than expected.
As usual it’s very subjective depending on your motorcycle, speed, hearing, how noisy your last helmet was etc. etc. And as usual, push in a good pair of ear plugs and you should be just fine on the noise front with the EXO-930.
Ventilation
(more about helmet ventilation)
Venting on the 930 is a standard sort of configuration.
That means a single vent in the chin bar and a single vent pushed high up top, beyond the retracted sun visor that sits inside the helmet shell.
The chin vent is quite large but the button ain’t and can be a bit fiddly to use until you get the hang of its location.
The top vent is much better – a larger slider right on the top of your head.
A couple of useful links…
– All our Scorpion Exo helmet reviews –
– Medium oval helmets –
Word is that the chin bar vent’s better than the head vent.
The chin bar vent is pretty good. And while the top vent looks like a big scoop that should take a good amount of air into the helmet, the overall effect seems to be a bit muted. It’s not bad, just that it’s not that good either.
Still, with a modular you can always flip-up of the chin bar – or in this case remove it fully – in which case you’ll get about as much ventilation as you’re ever going to need!
Visor
(more about visors)
The visor is great though. It’s nice and wide for great perhipheral vision; it’s a Pinlock visor and comes with a Pinlock Max Vision insert in the box; and it’s quick change to make things easy if you need to pull it off for cleaning.
It works on a ratchet mechanism and there’s a ‘cracked open’ city position to let a bit of air in. And it’s got a couple of visor opening tabs too – one left, one right – so you can easily open it with either hand. That’s something far too few helmets seem to offer.
All good on the visor front then.
Sun Visor
(more about sun visors)
Same goes for the sun visor.
One problem lots of people seem to find with sun visors is that they sometimes don’t drop down low enough. Not so with the sun visor on the Scorpion Exo-930 because several owners said how great it was to have one that covers all their view.
It’s operated with a slider on the bottom left edge of the helmet and the action is apparently nice and easy. So no problems here.
Chin Guard
(more about chin guards)
In its normal operation, the chin bar on the Scorpion Exo-930 is a pretty standard sort of affair for a flip-front helmet.
There’s a single button to press underneath the bar to release the lock and you then push it upwards until it comes to a firm stop somewhere above your forehead. That means it’s not a ‘flip-over’ modular as the chin bar sits over your forehead – and it can feel a little unbalanced if you’re riding with it in this position as the weight’s towards the front.
And because it’s been ECE dual homologated (i.e. tested and certified with the chin bar both up and down) that means it can be ridden with the chin bar raised in the UK and other ECE territories – and it means it’s got a small red locking button to keep the chin guard locked open. So far, so standard.
The big feature on the 930 is that you can fully remove the chin bar to convert it into a proper open faced helmet. And it’s a pretty simple and toolless job too according to owners (like many things – it’s easy once you’ve done it a few times!). Just open up the chin bar fully, pull down on a couple of sliders then slide the chin bar off towards the front.
That’s a great feature and the reason why quite a few owners buy the 930. And to top it off, a peak’s available to finish the helmet off should you want one. It used to be included in the box but I guess not many open face riders in the UK want a peak so now it’s a £20 extra if you want one. The peak is really easy to fit – just slide it on and click it in place. You don’t have to one it but the helmet looks a little more finished if you do.
And again according to some owners, if you fit the peak, the aero is still pretty good, so not too much buffetting or catching the air because of it.
Back to having the chin bar in place: Scorpion helmets have done quite well over the years in terms of chin bar protection.
When ECE versions of their modular helmets have been tested, they score an average of 90% for the performance of the chin guards. That means during impact testing, the chin bar has remained fully locked and closed 90% of the time. For the remaining 10% that doesn’t mean the chin bars have sprung open or broken off, just that the lock’s become unlatched.
That 90% is actually a reasonable score if you look at all tested modulars – though it’s up to you whether it’s actually good enough for you of course!
Comfort and Sizing
(more about comfort and sizing)
Inside the 930 is Scorpion’s Kwik Wick liner – that’s a fully removable and washable liner that’s antimicrobial treated and designed to offer good moisture wicking characteristics.
According to most owners the sizing’s about right and it’s a medium oval fit helmet which means it should work for the majority of us.
They also overwhelmingly reckon it’s a very comfortable helmet. The liner’s soft to the touch and well padded, and if you wear glasses it has glasses grooves in the cheek pads and we came across a few riders who said they work well.
And if you’re the big brained type, more good news is that the Scorpion 930 is available in sizes up to XXXL. Hurray.
It’s got good aero properties too by all accounts – in full face mode it’s pretty neutral with little buffeting or whistling reported; and in open face mode with the peak fitted the peak doesn’t catch the wind or pull your head around too badly.
Best places to buy a Scorpion Exo-930 helmet?
Please click below to visit the Scorpion Exo-930 helmets pages at our recommended stores. 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).
Scorpion Exo-930 Video
5m video looking around a matte black 930 from the UK distributors.
Other stuff – bluetooth, warranty
Integrated Bluetooth – Scorpion 930 Smart Helmet
The Scorpion Exo 930 is available in two flavours – the regular dumb helmet and the 930 Smart which comes with a Uclear-based Scorpion Exo Com bluetooth headset pre-installed.
If you buy the regular helmet it has all the holes, pouches and pockets there to accept the Exo-Com bluetooth if you decide you want to fit one later (takes about 10 mins to fit apparently). But the 930 Smart helmet has it all already installed – so that’s the battery in the pocket at the back of the helmet, speakers and wiring in there and the neat controller unit on the left hand side of the helmet.
And the Exo Com is a pretty good mesh bluetooth headset by all accounts. It’s a Bluetooth V5 Mesh system (called DynaMesh on the Exo Com), allows for connection with up to 4 riders, has a half mile (800m) range and should cost you around £160.
Given it’ll connect to four riders that should give it a theoretical range of up to a couple of miles if you’re all strung out equally along a road (mesh uses each bluetooth set to ping your chat between each rider) though I guess that’ll be quite a bit less in practice.
It should theoretically pair with other non-mesh bluetooth headsets too but that can be a bit hit and miss and the only real way to find out is to buy one and try it – headset makers don’t really do the testing with other kits unfortunately.
And of course if you’re looking to fit your own bluetooth kit in there, you should be able to use the existing speaker pockets and a sticky mount should do the trick on the side of the helmet (to avoid the sun visor slider and controller pocket).
Warranty
The Scorpion Exo-930 comes with a full 5 year warranty against manufacturing defects.
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 Scorpion Exo-930?
You might want to check out our Top 10 Best Flip-up Helmets page to find our latest recommended modulars. Or take a look at our helmets with integrated bluetooth headsets page if you’re after an integrated helmet. Other than that, here’s a few selected helmets we think you might like to take a look at if you’re in the market for a modular.
First off, the Nolan N40-5 is another versatile modular that you can remove the chin bar from. It has a sun visor too along with an easy to use micrometric fastener and it’s around the same price as the Scorpion.
Nolan’s N90-3 is a well rated modular – it’s prepared to accept Nolan’s N-Com bluetooth, has a sun visor, and the ECE version was rated SHARP 4 stars for safety.
For a bit more money you can buy a Shark Evo One 2 which has a ‘flip over’ chin bar for real open face riding, comes with a Pinlock antifog in the box and it’s lighter than the 930.
Best places to buy a Scorpion Exo-930?
Please click below to visit the Scorpion Exo-930 helmets pages at our recommended stores. 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).
