Review: Milo Action Communicator

If you’ve ever skied, snowboarded, or cycled in a group, you’ll be used to all the chat about where you’re going, how you get there, when’s lunch, and whether Mark has caught up, got lost, or gone ahead … again.

Mobile phones are notoriously fickle, especially in the mountains, and walkie-talkies for non-backcountry types often feel excessive, which is where the Milo Action Communicator fits in. Designed for hands-free, multiway, group voice conversation without the need for a cell signal, they’re set up to let everyone talk on the move without the need to stop and get your phone out.

It’s a tempting proposition for anyone who has watched their friends or family vanish into the cloud, taken the wrong trail, or worse, had an injury or equipment malfunction miles from help.

To test Milo in field conditions, WIRED headed to Avoriaz, in the French Alps, for a few days of variable snow conditions, wildly inconsistent visibility, and plenty of directions.

It was all smiles until the weather closed in. Fortunately the Milos worked well in thick cloud.

Photograph: Chris Haslam

Mountain Mesh

Designed to be worn on your body, or clipped to rucksack straps or the handlebars of your bike, each Milo weighs 2.54 ounces (72 grams) and measures 2.92 x 2.58 x 0.82 inches. The teardrop-shaped plastic casing and accessories feel robust and, with IP67 classification, it’s submersible to 3 feet of water for 30 minutes, and drop tested to 6 feet (1.8 meters).

Unlike a traditional walkie-talkie, Milo uses the proprietary MiloNet connection. In this case it’s a dual ISM-band sub-GHz and 2.4-GHz mesh network that doesn’t rely on cell signal or Wi-Fi to create an encrypted network just for your group.

As a result, there’s no crosstalk and no emergency service chatter, and nobody else can listen to your conversations. The range between two Milos is roughly 2,000 feet—that's more than 600 meters—depending on the terrain, but this can be extended further the more devices are meshed together. We had four devices shared among our group.

Each device has an external speaker and six microphones developed to filter out wind noise—something your smartphone is hopeless at—as well as minimize background interference. The processing software also sequences voices, so crosstalk should be kept to a minimum. It’s also been tuned to filter out the huffing and puffing of exertion, and to focus only on speech.

The Milo's central large comm button is much easier to use than the fiddly volume buttons on the top edge.

Courtesy of Milo

You’re On Mute

Getting Milo setup and communicating was mercifully simple, and took us just a few minutes during a pit stop in a noisy mountain restaurant. Turn on the device and a robotic female voice talks you through the process. When prompted, each user records their name so that when you’re in or out of range, the other people in your group are alerted with, “Chris has left the group.”

The friendly voice also talks you through the main features and what each of the buttons does. There’s two for volume and on/off, and one that lets you join the group—but for the most part, you’ll need to press only the front of the Milo, which is one huge mute/unmute button.

Fueled by brandy-laced café au lait and Snickers, we hit the slopes, and our first couple of runs (and lifts) using Milo left the whole group relatively nonplussed. Aside from earwigging a pal’s conversation on the next chairlift, and appreciating who among us loves to sing the entire run, they seemed unnecessary. But we were expecting them to be something more than they are. Once, as a group, we got the hang of muting/unmuting to avoid unwanted chat, and accepted that they just worked to chat when needed, Milo became super useful.

The Milo communicators are large, but not heavy, so clip easily to clothing.

Photograph: Chris Haslam

The audio quality was excellent—with volume at maximum—and we loved that we could talk at normal volume to the rest of the group as we skied. No yelling across pistes and no fumbling for phones with frigid fingers.

Giving directions from the fastest to the slowest in the group was especially appreciated, as was checking in when visibility dropped to zero as heavy cloud came in. Milo was also useful when hunting for fresh snow, as the lead skier could radio back up the mountain with instructions on where to find the untracked powder and how to avoid rocks, drops and crevasses. “No Chris, that’s a cliff, go left!” remains a particularly appreciated highlight.

Range Rovers

Each Milo was supplied with an Action Clip ($19), and we were also sent the Pocket Clip ($29) to test. All worked reasonably well, with communicators attached securely to bag straps and jackets, although we did have one near miss, where the lock on one clip slipped and disaster was averted thanks to the wrist leash catching on a jacket zip. Phew.

You can get a range of additional accessories for the Milo communicators.

Photograph: Milo

As a group, we were all of similar ability and speeds, so range rarely became an issue while skiing. When someone did fall back from the group, stop for a couple of minutes, or even turn a particularly big, rocky corner, we would get a “Jeremy is out of range” alert. The Milos work best with a straight line of sight, and for our resort riding needs were more than capable. They didn’t always work from the resort bar though, which meant drinks orders were missed, but we’re not blaming Milo for this. Not much, anyway.

We were also impressed by Milo’s Proximity Mute, which turns down the microphones when you’re close enough for a normal volume conversation. This worked well, with anyone not close enough still able to communicate through the speakers to the gathered group.

Recent software updates have also added some voice commands to Milo, with more expected soon. We weren’t able to test these, but they include one-on-one side chats, allowing you to talk to individuals in the group with a simple “OK Milo, speak with Chris” prompt.

Milo founder and CEO Peter Celinski also told WIRED they’re about to launch a Long Range Messaging Mode that will allow you to use voice commands to record and send messages to specific individuals in your group. You get a confirmation when your message has been received and recipients can play back messages at their leisure, including multiple times. This will be a handy extra, and another reason to keep your phone safely in your pocket.

Hardest Button to Button

Milo is intuitive and, once you appreciate its limitations, extremely useful. But it’s not without issues. With the exception of the massive main mute/unmute button, the rubber controls are bafflingly difficult to use wearing gloves, especially considering skiing is cited by the company as a prime activity for Milos (alongside kayaking, surfing, hiking, and surfing).

Using the main button also requires accuracy—we estimated an 70 percent first time hit rate, although this did improve with practice. It’s very irritating, too, that the volume of each Milo gets reset to low when powered down.

Curiously, Milo doesn’t give a specific battery life duration, but, for the most part, our devices survived a long day on the slopes, though that did require each person to power down their units at lunch to make it through to the last lift.

In a group, the Milos create a secure mesh network so comms are more stable.

Photograph: Wired

A maximum of six Milos can be linked in a group, which seems a little limited, but given the high price of buying multiple units it might be a blessing. At $249 a pop, can you persuade your mates to invest? Milo does offer group deals—great for families—with four units plus armband and action clips costing $925 instead of $1,120.

We’ve not tested Milo on bikes or water, but in the mountains we quickly learned to appreciate how useful they can be. Chatting as you ski, sharing tips, and generally enthusing about being in the mountains is fun—and being able to keep tabs on a group and help as necessary is a real bonus. And, remember, the free alternative of phone communication isn’t possible when surfing and the like.

If you’ve got cash to spend, we’re happy to recommend Milo, especially as the brand rolls out more voice- and AI-based features. If the price were a little lower, the battery life a little longer, and the fiddly volume buttons a little bigger, Milo’s modern take on walkie-talkies would be a clear win.