Bluetooth technology that actually works!

I have never been impressed with bluetooth since the day it came out.  Every single bluetooth dongle, phone and other bluetooth accessories I have bought and tried to use have been nothing but trouble for me.  They would either not work or work so intermittently and unpredictably that I eventually threw them all out and swore off bluetooth...

Until now.  Enter the Samsung WEP200 mono BT headset.  Combined with a $10 mail-in rebate, it cost me only $8 from Amazon.com.  I figured I couldn't go wrong at that price even if I end up throwing it out like all the other BT dohickeys I have dealt with over the years.  I haven't thrown this one out so far, so read on to figure out why.

The headset comes in a very nice package which is far too large for the headset and carrying case.  The headset is literally less than 2 inches long and weighs a small fraction of an ounce.  Along with the charger/carrying case, the headset comes with 3 speaker covers/ear holds, an over-ther-ear hook, a wall-wart charger, and user manuals.

Once you unpack everything out, you first set up the charger and charge the headset for a couple of hours.  When the light on the headset changes from red to blue, you are good to go.  I paired it with my Samsung Gravity in about 15 seconds and tested it out.  I will have more to say about that test a little later.

When the headset is turned off, the phone automatically detected that and switched to no-headset mode.  As soon as I switch on the headset, the phone asks me whether I want to connect to it.  When I say yes, it connects instantly and with no hiccups.  No fuss, no muss, it just works!  This is so unlike other BT accessories I have tried that this one aspect alone deserves several stars!

Now for the hearing tests.  The headset fits comfortably in the ear and should fit most people's ears with at least one of the 3 speaker covers included with the headset.  Don't worry about the over-ear hook.  It is a useless red herring that serves no useful purpose.  Lots of negative reviews focus on how flimsy the hook is and how often it breaks.  The fact is that you can not charge the headset with the hook attached to it, and removing and reattaching the hook for every charge will eventually break the hook, so just ignore the hook.  Throw it away so that it does not even tempt you!

The user manual contains pictures showing how to set up the speaker covers for the left and right ear.  The settings work perfectly and the headset fits in my ear very securely and comfortably.  I feel that I can play active sports with this thing in my ear if I choose to without it falling out.  It certainly does not even move even when I vigorously shake my head from side to side or chew food vigorously.  Combined with the lightness of the headset, this makes it easy to forget that you even have the headset in your ear.

The headset has a prominent button on the outside which the user manual refers to as the multi-function key (and it is multi-function).  You use that button to turn on and off the headset, to make and receive calls, to mute the headset, to place calls on hold and receive a different call, to pair with the phone, etc., etc.  The list of functions that this multi-function key is capable of is listed in the user manual and deserves a careful going over.  The bottom-line is that this is pretty much the only button you will use day-in day-out when you wear this headset.  There are two volume control buttons on the side of the headset and their functionality is very intuitive.

On the test I did, the headset was so clear it was as if someone was standing in my ear and talking to me.  There was no noise even though my phone was on top of my entertainment center and I walking all over the room just to see what the range was.  The manual lists a range of about 30 feet and suggests that there be no obstructions between the phone and headset for optimal performance.  I did not get any interference even when I went as far as 15 feet from the phone and there were a few obstructions between the phone and headset.  The sound quality was so good, in fact, that I sold my wife on this headset even though she never uses headsets because of an ear problem that makes most headsets unuseable for her.

Even though the headset is less than 2 inches long and therefore, the mic is far from your mouth, the headset picks up your talking very clearly and none of my callers had any problem hearing or understanding me.  In fact, most did not believe I was using a bluetooth headset.

Before you get carried away, though, there are a few drawbacks you must be aware of.  First of all, the multi-function button is a pain in the neck to master.  All of its functionality depends on timed presses of this button (4 seconds to turn the headset on and off, a light tap to receive calls, 2 seconds to do this, 2 seconds twice in a row to do something else, etc. etc.).  This can be quite confusing and also if you are not paying attention, you can easily end up turning the headset off when you intended doing something else and so on.  There is no separate on/off button, so turning the headset on takes at least 4 seconds if it is off.  This can mean the difference between being able to answer a call or missing it entirely.  It would have been better to have at least a separate on/off button so that you don't have to press a button for several seconds waiting for something to happen.

Also, the headset has very little free real estate on it between this multi-function button and the two volume control buttons, given the extremely small size of the thing.  So, if you want to adjust the headset's fit in your ear, you have to be cognizant of how you grasp the thing and where you press on the thing.  Luckily it hasn't required much adjusting for me, but if it does not fit your ears as well as it fits mine, this could be an issue.