Customer Reviews

Samsung WEP470 Bluetooth headset

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased two of these, one each for my wife and I. The are better than crap. :-)

I really like that this has a physical off/on switch, and this was the primary reason I purchased these. My wife's Bluetooth has a push button off/on and I get calls from her pocket and purse a couple of times a week, which is annoying, and worse, it means wasted minutes and it also means when she wants to use her Bluetooth it is dead from calling everyone in her pocket. So bravo Samsung for putting a physical switch on this unit - this should be a requirement.

We are pairing these units with a Blackberry Pearl Flip and a Samsung Gravity (We're on T-Mobile) and they sound pretty good. The audio quality is clear, which is key. Another reviewer mentioned their limited dynamic range, but since I am not trying to sing opera through my cell phone I haven't noticed a problem. Everyone hears me just fine, and in fact, they prefer listening to me on it over my Nokia BH-200 earpiece.

The unit is very small, and quite comfortable once you get it on your ear. Do note that getting it on your ear isn't as easy as many other ones are. The plastic ear piece is tight enough that it forces me to use two hands to get it on, so in a hurry I'll just stick the earphone into my ear canal and fit it over my ear while talking. I have heard the ear pieces are somewhat brittle but have as of yet not had one break.

This unit charges quickly and maintains a very long lasting charge. I can leave it off for many days and still have a lengthy amount of talk time when I turn it on. The talk time at full charge is listed at 6 hours, and I know I have gotten a bit more than that out of mine, though as time passes this will inevitably degrade some.

Would I buy these again, yep. They work fine, and while they aren't the top of the line, they aren't making those claims nor are they asking those prices. If you just need something that works, not something fancy, this will suit you just fine.

Update as of 5/10/2010:
The only thing I would add to the review above is that the plastic ear hook is quite fragile. I thankfully purchased 2 headsets originally so I've gotten more life overall, but I have now broken the second ear hook. This is not a good design if you carry the earpiece in your pocket like I do. If you leave the unit sitting on a desk or in your car it'll probably last forever, but I keep snapping them when I sit down with them in my pocket. I called Samsung USA - 1-800-726-7864 - and they do sell the ear hooks by themselves for $2.99 each. So I ordered 4 of them.

I have owned several headsets over the years.

On a scale of 1-10 (1- junk to 10-love it):
Motorola 500 = 1 (returned in less than a week)
Jabra 5020 = 10 (still going strong, except noise cancelling is getting worse)
Cardo 700 = 10 (worked 100% the longest, now the microphone works intermittent)
SoundId 100 = 10 (still working, lasted almost as long as the cardo before the noise cancelling went out)
Plantronics 232 = 1 (like the motorola 500, why bother producing junk and souring your reputation)

And that leads me to this one - Samsung 470. I give it a 9 (would have given it a 10 but because of the button and fit..see below)I gave it 5 stars above because I feel my gripes are personal and not because of the product.

After 2 weeks of use, I am amazed at the quality of this little bluetooth. Sound quality is great. Both sides of the call are hard pressed to know you are on a headset. Mic and speaker are crystal clear. Volume is loud and clear. My only gripes are the ear hook and button. The ear hook can become uncomfortable after an hour or so of wear. I consider myself to have larger ears and know fit will be different for everyone as no two ears are the same. As for the button...the main multipurpose button is a tad hard to push. Its hard to tell if it was tapped or not, so then you try it again and find out you are in your phones voice assistance mode. But its early, and could just be a learning curve to get use to. All in all a great product. I ended up buying another for a friend. Almost forgot, the best feature is the sliding on/off switch. Tired of others having teeny buttons that need to be held for 5-10 seconds. With that time lag, one cannot turn on the headset and the phone is ringing because it wont connect in time. With the Samsung, when your phone rings, flip the switch to on and you are connected by the 3rd or 4th ring. Very fast!


***UPDATE 1/5/2011***
Still using this headset as my everyday bluetooth. Still works like day one and still very happy with it. Sound is loud and clear. Pairs quickly with my HTC Incredible.

The Samsung WEP470 is a quality headset at a budget price. This a comfortable headset. You will forget you have it on. The sound quality is great and others I talk to say I sound good as well. It charges fast and the battery lasts a long time. The on/off switch is a nice feature. That way you know when you turn it off it will stay off. I can't believe this product doesn't cost a lot more.

I've had 4 Bluetooth headsets over the last 5 or so years, and this one is the best and was the least expensive. Isn't competition wonderful? My last headset was the original Aliph Jawbone, which due to design flaws is now falling apart. This Samsung headset has a built-in on/off switch, the audio quality is on par with the Jawbone, and the ear loop fits comfortably for me. Highly recommend for bang/buck.

This is a good product. You can actually hear the person on the other side and it has a good battery life. However, the big Achilles heel is the ear hook. It was made for the Asian anatomy not European. I had to soak the Ear Hook into hot water and adjust it until it was comfortable. Another detractor, is the material the ear hook is made of. Of course there, many manufacturers fail in this category. This ear hook is made of cheap molded plastic. Mine broke after one month and the company wants to charge me $7.99 for three ear hooks. Who was the engineer who worked this ear hook out, the company Janitor?

Pros:
Very clear voice quality
Very good noise cancellation
Competitive price
Comfortable with the earhook on
It feels like it will be a very durable headset
Lasts all day, even when I talk for hours
Beeps when you leave the range of the headset, auto reconnects and beeps again when you return to the range of the headset (most headsets just disconnect don't warn you that you have disconnected. Then they don't try to reconnect on their own. You have to do it manually.)
I LOVE the on/off button. This is the only headset I have ever had (and I've had a lot) that had a dedicated button for this. It keeps you from oops calling people by bumping the headset in your pocket or wearing down the battery by accidentally turning it on.

Cons:
If you push the headset all the way in your ear, the sound gets muffled.
Headset looks like it should be comfy without the earhook, but it doesn't stay in my ear.
The earhook is very awkward at first and takes some getting used to, but once you get used to it it's very comfortable.

For a very low price point, here is a headset with as good of call quality and noise cancellation as the BlueAnt Z9i (and less than half the price). Bravo, Samsung!

I hear everyone clearly and they hear me clearly. There's an on/off switch so you don't mistakenly call someone or run out the battery charge. It fits snug on my ear and is comfortable. I was so surprised and impressed by this item. I've heard all kinds of bluetooth horror stories and was advised not to by one for less than $50, but this one is great! My sister just purchased one too! I highly recommend this item.

I bought the WEP470 elsewhere for $20.99 because there was a $20 rebate involved. For $0.99, it's awesome... but I'm glad I didn't pay full price. I rated this 3-stars, "OK," because if you don't have anything else to compare it to, it is just that: OK. It works, it's cheap.

Pros:
1. Slider on/off control
2. Battery doesn't need to be recharged often (with light daily phone use).
3. Volume +/- controls are easy to use and responsive.
4. Sound quality is OK

Cons:
1. The part that fits in your ear is 9/16" (14 mm) in diameter. It has a rubberized rim to seat it tightly; it doesn't fit into the ear canal. However, it blocks the ear canal.
2. I don't like something in my ear that blocks all sound. Having worn a Jabra BT-8040 that sits in the outer ear with so much comfort without blocking air & other human communication, however, the WEP470 does not have enough pros to merit my wholehearted recommendation.
3. The ear hook is rigid clear plastic and made for a non-standard human. It snaps onto the stem, but got lost quickly.
4. Because I lost the ear hook, the WEP470 fall out of my ear while using it.
5. The charger is not a mini-usb so you always have to plug it in to a wall adapter.

I also reviewed the WEP301. In comparison, the WEP470 is heavier and bulkier, but has somewhat better operating controls. Furthermore, the plastic ear hook is dreadful, worse than the awful one on the WEP301.

First headset. I think it was worth the price ($20) but I can see that the piece that hooks over the ear will be giving me a problems in the near future. Works well had a little trouble getting to work smoothly with Windows 7 as it ended up installing it's own program that for some reason won't allow itself to be deleted from my desktop. If I try to remove it, explorer crashes and ends up restarting. Sound clarity does well and on the other end of the line everyone seems to hear me just fine. Ear piece isn't the most comfortable or snug so I don't know what it's like using on the go as I use it sitting down calling people from my Google Voice so I have time to fidget with it.

Wish there were different sized hooks. Mine caused pain after wearing for a few hours. If you wear only to get calls this is great. It is so light, you may forget it is there. At least until your ears start to hurt. Battery is great. Last over a week of light use with my Samsung phone. I switch the hook for left and right ears, but the part that hooks to the ear stem broke after a few switches. On both of the headsets I have.
Replaced hooks with EZ-Flex from ebay. Now this is the perfect headset. No more broken hooks.