Samsung WEP 420 Review
The first thing that attracted me to the new Samsung WEP 420 Bluetooth headset was learning that it had been created by Bang & Olufsen – a Danish company famous for its ultramodern, elegant and functional designs.
I was certainly not disappointed when I opened the box and removed the slick WEP 420 for the first time – with its silver front and light delicate body it is quite a beautiful object.
I particularly like the “conical” shape of the earpiece (above) which fits very comfortably in your ear and ensures that you get excellent volume throughout your conversations. The relative downside is that the larger than usual earpiece makes the Samsung WEP 420 headset somewhat less pocketable.
The WEP 420 also benefits from a sliding headset cover with which you can quickly answer calls (slide out) or end calls (slide in). When open the headset cover reveals a multi-function button (for example: press to redial last called number) as well as the volume control buttons. Again, although very useful, the sliding cover unfortunately further reduces the pocketability of the headset.
The fixed ear hook (above) rotates 180 degrees so that you can conveniently wear your WEP 420 on either the right or left ear (oddly though the Samsung logo is etched to be worn primarily on the left when I would assume that the majority of people wear their bluetooth headset on the right).
The piece that undoubtedly augments the overall design appeal of the Samsung WEP 420 is the stunning minimalistic included charging cradle (above) that the headset seamlessly slides into to form a monolithic rectangular block and which would look great on any desk. Unfortunately and very frustratingly neither the base nor the headset offer USB charging capabilities making the WEP 420 a less than ideal mobile solution.
As I mentioned earlier, the WEP 420 headset is very comfortable to wear with strong volume and more importantly also great inbound and outbound call quality and Bluetooth range comfortably extending up to 30 feet.
Overall however, unless you are completely taken over by the design aspects of the Samsung WEP 420 this is not a headset that I would personally recommend. At this price ($100) it’s unforgivable not to have USB charging capabilities (something that I now consider essential) and although the call quality is very good there are no other technical specifications that make this a superior headset. In this range, there is no doubt that my preferred choice would very much still fall on the terrific Jawbone headset which offers truly remarkable technology and is still the only one with full built-in noise cancellation.
Treonauts always look for the very best… 
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Comments
Why do you say, "it’s unforgivable not to have USB charging capabilities (something that I now consider essential)..." about this headset, but in the same paragraph say, "In this range, there is no doubt that my preferred choice would very much still fall on the terrific Jawbone headset...."
The Jawbone may be a delightful headset, but it has no USB charging. How essential is that feature to you, exactly? If it really is, there are other headsets on your site that have USB charging capability, and are coincidentally far cheaper. The Palm Wireless Headset costs half as much, and has USB charge capability. Why not pimp that one all the time?
Movie reviews don't always end with, "But don't see this movie. Instead, I still maintain that you should see The Kingdom, and you can buy tickets for it right _here_ on our website." Frankly, this post and others read as if you guys get a monster cut off of the sale of these Jawbone headsets that other manufacturers won't give you.
You like the Jawbone. I swear -- we get it.
rsmith1976 - actually, the Jawbone does have USB charging as part of its kit (via a USB cable). It's true that it has a proprietary plug but I can charge it via USB nonetheless...
Additionally, yes, the Jawbone has been my Editor's Choice (I use it daily) for some time because it offers the very best call quality of any headset that I have tested to date.
Finally, I think that after over three years writing reviews of Treo accessories and having tested literally every product in our store I have a pretty good idea about the level of quality and value that each product has to offer.
Cheers, A.
That is thing look terrible..That is the worst looking Blue tooth I ever seen, I have a Motorola H605 it sits behind the ear and everyone thinks it's a hearing aide..........it doesn't have nothing sticking out on the side of your face.
How about the nXZen? Excellent noise reduction capabilities, similar to Jawbone AND USB charging!
As much as we hear about your preference for the Jawbone, I'd love to see how you would compare the Blueant Z9 to it. In my opinion, the Z9 blows the Jawbone away. I admit, though, that others seem to have mixed experiences with it.
When are you going to going to review the nXZen NX6000???? I want to see if you think that it is as good as the Jawbone?
I would really like to know what you think about the Apple bluetooth headset. It is one of the most beautiful ones I've seen so far, but I would really like to know whether it is worth 130$
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