Only five years ago Bluetooth headsets were a new idea. Back then, it was impressive that they even worked—never mind how they sounded. But with the advent of advanced noise-canceling circuitry, as in the original Aliph Jawbone, manufacturers are beginning to pay more attention to audio quality these days—specifically, how good you sound to callers on the other end. As a result, by old-school standards, Samsung's WEP700 would be a great device, but it doesn't quite measure up to the current class leaders in noise cancellation. Still, it's a quality headset that looks sharp and is easy to wear.

Available in black or silver, the WEP700 measures 0.7 by 1.8 by 0.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 0.4 ounces. The volume buttons are on opposite sides of the unit and are a bit too small to handle easily. I was able to get used to them quickly, though. The multifunction call button is easy to press, and there's an indicator light that flashes blue when the unit is in use. It's solid blue during pairing, and flashes red when the battery is low. All you get in the package is the headset, its AC charger, a small user manual, and a quick-start guide. There are no additional earbuds, no extra ear hooks—so it's a one-size-fits-all proposition. These aren't necessarily deal breakers, but the lack of a USB cable for PC charging or a car charger might be disappointing to some.

As it happened, the WEP700 fit me perfectly, due to a lightweight body, a flexible ear loop that was easy to put on, and a comfortable rubberized earbud that was angled slightly toward the front of the headset. I didn't have to do any special maneuvers to achieve a close fit (as I did with the Aliph New Jawbone), nor did I have to shove the earbud very far into my ear, as I did with the Callpod Dragon. In addition, the WEP700 stayed snugly attached and didn't flop around the way some headsets can. The ear hook is detachable, too, but I preferred the fit with the hook in place.

I paired the WEP700 with several handsets without any issues. The headset supports Bluetooth version 2.0 with EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) for better sound quality, and also features an automatic volume control (more on this later).

In my tests, the WEP700 generally sounded good—with one major exception. Samsung claims the WEP700 has dual-microphone noise- and echo-canceling technology, but I certainly didn't hear it. When I used the headset in a moderately reverberant room (my office with a hardwood floor and no soft furniture), callers consistently complained about the loud echo surrounding my voice. On several calls in this room, I was asked why I sounded so bad. Every time I turned off the WEP700 and went back to speaking directly into the handset, the caller said I sounded much better, although they could still hear the echo. Aside from this issue, a series of voice-mail message tests in a variety of environments confirmed that the headset has crisp, clear sound quality in both directions.

Volume levels stayed consistent, even as I walked into and out of noisy areas—a tribute to the WEP 700's automatic volume control. The headset also demonstrated a surprisingly long range. I could walk around 20 to 22 feet from my test handset before I started to hear modest crackling in the earpiece, and the other party could still hear me without a problem. Battery life was about average for this smaller class of Bluetooth headset. The WEP700 lasted 5 hours 39 minutes on a single call before shutting down, which was just short of its rated 6-hour talk time.

Recently released products like the Aliph New Jawbone and the Plantronics Voyager 520 have certainly raised the headset bar. The New Jawbone, our Editors' Choice, features far superior noise cancellation and sounds superb to other callers, although it isn't quite as comfortable as the WEP700 and costs $40 more. The Plantronics Voyager 520 costs the same and also sounds terrific, but it's larger and heavier. The Iqua 603 SUN can stay in standby mode indefinitely due to its integrated solar panel, but it lacks an ear hook and doesn't look as cool. Overall, the Samsung WEP700 has a sophisticated appearance and offers much of the same sound quality as the Plantronics 520—just steer clear of noisy, echo-prone environments while using it.

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