Good Bluetooth stereo headphones with flaws
352218
Hello All,
This review is for the WEP870
I know that I am late to this party and that this unit is all but discontinued except in Europe. Samsung has updated this to a unit with similar design, and therefore I feel my thoughts might still be relevant.
I have owned two of these units, both however suffer from the same flaw , which I will cover in a moment.
Pros: I liked this unit because the design is unobtrusive, no one even knows you have it until you put the unit in your ears. It is very comfortable to have around your neck and the unit produces some pretty good stereo sound. From mid-bass up everything was clear and the soundstage felt well defined. Deep bass was absent most of the time even with making sure the ear pieces were well seated. Otherwise the sound was very good , I cannot overstate that. The fit is good and it is easy to pair with all the devices that I tried it with. The display on the main unit is clear and easy to read and the battery life is outstanding, going 2 days moderate use before recharge. And the recharge time was quick, fully charged in less than an hour.
Cons: Worst, First. There is a flaw in the design so that the weight of the main unit pulls on the wires of the headphones, then it stretches and seperates from the plug end and then breaks. This has happened on both units. In addition to that call quality suffered for those on the other end which complained about all sorts of interference, the calls were super clear on my end however. Also the ear piece on the main unit that you might stick in your ear,but now is hanging around your neck as a pendant, got caught often on stuff and on my first unit pulled apart, bummer.
Conclution:There will never be a perfect product, and if there were it would become obsolete in short order anyway. The WEP870 (and the new units based on this design)has benefits as well as flaws. If you can find a unit for cheap, i think it would be worth it, as I said in the begining, I have purchased and daily used 2 of them.
But at this point I am looking for new technology that has improved call quality, fewer foibles, with out sacraficing the fine sound quality I enjoyed these units, which continues to be a standout IMHO.
Enjoy. JB
4332
Overall good for the price
PROS:
Comfortable over-the-ear headphones, soft padding.
Connected to my devices simply, no password or anything needed.
Cheap for bluetooth stereo.
Sounds good & friends can hear me, when paired to my phone.
On my phone I can listen to music then take a call.
Folds down very small and comes with a little bag.
CONS:
Can only be connected to 1 device at a time, so must constantly pair it again between the iPad and my phone. I would prefer to be able to listen to a movie on my iPad and then be able to take a call directly when my phone rings.
Only 1 main button for off, on, pairing etc- a soft button too, so it's easy to get accidentally switched on in my bag- would be better with a hard on and off switch.
Light (when on) provides annoying blue blinking when I am trying to listen to some music while sitting next to my son's bed at night, in the dark.
3366367
While I still enjoy the sound from these headphones, they are just a bit too bulky for me to really want to keep. I will use them until they finish falling apart. The biggest problem with these headphones is the actual build quality. I take really good care of the headphones, I store them in the pouch when not in use, but they still are falling apart. Both earpieces are losing the covers and it's coming apart at the seems. I contacted Bass Effect and they said it's not in warranty, but I can ship them out and they will fix them for free. That is good at least, but I have to pay to ship them, then be without them for a period of time. I may attempt to just glue the seam myself, otherwise just get a new pair once the cover falls off.

There is also another company called Bluedio that makes the EXACT same headset. I'm not sure if they are the same company and they get made from the same place in China.

I still support my original post with the great features and sound. The Bluetooth calling though doesn't work very well. 99% of the time, people cannot hear me.

For my next pair, ill look for something a bit more expensive, but still not going with Beats.

I re-submitted this post so I can attach a picture
___________

Original Post:

I was looking for a good headset for a while.  I just picked up a Motorola X, which supports Bluetooth 4.0 LE (Low Energy) and decided to give these a try after reading all the reviews.

These fit on the head nicely, have good padding, and cover my ear very well.

NFC Pairing is a nice little feature. Just tap your phone against it (assuming your android phone supports it) and it automatically pairs it.

Sound wise, these are very good.  There is a LOT of bass, but most apps have some sort of equalizer that lets you adjust if you want less. I listen to a lot of talk radio and Rock music and it hasn't been an issue at all. Vocals come in nice and clear.  They are loud, so you may not want to have your Bluetooth volume up all the way.

I haven't used the Bluetooth calling much, but the few times I have it was nice and clear on both ends.

I would recommend these to anyone looking for a good priced Bluetooth headset.  I'm not sure why anyone would spend $280 on a Beats pair aside from the name.
1489450
Pros:
- Audio quality as music headphones is pretty good for the small size
- Good battery life
- Light weight

Cons:
- Bluetooth connection drops out too easily
- Insensitive microphone- I have to shout to be heard, even in a quiet environment. This is a deal-killer for me.

I should also mention that the first one quit completely a week after purchase. Amazon got me a new one FAST.

If you're using this as a stereo headset only for listening to music, it'll work out well. The earbuds stay in place well, and the headset is comfortable to wear for long periods. However, I don't recommend this if you need to be able to talk on the phone. The other party can't hear me unless I yell, which is unacceptable. Altec Lansing and Plantronics are well-nown brand names, but this unit missed the mark.
3338517
Good sound quality. Bluetooth signal is weak and slightly glitchy from time to time. Also won't connect sometimes. This is why they get 3 stars. Ear-fit is excellent. Battery life good so far. I've only had them for a week but I like them. I got them for around $10 so I'm not sure I'd be as happy with them at the regular price.
2436218
There is some good with these earbuds. Excellent build quality, the earbuds feel solid in the hand, yet lightweight. Ample assortment of accessories, nice clicky button action on the inline remote controller. Smooth, clean treble and midrange sound on multiple genres of music and podcasts.

Unfortunately, the negatives outweigh the positives. Most significant, I was unable to maintain a stable Bluetooth connection to either my Android phone or Android tablet. The signal kept skipping, even though the earbuds were one foot away from the device. No other Bluetooth activity nearby. Multipoint connection was also flaky. The other key negative is the lack of bass, barely present, even when using the Comply tips. Ear hooks are lousy: they are only slip on and easily rotate out of position. I found it difficult to switch out the various silicon tips because of wide diameter to the driver. Agree with other reviewers that these earbuds do a substandard job of blocking out ambient noise. Other brands of earbuds do better at lower cost, do not recommend.
77394
Most of the other reviews have covered the main points about this headset, so I won't bother spending a lot of time reiterating the details.  I'm using this with an iPhone 3GS and my experience has been that, for the price, this is a decent headset.  I'm not an audiophile, but I'm also not a neophyte, and I was surprised at how good the music sound quality was, considering that it's wireless Bluetooth.

However, I get frequent complaints on phone calls that people can't hear/understand me well.  These complaints happen much less frequently when I don't use the headset.  Also, as many others have noted, the music will randomly drop out for a second at a time, usually 2-3 times per song.  It's worse if I'm walking, but still present even when I'm sitting still.  Since the stereo Bluetooth capability is arguably this headset's main feature/selling point, that seems like an inexcusable flaw to me.

One other complaint that I haven't seen much:  if you have somewhat sensitive ears, even the lowest music volume on the headset is still fairly loud, enough that it's uncomfortable for me at first.

This isn't a bad headset, but I use it far less than I'd like because of the flaws listed above.  Ultimately I'll probably wind up buying a different product.
1005359
The headphones have the sound quality I expected (quite good) and the wireless feature is nice. However, there are two annoying bugs that I am a little frustrated with. First, the headphones turn off each time they are docked so that you have to turn on the base station and the headset separately each time you want to listen to them. Second, when the sound is very low or goes silent briefly the headphones "skip" a little. This is not a problem for most of my library of music but I notice it when a song is fading out at the end (the headphones will stop playing prematurely once the sound is low enough) or when there is a brief silence in the middle of a track. Overall I like them, but they were not quite as nice as I had hoped.
83035
I don't know the cause but the bluetooth latency these had with my phone was unacceptable and I returned them. They are well built and the cable connecting the ear pieces isn't overly stiff like some others I've tried. Aside from the bad audio latency, there is a light that blinks on the right ear piece. I think it represents the connection status. It can be distracting because the reflection can pop up in your peripheral vision in a darker room.
2002577
I love everything about these headphones. Very comfortable, never fall off my ears even when hanging upside down doing sit ups, the sound quality is good (not bass heavy but could get very loud where they do leak), overall I would of gave them a 5 star.

Last week the bluetooth started chopping in and out. All this week same problem, at first I thought it may of been my phones wifi connection with pandora, but after researching this issue I noticed I am not the only one with this problem. Nothing is more aggravating then having a song cut in and out when your lifting. Because of this, Overall I would rate this product a 3 star. Dylan is on to something here but yes I will be contacting your company for another pair!
1967972
These headphones are fantastic. They are incredibly comfortable, and stay on perfectly when I'm running. They barely feel like they are on, but stay on very securely.

I have just two issues that keep these from being 5 stars.
1) Occasionally when playing music, the sync isn't quite perfect, causing some quick cutting in and out. I find this particularly true when I have my phone in my front pocket.
2) In the right earpiece, I hear something loose internally rattling around sometimes. No functionality has been lost and everything works fine, but it is a concern.

All in all, though, these are the best stereo bluetooth headphones I've ever owned.
1035796
Disclaimer: I am reviewing a pair that I received for free, through the Vine program.

Basically a decent pair of headphones, with noise cancelling as well as Bluetooth and phone calls. Also they fold up (the cups fold up inside the headband) which is a plus too, for saving space when you're not wearing them. They fit over the ears, enclosing the ears completely, which is the style I prefer in headphones and I guess is necessary for the noise cancelling too.

The controls are a bit weird in that the right earphone's surface is used as a touch-sensitive surface. To play/pause, you touch once. But to increase or decrease volume, you touch and slide up or down, and to skip a track forward or backwards, you touch and slide forwards or backwards. This is weird and not always so easy to do, with no tactile or other feedback, using your right finger when you are wearing the headphones. I keep accidentally pausing the music when I mean to increase or decrease the volume. I wish they had gone with more traditional controls with tactile feedback, like a hard button/toggle or two, for these functions (maybe like the "5-way" button on my e-Ink Kindle which has tactile buttons for up, down, left, right, and main press/click; funny though that Kindles are phasing out those nice tactile buttons now in favor of touchscreen virtual controls with no feedback).

The headphones can pair via NFC instead of Bluetooth, if your phone or player is so equipped; mine isn't so I can't test that. There is also a cord for the stereo audio, if you want to plug in to the physical headphone jack of a player instead of wireless Bluetooth, which is another plus since it's unnecessary to waste the batteries on the player and the headphones by doing Bluetooth if you're in a situation where you can easily just plug in the cable.

But other than that quirky touch surface control for play/pause/volume/tracks (and I'll probably get better at the touch control as time goes on), these are as good as some other headphones I've tested recently, as far as wearing comfort on the ears/head and sound quality, and that's not even counting the noise cancellation, which is a nice plus. I've had wireless Bluetooth headphones before, and I've had noise cancelling headphones too, but I've never had a pair that was both noise cancelling AND wireless Bluetooth.

Haven't tested with phone calls yet but I'm assuming the quality will be just fine.

also the battery is recharged via standard USB mini connector, so you don't have to replace AAA batteries like with other noise cancelling headphones.
2714496
These headphones seem very similar to all the other chinese knock-off brands out there on amazon. They work ok for listening to music casually or talking on the phone when you need to be hands-free, however the Bluetooth connection can get pretty bad and goes in and out, and this is when my phone is only about 2 ft away, in my pocket! But when the connection is strong the audio quality sounds pretty good, if they could only work on the actual connectivity part, this would be a great product.
3232360
I bought these because I wanted bluetooth headphones that I could use for both weightlifting and running.
Pros:
- fit well
- can lay down on a bench without them coming out of your ears (doing bench press)
- sound is good
- can still hear ambient noise. (important for running)
- good range (about 25 feet, my Motorola  S10HD headphones have a 30 foot range)
- they don't flop around
- no complaints about call quality
Cons:
- the mechanics of the pause/skip forward/skip back button are difficult when standing still, let alone when running
- sound will occasionally stop with the music /podcast still going,  but will continue after I press the play button. Weird.
- they get uncomfortable if you wear them for several hours at a time (taking calls when working from home)
3722132
On the positive, these are very secure on my head. They don't move during walking or jogging. I could probably play basketball in these with out fear of them moving around - not that I'd play basketball in headphones!  But they are that secure. Sound quality is fair to good. You won't mistake these for audiophile quality, but they are acceptable for exercising.

Now the con, connection via Bluetooth is not what I expected. I wear my iPod nano on my wrist when I walk/jog. If I wear the iPod on my left, my body interferes with the signal when walking so bad it breaks up everything my arm swings back. Pitiful. When I wear the iPod on the right, it only occasionally breaks up-every 10 minutes or so. And this is my second set. The first was much worse - 7 to 10 breakups per minute. So I sent those back and got these.

Overall, I'm very impressed by how well they stay in place. The sound quality is acceptable for what they are. And the Bluetooth connection is pathetic.
1588424
These are pretty good Bluetooth headphones.  They connect quickly and maintain the connection with fidelity.  Where they really lack is in the sound quality.  There is a lack of bass.  These would rate a full five stars if the sound was better.

Update 2 July:  While I am amazed at the degree to which Mpow has gone to resolve my concern, they didn't change my opinion of their product.  I was sent a replacement set of Bluetooth headphone, but the replacement was a different model that the ones I initially reviewed.  As I am not a fan of loose cord bouncing off of my neck while I run; I did not try the replacements.  My daughter likes them.  I, therefore, stick with my initial review that these headphones lack bass.  They would be a solid 5 stars if the sound quality was better.
2560882
Easily recommendable pair of Bluetooth headphones for a lot of great uses -- they're convenient and the battery lasts a nice, long time before needing to be charged again.  I wish there was a way to disable certain features.  I don't want to initiate a call from my headphones, and more than once I've accidentally hit the wrong button on these very late at night and had to frantically stop my phone from calling the last person in my call history.  Otherwise, they do a great job managing incoming calls.  I don't know what I sound like on calls using the built-in mic, but no one I've spoken with has complained about being hard to hear or anything like that.

I primarily bought these so I could use headphones while gaming on my iPhone without having the annoying headphone jack getting in the way.  They do the job, but the sound is only good -- not great. After wearing them for a while they WILL hurt your ears. If you look closely in the product images you'll see how there is only a very small space for the top of your ears, and the cushion is completely in-line with the plastic that is supposed to go behind your ear (like glasses).  Over time, the pressure this puts on your ear will cause it to start to ache.  Great for short use, but not comfortable enough for long sessions of use.

Technically speaking, they work well. There are some annoying design choices that I dislike such as the constantly flashing blue light, the fact that that light is so bright makes it even worse, and the low-battery warning beeps loudly at you every 30 seconds (maybe 60) even though I could otherwise continue to use my headphones for almost another hour before they die... but the beep is far too annoying to listen to for a whole hour.  If you just want a reasonably-priced set of headphones that get the job done, these are a good deal.  They are a great all-around pair of headphones, but they won't compete with any high quality headphones in any area in my opinion.