Gadget Review: Which scanner is best?

The WWS100i is a Bluetooth scanner made by WASP. With a Bluetooth barcode scanner, you can scan tickets, merchandise, and membership cards from a tablet or smart phone. So far, the only other mobile barcode scanner I have recommended has been the Opticon OPN-2002. For that reason, this review will be comparing the two scanners against each other.

When I look for new gadgets, I always keep the following 5 questions in mind:

1. 
   
2. Is it cheaper?
   
3. Is it faster?
   
4. Is it smaller?
   
5. Does it offer more functionality?
   
6. Is it readily available?
   

So how does the WWS100i stack up?

Is it cheaper?

Yes, the WWS100i is cheaper. On Amazon, the current price is around $160. When I first started looking at mobile scanners, $300 was the entry point. In just about a year, prices have halved. However, the price of the OPN-2002 has also come down and it can be purchased from Barcode Giant for $222.

Is it faster?

Speed wise. If there is a speed difference between the OPN-2002 and the WWS100i, it is imperceptible. The laser on the WWS100i is noticeably thicker, which should give it a slight advantage, but both perform very well.

Is it smaller?

The OPN-2002 and the WWS100i are just about the same size. I’ll give a nod to the OPN, but we are talking a matter of centimeters in difference. Weight is also not an issue when we are looking at devices designed to be mobile.

Does it offer more functionality?

Here is where we see the biggest difference between the two.

The OPN-2002 offers a button on the top of the scanner that will bring up the onscreen keyboard. This is important if you are using the scanner on an iOS device, say an iPad or iPhone, and have a barcode that is unreadable. The button allows you to call the onscreen keyboard so that you can manually type in the number.

Once again, if you are using the WWS100i with a Windows 7/8 device, the above is not a concern.

Is it readily available?

This is always a real concern when I make hardware recommendations. If you can’t order it from Amazon or other online retailers, I tend not to recommend things. Luckily, both these items are available online from multiple sources. Amazon tends to be the cheapest, but as I mentioned earlier, I did find the OPN-2002 25% cheaper at Barcode Giant.

So, which one do I recommend? It really comes down to which type of tablet or smart phone you are going to use this with. If you are using this with an iPhone/iPad, then the OPN-2002 would be my choice. If you are going to use this with a Windows or Android device, I’d save the extra $60 and go with the WWS100i.