A Phone and More

Calling it the “ultimate entertainment device,” Verizon Wireless is offering customers a hip Motorola phone that includes two-way messaging, a mobile Web service, an optional FM stereo and voice capabilities.

The $70 Motorola V120c also includes voice-dialing, a batch of ring tones, a 400-name phone book and changeable colored “phone wraps” for maximum teen flair.

What sets it apart, though, is the radio, which costs an extra $70. But if you like the idea, act fast and you can get the radio headset free.

Through a promotion that ends Saturday, customers who buy the phone and activate a one-year service plan can get a full rebate for the headset.

It’s a sleek unit, with left and right ear buds, plus a volume control and a button to activate the phone functions. When you plug the radio headset into the phone’s input jack, the radio option automatically pops up on the phone’s menu screen.

You can tune the radio using the phone’s up and down arrows. The station frequency is displayed on the menu screen, and you can save favorite stations on nine preset buttons.

There’s no need to worry about missing calls because the device automatically mutes the music when a call comes in.

The radio uses the phone’s battery for power, which could be a problem since the headset connection uses the same slot as the charger. But my two-hour session with the radio didn’t even budge the phone’s battery meter.