Customer Reviews

Motorola FM Stereo Radio Headset for Motorola V60, V70 & T720i Series Phones

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been an electronic hobbyist since 1962, and an amateur radio operator (K8WV) since '63. I have a hard time believing I own the same radio I see reviewed in some of the reviews here. This is a solid and sensitive receiver, with good selectivity.

It is relatively large, compaired to the V60, but relates well size-wise to the V120. The receiver and volume control are in a housing in the cable between the phone and the earbuds. It has a clip on the back to secure the housing to a shirt/blouse. The cables are relatively long, but that allows them to be routed around your body and/or under your clothes - nice when doing yard work, walking for exercise, or bike riding. The telephone microphone is in a smaller housing near one of the earbuds, and is housed with a pushbutton phone answer button. Useful if your phone is in a pocket or "fanny pack" and you don't use "auto answer." The integration of the operation of the radio with the phone is seamless.

I live in a small city with 3-4 local FM stations. I have no trouble receiving them. Two of the stations are on very close frequencies. This receiver has no trouble separating them. I can also receive several stations from neighboring towns. This radio works at least as well as any other small receiver I've used.

This radio will not satisfy everyone, and the list price is a bit high. But it works well, and is flexible in use. I recommend it. Shop for price.

I'm using a Motorala V60i with Verizon-wireless service so your experiences may vary.

When I first bought this FM Stereo headset, I was hoping I could use it for listening to my favorite stations at work or during boring college lectures.

I am very disapointed; I get nothing but static on this thing everywhere except when I'm in a open field. This thing is very sensitive to movement, which means using this while jogging is not a good idea, except if you want a really big headache from listening to static most of the time.

This thing doesn't work well in most situations. If your planning on buying this thing to use in an office, in a moving car, in a classroom, while jogging, or pretty much in any situation. Don't waste your money. Instead buy a seperate mini AM/FM stearo headset which would work much better.

However; the ear-piece and mic are outstanding. Crisp and clear calls when I'm using the headset. Then again I have only used Motorala headsets so my range of expertise is not all that wide.

This thing is also pretty bulky and the wires get tangled faster than you can untangle them.

The only two uses I found for this FM stereo headset are:
1. listening to my fav radio stations while walking. Which has very little static, if I restrain from moving too much.
2. Using this thing to drain the battery before recharging. Bought a new battery and Motorala batteries work best if you have full charge/discharge cycles for the first 3-5 charges.

Even though the ear-piece and mic are outstanding, I can't stand the bulkyness of this thing. I use my plain and simple Motorala headset for all my hand-free wireless needs.

If a Motorala Rep is reading this, all I have to say is put more into this thing to make it a great product. Put a stronger antenna and find someway to make it less cumbersome.

Hope this review helps in your decisions.
Thanks,
Edrisk

I am VERY disappointed with this product. I bought the
FM adapter to use while working out at the gym. The ear pieces are so uncomfortable and won't stay in my ears. The sound is fabulous when you get reception. Forget about using it in the car unless you like static. It is a great concept, but one that should have been researched better berfore being released.

I have to say that I was excited when I saw this unit for the v60. Now I wish I spent the [money] to get a personal Walkman. It gets tangled instantly and it is too heavy if you are going to jog with it. The volume can barely be heard if anything else is going on. I use it in the gym for cardio work. It is ok on a stair stepper but awful for treadmill where you are bouncing and moving around.
The idea is good and it is easy to use. It was just too expensive for how little it helped.

I bought this item before reading the reviews, however while I am a little disappointed, over all I think that the radio headset is good not great, just good. As has been mentioned the earbuds suck. They hurt when you wear them for more than 5 minutes they fall out under their own weight, they produce mediocre audio quality (don't know if it is the receiver or the earbuds), and their unevenness is ungainly, annoying, and intrusive (if they had just made the lengths even they could have put the microphone further up on one side).
Reception is ok; a low quality antenna is most likely the culprit. Overall length is adequate however for some reason the belt clip (which houses the volume control) is to short from the earbuds to actually use. It hangs at my belly far from my actual belt or any other attachment point for that matter. The wire itself is actually 3 different gauges, the connection is also slightly bulky and sticks out of the phone an extra inch, it also forces you place the phone upside-down in your pocket or on your belt clip since it uses the phones data port on the bottom and not the hands free 1/8" plug, and there are probably other annoyances that will come to light with a few more uses.
Now onto the things that are actually good (yes there are some!) While the reception isn't great it sure beats not having FM, it's ability to mute itself when there is a call is a great and very useful feature, you can set presets and it seeks so you don't have to tune to a station tenth by tenth, call quality was fine (no real difference than the standard earbud hands-free), it runs on the phone's battery so no extra purchases or constantly replacing batteries (which for some could be a hassle as it decreases battery life), and the answer button allows you to dial the most recent dialed number when not in the middle of a call. It also will play while doing other things on the phone like snapping pics or playing games (just make sure you mute the game sounds otherwise the radio mutes each time a noise is made) which you can't do while playing MP3's!
Overall it's better than not having an FM radio but not by much. I paid $17.XX + tax and am using a Moto V600.

I have to pretty much agree with the Sept. 9, 2002 review by edrisk, excepting that where I live in Boca Raton, FL - reception is pretty good. But this is VERY BULKY, and as in my V60 phone review, Motorola could have given us all that FM for FREE, if it only let it be used with ANY ear-phone, even if only in MONO, instead of 'stereo'. On the positive side, (if you can get by the bulkyness), the unit automatically shuts-off the stereo and goes mono when a call comes in or is made on the phone. You can also answer and disconnect the call al'la Nokia with the mic/BOTTON that hangs off the shorter ear phone. Also, Motorola cheaped out, and did not even include a very necessary CLIP to hold the ear/mic UP, as the wire is not only very thick, but very heavy also. I used a clip from my old Nokia handsfree. Enjoy.

I bought this headset even after reading some negative reviews because I really liked the concept and wanted to judge for myself. Unfortunately, the folks at Motorola need to spend a bit more time working out the ergonomics kinks in this system. I used the headset with a T720.

Right off the bat, I decided the shorter earpiece cord was way too short. Also, I don't know whose ears this was designed for (certainly not a woman's), as the only way I could keep the darn things in my ears was to sit very still.

The radio performance was acceptable, but quite poor indoors. When used for making or receiving calls it worked well, except that the earpieces kept falling out. I found myself holding the earpiece in during a call -- which pretty much defeats the purpose of buying a hands-free device.

That said, if you have ears that allow you to get the earpieces to stay put and live in an area with high-powered radio stations, you'll probably enjoy this accessory.

If I could somehow change out the earpieces I'd probably keep it, but since I can't it's going back to the store.

I was originally planning to buy a Nokia 6200 which came with an Fm radio feature with the phone but I decided to go with the Motorola V400 instead, partially because there was this radio option.

I just got the headset a day or two ago, but I have to say I like it. There are several things though, that bug me about this item, and make it good but not great. I'll go through those first...

First of all, the different lengths of the headphone cords for each ear is definitely an annoyance. In their defense though, I'm not sure how they could have made them the same while still having the one you speak into at the right level. Also, in general the headset seems a little bulky and the clip is awkward to attach. In regards to the reception: Usually, it works well, but on occasion it gets "scratchy" and sometimes have to reposition the phone. The only other thing that bothers me is that only the radio is stereo! You're listening to the radio in both headphones, and then somebody calls and they're only in the right ear. This doesn't make sense at all. If you listen to the radio in stereo, you should be able to talk in stereo. Oh well...ok I'm done complaining :)

Despite these minor annoyances I think the headset is a really cool item. If you're waiting somewhere as I was today, it's a wonderful thing to have in your pocket. I listened to Chopin on the radio, while playing Chess on my phone. I mean honestly, having a cellphone that doubles as a radio is an amazing thing. Having upgraded from a Nokia 3360 that had no features, to a Motorola v400 with digital camera, mp3 ringtones voice recorder, java games, mobile internet, and this radio feature...the amount things have advanced is shocking.

I find this headset to be another amazing piece of technology that will be perfected soon enough. Don't expect a perfected intuitive design, but once you overcome the minor annoyances I think you'll appreciate it's value. Definitely worth getting!

I'm using the V60 with the radio headset in a small town with only 6-7 stations. Reception is good, though not as good as a Sony walkman-type radio that I used to use.

As some people have said, the wire on one of the earphones is a bit short and both fall out from time to time. Though both of these things are minor in IMO.

The sound is clear but would be much better with more bass. Hard to say whether this is because of the FM receiver chip or the less-than-highend earphones.

Otherwise, it's definitely worth the $26(including shipping) I paid for it online. But you can do better, Motorola!

UPDATE: The right earphone started going crackly and then stop working after about 6 weeks. Good idea but these things just aren't very durable.

This FM accessory was the reason why I purchased a Motorola phone. I'm very disappointed with it. Reception is Horrible.
The clip is awkward to attach to any part of your clothing. The uneven wires for your left and right ear is a joke. The heavy gauge wire that runs into the mike, then one short wire for one ear and a too LONG of a wire for your other ear.
You turn your head and the short wire pulls the speaker out of your ear.

My other gripe, CHEAP SPEAKERS. The speaker with the long wire slowly started to fade and sounded scratchy. The one with the short wire slowly lost it's quality within a 4 hour period. The next day it won't work at all, the speaker is now blown. And the other speaker you can barley hear out of. And I NEVER had the volume turned all the way up. This item only lasted a month.