As a basic cell phone, the Juke by Samsung is a reasonable choice. It is compact enough to fit in your pocket or purse easily, and unlike some other cell phones, it's easy to hear the party on the other side through its capable speaker. But the Juke shines for its audio skills -- and for its cool factor.

You can feel the cool immediately -- because it opens like a stiletto knife, ready to do your bidding. It's got a navigation wheel on the front, reminiscent of the iPod (although it operates differently than the iPod), and its form is like a pack of Juicy Fruit chewing gum -- long and narrow.

The minute I showed it to my daughter, she started asking me for one. Several of her preteen friends already had started carrying their own -- it's the preteen phone of choice. My daughter likes the black version better than the red or turquoise version, but I'd prefer to see a girl her age with a brighter color model that's easier to find when lost.

The Juke excels in its audio capabilities and has been set up for a great listening experience. It starts with a 2 GB mp3 music player -- plenty of room for 500 songs. (Any preteen who has had time to build a larger library is a heavy music listener and probably hasn't had time to excel at school. So why buy her a phone?)

Although my daughter likes to listen using the standard speaker on the phone, that wouldn't be good enough quality for me. I'd need better speakers and the Juke provides two ways to do it. First, there's a micro jack for earbuds, which come with the Juke. It also allows connection to Bluetooth stereo headphones or speakers, which make the experience particularly nice -- good sound without being tethered to the phone.

Of course, you can sync it to your PC to pull down your music collection on mp3. Unfortunately, it cannot support songs purchased from iTunes in the standard Apple iPod format due to restrictions from Apple. It also does not support additional memory cards.

One of my favorite features is the Juke's music recognition through the Verizon network. If you hear a song on the radio and want to know its name and artist that sings it, simply hold the Juke up to the radio speaker, press a few buttons, and it goes into music recognition mode, showing you the information you desire on screen. (The V Cast Song ID application must be downloaded before you use this feature.)

Under normal circumstance, we've been unable to drain the battery completely, which suggests a long battery life. The only time we were able to drain it was accidentally when we set off on a long trip and started the navigation function as we left. By the time we arrived at our destination, the phone was drained.

The Juke is chaperone capable, which means for an additional monthly fee, you can track the phone online so you know where your child is.

Although it seems to be targeted as a phone for kids, the Juke is a dependable phone for older people, too. It can even connect with hearing aids. Yet the small buttons and display may not make it the best suited for this audience.

It has a built-in camera with night shot setting, but no flash and no video recording capability.

So if you want the cool and an easy way to carry your music and Verizon phone in a single package, the Juke fits the bill.